Brian Thompson shooting suspect Luigi Mangione suffered a back injury so severe he was unable to have sex, a former roommate said.
RJ Martin lived with the murder defendant for six months at a Hawaii co-living space and told The New York Times about 26 year-old Mangione’s secret agony.
‘He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,’ Mr Martin told The Times.
‘I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks.’
Explaining the injury that Mangione had suffered after a back condition called spondylolisthesis was worsened 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, who he described as a bright engineer, suffered from debilitating pain throughout his six month stay at SurfBreak during 2022.
He said a single surf lesson left Mangione ‘in bed for a week’ afterwards, 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.’
Luigi Mangione, right, suffered a debilitating back injury which stopped him from being able to have sex, a former roommate said
Mangione was left in bed for a week after attempting a surfing lesson, RJ Martin said
RJ Martin lived with Mangione for six months in 2022 and was stunned at news of the murder he’s accused of carrying out
Martin said Mangione and other residents of the co-living space would talk about medical issues and capitalism.
But he insisted the suspected murderer never gave off the impression of being angry or radicalized.
Mangione’s health issues are also said to have caused professional problems for the University of Pennsylvania graduate.
A Reddit poster believed to be Mangione spoke of how an unspecified ‘accident’ had left him with a ‘locked up’ back and hips.
He added that ‘intermittent numbness has become constant’ and added: ‘I’m terrified of the implications.’
Weeks after that, the user believed to be Mangione said he’d undergone spinal surgery which he said had improved his symptoms.
He didn’t mention anything related to United Healthcare, whose CEO Mangione is accused of assassinating on a Manhattan street on the early hours of December 4.
Mangione shared a photo of an X-ray on his X profile showing multiple screws inserted into his spine.
Martin, his former roommate from Hawaii, said Mangione sent him a similar-sounding photo that ‘looked heinous’ before they lost touch earlier this year.
Mangione is believed to have had back surgery sometime in 2023 but is feared to have suffered continued complications afterwards
Mangione is pictured second from left with a group of friends during a stint in Hawaii
Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson at point-blank range on December 5
Mangione is pictured in a police cell Monday night after his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania
Mangione was arrested while eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, early Monday and arraigned at a local court late Monday night.
He will now be extradited back to New York City, where he has been charged with murder.
Mangione is from a wealthy family, with his grandfather a self-made multimillionaire who owned a luxury holiday resort, nursing homes and a radio station.
His family have sent their condolences to Brian Thompson’s family and appealed for privacy.
