Luigi Mangionethe man accused of murdering the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompsonhad taken to the Internet forum Reddit to discuss his own health problems.
Posts on his Reddit account, now deleted but previously seen by People, show that Mangione discussed a wide variety of health problems, ranging from from back pain to sleep problemsstarting fall 2018.
Under the username Mister_Cactus, Mangione posted about having a restless dream when he was 20 years old.
In a lengthy entry, Mangione described how woke up 10 times in a typical eight-hour night of sleep.
“Normally, I wake up after 4 hours, then after another hour and a half, then wake up another 9 or more times during the last 2.5 hours,” he wrote.
“Over the last year, these issues have started to worsen significantly and I wake up feeling weak no matter how much sleep I get,” she continued, adding, “Sleeping less than 8 hours causes me to become extremely exhausted during the day.”
Restless sleep seemed to be a major concern for Mangionewho was tested for sleep apnea and described himself as a “healthy 20-year-old man” with “zero caffeine,” “zero alcohol/nicotine,” who “exercises regularly,” and “zero stress.”
A month later, Mangione posted on Reddit again, this time on a completely different topic.
“I have IBS.” [síndrome del intestino irritable]but I was tested for SIBO [sobrecrecimiento bacteriano del intestino delgado]” he wrote in an entry dated August 31, 2018. “Would it still be worth following a low FODMAP diet [oligosacáridos, disacáridos, monosacáridos y polioles fermentables]?”
In 2023, Magione spoke openly about his back problemswhich former neighbors who lived with him in Hawaii the previous year said he had due to an apparent pinched nerve.
“It can be easy to get carried away by the sheer number of horror stories on the internet. When my spondylolisthesis worsened last year it was completely devastating for a young athlete,” Mangione wrote in a post dated August 3, 2023. Spondylolisthesis is a rare back condition in which the vertebrae of the spine come out of your place.
However, he seemed to have undergone a successful surgery and recovery, and even shared his experience through another post in February 2024, where he confirmed that he had surgery a few months earlier.
“Yeah, I had a L5/S1 spinal fusion 6 months ago after a year and a half of failed conservative treatment. Seven days after the fusion, I was not taking any pain relievers. (I’m probably faster than most people, but my point is that your body is not supposed to be sore and need medication. Even after they opened my back and drilled a hole in my spine, I wasn’t in much pain.) the publication said.
Mangione’s posts reviewed by People did not mention any hospitals or medical providers.
A Reddit spokesperson told The New York Times and ABC News that its policy is to suspend accounts “that may be related to suspects in high-profile criminal investigations“.
The crime
Mangione allegedly fatally shot Thompson, 50, outside a New York City hotel on December 4. Thompson was in town attending a shareholder conference.
Bullet casings found at the crime scene were engraved with the words “deny”, “defend” and “depose”. The words are similar to a phrase in the insurance industry to describe a claims rejection strategy – “delay, deny, defend” – that was used as the title of a 2010 book by Rutgers University professor Jay Feinman.
According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, a manifesto criticizing health care companies was also found on Mangione’s body when he was detained.
Mangione appeared in court on Tuesday, December 10 following his arrest the night before. He has been charged with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a firearm.
Keep reading:
– The strange message they sent to Luigi Mangione in October: “I don’t know if you are okay.”
– Luigi Mangione: details revealed about the alleged murderer of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.