15 hours ago
Luigi Mangione's jailhouse pal reveals suspected assassin's job behind bars
An inmate who shared a cell Luigi Mangione in jail has shared a glimpse into the alleged CEO killer's life behind bars, revealing he's got a job cleaning showers.
Michael Daddea was placed in the same unit as the suspected assassin when he arrived at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center on March 5.
Daddea initially thought the guard who namedropped Mangione, who has spent more than six months in pre-trial custody accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was being a 'wise' guy and riling him up.
But when he arrived in the unit, 'Luigi is standing there and he's like, ''Hey, how's it going?'' Like, super nice. Introduced himself to me first thing,' Daddea said in a now-deleted X video.
Daddea was shocked by the hospitality he received just 10 minutes after arriving in the unit, and quickly learned the lay of the land from Mangione.
Mangione, he said, is one of the prisoners referred to as a 'collie' - which means they have a prison job in custody.
'So a collie could be like a unit boss that tells you what cell you're going to. Luigi just happened to be a collie that cleans the showers,' he said. Daddea said other 'collie' jobs include cooking and preparing meals, or cleaning the food trays.
Daddea said when he first locked eyes with Mangione, he went to shake his hand, telling him it was an 'honor to meet you.'
He said Mangione told him that he and a third inmate, nicknamed V, were 'the first kids that came in here who knew who I was or even cared about it.'
Mangione, Daddea and 'V' became fast friends, with Daddea theorizing that he 'saw another white kid and was like ''finally''.'
In between scrubbing the showers for his work, Mangione spends his days running 'laps around the unit' to keep fit and following the news, Daddea said.
'I'm too lazy for all that,' he added.
Daddea posted $250,000 bail after just two days in the prison.
He is facing federal charges for allegedly 3D-printing at least 25 untraceable 'ghost guns' - similar to the weapon Mangione allegedly used to take down Thompson.
Mangione allegedly shot Thompson dead on a New York City sidewalk on December 4 as the healthcare boss attended a seminar.
He spent five days on the run before he was ultimately arrested in Pennsylvania and hit with a suite of federal charges, including murder and terrorism.
According to an alleged manifesto found on him at the time of his arrest, Mangione was inspired by the appalling state of healthcare in the US.
In it, he allegedly blamed healthcare insurers for 'continuing to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed [sic] them to get away with it.'
He has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.
Mangione celebrated his birthday behind bars on May 6, with a letter he sent to mark the occasion emerging on social media last week.
He wrote that the number one thing he was grateful for is 'my friends, for being there when I needed it most.'
'(Number two), my family, for [REDACTED - my personal life is none of your business!].'
He paid tribute to the guards and mail staff at the federal correctional facility in the letter, thanking the mail room workers for having 'photocopied and processed thousands of letters sent to me from over 40 countries - your efforts are appreciated by so many.'
'The MDC staff and CO's, who are nothing like what 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Stanford Prison Experiment' had me believe,' he added at number 10.
The 27-year-old went on to thank an array of people in his letter, from those who donated over a million dollars to his legal defense, to his 'Latinas for Mangione' fan club.
The alleged killer, who is next in court on June 26 but is not expected to stand trial for Thompson's murder until 2026, described his life in jail as a 'predicament' that has pros and cons.
While saying he lives a 'Groundhog Day' lifestyle of monotony in the MDC Brooklyn walls, Mangione said this has also brought him close to 'many talented and generous individuals.'
