The Mangione family's Baltimore-area roots began in the city's Little Italy neighborhood in 1925.
Nicholas Mangione Sr. was only 11 years old when his father, an Italian immigrant who couldn't read or write, passed away, according to a 1995 profile of him in the Baltimore Sun.
Nick, the family patriarch, grew up poor but was determined to make his own way in the world. A World War II Navy veteran and later self-made millionaire, he told the Sun that he saw himself as a true American success story.
The real money started coming in the 70s as he started building and buying nursing homes, hospitals and eventually golf courses.
As he built a fortune, his family grew. He and his wife Mary raised 10 children. By the time he passed away in 2008, there were 37 grandchildren. One of those grandchildren is Luigi Mangione.
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The young Mangione attended Gilman School, an all-boys private prep school in Baltimore, where he graduated in 2016 as the valedictorian.
Speaking at the school's Founder's Day Ceremony his senior year, Mangione said, "To the parents here today, first off, sending us to Gilman was far from a small financial investment. I'd like to personally thank each of you for sending your sons here because I can't imagine the class of 2016 without any one of these men on stage."
Maryland attorney Thomas Maronick Jr., who has known the Mangione family for 20 years, and attended a competing high school in Baltimore, sheds light on the prestige granted to a Gilman grad.
"In Baltimore, it's so much about where you went to high school. People ask, 'Where did you go to school?' And they don't mean college," Maronick explained. "They mean, 'Which high school did you go to?' So if you went to a place like Loyola or Gilman, there's a certain esteem, respect that's built in for going there. Gilman has a beautiful campus and a lot of connections with Ivy League schools. So to be the valedictorian there is really an accomplishment."
Mangione did go on to attend an Ivy League school, the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned two computer science degrees. After graduating in 2020, he worked in tech — for a video game company and a car-buying site.
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Sometime before January 2022, Luigi Mangione moved to Hawaii, where he joined a co-living community. The spokesperson for the owner of the home where he stayed near Waikiki told The Associated Press that Mangione was "widely considered to be a great guy," adding, "There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they're saying he committed."
One of the remaining mysteries of that period in Mangione's life concerns his back. His X page showed a photo of what appears to be an X-ray from a spine stabilization surgery that he underwent on the mainland for back pain. After he returned to Hawaii, friends and family stopped hearing from him.
"I think that the loss of contact suggests sort of a rogue situation, where this is somebody from a privileged background who went rogue," Maronick said.
What allegedly happened next in the life of Luigi Mangione shocked the nation
From valedictorian to murder suspect
At 6:45 a.m. on Dec. 4, police say Mangione walked up behind UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and shot him dead with a silenced 9-millimeter pistol. Investigators say he calmly got on an e-bike, rode to a bus station many miles away, and headed to Pennsylvania.
The manhunt dominated headlines for days, accompanied by a disturbing outpouring of support for the murder in comment sections and across social media. Police finally got a break in the case from a person at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
"He matches the description of the identification we've been looking for," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference announcing the arrest. "He's also in possession of several items that we believe will connect him to this incident."
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro later said, "In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this, he is no hero. The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald's this morning."
Shell casings found at the scene reportedly were marked with the words, "deny, defend, depose," echoing criticisms of health insurance practices, pointing to a possible motive.
A manifesto police say Mangione wrote, published by investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein on Substack, read in part, "I do apologize for any strife or trauma but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming."
That anger was seen again as deputies escorted Mangione into his initial court appearance. He shouted toward the swarm of cameras.
"This is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience," he said.
What 'lived experience' he was referring to is unclear. His own life, as the highly successful scion of one of Baltimore's most prominent families, had been charmed, at least until Hawaii.
"When I heard it was a Mangione, I was just really surprised because that's just the last family you would ever associate with something like this," Maronick said.
Back in Baltimore, the spotlight turned to the accomplishments of the Mangione family. They own a country club, golf resort, radio station and several nursing homes in Maryland. Another grandchild, Nino Mangione, has served in the Maryland legislature since 2019.
The Mangione Family Foundation has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to hospitals, schools and churches. The family's name was given a spot on the aquatics center at Loyola University, and a former obstetrics unit at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
The family has long been a pillar of the Italian-Catholic community in Baltimore, with long-time friends in the Archdiocese.
The Mangione name, built so carefully over decades, is now tainted by a single violent act.
Since the arrest, the family has stayed mostly silent. Delegate Nino Mangione released a statement on behalf of the family, saying, "Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione. We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news."
