Months before police say he gunned down a healthcare executive on a New York City street, Luigi Mangione set out on a solo trip to “zen out” in Japan and Thailand to meditate, soak in hot springs and do some writing, The New York Times reported Thursday.

He cut off contact with friends and family, who set out to track him down, according to the report, before emerging to shoot and kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson execution-style last week in Manhattan, police say.

“I want some time to zen out,” Mangione said in an audio message sent to a friend April 27 while hiking in Japan’s Nara region, the Times reported. “There’s like these tiny little villages here, on the side of the cliffs. … I think I want to stay here for like a month, and just meditate and just hot spring, and do some writing.”

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