As we reported on Wednesday, 50-year-old Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in what appears to have been a targeted attack outside of his hotel in Manhattan. He was in New York City for an investors' conference.
The video that they now have is chilling, showing a masked man calmly shooting him on the street right in front of his hotel at about 6:45 a.m. and in front of another man, who manages to flee.
Warning for disturbing images:
EXTENDED VIDEO OF UNITED HEALTH CARE C.E.O. ASSASSINATED AS KILLER WALKS CALMLY AWAY pic.twitter.com/l1IoPBsNN8
— Fritz & Athena Harrod (@bignels2) December 5, 2024
They had some other new pictures that show part of his face and video of him leaving on a bike. They also said he had been lying in wait for Thompson, that the gun appeared to have a silencer. He shot Thompson multiple times.
New photos show UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer in Starbucks before shooting https://t.co/AZ1GvZxLCx pic.twitter.com/HaaxKz5xFR
— New York Post (@nypost) December 4, 2024
There are also new reports that there were words written on bullet casings that were left behind: "Defend," "Deny," and "Depose."
The words are similar to the title of a 2010 book that condemns the insurance business -- "Delay, Deny, Defend" with the subtitle: “Why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it.”
He bought coffee, a water bottle and two PowerBars at a nearby Starbucks before the killing and tossed his bottle and coffee cup in a trash can — which cops dug out of the garbage and now have as evidence, according to sources.
And investigators also discovered a phone in an alleyway near the Hilton which they believe belongs to the killer, the sources said. Investigators have obtained a search warrant to comb through the contents of the phone.
His wife said he had received some threats.
That wasn't all. Looks like there was some drama going on in his life, beyond just being the CEO of such a big company. The plot thickens.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was one of numerous senior executives being investigated by the Justice Department for insider trading at the time he was murdered in Manhattan on Wednesday.
Thompson exercised stock options and sold shares worth $15.1 million in February, approximately two weeks before news of the federal antitrust investigation became public. The price of the stock plummeted after it was revealed that the DOJ was probing whether the company had made acquisitions in violation of antitrust laws that consolidated its market position.
There were early reports from the police that the bike he fled on was a Citibike, but the police later corrected themselves and said the bike used was not part of the Citibike fleet.
So those new facts raise a lot of questions about who might have been behind this and the motive. But it sounds like they may have a lot of evidence on the shooter from the things he left behind.
Update 12/5/24 11:35 AM ET: A new picture of a smiling "person of interest" has been released.
Update 12/5/24 1:42 PM ET: The above sentence was changed to use the term "person of interest" because that is the official phrase the police are using.
New photos show alleged CEO killer's smile; manhunt continues https://t.co/7fRVMccpK8 pic.twitter.com/QRJ7BQDP19
— FOX 5 NY (@fox5ny) December 5, 2024
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