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

[daybreaking]

1. When I saw his face, I thought he looked like Nev Schulman (Catfish). Nev is German-Jewish, Russian-Jewish, Polish-Jewish, and Romanian-Jewish according to wiki.

IMO, the shape of his nose and jawline when he smiles looks like the typical German / English nose - If you compare the shape to that of actors like Andy Whitfield and Patrick Stewart, the nose and jawline looks similar.

I'm thinking he's going to be rather generic-looking in other photos once they catch him. The photo of him smiling appears to be a real smile based on where his cheekbones are, which is what I think some people are reacting to when they're commenting on his attractiveness. A duchenne smile is appealing to most people.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

^ what's intriguing to me is there are too many mistakes in an otherwise disciplined killing and escape....
dropping the water bottle, wrappers, dumping or losing the phone, the item placed on the garbage bag beside the sidewalk, we will see about the backpack if it's useful too.
One mistake/accident is understandable but here it's as though it didn't matter to him as though he knows they won't lead to him as solid evidence.

The REAL mistake though was removing the mask, not even considering there was a camera which is normal in a reception area. The girl must have charmed him out of thinking.......a weakness.

Charmed him?
A virile, young pumped-up attractive man? Ha Ha....
The Loins win out every time!!!

 

[Inthedetails]

Or, the hit was done where it was precisely because of the cameras "on every building and in every corner". It had to be witnessed by others and seen and recorded for posterity.

Very good point! Did the shooter know exactly where the cameras are on 54th Street - I bet he did! And he shot right in view of a camera.

I don't think that was a mistake or happenstance.

Good thinking. Sure looks like he WANTED the killing recorded and broadcast widely. imo

jmo

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Had an amazing debate about this tonight on a trading floor not far away, a few blocks. Envision a group of incisive people all sitting together unafraid to posit complex theories. Paring them down by belief system:

There is what I call the JFK group. This is the major league conspiracy theorists (“the CIA did it!”) - the ones who think this is political machination. Not my tribe.

There is the Jason Bourne group. They think this is all conspiracy, shooter was swapping out the Starbucks-purchased water for an identical bottle in his backpack that had the DNA of a dying patient on the mouth. The ones who believe events to date reveal significant training in evasion. Again, not my tribe, but I get how they got there.

There is the impassioned free-radical group. They theorize this is the kid or boyfriend of someone who died of a terrible disease surrounded by coverage denials, and they are avenging the pain, Joan of Arc style. That’s actually the theory I go with.

There’s also the disillusioned fired employee theory. I think we’d know the name by now if it were that. Discounting it for now.

Very open to hearing and learning from other theories!

What fun you are having!! Up close and personal with all these theoretical discussions.

Well, at least we all have Websleuths!
But, @caradana , throw a party...many of us can get there.. by train or by bus!!

 

[detective.moon]

talking about a possible foreign background… the verb “déposer” seems much more commonly used in french then “depose” in english! though it‘s probably a reach!

 

[penguinface]

I am still curious how the assassin knew that BT would be leaving the hotel via that exit, either he got lucky, had a tip off from someone in the hotel, or there was another assassin waiting near the front entrance incase he came out of the hotel that way.

Leaning towards the last bit

I don’t see how it makes a difference which exit BT left his hotel from, as the shooting was just when he was about to enter the other hotel, the Hilton, where the conference was taking place. The shooter had been loitering at the front of the Hilton since ~5:41am, so would have seen BT arriving, no matter which exit BT used to leave the other hotel a couple of minutes earlier.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

Yes I agree. I also think it’s possible he heavily disguised his appearance somehow just to commit this. He’s on every national (and even some international) media broadcasts. So where are the people who are like “I saw him at the bus station!” “I sat next to him on the bus.” “I sold him a ticket at the counter.” “I drove him in my taxi.”

Yes, and LE would not be able to contain all those people coming forward...they would be quoted all over the news, in their 5 minutes of fame.
Again, tells me that this guy is not American. NO ONE knows him.
So far, anyway.

But LE has probably silenced the hostel worker..... Does he have a foreign accent or not???? Its not the answer to everything for sure, but it would help all our crazy theories get more traction....

 

[armchairthinker]

I am absolutely shocked that we don’t have a public name at this point. That is actually crazy to me.

Just a few random thoughts:

1. When I saw his face, I thought he looked like Nev Schulman (Catfish). Nev is German-Jewish, Russian-Jewish, Polish-Jewish, and Romanian-Jewish according to wiki.

2. I initially thought that someone close to BT was behind this, but now I’m at the place where either the police can’t make that determination until they identify him, or they have ruled it out completely. I think if they had any info that showed he was working with someone closely related to BT, that we would be hearing more rumors about his personal life. We are 4 days in an I haven’t seen a single report from someone “close to the family” sharing some sort of gossip.

3. Now I’m starting to lean towards the whole Unibomber, Eric Rudolph type of killer - someone with a political motivation. If this is the case, I would expect that his hit list is longer and the investors meeting was more the target than BT himself. I would also think we would get some sort of communication out of him when he is settled into a safe place. This type of killer usually wants their message to be interpreted how they meant it to be, since that’s the whole point. If this is his motivation, he has been quite successful. Other CEOs are living in fear and he has certainly gotten their attention.

4. I absolutely love that a woman will be this man’s undoing. What a win for the girlies. Even the most calculated, laser-focused man on a mission can’t resist our charms

Definitely a unibomber vibe to it which answers 1 and maybe 4 below.

A few aspects are very interesting here:

1) why NYC not Minnesota? It would be much easier to stake out and follow target at home or place of work and much easier to pull off with less cctv slower police response etc. Picking NY seems like sensationalism, a hit in minnesota may not have had same high profile and might not have the same potential to inspire others which I think this crime was designed to do. It also as a terror aspect. We can get you anywhere type thing.

2) bullet message almost certainly indicates motive either as terminally ill or deeply effected by someone denied insurance, as does the cold casual demeanour / flirty smile indicates someone who feels completely justified and confident in actions. This could also be an intentional distraction of a pro hit and the coolness due to being a cold professional but the former seems to fit better.

3) intelligence. How did he get the Intel required to do this? Had BT stayed at hilton or had security detail, which one would assume, it wouldn't have been possible. He must have known where he was staying either via coconspiritor or access to email etc. Or he would have had to hang around the airport waiting for inbound flights and spot / follow target in order to plan the attack which seems quite risky. Did BT use private jet that can be tracked? My money is on hacking either BT's outlook or national healthcare IT systems have been compromised either remotely or by insider.

4) evidence trail and arival. 10 days is quite a long time to be hanging around. He wouldnt need that long to scope out escape route and prepare. Presumably the arrival time was to reduce CCTV evidence. I'm not sure how long commercial operators retain CCTV footage but 7 days seems reasonable storage capacity. I'm sure if you check in to a hotel that requires ID wearing a face mask you will be asked to show your face and there is no footage of his original check in. This all makes sense but then why would you check out and in again one day before the crime where you know you will need to get your face on CCTV? This is a really strange aspect as he was already checked in but maybe it adds to the sensationalism.

He made it all to too easy... Silenced weapon, short bike ride, remove jacket and backpack, jump a cab then get on a bus. All in all I think this is designed to create copycats.

Dropping of the water bottle and wrapper is also strange. After all the effort why leave these clues? Either taunting or maybe indicating that he's not too bothered about getting away with it.

 

[Lucy6226]

Very good point! Did the shooter know exactly where the cameras are on 54th Street - I bet he did! And he shot right in view of a camera.

I don't think that was a mistake or happenstance.

Good thinking. Sure looks like he WANTED the killing recorded and broadcast widely. imo

jmo

The very distinctive backpack that he left in the park feels very deliberate also.

The fact that we haven't even got a name four days on suggests this has been extremely well planned and I'm not surprised other CEOs are quaking in their boots!

 

[BrianJohnson]

I don’t see how it makes a difference which exit BT left his hotel from, as the shooting was just when he was about to enter the other hotel, the Hilton, where the conference was taking place. The shooter had been loitering at the front of the Hilton since ~5:41am, so would have seen BT arriving, no matter which exit BT used to leave the other hotel a couple of minutes earlier.

I forgot he wasn’t staying at the Hilton

 

[Inthedetails]

I'm not surprised other CEOs are quaking in their boots!

Snipped

I think that was part of the intention. A big part, imo. American business was shaken.

jmopinion

 

[Rosydecember]

I sorta imagine that NY would be an easier get away than MN. NY is bustling with people, many options for a way out and to blend in with the crowd where as there’s not as a big of a crowd in MN. Makes sense to me.

 

[lonewanderer]

Gives me the effing creeps.

Scott Ratigan CCTV footage on the left.

 

[justtrish]

Yes, and LE would not be able to contain all those people coming forward...they would be quoted all over the news, in their 5 minutes of fame.
Again, tells me that this guy is not American. NO ONE knows him.
So far, anyway.

But LE has probably silenced the hostel worker..... Does he have a foreign accent or not???? Its not the answer to everything for sure, but it would help all our crazy theories get more traction....

I think the fact he's still on the loose might keep people quiet. This guy just assassinated someone in cold blood and walked away. If I knew him, I'd tell LE, but I would not be speaking to the media or anyone for that matter until this guy was in police custody. Same for the hostel worker. I hope she is being protected because the gunman knows she was talked to and knows that photo of him without the mask came from there.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

What kind of jacket is he wearing?

 

[justtrish]

Gives me the effing creeps.

Scott Ratigan CCTV footage on the left.

He seems to have a very distinctive walk too with his toes turning in when he walks.

 

[CityKid]

I know that bus station, enter from street level, go up an escalator and outside upper level there’s slots for 10-15 buses.
Some buses really busy, bundled-up worker types coming & going. It will be busy in morning rush hour.
Buy tickets from machines in wall - but If already purchased a ticket … would go head-down, face covered straight to exterior area to wait to board bus.
IMO this was smart choice - it’s not popular, many wouldn’t automatically think of this depot because it’s so far uptown.

Lifelong Manhattan resident, and yes, this is most known as a commute-to-NJ station. I live downtown and I think I've taken a bus from that station two or three times in my life. It's not the type of place that a person from far away would necessarily know about.

 

[armchairthinker]

I sorta imagine that NY would be an easier get away than MN. NY is bustling with people, many options for a way out and to blend in with the crowd where as there’s not as a big of a crowd in MN. Makes sense to me.

No way! There must be 24/7 armed anti terror response waiting to go CCTV everywhere, loads of police. Scoping, finding opportunity and getting away would be much easier out of NY. I think he was pretty lucky he didn't get picked up before getting out.

 

[gemini614]

sbm

i lean towards an idealistic motive, but i don’t think this guy could describe himself as an anticapitalist. the clothes and backpack he wears, visiting mcdonalds and starbucks, etc.

many leftist activists also boycott starbucks and mcdonalds for reasons to do with israel and gaza.

if it has to do with idealism, i think it’s specifically about the healthcare insurance system.

The clothing choices could be symbolic as well?

 

[proctorelites]

Is there anyone who saw the hostel photo and blvd this to be a woman?