Luigi Mangione Texted Joke About Paying for Prostitute with ‘Pornstar Pokémon’ Cards During Japan Trip Months Before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Murder Charges

Several months before being charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione was traveling across Asia, backpacking through countries including Japan, Thailand, and India.

Mangione now faces both state and federal murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Thompson, who was killed while walking in Midtown Manhattan in December 2024. Thompson, a Minnesota native and father of two, had been visiting New York for an annual UnitedHealthcare investor conference at the time of his death.

According to a report by The New York Times, Mangione’s travels took him to Japan’s Osaka and the Nara Mountains in the spring of 2024. During his time in Japan, Mangione reportedly joked with friends via text, sending a photo and claiming he tried to pay a Yakuza boss — a leader of organized crime — for a prostitute using “pornstar Pokémon” cards instead of Japanese yen.

Luigi Mangione Texted Joke About Paying for Prostitute with ‘Pornstar Pokémon’ Cards During Japan Trip Months Before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Murder Charges

Mangione also told friends that he sought a slower pace while in the Nara Mountains, hoping to “zen out” during his stay there, the report said.

After Japan, Mangione traveled to Mumbai, India, before eventually returning to the United States. He briefly settled in San Francisco in July, about five months before the deadly shooting in New York City.

A Maryland native who later lived in Hawaii after college, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case