NY - UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fatally shot in Midtown.

[Sadi]

Earlier post on this thread by @MassGuy, quoting John Miller of CNN... Post #486 on this thread, "CEO coming out of divorce." If it is correct and I understood it correctly... I haven't seen anything else on this since.

I didn’t see this before. In the responses in today’s news from BT’s wife, she refers to him as a “great father/friend to many etc. I haven’t read anything her mentioning “husband “. The divorce must be very recent.

 

[Torbs]

if we are playing the odds it’s way more likely this was a personal issue than a revenge killing by or on behalf of a random disgruntled UHC policyholder or investor. I find the hacking thing really interesting but the idea that an international cyber gang did it seems even more remote.

So now I’m coming back to his personal life. In hindsight the wife’s NBC interview was weird. First of all, how was she composed enough to even do it so soon after the murder? Second, if you watched it, didn’t it seem strange that she jumped right to a possible explanation (previous threats based on insurance coverage denial)? Now we find out there may be a divorce situation happening behind the scenes? Very much worth looking into. MOO.

 

[whitelilac]

I didn’t see this before. In the responses in today’s news from BT’s wife, she refers to him as a “great father/friend to many etc. I haven’t read anything her mentioning “husband “. The divorce must be very recent.

She also makes a statement very quickly. I would think she'd need to process and want privacy for some days.

 

[MassGuy]

I didn’t see this before. In the responses in today’s news from BT’s wife, she refers to him as a “great father/friend to many etc. I haven’t read anything her mentioning “husband “. The divorce must be very recent.

That’s what it sounded like; this recently happened or it was ongoing.

Miller’s point was that presents another angle that needs to be investigated. He doesn’t say things for the sake of saying them, so I take it to mean that his sources are telling him that law enforcement is exploring that as a possibility.

Due diligence and all.

 

[Snoopster]

UnitedHealth has been one of the companies in upstate NY that has dropped coverage for people in the capital district within the past year. It's effectively a healthcare desert in that region. I can't help but feel it may be connected, it's not particularly difficult to get from Albany to NYC.

Local Hospitals Drop Humana and United Health-Leaving Customers at a Loss

Patients in the capital region feel like they are caught in the middle of negotiations between hospitals and insurance companies.Recently two hospital systems h

cbs6albany.com

This is definitely one aspect of the business that I don't understand. The American health care industry. I wish I knew more. This is one side of the business that we don't face in Canada. People at hospitals don't worry about insurance coverage.

 

[Sadi]

if we are playing the odds it’s way more likely this was a personal issue than a revenge killing by or on behalf of a random disgruntled UHC policyholder or investor. I find the hacking thing really interesting but the idea that an international cyber gang did it seems even more remote.

So now I’m coming back to his personal life. In hindsight wife’s NBC interview was weird. First of all, how was she composed enough to even do it so soon after the murder? Second, if you watched it, didn’t it seem weird that she jumped right to a possible explanation (previous threats based on insurance coverage denial)? Now we find out there may be a divorce situation happening behind the scenes? Very much worth looking into. MOO.

Exactly! Something seems off with this. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought this.

 

[eash]

I think it is possible that he isn’t a professional hitman but someone with military training. I also suspect a personal issue - maybe affair or maybe disgruntled lover.
The wife’s (or ex wife) just seem odd. If he was being threatened, wouldn’t you gather as much info as possible to protect your kids? Or was the company as a whole being threatened and not directed at him?

 

[Cryptic]

IMO it's either related to his divorce, or an angry individual who was affected by a denial of benefits.

Both are good possibilities. I would also add: Ideological member of an extremist group.

Another poster pointed out that his loitering in a Starbucks- only to arrive at the front of the hotel just in time to meet the victim could imply the presence of a "Spotter" in the hotel lobby.

The spotter then sees the victim, notes that he is likely stepping out from the hotel, then alerts the shooter to get in position for an attack?

 

[Notthisshipsister]

My understanding is this was taken at a Starbucks in the area.

I see no gloves.

Will his identity be discovered via a coffee cup in the trash?

He had no gloves on, and he had to have handled (and left fingerprints) on the container of whatever he ordered. Hopefully even one Starbucks employee can remember the guy and what he ordered. Huge job but I'll bet LE is scouring all trash recepticles and even sewers for the discarded container.

 

[whitelilac]

Both are good possibilities. I would also add: Ideological member of an extremist group.

Another poster pointed out that his loitering in a Starbucks- only to arrive at the front of the hotel just in time to meet the victim could imply the presence of a "Spotter" in the hotel lobby.

The spotter then sees the victim, notes that he is likely stepping out from the hotel, then alerts the shooter to get in position for an attack?

I believe there was a spotter. The assassin is also on the phone prior to the killing.

 

[Snoopster]

Both are good possibilities. I would also add: Ideological member of an extremist group.

Another poster pointed out that his loitering in a Starbucks- only to arrive at the front of the hotel just in time to meet the victim could imply the presence of a "Spotter" in the hotel lobby.

The spotter then sees the victim, notes that he is likely stepping out from the hotel, then alerts the shooter to get in position for an attack?

What ideological group are you thinking about? I'm having difficulty coming up with one for this particular case.

 

[AMrRogerHelper]

I tend to agree the gunman was probably not a (or the) disgruntled insurer. Too young, even at the higher end of the suggested range. If he was in his 50s and facing bankruptcy/terminal illness, that would seem more likely to fit that scenario.

If someone is struggling to pay health bills, you probably aren’t prioritizing a payment to a hitman.

 

[Notthisshipsister]

It’s almost so sloppy that if contract, perhaps intentional? Could be more than change of clothes in the bag—beard, wig etc. enough to make cctv search hard. If non contract, maybe just sloppy

Couldn't disguise his fingerprints on any container, though

 

[Arkay]

I’ve been watching Anderson Cooper and his guests— John Miller, Andrew McCabe and Geraldo Rivera.

Both John Miller and Andrew McCabe (former FBI chief) think the murderer was definitely well-trained and well-informed. They know he made mistakes, though, as in dropping the water bottle and power bar wrappers from Starbucks in the escape alley.

Geraldo is focused more on the insider trading that netted the victim $15,000,000, and he seems to believe it might be an angry stockholder who lost money due to this.

I vacillate between motives. Could be any angry person, whether a stockholder or a patient whose claim was denied, or who has a family member whose claim was denied.

I also vacillate between whether the shooter is the person with motive, or instead was hired by the person with motive.

IMO I don’t think this has anything to do with domestic life and marital issues.


I wrote several pages back that I thought I could detect the killer’s ethnicity. I didn’t want to state it specifically but to my eyes the man looks Russian, or from another part of the former USSR.
I see that now a lot of posters have said the same, so I feel okay to state that now.

There are many communities in South Brooklyn that have become overwhelmingly Russian or from affiliated former Soviet nations.

If indeed the killer is from this ethnic background, he could have come right over from Brooklyn. Not necessary to fly in from Eastern Europe. There is a Russian Mafia presence tucked in among all the others who have come here to NYC to have a free life.

I know this for a fact, as I have taught thousands of children from this background and I’ve had parent/teacher conferences with some fathers who boast about it.

JMO.

 

[Torbs]

Exactly! Something seems off with this. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought this.

Not for nothing but the shooter looks like a young white male. If we are developing a hypothetical suspect list of folks who look like that and could theoretically have means and motive to kill this guy you wouldn’t have to look far to get started. Has LE ruled out the sons?

 

[MassGuy]

What ideological group are you thinking about? I'm having difficulty coming up with one for this particular case.

You could have some anti-capitalist angle here, potentially.

 

[whitelilac]

Personally, I'm not convinced this guy is young. He could be in his 40s or so imo, having blown up the photo of what we see of his face.

 

[citizen_sleuth]

New:

Police have video of the suspect in uptown Manhattan prior to the shooting​

From CNN's John Miller
Police have video of the suspect early in the morning, prior to the shooting, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side carrying what appears to be a battery for an electric bike, according to law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation.

Investigators believe that the suspect may have taken a subway from the Upper West Side to Midtown. They are also looking into whether he had an electric bike pre-positioned in that area.

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-death-12-04-24/index.html

I wonder what he was doing in the Upper West Side? How did LE learn he had been there earlier in the day? Facial recognition coupled with surveillance footage? A witness?

If he took the train into Manhattan (either Amtrak, LIRR, Metro North, or PATH) he wouldn’t have gotten off near the UWS — either Penn Station at W 34th St for Amtrak, Grand Central at E 42nd St for the LIRR to/from Long Island, E 125th St for Metro North, or lower Manhattan below 23rd St for the PATH to/from New Jersey. The UWS isn’t along any direct route from any of these stations to the Hilton. The UWS might be a good place to park a vehicle after driving over the GW Bridge from NJ, though (he could have biked through the park back to his car after the murder, although it sounds like LE was looking around a Citi Bike station on the Upper East Side).

 

[Mrspratcher]

I wonder what he was doing in the Upper West Side? How did LE learn he had been there earlier in the day? Facial recognition couple with surveillance footage? A witness?

If he took the train into Manhattan (either Amtrak, LIRR, Metro North, or PATH) he wouldn’t have gotten off near the UWS — either Penn Station at W 34th St for Amtrak, Grand Central at E 42nd St for the LIRR to/from Long Island, E 125th St for Metro North, or lower Manhattan below 23rd St for the PATH to/from New Jersey. The UWS isn’t along any direct route from any of these stations to the Hilton. The UWS might be a good place to park a vehicle after driving over the GW Bridge from NJ, though (he could have biked through the park back to his car after the murder, although it sounds like LE was looking around a Citi Bike station on the Upper East Side).

Maybe he lives on the UWS.

 

[Boodles]

Oh, 100%. And the smartest minds’ undoings would often be stupid affairs. Sometimes the revelations are way more shocking than even this. And we don’t even know why the victim was out so early; he was not jogging, after all. This being said, there are affairs and affairs. There are women who make a lot of drama and destroy own lives and those of their “benefactors”, but then, there are others who use these relationships to quietly build own careers while having pretty good families. And anyhow, we know nothing of sorts here.

However, however…one of the easiest explanations for Brian Thompson to be outside could be the need to make a private call, bypassing a hotel network, and maybe using a second cellphone. This would be a good reason to get outside.

He was outside at 6:40am bc he was walking from his hotel (Lux, nicer than the Hilton) to the Hilton to meet with his staff in a conference room before the investor meeting began. The meeting began at 8, and Thompson was speaking.

He had to walk down 54th street from his hotel (just across the street and down 54th about 1/2 block) to get to the 6th Ave Hilton entrance, because the 54th street entrance doors remain locked until 8am. The shooter apparently knew Thompson was staying at the Lux, thus he’d know that this was the path Thompson would be taking.

This is all per CNN reporting on AC360.