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

[MassGuy]

can someone post the bus schedule again? sorry i tried going back through the pages but didn't see it
thank you

From @ElizaKate

These are the stops:

• Atlanta Bus Station
• Greenville (Raceway Gas Station)
• Charlotte Bus Station
• Winston Salem (Trans Center)
• Raleigh Bus Station
• Richmond (Main St Station Plaza)
• DC (Union Station)
• Baltimore Downtown Bus Station
• Newark (NJ)
• New York Port Authority

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

 

[Deleted member 350315]

The only thing I can think is that without the battery, no one would want to steal the ebike. On my bike, the battery is locked in place, and I have to use a key to remove it. That's a safety feature to keep someone from stealing it.

The other potential consideration is the temperature. I don't know what the overnight low was in NYC that night, but lithium-ion batteries can function at lower performance if they're cold. Maybe he/they didn't want to run the risk of leaving the battery outside all night.

All MOO

The temperature in Manhattan was in the low 30s F that night, with the time of the killing being the coldest part of the day, so yes it's plausible the shooter would want to store the battery in a warm place overnight. However, due to there being a spate of fires -some lethal- in NYC in the last few years caused by combusting lithium-ion batteries, I doubt the hostel the suspect stayed at allows indoor e-bike or battery storage. Could be the suspect kept the battery secreted in that backpack of his.

 

[Diddian]

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.

I don't think it's a coincidence either; however, it could be staging to misdirect early LE attention away from a "closer-to-home-and-associates" event.

It is ODD - and unexpectedly lucky for the shooter - that the victim did not have a security detail with him and that the shooter - who appeared to be communicating with someone shortly before the shooting - seemed to know well in advance where BT would be and at what time and that he would be absent his security detail.

 

[SK174]

I can say from personal experience ATL is one of the busiest airports in the States. Getting around the airport can be a challenge depending on where you are arriving from or where you departing to. Killer might have picked that airport for just that reason.

MOO

It’s the busiest airport in the world.

 

[Betty P]

Yes anti establishment sentiment.

UH and similar companies need only make the necessary investment into IT staff to keep their computer/server security up to date. Too many of the big corporations these days only spend enough money to bring in temporary IT experts to work on these kinds of projects. They slam through a quick project, then lay off the experts only updating their security when there's a new breach.

They're victims of their own greed and incompetence.

 

[vls12345]

No. They had something like a thousand officers scouring the park looking for that backpack. To date, they haven’t found it.

John Miller said they searched dumpsters, trash cans, and did a grid search.

They must have missed it, or some opportunistic person grabbed it when they saw it unattended.

Could he have compressed/rolled up the backpack & put it under his jacket so that he would possibly look different on cams when exiting the park?

 

[cujenn81]

I never mentioned it to anyone other than my husband, but I also thought that the guy at Starbucks and the guy at the Hostel looked like two different people.

I was looking mainly at the eye shape. The noses also look different. Everyone is saying the same thing about Brian Thompson assassin photos

Just my opinion, but I think the assassin is long gone from NYC.

JMO.

If it’s not the same guy, why hasn’t hostel guy reached out to LE to say hey—you have the wrong guy! Here’s my phone and this is where I was at the time of the shooting. Pull my phone data, verify whatever, and tell the public to stop looking for me! And why did he use a fake ID to check into the hostel? Or go to such great lengths to hide his face from cameras for ten whole days?

I agree the suspect has probably left New York at this point, but I’m fairly certain it’s the same guy.

 

[Inthedetails]

Did the killer know there were no cameras in Central Park? I assume he did since that was his first stop after the killing. So why wouldn’t he change into a different set of clothes in a restroom there? I am not 100% convinced that is the killer they spotted leaving Central Park. Did he go there just to get rid of the backpack which has not been found?

He went through Central Park because he knew there were no cameras so he had a place away from surveillance immediately after the crime as LE swarmed to the scene. And, it was a good route back to the UWS.

jmopinion

 

[MassGuy]

Former FBI agent identifies the "mistakes" that may lead to the suspect's capture​

From CNN's Elizabeth Wolfe
The man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson had carefully planned his movements around the city, but several key mistakes may eventually lead investigators to identify him, former FBI agent Daniel Brunner told CNN.

“I think what he was trying to do was trying to be a professional. He thought that he was being professional by paying the cash and (using the fake) ID,” Brunner said on “CNN News Central.”

But removing his mask during a flirtatious exchange with the hostel clerk was “one of his biggest mistakes,” Brunner said. It allowed investigators to get the clearest image of his face so far.

Wearing a backpack that could be traced back to him and staying at a high-traffic hostel could also work against him, he added.

“These different mistakes and staying at a hostel where he had roommates and other people seeing him come and go — those are mistakes that will eventually lead to his capture,” Brunner said.

Investigators mapping the suspect’s movements across New York City will be aided by the “immense amount of surveillance” provided by the city’s web of cameras, Brunner said.

“When he leaves New York City, that’s where it becomes a much bigger puzzle piece in trying to put together his movements,” he added.

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare-news-12-6-24/index.html

 

[vls12345]

What specific about how he carrys himself.

Why not fly in closer? Why all the way to Atlanta?. Shoot, even DC would work.

Atlanta airport is just so big & busy which might make it easier to blend in with a crowd, imo. (For sure Washington Reagan airport in DC is a lot smaller, fewer flights, & fewer hours of operation; I think there are noise limits for late night flights there. Not sure how Dulles compares.) Jmo.

 

[Rose Just Rosr]

Relatively expensive, a bit of an unusual design, and a conspicuous color.

He might as well have carried around a sign saying he was the suspect. It made it very easy for law enforcement to follow him on surveillance.

Hello, I been a long time websleuth reader/ watcher. Love this place. I usually want to write but delete and carry on reading Today I ‘ll be brave. This case is very interesting but one thing my mind can’t un see is there is actually two people maybe two family members… making it hard to distinguish between camera and times. The backpack is meant to focus on maybe and missing the slight other difference in camera pics. I’m not sure if I’m making sense but what I see is two different people with very little difference between them.

 

[Inthedetails]

From @ElizaKate

These are the stops:

• Atlanta Bus Station
• Greenville (Raceway Gas Station)
• Charlotte Bus Station
• Winston Salem (Trans Center)
• Raleigh Bus Station
• Richmond (Main St Station Plaza)
• DC (Union Station)
• Baltimore Downtown Bus Station
• Newark (NJ)
• New York Port Authority

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

My hunch from my armchair is he got on the bus in Newark, with his handy fake NJ ID in hand. And he might have headed back to Newark after the crime. But, I'm just guessing.

jmopinion

 

[setyourselffree]

Did the killer know there were no cameras in Central Park? I assume he did since that was his first stop after the killing. So why wouldn’t he change into a different set of clothes in a restroom there? I am not 100% convinced that is the killer they spotted leaving Central Park. Did he go there just to get rid of the backpack which has not been found?

I would imagine he knew. The DOT has cameras all along Central Park West at several intersections but given there's few business-type operations in the actual park (assuming he didn't stop at 6:50 in the morning to scope out the the zoo), he probably figured it'd be a safe place to hide/destroy/sink the evidence there. I mean there's a lake, a pond, a reservoir... not to mention brush/trash cans/toilets... my money is most of it is in the water. Put a coupe of rocks in the bag, toss it in, and ride into the sunset.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

If it’s not the same guy, why hasn’t hostel guy reached out to LE to say hey—you have the wrong guy! Here’s my phone and this is where I was at the time of the shooting. Pull my phone data, verify whatever, and tell the public to stop looking for me! And why did he use a fake ID to check into the hostel? Or go to such great lengths to hide his face from cameras for ten whole days?

I agree the suspect has probably left New York at this point, but I’m fairly certain it’s the same guy.

I could also ask why the woman that ran from the scene hasn't called the police to identify herself?? Maybe, she has; and the police are keeping that a secret.

JMO.

 

[rizzo0904]

My hunch from my armchair is he got on the bus in Newark, with his handy fake NJ ID in hand. And he might have headed back to Newark after the crime. But, I'm just guessing.

jmopinion

I also think he got on closer to the end. I don't think Atlanta has anything to do with this. He got on in DC or north.

 

[Justice101]

If it’s not the same guy, why hasn’t hostel guy reached out to LE to say hey—you have the wrong guy! Here’s my phone and this is where I was at the time of the shooting. Pull my phone data, verify whatever, and tell the public to stop looking for me! And why did he use a fake ID to check into the hostel? Or go to such great lengths to hide his face from cameras for ten whole days?

I agree the suspect has probably left New York at this point, but I’m fairly certain it’s the same guy.

In general, LE is very disciplined on what they release. What they release is double and triple verified.

I think they are sure it was the same guy at the hostel

 

[citizen_sleuth]

This newly-updated NYT article says the suspect exited Central Park around 60th Street -- previously reports have said he was seen exiting the park at 77th Street. If true, this means the suspect biked out of the park almost as soon as he entered it (Center Drive starts at 59th Street) and then biked up to 85th Street, where he was caught on CCTV at 6:59am.

If he exited the park around 60th Street and not 77th Street, that would massively reduce the search area for the backpack.

Police Find Backpack in Central Park, a Possible Link to Gunman Who Killed C.E.O.

Three days after an insurance executive was fatally shot on a Manhattan sidewalk, the authorities provided a detailed timeline of the suspect’s movements. It was not yet known what was in the backpack.

www.nytimes.com

<snipped & BBM>
Police said the gunman fled the shooting scene into Central Park on a bicycle. Video surveillance of the park showed that he exited it on the west side, in the area around 60th Street, without his backpack, according to a law enforcement official. Officers searched the park on Thursday but were unable to find the pack, the official said.

 

[MassGuy]

My hunch from my armchair is he got on the bus in Newark, with his handy fake NJ ID in hand. And he might have headed back to Newark after the crime. But, I'm just guessing.

jmopinion

I’ve always liked him being from the general area, so I like New Jersey. I’d put my money on Virginia or points north.

 

[MesquiteO21]

From @ElizaKate

These are the stops:

• Atlanta Bus Station
• Greenville (Raceway Gas Station)
• Charlotte Bus Station
• Winston Salem (Trans Center)
• Raleigh Bus Station
• Richmond (Main St Station Plaza)
• DC (Union Station)
• Baltimore Downtown Bus Station
• Newark (NJ)
• New York Port Authority

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

thanks!

 

[x_files]

I don't think it's a coincidence either; however, it could be staging to misdirect early LE attention away from a "closer-to-home-and-associates" event.

It is ODD - and unexpectedly lucky for the shooter - that the victim did not have a security detail with him and that the shooter - who appeared to be communicating with someone shortly before the shooting - seemed to know well in advance where BT would be and at what time and that he would be absent his security detail.

I wonder if BT always travels with security? If so, why not on the morning of the 4th? What was different about that day?