Accused Killer Luigi Mangione's Supposed Reddit Posts Show Mindset

NEW YORK CITY — Luigi Mangione, who faces charges in Pennsylvania and Manhattan in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan last week, was apparently an active user on Reddit posting on a number of different forums including one centered around spinal pain.

Mangione allegedly posted under the username “Mister_Cactus" and gives some insight into his mindset leading up to the deadly shooting, according to Forbes.

“When my spondy went bad on me last year (23M) it was completely devastating as a young athletic person,” Mangione wrote in a subreddit for spondylolisthesis, a condition where the vertebrae in the spine slip out of place.

Mangione stressed to other users that he was "destined to have chronic pain and a desk job for the rest of his life" and the thought of that "completely destroyed” him until he learned about spinal fusion surgery, according to the archived posts obtained by the outlet.

The 26-year-old's account appears to have been discovered by other Reddit users on Monday.

In the r/spondylolisthesis community back in April, Mangione posted advice to other users saying: "Keep trying different surgeons. ‘Nobody will operate on my back until I’m at least 40’ is nonsense coming from a medical professional who lacks perspective.”

The shooting suspect allegedly published numerous other posts about how to navigate spinal surgery.

In one post, he said: "Fake a footdrop or piss yourself. This is the nuclear option, but there comes a time when it is just ridiculous that people won’t operate on your broken spine.”

Awaiting Extradition To NYC

Mangione remains jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. By late evening, prosecutors in Manhattan had added a charge of murder, according to an online court docket. He is expected to be extradited to New York eventually.

It's unclear whether Mangione has an attorney who can comment on the allegations. Asked at Monday's arraignment whether he needed a public defender, Mangione asked whether he could "answer that at a future date."

In Blair County, Pennsylvania, charges include: firearms not to be carried without a license, forgery, tampering with records, false identification to law enforcement, and possessing an instrument of a crime, Patch previously reported.

When Mangione could be extradited to New York remains uncertain as a Pennsylvania judge could hold an extradition hearing, which could delay the process of bringing the suspect to Manhattan.

Meaning it could take days or weeks.

Mangione was arraigned on Monday in Pennsylvania. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 23, court records show.

Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said in court that Mangione was found with a passport and $10,000 in cash, $2,000 of it in foreign currency. Mangione disputed the amount.

Spotted At Pennsylvania McDonald's

Mangione was at an Altoona McDonald's when an employee recognized him from the surveillance photos the NYPD released last week, police officials said Monday.

Altoona police were called, and Mangione was taken in for questioning. That's where police discovered a fake ID card identical to the one the suspect had used to check into a hostel on the Upper West Side before the shooting, a computer, a handwritten manifesto about health care companies, and a gun similar to the one used in the killing.

Mangione is from Maryland, and his most recent home address is in Honolulu, Hawaii, FBI special agent Leslie Rodrigues Backschies said during a press conference.

"At this time, he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference Monday. "NYPD detectives are en route to Pennsylvania as we speak."

In the past two days, the NYPD has also found two new pieces of evidence — a backpack suspected to belong to the killer and additional photos of the masked suspect exiting a taxi.

In the backpack, authorities found monopoly money and some clothing, according to the New York Daily News.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a Manhattan news conference that Mangione was carrying a gun like the one used to kill Thompson and the same fake ID the shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione also had a three-page, handwritten document that shows "some ill will toward corporate America."