By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-11 19:37:03 | Updated at 2024-12-22 12:21:47
1 week ago
Women 'crushed' on Luigi Mangione as he typed away on his laptop at his co-working space in Honolulu, finding him a dreamy blend of looks, brains and charm, according to former fellow members of the facility.
The 26-year-old Ivy League tech grad, charged this week with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, bore no resemblance to the killer as he rolled in on his bicycle each morning to Hub Co-working Hawaii, a regular there told DailyMail.com.
People there were having a hard time wrapping their heads around the new reality that this affable young man they knew would later carry out the cold-blooded execution 5,000 miles away in midtown Manhattan.
He reportedly detached from family and friends in the months leading up to last Wednesday's killing, but up until late last winter, he would stroll into the communal workspace two blocks from the ocean, grab a coffee, say his hellos and appear to go happily about his day.
'Everyone felt he was just a cool guy,' the source told DailyMail.com. 'He was very dynamic, charismatic, polite.
'He wasn't the nerdy tech type guy. He wasn't hiding under a hoodie. He was just completely normal.'
The source told DailyMail.com that Mangione had complained of back issues and sat in an especially cushy chair to ease his pain, but never made a big deal out of it.
'I never thought it was that much of an issue,' he said. 'He mentioned it, but he didn't seem like he was in pain all the time.'
Luigi Mangione spent half a year living at a surfer's collective in Hawaii in 2022 before 'everything changed' following a surfing accident, insiders tell DailyMail.com
The suspected killer, second from left, was known as a 'cool, charismatic guy' who attracted lots of women before shocking the world as an alleged cold-blooded assassin earlier this month
According to regulars at the workspace, Mangione bore no resemblance to a killer as he rolled in on his bicycle each morning to Hub Co-working Hawaii
Nobody knew his private thoughts, though, how he'd later be found carrying a dark manifesto declaring that 'these parasites had it coming'.
Rather, Mangione seemed to be focused on his job as a data engineer. He came to Hub because he preferred to work in an office rather than at home.
'He came here like most people because they want to be around people,' the source said.
From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a shared penthouse catering to remote workers at the edge of Honolulu tourist mecca Waikiki.
The source told DailyMail.com that Mangione and several other residents started working at Hub, just over a mile away, because of problems with the air conditioning at Surfbreak.
Mangione paid about $375 per month to use the workspace, including after he moved out of Surfbreak into a modern high-rise building nearby, pausing membership when he was out of town.
'He would pop in and out over the course of the years,' the source said. 'He would come in pretty regularly, all day long.'
He said Mangione, unlike some members, 'wasn't the hostel type who'd stick around the space just because they don't have anywhere better to be.'
Mangione, pictured with a friend, lived at Surfbreak, a shared penthouse catering to remote workers at the edge of Honolulu tourist mecca Waikiki from January to June 2022
Former friends of the alleged shooter claim he became 'crazy' after being injured in a surfing accident
Mangione moved out of Surffbreak into a 14th floor apartment in this modern high rise in downtown Honolulu
'He was very professional,' the source said. 'He was very conscious of stuff that he needed to get done. He came to work.'
'It was also evident he came from money, that he wasn't a digital nomad,' the source added.
'He had a job. Even the fact that he stayed at Surfbreak, that's not a cheap place to stay. And he was paying to come and work here.'
But Mangione was also a social butterfly, according to insiders.
He could have afforded a separate pod for himself if he wanted privacy, but the source noted: 'He would always be in the open space.'
He seemed to like the attention, as well, with several women showing an interest in him.
'He was a handsome, charismatic 24 to 25-year-old,' the source said. 'I don't think he dated anyone at the Hub, but I know there were a lot of crushes.'
Asked whether he would ever bring women to the workspace, the source said: 'He did come in with some of those Surfbreak folks for a period of time, women, but no one that he introduced as his girlfriend.'
Mangione was seen lashing out about cops being 'completely out of touch' and 'insulting the intelligence of the American people' as he was bundled into a Pennsylvania court by a horde of sheriff's deputies for his extradition hearing on Tuesday
Surveillance camera footage showed the gunman, suspected to be Mangione, shooting UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson at point blank range outside of a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan on December 4
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside a Manhattan Hilton Hotel
The source last saw Mangione around February.
Mangione was arrested while eating at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, early Monday and arraigned at a local court Monday night.
He is expected to be extradited back to New York City, where he has been charged with murder.
His arrest shocked everyone in the facility, especially as members learned the alleged reasons for the assassination and saw Mangione's volatile appearances and writings.
'He could have completely changed and become a totally different person later, but when he was here, he was very normal, very nice, very polite all the time,' the source said.
He's read with interest about the alleged rationale for the killing as some sort of payback for injustices of the health care system.
He's also found it bizarre and disturbing to now see so many people embracing Mangione and his alleged actions.
'There's a lot of people who are not happy with the health care system right now,' the source said.
'But no matter what happened, it doesn't warrant somebody to be killed for it.
'What we're seeing now, it's not the person we had interactions with,' he continued.
'It's a very different image what people are seeing right now.'
Hub released a statement saying that Mangione 'appeared to be an upstanding and engaged member of our community,' while condemning the violence.
'We are deeply concerned about the serious circumstances involving Mr. Mangione and extend our heartfelt thoughts to all those affected during this difficult time,' the business stated.
