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The procedure, which allegedly left Mangione in significant physical and emotional distress, may have contributed to his deteriorating mental state, a factor authorities are considering as part of their investigation.
New York prosecutors have formally accused 26-year-old Mangione, a native of Towson, Maryland, of the fatal shooting of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson.
The incident occurred outside the New York Hilton in midtown Manhattan early Wednesday morning, Dec. 4.
Mangione was apprehended after a five-day manhunt ay a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday, Dec. 9.
Details about the surgery or its impact have not been publicly disclosed, but a friend who met Mangione after he moved to Hawaii in 2022, told The New York Times he left the state in the summer of 2023 presumably for an operation on his back.
Mangione ended up “in bed for about a week” with back pain after he did a surf lesson in Hawaii, the same friend told CNN.
“My back and hips locked up after the accident,” a user on a now-deleted reddit account with biographical information matching Mangione's wrote in July 2023, saying “intermittent numbness has become constant” and “I’m terrified of the implications," CNN reported.
A few weeks later, the same user mentioned that he had undergone spinal surgery and shared details about his previous health struggles, which included Lyme disease and severe brain fog.
He explained that the brain fog began after he lost sleep during his fraternity's "hell week," which ultimately caused his college grades to start declining, according to CNN.
In August of that year, the friend texted Mangione to check on him, and Mangione replied with "jarring" photos of his spine scans, according to the Times.
Magione posted the same or a similar image of the scan as a backdrop photo on his X profile shown here - warning: graphic.
After his arrest, Mangione was discovered to have written a three-page manifesto critical of the healthcare industry, with a comment stating, "These parasites had it coming."
Mangione, who holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees (in computer science and engineering, respectively) from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
He was popular among classmates both at UPenn, and in high school, at the elite private Gilman School in Baltimore, where he played soccer and ran track.
Mangione maintained an active social media presence until about six months ago, when he suddenly went dark.
“Nobody has heard from you in months, and apparently your family is looking for you,” one user posted on X in October, tagging an account belonging to Mangione.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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