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

[justtrish]

And I almost see hips in the new pics from today.

I mentioned on a previous thread that I can see both a man and a woman.. so is this possibly someone born a woman that now identifies as a man? Could explain more the hips/facial features that seem feminine. Does UHC cover sex change medial expenses? Maybe this is a motive if hormones or surgeries are not a covered expense.

It could also be a woman that was just trying to disguise as a man to conceal their identity..

Or it could be a man that is just "pretty" as far as facial features go.

 

[armchairagatha]

While this type of crime may be uncharacteristic in the USA, I think it is fairly common in Russia and other countries where top businessmen and politicians are frequently assassinated in public places (on the streets of Moscow for example). I think if we look at it from that angle, it is not that unusual (though doing it on the world stage on live camera might be a first). JMO

 

[getthefax]

A few current online prices: The Silencer Shop $1999.00, Capitol Armory $2184.00, Arms Unlimited $1999.00, Grab-A-Gun. $2155.99. Still expensive

I believe you’re looking at the B&T station 6.

The B&T VP-9 is a more expensive, less readily available) weapon. I’ll wait til they confirm which model he had, but had thought it was the VP-9

 

[Baba O'Riley]

Me too.

NYC at Christmas is the most exciting time and place to have to attend a work conference.

BT was at that fabulous hotel, in that very most fab area, what a great place and time to be a wealthy guy.

I, if he, for sure would not be staying at the conference hotel with the rest of them. Of course a brief visit to the hospitality room but otherwise not wanting to bump into them coming and going from the limo.

Breakfast at fab hotel, no question, not conference fare may sip some water at the conference table.

Carry a laptop no way phone is for the very most inner circle if needed.

Not planning on doing more than speak and be the center of attention then go back to fab hotel.

Speak to staff around here somewhere if something needs notation or looking up.

A bit unsteady from a late night on the town, waddling from my fab breakfast. Festive and bright though because it’s NYC at Christmas.

A predictable scenario especially if BT had company routinely in his rooms at conferences. A possible weakness for company that might be exploited.

All imo

I think you just wrote up the setting for the soon-to-be-motion-picture-or-mini-series. (Not making light of this terrible crime.)

 

[CamilleBSP]

I tend toward long winded posts sometimes— part of the entertainment of WS is to solve puzzles, & sometimes it takes a minute to express an idea. I hope people who hate that just scroll on (or smash the ignore button) rather than take offense. I don’t mind it at all when people explain their ideas and I’d welcome yours.

You’re welcome to dm me if you feel up for it. I’d be happy to discuss AI use cases in criminology.

It boils down to AI not having any internal reasoning and being a bad judge of facts.
What I did was basically input some exam questions into it and see it fumble the answers or answer different things at different times, or give a different answer with more context added to it.
So I don’t think AI would be particularly good for assessing truthfulness in tips.

MOO

 

[Van Helsing]

It looks to me like the backpack is full, though (from the photo that I have seen). Attached is a photo of it.

It's compartmentalized inside, originally sold for camera equipment, so I believe it always looks full.
Also, I'm surprised LE didn't find the backpack on their first search since it was just laying there in the open.
(catching up this AM)

 

[Agatha3]

I didn't want to sound like a California-brained snob but I could not agree with you more. I lived in the Bay for 6 years up until early this year and to certain demographics those clothes + that backpack would not only be considered not outrageous price-wise but also pretty unremarkable in every other way too. I don't think the clothes or backpack are going to prove significant and I also don't think they preclude him from holding hard-left/anticapitalist views, as some have speculated here.

Plenty of middle class anti-Capitalist activist students, lecturers and young workers who don’t stint on their fashionable clothes, phones and tech stuff.

 

[Mr applebee]

And I almost see hips in the new pics from today.

Where are the new pics? I can’t find any. Thanks

 

[Tower]

I find it fascinating that unsolved murders with a video of the murderer often go into “is it a man or woman?” territory. Missy Bevers, Liz Barraza, Scott Ratigan all have compelling videos, but we can’t decide the gender, let alone precisely who they are. I hope all of these murders are solved someday.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I can see why Cunanan occurs to you, but something tells me that this individual has none of the fear, psychopatholgy or emotional neediness that drove Cunanan.

The matter of factness with which he conducted his operations - apart from that dazzling smile - suggests to me a deep internal calm. I also feel like the real drudgery of the event for him was the getaway.

I agree. Cunanan was an emotional wreck... not the case with our friend, here.

 

[Suburgatory2014]

It boils down to AI not having any internal reasoning and being a bad judge of facts.
What I did was basically input some exam questions into it and see it fumble the answers or answer different things at different times, or give a different answer with more context added to it.
So I don’t think AI would be particularly good for assessing truthfulness in tips.

MOO

Hi, are you talking about when you’ve used a client (end user) application like ChatGPT? Or are you saying you’ve built and trained AI models that you’ve then tested? Because professional agencies aren’t using ChatGPT, they’re building their own client applications that are more robust, and building and training their own models to work with their specific type of data.

 

[KaylynnCouture]

I keep thinking about the fact he was in NYC for 10 days before this occurred. Seems so off to me. I can see arriving a few days before, but 10? Seems excessive and also hard to be away from everyday life that long without someone noticing or thinking it’s a bit odd.

Personally, I think he’s a student. He would’ve already had time away from class over Thanksgiving, then gave some excuse to extend his time away from class for a few more days. His family likely doesn’t live nearby, and probably doesn’t even know he hasn’t been on campus.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I don’t think they know his name. Even if LE knew it, and wasn’t releasing it, I feel like someone would have went to the media by now with his name and said “oh, that’s ___, I went to school with him!” Even on the condition on anonymity, someone would leak his name if they really knew it. And we’ve seen none of that.

Totally agree.... anyone would take their 5 minutes of fame in this amazing case.........

 

[Inthedetails]

I keep thinking about the fact he was in NYC for 10 days before this occurred. Seems so off to me. I can see arriving a few days before, but 10? Seems excessive and also hard to be away from everyday life that long without someone noticing or thinking it’s a bit odd.

Personally, I think he’s a student. He would’ve already had time away from class over Thanksgiving, then gave some excuse to extend his time away from class for a few more days. His family likely doesn’t live nearby, and probably doesn’t even know he hasn’t been on campus.

Well, if this is a deep and devious tale, perhaps he was scoping out other NYC sites for exploitation in the future.

jmo

 

[DS2021]

UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting latest: Backpack found in Central Park

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer may have left the city, police said, after investigators recovered the suspect’s backpack in Central Park

www.independent.co.uk

Police say they have 'huge amount of evidence' on suspect

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told CNN that investigators have a "huge amount of evidence" in their search for the man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday.

This includes DNA evidence, fingerprints and a "massive camera canvass" of the suspect's movements, Tisch told the outlet.

However, police say the suspect likely left the city after they recovered footage of him entering Port Authority Bus Terminal on Wednesday but did not find footage of him leaving.

 

[Agatha3]

Which hotel was BT staying in.

Marriott across the road.

 

[RobSA]

I do not think this person has gone back home. I think that was probably his original plan, but did not account for that much of his face to be shown. At some point on his way home he sees the pictures that have been released and freaks out. He has to change his plan. He has to find somewhere to go. He has to get a disguise. He probably didn't carry enough cash on him for this change of plan. He will have to use a debit or credit card or steal. The FBI probably knows his name by now, just not where he went. It would be easy to avoid detection in a big city with a hat, wig, beard and wearing a covid mask (not like the mask he was wearing). The problem there is big cities are quite expensive. He needs to use cash as well. I think the key to him not getting caught is how much cash he can get to finance his run. I am not sure that was in his original plan

 

[armchairagatha]

I think he simply wanted to discard it. If the backpack was found by a passerby or by the NYPD, didn't matter to him, imo. It's usefulness was done so he left it behind, and that's all there is to it.

I half-expect red herrings to be in it, though.

jmo

I think there is a good possibility that the backpack was found and taken by someone who later dropped it off where they found it once they realized it was THE backpack. I think the DNA on it is likely compromised.

 

[Van Helsing]

I wrote about this in post #814, but I honestly think we are seeing a new kind of criminal--one that has existed in movies for awhile, but who has the mind and resources of a hacker. He identifies security flaws and is expert at exploiting them-- in other words, he's got an algorithm. His crime reminds me of other kinds of crimes (especially financial crimes, crimes in cryptocurrency, etc) that seem impossible to believe because they're so straightforward it makes them an elegant kind of genius. And leaves us scratching our heads.

He is doing the things he feels he needed to do and nothing else, IMO. He didn't need an automatic weapon (say what? bolt action?), he didn't need crazy decoys to get away (unless the cell phone deliberately left behind turns out to be one), and my feeling is (and this is MOO and I'm prepared to eat crow if I'm wrong) he doesn't think he needs to worry about having been seen, or leaving DNA, or whatnot. He doesn't view those as mistakes -- just as details he can ignore. I'd bet he at least *thinks* he's got a plan for that. I think he has help, and I think it comes from outside the country. If my hypothesis seems cinematic, it's because I think this crime and its solution are very deliberately cinematic.

If we have seen anything wild unfold over the past several years, it's that a private party can amass enough money that they can create a private space company with which NASA now must play ball. I believe this killer may have access to that kind of money and that breed of network, the kind where you can make anything happen, including making a killer vanish.

All MOO.

If not the case here, we'll definitely have this in the future. Imagine with AI, hacker-types can know thing about people that no one else does and create their own version of "The Star Chamber" based on their own sensibilities.

 

[KaylynnCouture]

I do not think this person has gone back home. I think that was probably his original plan, but did not account for that much of his face to be shown. At some point on his way home he sees the pictures that have been released and freaks out. He has to change his plan. He has to find somewhere to go. He has to get a disguise. He probably didn't carry enough cash on him for this change of plan. He will have to use a debit or credit card or steal. The FBI probably knows his name by now, just not where he went. It would be easy to avoid detection in a big city with a hat, wig, beard and wearing a covid mask (not like the mask he was wearing). The problem there is big cities are quite expensive. He needs to use cash as well. I think the key to him not getting caught is how much cash he can get to finance his run. I am not sure that was in his original plan

Or…the photos we’re seeing of him are his disguise already. And that’s why NYPD doesn’t have video footage of him leaving the bus terminal … because he already stripped the disguise and they’re now looking for someone much different.