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

[dmac55]

If he wanted to send a message, he couldn’t have picked a better place and way to do it.

That’s why I think that’s the motive, as opposed to some personal grudge or hired hit or something.

This is something straight out of a movie, as assassination type killings just don’t happen with any regularity. They certainly don’t happen on camera, using a suppressed weapon.

They also don’t include bullet casings with cryptic words written on them.

As much as it’s captured the public’s imagination in that regard, it’s also been successful in putting a discussion of the health insurance industry at the forefront.

I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Re: sending a message

The Welrod Assassin's Pistol - SilencerCo
The Welrod Assassin's Pistol - SilencerCo

“Police believe the shooter used a B&T Station Six, known in Great Britain as a Welrod pistol, according to police sources.”
UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect allegedly flashed smile while flirting with hostel worker - ABC News
UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect allegedly flashed smile while flirting with hostel worker

 

[bestill]

This thread is moving so fast, I'm probably behind on commenting. Regarding the self hired hit man. If there's a life insurance policy on BT there may be a suicide clause in it. There could be a significant amount of money involved. For a family to lose a $10mm+ annual income, even with divided households, is pretty devastating. JMO

 

[Vaderman]

He was in NYC on thanksgiving. If he is American, he missed thanksgiving dinner with his family? Again if he is American, Someone was missing their spouse, son, brother, etc at the table…wonder what excuse he gave to miss out.

"I have COVID" has been a pretty workable excuse for the last 4 years.

I don't think skipping Thanksgiving would make too many families suspect anything. People miss out on the holidays for plenty of reasons: work, illness, politics. If he is a college student, studying for exams would be a valid excuse.

 

[Jamara3]

<modsnip: quoted post was removed> Of course, they will say what’s appropriate to keep their investors calm. But seems they are reassured that things will continue business as usual, this event will not have a major effect on their operations or bottom line. Seems this is personal to BT for some reason. Either a personal grievance, or silencing.

 

[na19]

"I have COVID" has been a pretty workable excuse for the last 4 years.

I don't think skipping Thanksgiving would make too many families suspect anything. People miss out on the holidays for plenty of reasons: work, illness, politics. If he is a college student, studying for exams would be a valid excuse.

True they wouldn’t suspect anything at the time, but now that his face is out there they could be putting it all together.

 

[Bridger]

The people who believe BT’s wife could be behind the killing because she believes she’s looking at a decrease in Thompson’s assets should the insider trading case go against him need to know that the case would almost certainly continue after his death, with Thompson’s estate substituted for him as defendant. In fact, the estate couldn’t be settled until the lawsuit is settled. Unlike a criminal prosecution that ends with the defendant’s death, a civil suit would continue to go forward.

 

[Sunshynn]

This thread is moving so fast, I'm probably behind on commenting. Regarding the self hired hit man. If there's a life insurance policy on BT there may be a suicide clause in it. There could be a significant amount of money involved. For a family to lose a $10mm+ annual income, even with divided households, is pretty devastating. JMO

Most suicide clauses in life insurance policies are only for the first two years of the purchase of the policy. Otherwise, it will pay out no matter how you pass. (Source: my job)

 

[armchairagatha]

"I have COVID" has been a pretty workable excuse for the last 4 years.

I don't think skipping Thanksgiving would make too many families suspect anything. People miss out on the holidays for plenty of reasons: work, illness, politics. If he is a college student, studying for exams would be a valid excuse.

Skipping Thanksgiving is not the issue. The fact that he doesn’t seem to have been properly IDed so far is. I hope that is just because LE is keeping their cards close to their chest as they zero in on him. I think we can rule out him being a college student in the US though. That kind of info would have come in through social media already. The TikTok generation won’t keep quiet about such a sensational case. People are underestimating how viral and far-reaching the Internet is. A friend of a friend of a friend would have posted something by now if he had any kind of social network.

 

[Charlot123]

Oh, I get the vitriol when it comes to Health Insurance and outrage at companies being able to make life or death decisions for people -overriding medically trained doctors in most cases - while using an AI algorithm that has a 90% fail rate.

I also get that BT was, for all intents and purposes, the face of UHC.

I further get that there is several others who also play parts in for profit health insurance right up to politicians who standardize insurance practices and allow this stuff to happen.

It's the same mentality that went on when the Titan Submersible imploded with all the millionaires inside it.

Eat the rich and all that.

I do not get the lack of humanity for a fellow human who was murdered and lack of empathy for someone who was not only murdered in the streets of NY but also left a family behind.

BT doesn't see the hate and lack of humanity - his family and children do.

If found guilty, he’d be looking to up to 20 years in prison. I am sure that his kids are devastated, but visiting dad even in a white-collar prison is not fun. It would for sure have negatively affected their career. Now they are victims and will get help and support. On the human side, I feel sorry for them.

 

[ElizaKate]

Suspect charged in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder. Here's what we know.

A man arrested on firearms charges in Pennsylvania was later charged in New York with murder in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

www.cbsnews.com

Thank you.

Suspect was spotted at 5am out the front of the Frederick Douglass Housing Project building.

"Police executed a search warrant at a building in the area on Wednesday night. Police said they believe the suspect may have stayed there the night before the attack." - We now know that was the HI New York City hostel.

Search warrants may still have been executed in the area of the FDHP building, but at the moment we only know that he was spotted in the area. Certainly don't know that the suspect picked up a bike battery from the building - (nothing like that is mentioned in this article)

 

[Bridger]

If found guilty, he’d be looking to up to 20 years in prison. I am sure that his kids are devastated, but visiting dad even in a white-collar prison is not fun. It would for sure have negatively affected their career. Now they are victims and will get help and support. On the human side, I feel sorry for them.

It’s a civil suit— not a criminal prosecution. No prison time.

 

[Elley Mae]

The people who believe BT’s wife could be behind the killing because she believes she’s looking at a decrease in Thompson’s assets should the insider trading case go against him need to know that the case would almost certainly continue after his death, with Thompson’s estate substituted for him as defendant. In fact, the estate couldn’t be settled until the lawsuit is settled. Unlike a criminal prosecution that ends with the defendant’s death, a civil suit would continue to go forward.

Even if property is in trust.jmo

 

[armchairagatha]

True they wouldn’t suspect anything at the time, but now that his face is out there they could be putting it all together.

Which begs the question- is it really his face out there? The simplest explanation seems to be that he was wearing a flesh mask under that Covid mask.

 

[dm799]

Whether you agree or not, there is no point in deluding yourself. A LOT of people want this murderer to go unapprehended.

Even if you find this abhorrent, it does no good to deny the reality.

The memes have been absolutely brutal.

 

[alsleuther]

The people who believe BT’s wife could be behind the killing because she believes she’s looking at a decrease in Thompson’s assets should the insider trading case go against him need to know that the case would almost certainly continue after his death, with Thompson’s estate substituted for him as defendant. In fact, the estate couldn’t be settled until the lawsuit is settled. Unlike a criminal prosecution that ends with the defendant’s death, a civil suit would continue to go forward.

No matter what happens with the DOJ case, he certainly has a life insurance policy of which his wife is most likely the beneficiary of, right? I'd guess it's a hefty sum? And would be in her name, not his.

 

[Charlot123]

Personally, I think a southern accent would stand out more in the city than a foreign accent. I wish we could hear from a witness about his voice! FWIW, I don't think he's from the south, even if he arrived in the city "from the south."

jmopinion

Lots of Southerners, from deep Texas, work on not speaking with the Southern accent when out of their area of living. It seems that the trend is to lose it even in school.

 

[RobSA]

One thought about why he came to town so early. He might have thought he was placing his travel outside of the scope of any investigation of airport, train, bus records. They would be looking at names within a few days before. By coming by bus, 10 days early, he is a little more under the radar. He was not counting on them identifying the hostel he was staying at and knowing he came in on the 24th and finding him on the bus that way.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s suspected killer arrived in NYC last month on bus that left from Atlanta: sources

The suspected killer who gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson came to New York City on an interstate Greyhound bus last month, police sources told The Post.

nypost.com

<snipped & BBM>
After reaching the Big Apple, he checked into the HI New York City Hostel on the Upper West Side before going to stake out the Hilton Hotel in Midtown, where he ended up killing Thompson early Wednesday.

He appeared to have checked out of the youth hostel for one night before returning in an Uber a day later — on Nov. 30 — to rebook a room with a fake New Jersey ID, per sources.

 

[Charlot123]

This killing wasn't his personal grievance, imo, and there won't be a manifesto unless some group releases one.

But I'm thinking that won't happen because everything so far has been sleek, sort of stylish, mysterious, fascinating to consume...and manifestos require reading. Sorry to sound cynical.

jmopinion at the moment

He wrote his manifesto. Deny, defend, depose. The internet will do the rest.

 

[sds71]

The gunman who killed the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning appeared to have used a silencer, a tightly regulated firearm accessory that has long been associated with Hollywood hit men but is rarely seen in real-life murders.

Though legal in 42 states, they have been subject to federal restrictions since the days of Prohibition-era gang violence. Purchasing one requires submitting fingerprints and a photograph, undergoing a background check and paying a $200 transfer tax.

Despite those hurdles, silencers have skyrocketed in popularity — nearly five million are registered in the United States, up from 285,000 in 2011. The boom in sales is largely the result of a marketing effort by the firearms industry to rebrand silencers as health care devices that prevent hearing damage from gunfire. The industry has also successfully pressured federal regulators to speed up application processing times.

Manhattan Shooter Used a Silencer. Nearly 5 Million Are Registered in the U.S.

The tightly regulated firearm accessory has long been associated with Hollywood hit men but is rarely seen in real-life murders.

www.nytimes.com