NYPD Reveals Chilling Words On Shell Casings Discovered At The Scene Of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson Tragedy

The murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in New York on Thursday was certainly unusual on several fronts. It’s rare for corporate executives to be murdered in the United States, much less in public, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel, on their company’s investor day. Also, unlike most murders, this one was caught on video, with the killer appearing to use a silencer, before fleeing.

ABC News reported another fascinating and mind-boggling detail late on Wednesday night: Messages were written on the bullet casings found on the scene. The words were “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” according to ABC.

JUST IN: NYPD detectives discover words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on shell casings found at the scene where the United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed, police say.

Read more: https://t.co/ElBJQ2RYai pic.twitter.com/vLV2EOHcuq

— ABC News (@ABC) December 5, 2024

What does that mean? Per ABC, “NYPD detectives said they were working to determine whether the words were meant as a message from the shooter and a hint at his motive.” The “deny” would appear to indicate that the shooter’s motive had something to do with the insurance company denying people’s claims, although police have not confirmed that they believe that’s the exact motive.

The New York Post has another theory: The words on the bullet casings are “strikingly similar to a 2010 book condemning the insurance business.” Two of the three words form the title of the 2010 book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It,” by Jay M. Feinman.

Feinman, at the time of the book’s publication, was a Rutgers University Law School professor, although his website biography lists him as “distinguished professor emeritus,” indicating that he is retired. And in case you thought the author and professor was a suspect, the man in the surveillance video is clearly much younger than he is. 

Jay Feinman tryna figure out why his book is getting so much attention today. #DDD pic.twitter.com/ZkAISmRfJK

— (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*✧ ₊˚✩ ⊹˚🐇⊹* (@SeraphNova) December 5, 2024

Despite the silencer straight out of the movies, police “believe the gunman is not a professional killer,” per ABC News.

The Department of Justice was conducting an insider trading probe into UnitedHealthCare, which targeted “senior executives,” although it’s not clear if Thompson was a focus of it, according to multiple media reports. The DOJ and state attorneys general had also filed a lawsuit earlier this year in order to block a merger in which the company was to acquire health and hospice provider Amedisys Inc.

Photo courtesy of Political Tribune media library.