by Pa Rock
True Crime Fan
It's now been a few hours over two full days since Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthCare Insurance, was gunned down on bustling Sixth Avenue in the heart of New York City, a crime committed in broad daylight in front of a Hilton Hotel! Much more has been learned about the killer and his heinous crime, though the culprit still remains at large.
Mr. Thompson was shot on the sidewalk three times from behind, with one of the 9mm bullets striking him in the leg and two in the back. He was pronounced dead less than thirty minutes later in a nearby hospital.
Police had several "clues" with which to work almost immediately after the shooting, They were apparently able to access the GPS of the rent-a-bike that the killer hopped on shortly after the shooting. He was seen entering Central Park on the bike, and undoubtedly ditched it soon after or he would have long since been in custody. The police also were reportedly in possession of a water bottle and phone that they believe the culprit lost while fleeing. News reports indicate that he had bought the water bottle at a nearby Starbucks just prior to the shooting. If the cellphone did belong to the shooter and he had used it, that too should quickly provide information which would lead to his identification and arrest.
Police have also released two photos of the young suspect that were taken earlier on the morning of the shooting at the hostel in Manhattan where he had been staying. According to one news report a lady working at the hostel had flirtatiously asked the young man to "let me see your smile," and he had dropped his mask and flashed his pearly whites.
Police have also let it be known that the shooter likely is not a New Jersey resident as they had earlier thought, and they now believe that he came from Atlanta to NYC by bus a couple of weeks ago. They are trying to locate his boarding information, and Greyhound says it is cooperating with law enforcement in the matter.
But the biggest clue to emerge by far in the past day speaks to the possible motive of the assassin. The words "deny," delay," and "depose" were written on the three discarded shell casings that were found and placed into evidence immediately after the attack. As soon as that was announced, people who follow the incessant outrages of the insurance industry were quick to point out that the words were almost verbatim to those used in a 2010 book entitled: "Delay Deny Defend, Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It" by Jay M. Fineman. The book is described as revealing how insurers increase profits by "delaying payment of claims, denying valid claims in whole or in part, and defending their actions by forcing claimants to enter litigation."
The shooter, it would seem, could be someone who was himself wronged or has family or friends who were wronged by an insurance company - perhaps the one headed by Brian Thompson - UnitedHealthcare. Could the young man with the infectious smile be seeing himself as a modern day vigilante bringing justice to a corrupt system, or maybe even Robin Hood with a 9mm?
At some point this will all be fodder for a most interesting trial - and writers at Netflix and Amazon are undoubtedly already at work forming up each company's own miniseries. "Law and Order" is said to already have a version of the same plot in an episode they filmed several years ago.
Social media was on fire yesterday with citizen commentary regarding this New York City street crime - with a majority of the focus not being on the shooting, but rather on people's feelings and recollections about the ways they have been mistreated by the nation's largest healthcare insurers.
And then, coincidently, it was also announced yesterday that Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield is backing off plans to quit covering extra anesthesia that is required on some lengthy surgeries. The move immediately will benefit Anthem's customers in New York, Connecticut, and Missouri where the policy had beenset to go into effect.
The level of piss among a pissed-off public appears to be on the rise!
Still, however, highway robbery is no excuse for murder.
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