NY - UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot in Midtown. #4

[wibbleflea]

Seems to me that the shooter probably would have wanted to see Brian in person at some point before the assassination to be sure of his target. Appears that there were only those professionally taken headshots of him online before this happened and I can't find any videos of him so my guess is that part of the shooter's plans would have been seeing Brian in real life first.

It was reported earlier in this thread that Brian arrived in NYC on Monday, two days before the shooting. The killer would have had plenty of time to see what he looked like. There would probably have been a rehearsal for an event as important as this one. This conference was for big investors only.

 

[justtrish]

They are certainly similar in that regard. I consider Keys to be the scariest serial killer of all time because of the extent of his planning, and his intelligence.

Both have those things in common, but their motivations couldn't be more different. I do not believe this guy has killed before, because I believe this was personal to him in some way. Keyes did it for enjoyment.

I am wondering if he would do it again. Was BT the only person he had an issue with or are there others? If he gets away with this, then maybe he would do it again. I can't imagine BT is the only person he views as responsible for whatever issue he had with him (well unless it's truly personal like BT was romantic with someone this guy loves or something like that). If it's a bigger beef with UHC or insurance companies or with the insider trading thing that was going on, then there would be others equally if not more so responsible too.

 

[soap mama]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/07/us/brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare-gunman-search-saturday/index.html

<snipped & BBM>
NYPD divers were searching a body of water in New York’s Central Park on Saturday for the firearm used in the fatal shooting of a health care executive in Manhattan, a law enforcement official told CNN, as the search for the gunman nears the end of its fourth day.

The divers were seen in water known as the Lake, near the park’s iconic boathouse and Bethesda Fountain, the official said.

[...]

No gun was found in the backpack believed to have belonged to the gunman, law enforcement officials said Saturday.

[...]

The Peak Design backpack contained a Tommy Hilfiger jacket, according to the officials. It was not immediately clear if other items were in the backpack, officials said.

[...]

They have also contacted UnitedHealthcare’s security team to obtain its own person-of-interest list, looking for people who have been publicly vocal with complaints against the company, according to the source.

Did we ever see him in a Tommy Hilfiger Jacket?

 

[eddie_van]

Maybe there were originally four - the three in the title plus "depose" (the final shot, coup de grace). But it didn't go exactly as planned with the weapon's action.

exactly, we saw the weapon malfunction somehow, so it's not surprising that the bullet message is incomplete.

 

[MassGuy]

I am wondering if he would do it again. Was BT the only person he had an issue with or are there others? If he gets away with this, then maybe he would do it again. I can't imagine BT is the only person he views as responsible for whatever issue he had with him (well unless it's truly personal like BT was romantic with someone this guy loves or something like that). If it's a bigger beef with UHC or insurance companies or with the insider trading thing that was going on, then there would be others equally if not more so responsible too.

If this was some quickly planned shooting or something, I'd be concerned about that. This was painstaking, and took an incredible amount of planning, and 10 tedious days on the ground.

So I don't suddenly see some pivot from a guy like that, to a spree killer.

 

[Citizen Dick]

Lest not forget United Health is not entirely provided for Americans. UH sold off their Brazilian subsidiary, Amil, earlier this year for 7B to a private investor and things don't seem to be going good there. I've done countless reverse image searches of the suspect and they all point to a specific Brazilian man. Not posting that here though

 

[BackInNewMexico]

exactly, we saw the weapon malfunction somehow, so it's not surprising that the bullet message is incomplete.

Definitely could be! I also think it could be a completely different message unrelated to the book, although it’s just a hunch.
I wish LE would make another update… about anything at this point!

 

[Furore]

I can definitely agree no person deserves to be arbitrarily murdered over their job. Or for any reason at all.

I can also understand the depth of feeling against private healthcare companies. It does feel morally lacking that profits are record breaking whilst so are claim denials - 1/3rd versus the industry standard of 11% or something.

If my child or loved one had passed away or if lost my house due to a claim denial, and investors were meeting to discuss record breaking profits - I do understand the degree of hatred that could engender, I just don’t agree with vigilante homocide - but how are these companies ever held to account really?

 

[wibbleflea]

we saw the weapon malfunction somehow

Possible but it seems unlikely. That type of gun needs to be cleared after every shot. People who know their guns suggest a B&T VP9 or a B&T Station Six, both based on an old British WWII-era design.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

If this was some quickly planned shooting or something, I'd be concerned about that. This was painstaking, and took an incredible amount of planning, and 10 tedious days on the ground.

So I don't suddenly see some pivot from a guy like that, to a spree killer.

I wonder what he did in the 10 days he was in NYC -- I believe the only information that has been publicly disclosed about his whereabouts in those 10 days before the killing is that he took a cab directly to the Hilton and spent around 30 minutes walking the area around the hotel immediately after arriving at Port Authority Bus Terminal on Nov. 30.

 

[justtrish]

If this was some quickly planned shooting or something, I'd be concerned about that. This was painstaking, and took an incredible amount of planning, and 10 tedious days on the ground.

So I don't suddenly see some pivot from a guy like that, to a spree killer.

What do you make of the 10 day stay in NYC?

Do you think he came to walk through this over and over and find the best path in/out of the area?

Do you think he is from the area and did it this way to try to point away from it being someone from the area?

I wish we knew more about his movements in those 10 days. Was he seen over and over along this same route or trying out different bus/train routes to see how it would go at that time of the morning. Did he walk through central park several times, was he seen on camera anywhere else.. also what was he doing on Monday when JT arrived in the area. So many questions.

 

[kaen]

The multiple meanings of the word depose are interesting. Depose: to put down, to remove from high position, to testify, to take testimony and (intransitive verb) to bear witness.

 

[Vegasgrl]

The concept of "departure on a passport" doesn't exist in the US. That's TSA, not CBP, that wants to see "real ID" as you go through security, and that can include non-travel-documents. And before that, the airline at checkin will want to be sure that you have a travel document, of course.

On the other hand, entering the US and showing a foreign passport to a CBP officer if you are a citizen is a big no-no. That is illegal.

Not sure about what every destination requires, but Israel requires travelers to show your passport BEFORE your departure from the US. So there's definitely at least one exception.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

...That makes me raise a brow that he could have been targeted to make a deal to take down others...

SBM. My husband and I are speculating that it has to be someone with intimate knowledge of the movements of BT and know that he did not have security with him. So, we figured that it is either his wife or partner or someone in the company that wanted to eliminate him.

If there were other UHC executives staying at the same hotel, I certainly hope that police have their cell phones. It could also be someone staying at the Hilton who made a call to BT and asked him to come to the hotel right away.

It seems to us that someone alerted the assassin that BT was leaving the hotel alone and what he was wearing.

JMO.

 

[MesquiteO21]

Did we ever see him in a Tommy Hilfiger Jacket?

I’m not sure but I didn’t think TH was currently all that popular with Americans like it was in the 90s. Not saying absolutely no American wears it anymore but according to this site, TH sales were the biggest in Europe in 2020

Tommy Hilfiger retail sales share by region worldwide 2020 | Statista

This statistic depicts Tommy Hilfiger's global retail sales share in 2020, broken down by region.

www.statista.com

 

[Majus]

I think it would be difficult to have studied all the executives in enough detail to recognise them on the street, it is often really hard to recognise people from photos, but the shooter did not hesitate. He shot BT and only BT despite all the other people nearby. The timing was also so perfect. I do struggle to see how he could have known where and at precisely what time BT would be in position, without help though!

Remember the phone call the shooter made before the shooting? I think BT planned to meet someone for breakfast at the Hilton, and that someone was the killer — although BT did not know that was the real intent. So the phone call was to let BT know his breakfast companion had arrived for the meeting so he should come over now.

Consider, if you will...
1. Other parties with more at risk in the insider trading scheme were running scared;
2. Because they had learned BT was going to sell them out to lessen his punishment;
3. So they set up a phony meeting for BT to meet an "important investor" for breakfast while he was in NYC;
4. These other parties hire a hit man to fill the role of the "important investor";
5. The morning of the planned meeting, the "important investor" places the fatal phone call to BT;
6. When BT appears, the killer falls in behind him and completes the contract.

Incidentally, I think the hit man operates out of the southern part of the east coast, not Georgia. Very likely Maryland or DC. He is also a frequent visitor to NYC.

 

[krikken]

Possible but it seems unlikely. That type of gun needs to be cleared after every shot. People who know their guns suggest a B&T VP9 or a B&T Station Six, both based on an old British WWII-era design.

Fine.

Anyway, do we know the total number of shots fired and which ones hit BT, and where in his body? Have an old link to unedited video, but I'd rather not watch someone's death again.

 

[Jamara3]

I am curious about the “Delay, Deny, Defend” book that has been at topic of this case. Does anyone know how popular this book really was? I had never heard of it, not that that means much. It was written in 2010, almost 25 years ago. Seems a strange manifesto for the perp to hang their hat on to me? This is my complete speculation but I feel like it would have been most on the radar of people working in the insurance industry, rather than the general public.

And likely someone older than the perp we’ve seen. I haven’t read it but my first reaction is that a book 25 years old is very out of date for the healthcare industry, technology, society, politics in general. Again adds to questioning of motive, background, actors behind this situation.

 

[ElizaKate]

exactly, we saw the weapon malfunction somehow, so it's not surprising that the bullet message is incomplete.

And not nice to say but there's also potentially three bullets inside the victim.

<ETA - ignore my message. Been corrected that the wording was written on the casings>

 

[Orso49]

Is it possible that there was a personal connection between BT and the shooter? Maybe BT had decided to end a relationship which would end the shooters gravy train.