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

[KaylynnCouture]

Do we know why Brian didn’t stay at the hotel

I still question why he was on the phone right before he went over there.

This is critical IMO. And what leads most closely to either there being an accomplice or a hit.

 

[Nikynoo]

Seems to be travelling quite slowly too.

 

[Zinn]

Thank you for posting this! I see the meeting didn't start til 8:00, so the shooter wouldn't likely have thought he'd get lucky & hit an insurance man by shooting at anyone near the hotel at 6;45....
Moo

It has been very clearly reported that the shooter allowed other pedestrians to walk past during the five or so minutes he was lying in wait before emerging to shoot BT. Also, BT had not even turned to indicate he was entering the hotel. He was just walking down the sidewalk. No way to know he was headed to that conference unless you were familiar with him.

 

[Stratocaster]

LE will catch him....the all American smile pulling down his mask will be his demise

 

[taylorss]

after the man rode a bike through Central Park, he was seen taking a taxi to 178th Street and Broadway, where he entered the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Just posting this for anyone else from NYC to clarify the reference to Port Authority... not 42nd St. i was so confused thinking he rode his bike uptown then got a cab back down!

What we know about UnitedHealthcare CEO's fatal shooting and the manhunt for the gunman

New York police say the person of interest in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson likely has left New York City.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[citizen_sleuth]

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>
The police said it was still unclear if the murder weapon was in the backpack, but news of its discovery came after the police provided the most detailed timeline yet of the suspect’s furtive activities during a 10-day stay in New York City.

At a news briefing on Friday, Joseph Kenny, the Police Department’s chief of detectives, offered a timeline showing that within roughly an hour of the killing, the suspect likely fled town on a zigzag escape route through Manhattan by bike, foot, cab and bus.

The chief said the suspect arrived in New York City at 10:11 p.m. on Nov. 24 on a bus that originated out of Atlanta. He took a cab to the New York Hilton and spent about half an hour walking in the area of the hotel before checking into a hostel on the Upper West Side, the chief said.

 

[Stargazer90]

I worked for Sun Life Insurance many many years ago. I worked in the department that “looked after” the Directors who sat on the Board.

Planning for the AGM started a year in advance. Meeting rooms booked, food organized, flights, hotels, etc etc.

Other meetings were organized throughout the year and it was the same yet not with a full year lead time.

There were 5 of us that worked in this department. We knew everyone’s schedule, when limos were to arrive, etc etc.

I would imagine that UnitedHealthcare had a similar set up. There are many people who worked there that would know the intimate details.

MOO

Right, a handful of people, also his Exec Assistant, but this info is not available to all the employees in the company and certainly not available to an angry customer.

 

[Inthedetails]

Just posting this for anyone else from NYC to clarify the reference to Port Authority... not 42nd St. i was so confused thinking he rode his bike uptown then got a cab back down!

What we know about UnitedHealthcare CEO's fatal shooting and the manhunt for the gunman

New York police say the person of interest in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson likely has left New York City.

www.nbcnews.com

He took a cab all the way uptown to 178th Street where there is another Port Authority bus terminal, called the GWB (George Washington Bridge) Bus Terminal. Most busses departing that terminal go across the bridge to New Jersey. It it not a big terminal.

jmo

 

[honestground]

No one wears a mask any more. That alone makes him look suspicious.

I do and so do my parents. People who are immunosupressed still do so I don't know. I'm sure people find it odd but I see people with masks on still daily.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Right, a handful of people, also his Exec Assistant, but this info is not available to all the employees in the company and certainly not available to an angry customer.

And what's definitely not widely known is that he'd leave at 6:45 to get to an 8 o'clock meeting.

 

[Vaderman]

Backpack was removed by an excavator as investigators carefully sift through evidence, source says​

From CNN's Mark Morales
Investigators are treating a backpack found in New York City’s Central Park like a dead body, being very careful not to damage any potential evidence, a law enforcement official told CNN.

The backpack was removed by an excavator along with any physical material found surrounding it, the source said. No officers picked it up to preserve potential DNA evidence tied to the backpack or even the dirt on the ground surrounding it.

Forensic investigators at a police lab in Queens will go through the contents of the bag slowly and deliberately and should have everything out of it by tomorrow. They will examine not only the contents of the bag but the bag itself, which may have sweat or other evidence of the shooter, the source said.

While this is happening, investigators are still searching for the suspect’s name. They believe he traveled to the city by bus and are in the process of ruling out a tip that the shooter left by plane.

Police have different leads and are currently going through them all. In addition to video canvassing, they are requesting bus manifests to see if there could be any identifying clues.

They have also reached out to the security team of UnitedHealthcare to get their complied person of interest list, looking for people that have been publicly vocal with complaints against the company, according to the source. They are asking about anyone who has used any vitriolic language and made threats, either on social media or through attendance at public demonstrations.

Most people on the list have already been dismissed through social media searches, the law enforcement source said. The rest are being looked into for any possible ties.

All the work being done is indicative of the massive undertaking this process is, the source said. The mandate is to continue to build a video timeline of every day the suspect was in the city. There is still no common area where he has gone multiple times.

Identifying the suspect is critical and multiple law enforcement agencies are offering to help in the search once an ID is made, the source added.

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

To paraphrase the Pope: "Yikes"

 

[Big Ears]

Seems to be travelling quite slowly too.

Almost like there were cars breaking in front of him, or a light he was coming up to.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

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>
Kenny said investigators are talking to Brian Thompson’s family, his colleagues and Minnesota law enforcment. “Nothing in our investigation at this time so far indicates that it had anything to do with his personal life,” he said.

 

[BackInNewMexico]

Not one person in the gunman’s life has been able to positively ID him even after his face has been on national (and international) news for days. This is just as crazy to me as the escape plot etc! Who is this guy?? JMO

 

[SK174]

"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.

Yeah I’m actually relatively close to my family and I don’t know that any of them could tell you what I did on tday.

 

[acutename]

Right, a handful of people, also his Exec Assistant, but this info is not available to all the employees in the company and certainly not available to an angry customer.

wonder if someone could have called the Hilton about a delivery to be made to BT and was told "oh he's not here; he's staying across the street."

 

[Agatha3]

If I were writing the crime novel version:
-This is tied to the 2/12/24 infiltration of Change Healthcare by ALPHV/Blackcat in which Change Healthcare/UnitedHealth “recognized” the breach on 2/21/24.
-On 2/20/24, Brian Thompson submits Edgar filing related to a $15+ million sale purportedly on 2/16/24.
-On 2/26/24, WSJ reports DOJ ongoing anti-trust investigation into UnitedHealth which allegedly triggers the stock drop and the subsequent insider trading lawsuits; however important to note two things: the scope of the data breach is probably becoming more known internally at UnitedHealth and whispers of that alone could have triggered a stock drop (ie even if WSJ DOJ report had not come out); and not specifically mentioned in the WSJ article was the fact that part of the DOJ investigation was actually a revisit of whether UnitedHealth ever put in the firewalls between its companies (ie Change, Optum, UnitedHealthCare) that it promised to a judge that it would do when judge ruled in favor of United in a 2022 DOJ anti-trust suit at the time of its acquisition of Change Healthcare.
-Sometime in late February, someone at (or some entity connected to) UnitedHealth makes a $22 million ransomware bitcoin payment to ALPHV/Blackcat. ALPHV/Blackcat effectively renegs on promise after receipt of payment. A second darkweb entity RansomHub requests a second ransomware payment from UnitedHealth. UnitedHealth refuses.
-In late May, due to intense concern/probing from Congress, UnitedHealth admits that over 1/3 of all U.S. citizens healthcare data may have been breached in the attack. Not in all cases, but in some cases, this included the breach of CC and bank account payment info, insurance info, medical imaging records, test results, medicines prescribed, Dr case mgmt records, etc.
-In its quarter ending 9/30/24, UnitedHealth increases the expected financial cost of the breach to be $2.87 BILLION.
———-
(Other than speculating that Thompson’s February stock sale may have somehow been related to the underway data breach, all of the above info comes from either the DOJ/court records or - evenentually - by UnitedHeath)
————
(The following is speculative entirely speculative for the novel
————
-Shooter is from Europe and somehow connected to DarkWeb hackers involved in the breach (not a pro, but knowledgeable with weapons, govt data capture endpoints - eg cctv, facial recognition, id, etc).
-His entry point into the U.S. was through Atlanta where, in the suburban areas, there are a fair amount of European/Eastern European money laundering outfits.
-Shooter road bike from 104/Central Park West through the park, exited at either 59th or 60th, and ditched bike in its hideout spot.
-Knowing that police would be able to walk back every moment that he had spent in midtown/NYC streets, he walked to F train at Rockefeller Center 50th/6th and road it one stop to try to obfuscate (even just giving himself an extra few minutes of LE confusion) to 57th/6th stop to make it seem like he had come from downtown (or UES>Bronx).
-After killing Thompson, shooter enters Central Park heads towards west side but stays on West Drive (ie I think leaving park at 60th/CPW at Columbus circle is a red herring (or maybe media confusion of where he exited on his route to the shooting) as it doesn’t make any sense to exit there and then be back on almost constant CCTV (or CPW building cameras) for a portion of the route up to 77th/CPW.

So the ransom money to cyber hackers was never paid at all? The promise broken?

 

[JennieM]

NEW YORK -- A New York City hostel is now the focal point of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder investigation.

That's where the NYPD obtained photos of a person of interest, who let his guard -- and his mask -- down as he talked to a woman working at the front desk.

A high-ranking source tells CBS News New York police interviewed the woman, and she told officers she asked to "see his pretty smile."

"They were having a flirtatious moment and he pulls it down and he gives a big smile and that one informal moment between two human beings remains at this moment the most significant clue to date in this whole case," former NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said.

"He's been traveling and walking around the streets of New York City, largely in a mask with his face covered. We had to go through lots of video evidence to get that one money shot of him with the mask down," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

NYC hostel at center of UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting investigation: "The most significant clue to date"

An NYC hostel is now the focal point of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder investigation, as police search for a person of interest.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[taylorss]

I saw this mentioned earlier & am wondering... didn't we see a shot of him leaving the subway station right before the killing without his bike. There was discussion upthread of where he got the bike - maybe he'd left it nearby, maybe he had an accomplice holding it in the area ... neither of those options sound great to me, are there any other alternatives?
Moo

 

[kamare]

Do we know why Brian didn’t stay at the hotel

This is critical IMO. And what leads most closely to either there being an accomplice or a hit.