Investigators are probing whether Luigi Mangione's back injury might have been the suspected motive behind the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, police revealed on Wednesday. Police sai they are investigating a July accident that left Mangione hospitalized and if it may have sparked his alleged grudge against the healthcare industry.
Earlier, one of his former roommates had shared that the 26-year-old suffered a severe back injury that left him unable to have sex. The roommate, RJ Martin, who shared a co-living space in Hawaii with Mangione for six months, revealed to The New York Times that Mangione's back condition, known as spondylolisthesis, was severely aggravated by a surfing accident.
Motive Still Unclear
"A possible motive that we are also looking into is that he suffered an accident that caused him to visit an emergency room back on July 4 of 2023," an NYPD official said on Wednesday.
Police are also scrutinizing images posted on Mangione's social media, including X-rays of a person's back, along with a three-page manifesto-style document containing raging comments about "parasitic" health insurance companies.
"He posted X-rays of numerous screws being inserted into his spine — and [in] some of the writings, he was discussing the difficulty of sustaining that injury," the NYPD official said.
"As far as motive, it looks like he had animus toward the healthcare industry."
Mangione allegedly fatally shot Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last week, triggering a five-day manhunt that ended with his arrest at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
Details of the investigation surfaced after Mangione's former landlord revealed that the Ivy League graduate suffered from such severe back pain that it prevented him from dating or having sexual relationships.
Martin, the owner of the "co-living" space in Hawaii where Mangione stayed for six months, told The New York Times that the suspect had confided in him about experiencing relentless pain caused by a pinched nerve and a "misaligned spine."
"He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn't possible," Martin told The Times, adding, "I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks."
Surfing Incident Led to Injury
Martin said that Mangione's back condition, known as spondylolisthesis, was aggravated by a surfing accident. Martin said: "His spine was kind of misaligned. He said his lower vertebrae were almost like a half-inch off, and I think it pinched a nerve."
Martin told CNN that Mangione, whom he described as a talented engineer, endured severe pain throughout his six-month stay at SurfBreak in 2022.
He said that just one surf lesson left Mangione "in bed for a week," adding, "It was really traumatic and difficult, you know, when you're in your early twenties and you can't, you know, do some basic things."
Martin said that Mangione and other residents at the co-living space often discussed health issues and capitalism. However, he insisted that Mangione never came across as angry or radicalized.
He also said that Mangione rarely complained about his back pain and didn't appear to be using painkillers.
A former high school classmate also revealed to the newspaper that Mangione had become estranged from his family—part of a prominent Baltimore, Maryland, clan — after undergoing back surgery.
On his Goodreads account, Mangione had listed five books focused on chronic back pain as part of his reading list.
As of Wednesday, he remained in custody in Pennsylvania without bail, facing charges related to firearms and forgery. Manhattan prosecutors are coordinating efforts to extradite him to New York, where he will be charged with murder in connection to Thompson's death.
