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On paper, Luigi Mangione had it all: wealth, intellect, athleticism, good looks. But the child of a prominent Maryland family may have spurned it all in a spasm of violence, in a killing that has mesmerized Americans.
The 26-year-old was arrested Monday and charged with the murder of Brian Thompson, a health insurance chief executive and father of two who was gunned down in Manhattan last week by someone who, evidence suggests, has endured his own debilitating health crises and grew angry with the privatized US medical system.
The cold-blooded killing has laid bare the deep frustration many Americans feel toward the country’s labyrinthine health care system: while many have condemned the shooting, others have praised Mangione as a hero.
It has also prompted considerable interest in how a young engineer with an Ivy League education could have gone off the rails to commit murder.
News of his capture at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s triggered an explosion of online activity, with Mangione quickly amassing new followers on social media as citizen sleuths and US media tried to understand who he is.
As Americans have looked for clues about a political ideology or potential motive, a photo on his X account (formerly Twitter) includes an X-ray of an apparently injured spine.
Mangione lived in Hawaii in 2022 and, according to his former roommate R.
