Former travelling companions of Luigi Mangione are detailing colourful tales of his time abroad in the critical months before he was arrested.

The 27-year-old allegedly shot and killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, on December 4 last year.

He became an infamous folk hero as authorities led a five-day manhunt to find him, finally concluding with his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, United States.

In his final months of freedom before the alleged killing, Mangione backpacked across Asia, the New York Times reports, partying in Thailand and meditating in Japan.

Christian Sacchini and another American encountered the accused murderer in Thailand last March, befriending him at the Soi Cowboy bar in Bangkok’s notorious red-light district.

The group exchanged WhatsApp details before parting ways, with Mangione sending the men periodic updates about his subsequent travels.

Messages show the murder suspect claimed to have been beaten by seven “ladyboys”, sending a photo of scratches on his arm.

“Ladyboy”, a cultural term for transgender women in Thailand, is sometimes considered a derogatory word.

Luigi Mangione allegedly met the other travellers at the Soi Cowboy bar in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo / John Wreford, SOPA Images, LightRocket via Getty Images

Sacchini and the unnamed American told the New York Times Mangione spoke about how “effed up” healthcare was back home – a subject he had written extensively about, investigators discovered after his arrest.

The data engineer had undergone surgery to address his spinal condition in 2023, alleviating his chronic back pain.

Thompson’s killing is believed to have been politically motivated by Mangione’s dissatisfaction with the US healthcare system, though he was never insured by the company.

The New York Times reports Mangione had always been interested in structural inequalities, particularly within healthcare.

He told the other travellers he planned to spend much of his time in Japan writing, enjoying a reprieve from the “chaos” of Thailand in the small village of Tenkawa.

“I think I want to stay here for like maybe a month and just like meditate, just hot spring and do some writing,” he said in an April voice memo.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently being held at the New York Metropolitan Detention Centre while he awaits trials in New York and Pennsylvania.

Proceedings are on hold until Mangione can be transferred interstate.

His lawyers claim the Trump administration “has engaged in purposeful, repeated, unlawful actions” to prevent a fair trial and “further a political agenda”, ABC News reports.