Health Insurance CEO Killer Revealed Motive With 3 Words Written On Bullet Casings

It’s the murder case everyone is talking about. And it turns out it’s probably exactly what everyone thought…

If you haven’t heard, Brian Thompson, the CEO of health insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was shot to death in the street in New York City on Wednesday morning. In a shocking planned attack, a masked gunman waited for Thompson to exit a Manhattan Starbucks at around 6:40 a.m. and shot him several times at point-blank range with a silenced handgun. The killer then jumped on an eBike and rode into Central Park where police lost track. It’s been noted how he was wearing easily changed clothing, like a puffy jacket — and could have been wearing a totally different outfit underneath to blend in.

Even with a hood and a mask, it’s a wildly brazen murder plot. The city is filled with security cameras. The murder itself is on video:

And there are several pics believed to be the killer, too:

These are additional images of the suspect sought in connection to this morning's homicide. If you have any information about this incident, the suspect, or his location please contact @NYPDTips at 1(800)577-TIPS. https://t.co/rtfVynljXa pic.twitter.com/kUJr7l0nxZ

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 4, 2024

Recently the NYPD even released photos they believe to be the same man — without his mask on:

????UPDATE: Below are photos of a person of interest wanted for questioning regarding the Midtown Manhattan homicide on Dec. 4. This does not appear to be a random act of violence; all indications are that it was a premediated, targeted attack.

The full investigative efforts of… pic.twitter.com/K3kzC4IbtS

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 5, 2024

There are any number of motives for murder… but the internet collectively assumed right away this was about Thompson’s work. See, it’s not just that he was the CEO of a health insurance company — he also recently signed off on the company using an AI algorithm to deny and override claims, many to elderly patients, despite the treatments having been approved by their doctors. Per a lawsuit against UHC, the algorithm had — unshockingly for anyone who’s had experience with AI — a 90% error rate. They put a robot in charge of automatically denying everyone the healthcare they needed, knowing it was usually wrong — but it was wrong in their favor. They didn’t have to pay, and thousands of people suffered. Thompson was actually killed on his way to an investors conference scheduled for 8 a.m. that morning.

So yeah, everyone figured the crime was probably about his work and not, you know, a jealous spouse or something. And it turns out everyone was right.

NYPD sources told ABC News on Thursday three words were written on the shell casings found at the scene:

“deny”

“defend”

“depose”

Wow. Immediately the words were linked to insurance companies’ M.O. for doing everything they can to keep from paying out the money they owe people who despearately need surgery and medicine:

“Deny the claim, Defend the lawsuit, Depose the patient”

There was even a book describing a slightly different version of the strategy written back in 2010 by Rutgers University law professor Jay Feinman: Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Out Claims And What You Can Do About It. Seems like the killer thought he’d do something else about it.

What do YOU think about this shocking crime, Perezcious readers?

[Image via NYPD/Twitter.]