Detectives investigating the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson are working to determine if cryptic words — "deny," "defend," and "depose" — found on shell casings left at the scene were a message from the shooter, who remains at large.
New York Police Department detectives confirmed the shell casings, and the words on them, to ABC News and the New York Post, and about whether the words were left behind as a hint to his motive, which has not yet been determined.
Thompson, from Minnesota, was shot at point-blank range several times at about 6:46 a.m. ET on Wednesday outside the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue, where he was to speak at an investors' conference, according to the NYPD.
The gunman, who was wearing a hood and mask covering all but his eyes and nose, carried out a "premeditated" attack, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a news conference Wednesday.
The police have a $10,000 reward out for information on the shooter, who had been seen on video at 5 a.m. the morning of the shooting outside the Frederick Douglass Houses, an Upper West Side public housing project, ABC News sources said.
Each of the shell casings contained one word, indicating Thompson's killer was trying to leave a message, reports the NYPD.
Two of the words, defy and defend, are in the title of a book from 2010, "Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It." In the book, author Jay Feinman, a legal expert in insurance law, torts, and contract law, explains what happens when insurance companies do not pay claims and what those affected can legally do.
Feinman declined Newsmax's request for an interview.
Police have not, however, reported a specific motive behind the Thompson murder.
The shooter reportedly bought a bottle of water, coffee, and two PowerBars at a nearby Starbucks before the killing. Police have retrieved his coffee cup and bottle from a trash can and are testing them as evidence, sources told the Post.
A cell phone was also found in an alley near the Hilton and is believed to have belonged to the killer. A search warrant has been obtained to examine the phone's content.
UnitedHealthcare is facing a Department of Justice antitrust investigation, and Thompson was one of several senior executives under investigation by federal authorities for insider trading.
His wife, Paulette, told MSNBC that there had been "some threats" against him, but did not provide further details.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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