AILSA CHANG, HOST:
A picture is beginning to emerge of Luigi Mangione, the man police have charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione is being held without bail, and there are many unanswered questions about how this 26-year-old turned into a man who allegedly killed in cold blood. NPR's Maria Aspan has been following this story and joins us now. Hi, Maria.
MARIA ASPAN, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: All right, so what have we learned so far about Mangione?
ASPAN: We're still getting a full picture, and there is a lot that doesn't fit the initial speculation about the identity of this health care vigilante. Mangione was, by all accounts, smart and successful. He grew up wealthy in Baltimore. His family owns country clubs and nursing homes and a conservative talk radio station. And he's got a cousin, Nino Mangione, who's a Republican lawmaker in Maryland. Mangione went to an exclusive all-boys prep school called the Gilman School, where tuition is now more than $35,000 per year. He graduated as the valedictorian, and this is from the speech he gave to his high school in 2016.
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LUIGI MANGIONE: The class of 2016 truly has the fearlessness to explore new things and the obvious ability to excel.
ASPAN: And by all accounts, Mangione continued to excel. He went to the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in four years with both a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science. And then he went on to work in tech until at least last year.
CHANG: So quite accomplished so far. I mean, I know that you've been talking to people who knew Mangione throughout his life. What's been their reaction to the news that he's being accused of such a heinous crime?
ASPAN: Disbelief, shock, sadness. I spoke this morning with Freddie Leatherbury, who went to junior high and high school with Mangione, and he remembers someone who was athletic, smart and well-liked.
FREDDIE LEATHERBURY: He had everything going for him. And on top of that, he was well-adjusted socially. He had a lot of friends in a lot of different circles.
ASPAN: Leatherbury told me he hasn't stayed in close touch with Mangione, but he's still wrapping his head around this.
LEATHERBURY: I'm still just in disbelief that the kid that I knew has just taken his life in this direction.
ASPAN: And this was something I also heard from people who knew Mangione more recently.
CHANG: Well, are there any explanations for what could have changed in his life?
ASPAN: He was in some physical pain with his back. In the last couple of years, Mangione was living in Hawaii, and the people there I talked to say that his back pain kept him from surfing, hiking and generally enjoying life as a 20-something there. It also seems that Mangione was spending a lot of time online and following influencers who are big on masculinity-focused self-help advice. He followed libertarian and right-wing influencers like Joe Rogan and a fitness guru who gave advice about, for example, getting a gym membership instead of taking antidepressants. And then in the last year or so, things started to take a more disturbing tone. Mangione even left an online comment that praised the writing of Theodore Kaczynski, the domestic terrorist also known as the Unabomber.
CHANG: Right. I mean, there has been so much speculation that this killing was driven by anger against health insurance companies. In terms of motive, what do we know at this point?
ASPAN: So police have said that Mangione was carrying a handwritten note that railed against corporate America, and it criticized the health insurance industry for being parasitic, according to the AP.
CHANG: That is NPR's Maria Aspan. Thank you so much, Maria.
ASPAN: Thank you, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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