UnitedHealthcare CEO shot and killed in NYC

Are we even sure the guy they arrested in Pennsylvania was the gunman? Based on what they're charging him with (weapons charges, forgery) I wonder if he was an accomplice.

 

I think there is going to be an insanity type defense.

 

I think the gun charge is to keep the gunman on ice until New York State gets the murder warrant and the extradition paperwork processed.

 

I’m seeing folks versed in Internet culture calling him a member of the “grey tribe” - which is their term for Silicon Valley nerd culture that blends left and right beliefs with libertarianism.

 

I think we don't know any particulars yet.

 

"Honest to God, judge, I was just attacking a Big Mac combo and reading my manifesto when these coppers stormed in and cuffed me!"

 

NBC reported tonight they found a fake ID on him with the same name he used to check into the hostel.

 

I think passion in 2024 is a lot broader than it used to be.

 

I'd imagine the laws defining crimes of passion is not broad, however.

 

A crime of passion is walking in on your spouse cheating on you and bludgeoning them in a fit of rage. A crime of passion is getting into an argument on a subway platform and shoving someone into the path of an oncoming train. It's reactionary. It's not pre-meditated.

It is not calmly waiting outside of a public place, walking up to someone, shooting them multiple times, and then bicycling away.

 

30 years later, we're still having this discussion:

 

A crime of passion is when something is done in sudden haste due to an overwhelming emotional response. It is used as a justification to convict of a lesser offence than the principle offense. So the husband who walks in on his wife screwing his neighbor and in the heat of the moment kills his neighbor should be convicted of voluntary manslaughter instead of murder. At least in theory. If there's opportunity for cooler heads to prevail, the justification goes away.

This case seems to have way too much planning involved to be a crime of passion.

If I was building a defense, I'm doing my best to get jury nullification because I think there's a decent enough chance you can get there.