UnitedHealthcare CEO shot and killed in NYC

So, a white guy walks away, bikes away, blends in, and isn't caught right away? Stunned, I tell you.

 

Note to self: Do NOT fuck with Driftwood.

 

Has nothing to do with race but the discipline of the shooter.

Try turkey hunting.

 

If a sniper in a Ghillie suit takes the time to stalk and hit a target then immediately takes off running like Nathan Lane, what's the point?
You take the shot, lay completely still for maybe a day or two - even if those looking for you almost step on you - then blend back into the woods.

 

I know absolutely nothing more than anyone else here or at NYPD but this guy is no amateur. And he's no lone wolf with a grievance. Someone with a lot of money invested in UHC and a grudge hired a professional hit man to off Thompson, quite possibly someone who lost a lot of money when Thompson sold his shares just before the stock tanked.

The gunman knew when to be in New York, where to find Thompson alone without raising suspicion and knew his exit route. As Driftwood said, it's quite possible the guy is just watching everything unfold back at the home of the person who funded this operation, or even from a nearby safe house. Then again, if he's a foreign asset, he's already back in Tehran or Riyadh.

And it's a fascinating cat-and-mouse game the shooter is playing with the cops. Using an unusual weapon? Writing the title of a book about the healthcare system on the bullet casings? Riding a Greyhound and staying in a hostel where he wouldn't have to use a credit card? Leaving the expensive backpack in a conspicuous location? He's dropping clues and detectives aren't connecting the dots so far.

The only slip-up might be the full face photo from the hostel but this guy is very good. He's either ex-military or someone with a lot of espionage experience. This isn't on a level with "climb on the roof next to a Trump rally." If they find him, it'll be by sheer dumb luck or by really excellent detective work.

 

If it's any consolation, I don't have any pre-mortem experience with edged weapons.
I can fillet and dress a bunch of things, though.

 

Something I saw today that made me do a quarter-eyebrow raise. His marriage was on the rocks and his wife recently left him.

 

I went deer hunting, was in my stand very early and quiet. It got to be about daylight and I realized that there was a flock of turkeys roosted in a tree less than a hundred yards away. I got to sit and watch them wake up for a while. It wasn't turkey season when it happened (of course).

 

This is what you want me to believe.

Just to be clear, whatever you want me to believe, I'll believe.

 

That 20 minutes feels like a damned hour.

 

I think there are still a bunch of possibilities. I do think at this point I believe it was a professional job. Or at the very least someone who was exacting and thorough in his planning.

And I’m definitely open to the idea it will be something other than someone who had a family member die due to denied coverage. Obviously that’s the first motive that comes to mind. And maybe that will end up being exactly what it was.

It somehow feels bigger than that. But maybe that’s just because it’s such a mystery so far. We’re pretty used to things being obvious with a quick arrest or a dead suspect.

 

This is largely what I've thought/wondered. Like you, I figure a motive is tied either to the insider-trade moves, or, perhaps, to some kind of intra-company grudge or retaliation as a result of some personal, closely work-tied bad relations. Otherwise, it just seems unlikely that somebody is going to know that someone living in Minnesota is going to be exactly where he was in New York, at that specific time, and know the best place/ways to attack Thompson and get away with it, even despite the shooting happening in a populous city, near daylight, and apparently, with no one the wiser about anything all morning long, or either before or after, either.

It would seem like either the suspect, himself, or somebody else actually within or close to the company would need to at least be involved, if not directly responsible.