NY - UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot in Midtown. #3

[honestground]

I’d be absolutely shocked if it wasn’t. Someone has to have called in a reliable tip regarding his identity by now, and there’s a decent chance they’ve now accessed that phone that was recovered. There’s also that gun angle (stupidly using a very uncommon weapon).

Even if it seems stupid to use an uncommon weapon, I wonder if sending a message with the weapon choice (health insurance CEO and gun marketed for veterinary use for dying animals?) may have been more important than using a common weapon. Just MO.

 

[eash]

How does an arrest for insider trading impact the stock price? Could it be another C suite exec that is disgruntled at the insider trading issue and worried about his financial future?

 

[Curiousobserver]

I’d be absolutely shocked if it wasn’t. Someone has to have called in a reliable tip regarding his identity by now, and there’s a decent chance they’ve now accessed that phone that was recovered. There’s also that gun angle (stupidly using a very uncommon weapon).

Well- I have been wrong on everything about this case so far.

Didn't think it was going to prove to be well planned- boy was it
Thought they would catch him by the end of the day- didn't
Thought he would be local to the region and get caught using his EZpass or Commuter card- not it

I do think they will get him sooner rather than later.

So dialing the wheel of possibilities... they will get him today.

 

[MassGuy]

Even if it seems stupid to use an uncommon weapon, I wonder if sending a message with the weapon choice (health insurance CEO and gun marketed for veterinary use for dying animals?) may have been more important than using a common weapon. Just MO.

Oh I think it definitely was important to him on either a psychological level, or in terms of sending that message. When you couple it with the markings on those rounds, it doesn’t seem to be merely a practical choice.

 

[Inthedetails]

I am waiting for an answer to this question as well. Clearly, the hostel worker would HAVE an answer.... but no one is letting this information become public. ???

I soooo want to hear from the flirty hostel clerk. We will eventually. But so curious about that interaction! Was it genuine and he really did let his guard down to charm her, or is he practiced at seamlessly fitting in any situation and flirting was the way to go in that moment. How "practiced" is he at his behavior?

jmo

 

[Sunshynn]

I am still firmly on this bench. I think it is someone who knew him or was involved in his family or close associates.

I think this is a solid lead to chase, as well.

The bomb threat called in to his home that evening and well after he was already killed and the lady going to the mailbox at the home of his estranged wife at roughly the same time as the police were investigating the bomb threat makes me also think it was someone who had knowledge of the family locally.

Not that you can't type in a few words or pay a few bucks to figure out his address but it just all seems to be tied together - imo.

 

[VivianV]

Regarding the Hostel ID questions - I've traveled through dozens of hostels worldwide. If you're not from the country where you're checking in, you need to show your passport(sometimes they keep it until you check out). But, if you reside in that country you can just show your local ID. For instance, an Italian from Milan can show local ID at a hostel in Rome. In this case I read that the killer showed a (fake) New Jersey DL and paid cash. A New York hostel would not require an American to show a passport. So the woman that checked him in, and reportedly flirted asking him to remove the mask, thought the NJ DL was valid identification. She believed he was an American from NJ.

That woman needs to reevaluate her taste in men.

 

[eash]

Moo...flirting is fun. When you are in the service industry...it also gives you a good tell on personality. So reception at hostel... probably flirts alot...just gets people to drop their guard. So obviously he seemed harmless.
About the gun..he probably knows someone in the veterinary trade..or racing trade.. horses, greyhounds....would hunters use that type of gun?

Married to a veterinarian and I asked him about this gun. He looked at me like I was nuts. Never heard of it - granted he is a small animal vet so not shooting his clients but I am not sure shooting animals is common practice anymore in the vet field.

 

[fridaybaker]

Anyone else shocked that no one has come forward yet with an identification of this guy? He has to work somewhere, have friends, acquaintances, people he deals with on a fairly regular basis...

 

[BrownRice]

I'm sure the perp also didn't expect this kind of media coverage!

I thought that too. Maybe a one day headline, but not all the hoopla this has generated. Especially with the public outrage of insurance executives wages and then the mistreatment of members being abused by insurance carriers with denied claims. This will stay in the headlines for awhile probably.

I used to think the same thing about Scott Peterson. He had no idea his missing wife would become a household name at the time.

 

[Sunshynn]

That woman needs to reevaluate her taste in men.

I mean, I don't know.
He looks attractive to me in the unmasked photo particularly of him smiling.
How was the Hostel clerk to know that he was a future CEO killer?

 

[MassGuy]

Anyone else shocked that no one has come forward yet with an identification of this guy? He has to work somewhere, have friends, acquaintances, people he deals with on a fairly regular basis...

I’m sure lots of people have. Even when they get a name though, it’s not like they’ll be telling us, at least right away.

They’ll likely have countless different names to work with, and I imagine they’d start by looking at photos in DMV databases to compare. Even if they got a good match, the investigation would only be beginning in regards to verifying that they have their guy.

Perhaps they’d have enough to move then, or maybe it would require surveillance and surreptitiously acquiring this person’s DNA to compare to what they’ve recovered.

 

[GRT]

It seems counterintuitive for the killer (who planned the assassination) chose NYC for the spot rather than Maple Grove, MN where BT lived. Maple Grove is around 70K population, and likely, not nearly as many security cameras to record his actions.

So, why go to NYC? To throw the authorities off?

What?

 

[Curiousobserver]

Anyone else shocked that no one has come forward yet with an identification of this guy? He has to work somewhere, have friends, acquaintances, people he deals with on a fairly regular basis...

96% of the population is actually rooting for him- I am not surprised people are not lining up for $10K.

Social media posts are 25:1 in favor of what he did. Not endorsing, just reporting.

 

[Marysmith]

I thought that too. Maybe a one day headline, but not all the hoopla this has generated. Especially with the public outrage of insurance executives wages and then the mistreatment of members being abused by insurance carriers with denied claims. This will stay in the headlines for awhile probably.

I used to think the same thing about Scott Peterson. He had no idea his missing wife would become a household name at the time.

I know. I'm surprised people think he would have predicted it would have been this big of a story with newspapers having updates hourly on it.
Totally agree about Peterson. That story just hit at the right time and really touched people's hearts.

 

[Data Sleuth]

exactly, there was someone at BT's hotel, I think the same guy who he met at the Rock 47-50 stop to handoff. The perp went one stop North and the accomplice walked, with the battery, to BT hotel, as soon as BT left his hotel, the accomplice took the bike to the getaway spot where he minded the bike until the murder was done. I assume LE has scoured the Rock Center B/F platform because that is where the handoff HAD to happen for them both to get into position. And like I said, the perp got on the northbound F one stop. And the accomplice HAD to have walked to BT with battery. No way to take subway, he had to have walked

Do we definitely know that he was on an e-bike? From the video that was released (unable to find it or link) the assassin was peddling a bike, a bus approached from behind. I will continue looking for the video.

 

[eash]

I’ve thought about this as well. His build looks rather thin, especially his bone structure in the maskless image of his face. From one perspective it appears Chalamet chique, or it could actually be frail like someone terminally ill.

It would take a lot of energy to travel for 10 days then escape on an e-bike after a murder. If there is illness in the scenario, I would think it would be a family member.

 

[snarast]

Anyone else shocked that no one has come forward yet with an identification of this guy? He has to work somewhere, have friends, acquaintances, people he deals with on a fairly regular basis...

Yeah, if it weren’t for the Delphi case I would be even more surprised.

He must seem very inoffensive.

 

[ElizaKate]

Oh I think it definitely was important to him on either a psychological level, or in terms of sending that message. When you couple it with the markings on those rounds, it doesn’t seem to be merely a practical choice.

Agree. And arguably it was a completely IMpractical choice given the manually cycling. The gun is a message in the same was the bullets are.

 

[thebedbug]

Anyone else shocked that no one has come forward yet with an identification of this guy? He has to work somewhere, have friends, acquaintances, people he deals with on a fairly regular basis...

A little, but we don't know everything law enforcement knows. They may have tips as to who he is, or there might be a good reason they don't.