Friends, acquaintances defend Mangione family as media descends on alleged CEO killer's hometown

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. – Alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione's prominent Maryland family has been shaken to its core over his arrest, but friends and acquaintances of the Mangiones describe them as a "great" family.

Thomas Maronick Jr., a friend of the family and radio host in Maryland, said Mangione's arrest was "stunning," adding that they are a "deeply respected family." The Mangione family owns several golf courses and clubs across the state, as well as at least one radio station and other facilities.

"This just doesn't seem like anything associated with them," Maronick, whose radio station was owned by the Mangione family, told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday. "They own golf courses, they own WCBM, they own a retirement home. They just couldn't be more involved in charity and respected in general."

Maronick said he does not remember any time he met Mangione in-person, but said he may have run into him "in passing." He described the family as very "tight-knit," with the patriarch, Nick Mangione Sr., passing down leadership of the family to his son, Nick Jr., who is Luigi's uncle.

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An acquaintance of the family who requested not to be named said he was a longtime neighbor of Nick Jr. more than a decade ago. He praised the family in comments to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, talking about Nick Sr. as "the one who started it all," and reminiscing about giving popsicles to the family's youngest members.

"They are a great family, well I guess except for the one," the man said.

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Luigi's father, Louis Mangione, owns Haysfield Country Club in Cockeysville, Maryland, and the family lives on the property. The club, along with a nearby up-scale shopping center, are the heart of the town.

The family's affluence allowed Luigi to attend Baltimore's Gilman School, a private K-12 school with tuition costing around $40,000 per year. He graduated as valedictorian of his class in 2016.

Neither the former neighbor nor Maronick said they had any knowledge of the Mangione family running into health issues or being denied insurance claims. Luigi himself, however, suffered a back injury and resulting chronic pain in recent years. It is unclear whether he or his family struggled with insurance to cover treatment.

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"I didn't hear anything about that, but it would really surprise me because the family had a lot of means--or excuse me, has a lot of means," Maronick said of the insurance issue. "Especially being involved in healthcare, owning retirement homes. So this is something where they wouldn't have struggled to pay the bills."

The Mangione family released a statement saying they are "devastated" by Luigi's arrest. Maryland State Delegate Nino Mangione, Luigi's cousin, echoed that in his own statement.

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"Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione," the Republican lawmaker said in a statement. "We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news."