A mystery, a cold-blooded murder, a man on the run. Wednesday Brian ThompsonCEO of the insurance division of UnitedHealthwas murdered by gunfire outside the Hilton hotel in New York. A targeted attack, there is no doubt: a man with a covered face waited for him outside the hotel and shot him repeatedly before fleeing eastwards from 6th Avenue. Thompson, 50, was hit in the chest and there was nothing that could be done for him: despite rushing to Mount Sinai Hospital, the doctors could do nothing but confirm his death.
Why this ambush against Brian Thompson? This is the main question that investigators immediately asked themselves, immediately on the trail of the suspect described as a white man wearing a cream-colored jacket, a black mask and black and white sneakers. As the hours passed, important details emerged about the killer, currently without a name but with a face. Yes, because the murderer was immortalized by some of the eighteen thousand security cameras distributed in New York and the police released two photos for the population to help in the capture or by providing information. The suspect appears with his face uncovered and without the black mask worn during the ambush and during the escape. In one of the two images published he is seen smiling. Why? Another question to answer: did he know he was being filmed? A gesture of defiance towards the police?
As reconstructed by the police, they are at least four places linked to the murderer by Brian Thompson. Let’s start from the beginning, from the ambush. The suspect got off at the F station (which connects Queens, Coney Island and Brooklyn to Manhattan) on 57th Street, went to Starbucks, and remained waiting for the victim on the side of the sidewalk that runs alongside the Hilton. As the CEO of UnitedHealthcare passed him, the assassin shot him first in the back and then in the leg. Thompson turned around, but immediately collapsed to the ground. The killer then tried to fire another shot, but the gun – a modern version of a rare World War II pistol purchased in a Connecticut store – jammed. Despite the setback, with a rather professional attitude, he remained calm, approached his target and fired another shot. In the video of the murder released by the police there is a third person, who witnessed the crime and then fled.
Immediately after shooting Brian Thompson, the killer moved away to the north, passing through an alley that joins 54 West to 55. Then he got on an electric bike, and then continued north. Subsequently, the man reached Sixth Avenue at Central Parkalways continuing north. From this moment on there are no more images of his escape and the subsequent stages remain a mystery.
One of the most important news on the case is linked to bullets used by the killer. Come on shell casings three words have been engraved that make one think of the motto of a militia: “deny” (deny), “defend” (to defend) and “depose” (to lay down). Is it a message linked to the victim or a sort of motto used by the murderer to motivate himself before the murder? A reference to insurance coverage and healthcare appears evident. The three words, in fact, recall the title of a book by Jay M. Feinman (“Delay – Deny – Defend”, ed.) published in 2010. The cover reads: “Why insurance companies don’t pay after complaints and what you can Do”. Two words imprinted on the cartridge cases are identical to those in the book’s title. On the cover, the third is “ritardare”, replaced on the case to be “deposed”.
For the moment no leads have been ruled out, but there is a theory on the possible past of the perpetrator of the assassination: the calm shown during the ambush, especially when the gun jammed, could be linked to reaction in moments of high tension which is trained in police and army courses. But there are also those who believe that he is not an expert essentially for two factors: he thought it was sufficient to obtain a silencer and he used the wrong ammunition for the silencer used, which led to jamming. In-depth studies are also underway on threats received from Thompson in the last period, intimidation also confirmed by his wife immediately after the tragedy: “There had been threats – he told NBC News – Basically, I don’t know, a lack of health coverage? I don’t know the details. I only know that he said there were people who had threatened him.”
Investigators are confident. If the cyber team is trying to unlock Thompson’s phone for possible clues, forensics said they found some fingerprints of the killer on a bottle of water purchased from Starbucks and on a disposable phone from which he made a call shortly before the crime. In recent hours, a hostel was also searched where the individual may have slept the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, even if the document used for registration was false. The hunt for the smiling killer continues.
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