A retired New York City Police Department (NYPD) lieutenant and former NYPD commander sheds light on the manhunt for the suspect who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and what investigators are doing to track him down.
“He is not a professional, but he is calculated. Of course, he also planned this to a very good extent. He planned his escape route, he planned everything for that,” Joe Cardinale told Fox News Digital.
Cardinale added that the fact that the killer left the bullets behind and left messages on them, such as “depose,” makes him think it could be someone involved in or at least connected to a civil suit with UnitedHealthcare, causing this is not a coincidence or ‘wrong place’. wrong time” situation.
The words “deny,” “depose,” and “defend” are written on the bullets and casings left by the killer after the shooting.
The words could be derived from “Delay. To deny. Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It, a book published by Jay Feinman in 2010. Fox News Digital could not reach Feinman or the book’s publisher, Delden Press, for comment.
“I’m still not convinced that this is someone who happened to be with him that morning. I think he knew well where Mr. Thompson would be at that hour. How did he get that knowledge? That’s the big million-dollar question right now,” Cardinale said. “He leaves these clues, he throws them away, he planned it from the beginning.”
Cardinale said he has seen these types of actions from past criminals, who he says become arrogant and feel like they are “smarter than the police.”
What we know about the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
- Brian Thompson, the CEO of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was shot Wednesday outside a luxury Midtown hotel in a “brazen, targeted attack,” police said.
- The methodical killer used a silenced firearm outside the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue.
- The gunman shot Thompson multiple times, hitting his back and right calf before fleeing on foot.
- The NYPD has released a new photo of the hooded suspect standing in front of the Starbucks counter at West 56th Street and 6th Avenue, just minutes from the Hilton hotel where he shot 50-year-old Thompson.
- Thompson was named CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021. He joined the company in 2004. He was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Justice Department.
- Thompson’s wife, Paulette, said her husband had received threats before he was killed.
- The NYPD is investigating a possible message — which appears to include the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” — engraved on live rounds and shell casings left by the masked killer.
Follow The Post’s live updates on the news surrounding the murder of Brian Thompson.
“They want to commit the perfect crime, but they do things to let them know it’s me. I mean, he showed his face, he had to know there was a camera there and he showed his face. Maybe it was just for that flirty moment they discussed. But I even said it was someone I would like to speak to because she actually had a conversation with him, the receptionist of the hostel,” Cardinale said when talking about the person in question who showed his face in a lobby from a hostel in Manhattan.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette, has also said her husband had received death threats.
“There had been some threats,” Thompson’s wife said NBC News.
“Actually, I don’t know, a lack of [health care] coverage? I don’t know any details. All I know is that he said there were people threatening him.”
When asked why the NYPD is not releasing the name of the person in question, Cardinale said the public is on a need to know basis and there are certain elements of this case they do not need to know at this time.
“They give as much as they can without jeopardizing a case that, once caught, must move forward and get a conviction. So they can’t, just to make it known to the public, blow up their business before it’s even formed,” Cardinale said.
He added that authorities know that the person in question is watching and listening, that he knows everything that is happening right now and that he is most likely even “fascinated” by all the attention he is receiving.
Cardinale praised the NYPD and FBI, saying they are doing everything right in this investigation and taking every tip seriously.
“I’m sure tips are coming in because someone, this man’s face, is currently on a national platform across all media, and someone needs to recognize this person, and he (the person of interest) needs to know that. . He needs to know he left those clues. And I think if he gets caught, he will make it his moment,” Cardinale said.
The manhunt has now spread across several states and entered its fifth day on Sunday.
The FBI released new images of the person in question on Sunday and is now offering up to $50,000 as a reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS, or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA.
Tips can also be submitted on the Crime Stoppers website by visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.com.
Christina Coulter, Christina Shaw and Ashley Papa of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
