Luigi Mangione’s winding path from a distinguished Ivy League student to the alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was pieced together by friends and family.

The 26-year-old suspect arrested Monday at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, went “absolutely crazy” after painful back surgery and turned to psychedelic treatment for chronic pain, it has emerged.

Friends said Mangione disappeared from the scene when “everything changed” after a surfing accident – and it has now been reported that he singled out UnitedHealthcare in a “manifesto” he carried with him.

In the handwritten, 262-word document, Mangione said UnitedHealthcare’s market capitalization has increased, but American life expectancy has not.

He condemned companies that “continue to abuse our country for immense profits because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”

Mangione reportedly wrote that he acted alone and was self-funded, adding, “To save you a lengthy investigation, I state clearly that I have not worked with anyone.”

“These parasites had it coming. I apologize for the argument and trauma but it had to be done.’

A former roommate of Mangione’s told CNN, “I remember him saying he had a back problem and was hoping to get stronger in Hawaii.”

The experience was “really traumatic and difficult” for him, the roommate said, adding that Mangione sent him X-rays of his spine. “It looked hideous, with just huge screws in its spine,” Martin said.

Mangione suddenly fell silent while he recovered. He sought alternative forms of pain management, including psychedelics and magic mushrooms.

According to the New York Post, his family was so worried about him that he was reported missing on November 18th.

The Mangione family said in a statement released Monday evening that they were “shocked and devastated” and said, “We are praying for the family of Brian Thompson and asking people to pray for everyone involved.”

Mangione was charged with murder by NYC officials late Monday after being arrested in Pennsylvania, where he remains jailed on firearms charges.

The suspected killer provided police with a fake ID when he was approached at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. When police asked him if he had been in New York recently, “he became quiet and began shaking.”

In his backpack, the police found a 3D printed pistol and a 3D printed silencer. Mangione also had a passport and $10,000 in cash – $2,000 of which was in foreign currency.

“On Mushrooms of Hawaii: An Identification Guide”.

School friends’ reported claims of a back injury match the trail Mangione left on social media.

One friend, Carolina Leon, tagged Mangione in an Instagram post about her birthday trip to Hawaii in December 2022. Another, Stephen Rasinar, tagged Mangione in a post about a two-week trip to the Pacific archipelago – suggesting he was with friends was there last years.

His profile picture on X contains what appears to be an x-ray of metal pins in a spine. The emergency doctor Dr. Kashif Pirzada wrote on X that the picture “looks like a lumbar fusion surgery.”

Mangione had an account on the book review site Goodreads.com and listed books for treating back pain.

One of them is titled “Back Under Control: A Spine Surgeon’s Journey Out of Chronic Pain.” Another is “Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery.”

Most fascinating, however, is a review he wrote of the manifesto of “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski, who planted bombs that killed three Americans before he was finally caught in 1996.

“He was a violent individual – lawfully imprisoned – who mutilated innocent people,” Mangione wrote. “While these actions are more accurately characterized as those of a crazed idiot, they are more accurately viewed as those of an extreme political revolutionary.”

“When all other forms of communication fail, violence is essential to survival.” You may not like his methods, but if you look at things from his perspective, this is not terrorism, but war and revolution.”

Mangione also added a book called “How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics.”

Jack Mac, a Barstool Sports employee, said high school friends of the suspected shooter claimed he was “crazy” after his injury.

“I spoke to a source who had many friends who went to high school with Luigi Mangione,” he wrote. “What keeps coming up is back surgery that “changed everything” for him and he went “completely crazy.”

“He suffered a back injury while surfing in Hawaii. The operation didn’t go so well. Moved to Japan. His contact with the family ended about a year ago. Recently, the family reached out to his high school friends and asked if they had any information about him.

The suspected shooter reportedly referred to UnitedHealthcare in the handwritten document found on his person.

Mangione mentioned the $515.93 billion company in his manifesto, noting the size of the company and how much money it makes, a senior law enforcement official who saw the document told The New York Times.

Luke Goldstein, a writer at the independent political magazine The Prospect, said a mutual friend went to high school with Mangione and was on the wrestling team with him.

“He says he was valedictorian. He had back surgery a few months ago and disappeared. “Nobody had heard of him,” Goldstein wrote on X.

Mangione was valedictorian of his 2016 class at Gilman School in Baltimore, where tuition is $40,000 a year. He then graduated with honors from the Ivy League school of the University of Pennsylvania.

On his LinkedIn page, he revealed that he had two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and a Master of Science with a concentration in Computer Science.

A colleague told CNN they were “stunned” by the news of his arrest. “I never had the impression that he was going to self-destruct,” the person told the network.

People close to Mangione had reportedly shared messages on X in the weeks before Mr. Thompson’s killing saying they were worried about him.

Boston-based designer Daniel Collins went to service. But I haven’t heard from you in months.

“You made promises to me about my wedding and if you can’t keep them, I need to know so I can plan accordingly.”

On October 30, another friend with the

On November 26, a third