The identity of the brazen murderer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson continues to confound local law enforcement. That said, they may be closer to identifying the killer based on new information that continues to leak out.
Bullets that an unidentified gunman used to shoot and kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday morning had words like "deny," "defend" and "deflect" written on them, CBS News has confirmed.
— CBS Philadelphia (@CBSPhiladelphia) December 5, 2024
https://t.co/90zR69GqAq
Whereas these new details are compelling and seem to create a narrative about a deeply disgruntled and perhaps defrauded investor who took matters into his own hands, others smell a rat. In the age of the psychological operation or "psy-op," one can hardly blame such conspiracists.
Please follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Truth Social, Gettr, Twitter
Words were scrawled on the shell casings recovered from the scene. By some sources, the words were "deny", "defend", and "depose", whereas others have reported "deflect" in place of "depose".
In either case, taken together, the words are suggestive of legal jargon, and specifically, the type of legal chicanery used to obfuscate malfeasance. This has led some to compare the insurance giant's practices to those portrayed in The Rainmaker, the 1997 film adaptation of the eponymous John Grisham novel. In the film, a client is denied lifesaving medical procedures by a corrupt insurance company with deep pockets and top-flight legal counsel.
A 2021 investigation of UHC by the Dept. of Justice was reopened in 2023. Before that information was released to investors, Thompson and other top UHC executives sold a total of some $120 million in company stock.
Further, executives reportedly sold another $5.6 million in stock the same day they learned about a massive ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a company recently acquired by UHC.
The fact that Thompson was on his way to attend the "investor day" portion of the UHC conference is noteworthy.
In any case, the shooter remains at large. The NYPD reports that they have recovered several pieces of evidence, including material left behind at Starbucks, where the assailant allegedly ordered items before the attack, a discarded cell phone possibly left behind or dropped, the Citibike used in the getaway (and data from the payment method used to rent it, and of course the shell casings.
For firearm enthusiasts, the thread below (and some of the comments) provide several possible reasons the shooter's gun apparently jammed between each successful shot. Of note: the shooter was unperturbed by the jamming and quickly racked his weapon each time.
Speculation on the type of suppressor used, and whether the apparent lack of a Nielsen device caused the jams, makes for an intriguing read.
There's been a bunch of misinformation about today's murder of United Healthcare's CEO. I'm going to debunk some of the firearms nonsense that's been stated.
— Louis vil LeGun 🍌 📟 (@LouisvilleGun) December 4, 2024
Myth 1: The pistol was a Welrod / B&T Station 6!
Categorically false. pic.twitter.com/HhFcxKFhFw
We will update this story as necessary.
