# I pit the idolization of Luigi Mangione **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 28, 2025, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914 "2025-02-28T10:37:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/167 "2025-10-27T16:56:04Z")
A new study out on the (literal) romanticization of violent criminals has introduced a new (to me) term for the attraction: [hybristophilia](https://www.psypost.org/hybristophilia-study-links-tiktok-to-womens-sexual-attraction-to-criminals/). A slightly less than authoritative source [reports](http://radaronline.com/p/exclusive-frenzied-male-and-female-fans-already-writing-to-alleged-ceo-killer-luigi-mangione-in-jail-with-proposals-as-he-inspires-jeffrey-dahmer-style-worship/) that Mangione has been getting marriage proposals from both women and men, and there was a case where a woman reportedly planned to marry Luigi’s AI and live happily ever after. Seems like a hell of a way to attract romantic partners, but it works for some inmates (see also [Jeffrey MacDonald](https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/how-did-jeffrey-macdonald-meet-his-second-wife-kathryn-macdonald). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/168 "2025-10-27T18:13:38Z")
Ted Bundy got married in court during his murder trial. > **[Ted Bundy's Courtroom Proposal to Carole Ann Boone at Murder Trial](https://www.historyvshollywood.com/video/ted-bundy-courtroom-proposal-to-carole-ann-boone/)** > > Watch Ted Bundy's Courtroom Proposal to Carole Ann Boone at Murder Trial video. He took advantage of an obscure Florida state law that said an acceptance of marriage in front of a judge legally counted as marriage. > Ted Bundy and Carole Ann Boone conceived a child together while he was in prison. According to Boone, they would engage in intimacy behind the water cooler in the visitors’ area or sneak into the bathroom. So romantic! ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/169 "2025-10-27T19:33:05Z")
Hmm, I seem not to have linked [this Laurie Penny article on this phenomenon](https://lauriepenny.substack.com/p/guilty-pleasures) at time of writing. > [@](#): > > He was a handsome lad in his early twenties with dark eyes and a nice smile, and he was wanted by the law for crimes he had certainly committed. Nobody thought he was innocent. Nobody seemed to care. A worrying proportion of the public was openly hoping he’d get away. The media loved him. The ladies loved him. His name was on everyone’s lips. > > His name was Jack Sheppard. He grew up in a London workhouse. He was also known as Gentleman Jack or Honest Jack, the joke being that he was neither, which was extremely funny in 1724. He was an incompetent highwayman and a mediocre thief - but he was very, very good at breaking out of jail. […] > > It was well known that Sheppard was, at very least, an accessory to murder. Everyone loved him anyway. For the whole summer, as the thief-takers scoured the city, the broadsheets and folksingers were simping hard for Jack Sheppard. Almost exactly three centuries later, the right sort of ethically suspect protagonist still does far more political damage by force of personality than they do by committing actual crime. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/170 "2025-10-27T19:39:44Z")
There’s a whole community of women online who are/were big fans of Harris and Klebold, the two Columbine High School shooters. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2025, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/171 "2025-10-27T19:49:28Z")
To be fair (?), Carole Ann Boone knew Bundy [before](http://people.com/who-was-ted-bundy-wife-carole-ann-boone-11796829) his first arrest and subsequent convictions for kidnapping and murder. > [@](#): > > Bundy first met Boone in 1974, while the two were working at the Washington State Department of Emergency Services in Olympia, Wash. > > At the time, Bundy was helping with the search for the missing women he had killed. He abducted and murdered nearly a dozen women in Washington and the surrounding states that same year. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/172 "2025-10-27T19:55:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Carole Ann Boone knew Bundy [before](http://people.com/who-was-ted-bundy-wife-carole-ann-boone-11796829) his first arrest and subsequent convictions for kidnapping and murder. Absolutely, yes, they knew each other before he was infamous. But they reconnected while he was in prison in Utah for murders he committed there, and then they literally got married during the trial, in the trial courtroom. That seems to me like taking the “in love with a murderer” to extremes. From your cite: > According to Florida law at the time, an open declaration of marriage — properly phrased — in the courtroom in front of legal court officers, was considered a legal marriage. So Bundy, serving as his own attorney, called Boone to the witness stand, and the two performed a marriage ceremony. What I think is even more bonkers is that Boone apparently had a limit. She was fine with him being a murderer, as long as he didn’t murder _too_ many women, but when he admitted to murdering even more, I guess she figured **that** meant he wasn’t going to be a model husband and father. > For Bundy’s first two years on death row, Boone often visited him in jail. However, she ended her visits — and his ability to see his daughter, Rose — after he admitted to more murders. People can be pretty weird I guess. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2025, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/173 "2025-10-27T20:30:26Z")
Charles Watson was married and had kids. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/174 "2025-10-28T01:37:03Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > What I think is even more bonkers is that Boone apparently had a limit. She was fine with him being a murderer, as long as he didn’t murder _too_ many women, but when he admitted to murdering even more, I guess she figured **that** meant he wasn’t going to be a model husband and father. It wasn’t that Boone was fine with the murders as it was she believed Bundy to be innocent. Bundy was pretty good at manipulating people, but whatever hold Bundy had over her was knocked out by his confessions. And I’ll be damned. The name Mumia Abu-Jamal just popped into my head and I haven’t thought about him in more than twenty-five years. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/175 "2025-10-28T01:52:16Z")
And probably an even bigger one that fawns over Chris Watts, who killed his pregnant wife and two preschool-aged daughters in Colorado a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2025, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/176 "2025-10-29T10:18:57Z")
On another (kink-related) site I warned people about a predator who had manipulated one of the users to do some bad things. I got a DM from someone hoping to meet them. Most everyone else seems to understand that the danger should be fake, but there are some who don’t seem to care. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2026, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/177 "2026-01-29T22:22:18Z")
Someone tried to break him out jail. [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/nyregion/luigi-mangione-break-out-blade.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/nyregion/luigi-mangione-break-out-blade.html) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/178 "2026-01-30T01:30:51Z")
Sounds like someone mentally ill doing something relatively random rather than any considered or serious attempt. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/179 "2026-01-30T11:00:05Z")
My family and I talked about the “attempted break-out” at dinner last night, and these words actually came out of my mouth about Mangione. I still can’t believe I said them. “Is he the _bad_ kind of murderer, or the good kind? I mean, he _did_ kill a soulless CEO of an insurance company -” and I fucking know better than that. _Soulless?_ Those words, coming from the mouth of a liberal Christian? There is no such thing as the _good_ kind of murderer. But adding terrorism charges against Mangione is a transparent attempt to make sure he gets the death penalty. It’s clearly being charged as terrorism just because of who the victim was. A CEO who made millions of dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/180 "2026-01-30T11:05:58Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > But adding terrorism charges against Mangione is a transparent attempt to make sure he gets the death penalty. The terrorism charge was dismissed. > **[Judge dismisses terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4y2p8qq5qo)** > > Judge Gregory Carro also ruled a second-degree murder charge against Mangione could stand during a hearing on Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/181 "2026-01-30T11:18:06Z")
Ah. Ignorance fought. _Federal_ murder charges. Yeah, if he’s guilty, they’ll probably execute him, and he deserves to die if anybody else does. I’m against capital punishment, though. I think. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/182 "2026-01-30T12:16:23Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > It’s clearly being charged as terrorism just because of who the victim was. I don’t know the detail of the definition of terrorism in the relevant jurisdiction. However, broadly, terrorism tends to involve the concept of violence to pursue a political goal. So I suspect you are only correct in the sense that the terrorism charge was based (ultimately unsuccessfully) on an allegation that Mangione’s victim was chosen by reference to a political goal. The terrorism charge would not have been based on the victim’s salary. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/183 "2026-01-30T12:34:55Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > However, broadly, terrorism tends to involve the concept of violence to pursue a political goal. In theory. In practice it means the “present government doesn’t like you”. Thus the people murdered by ICE being labeled as “terrorists”. Also, I think the shielding of _those_ murderers by the government makes it even harder for me to really work up much outrage over what Mangione did. It’s just too clear that the killing isn’t the problem, it’s _who_ he killed. I doubt he’d even be imprisoned if he’d killed someone for being brown instead of for being a CEO. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/184 "2026-01-30T12:49:42Z")
Thus the people protesting ICE being labeled as “terrorists”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/185 "2026-01-30T15:34:03Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Also, I think the shielding of _those_ murderers by the government makes it even harder for me to really work up much outrage over what Mangione did. Yeah, save the outrage for those who say “meh” about the murder or actively support him. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914/186 "2026-01-30T15:40:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Also, I think the shielding of _those_ murderers by the government makes it even harder for me to really work up much outrage over what Mangione did. It’s just too clear that the killing isn’t the problem, it’s _who_ he killed. I doubt he’d even be imprisoned if he’d killed someone for being brown instead of for being a CEO. He’s been arrested by and is being prosecuted by the state of New York which is certainly not “shielding” anyone from ICE. What are you even talking about? The fact that Trump’s federal government is doing fucked up shit with ICE impacts the way you view New York going after this fucked up asshole? Very strange. You think the State of New York would not imprison him if he “killed someone for being brown” and your evidence for this is the way they shield ICE agents? Cite for NY doing that? You’re high off your ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-idolization-of-luigi-mangione/1014914.md?page=10)