Healthcare CEO Killer Inscribed These Words on the Bullet Casings

Leah covered this story earlier today: Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed in what looks like a professional hit job. The targeted killing occurred around 6:45 AM, outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where an investors meeting was being held. In the video footage, the killer is seen shooting Mr. Thompson with a suppressed firearm in the leg and back before finishing him off.

There’s a new chilling clue regarding this premeditated killing: bullet casings were found at the scene, with “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” on them:

Mr. Thompson was the subject of a Justice Department investigation for insider trading (via NY Post):

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Department of Justice when he was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday. 

Thompson — who was killed in what police called a targeted shooting outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown — exercised stock options and sold shares worth $15.1 million on Feb. 16, less than two weeks before news of the federal antitrust probe went public, according to a Crain’s New York Business report from April. 

The stock price dropped sharply after the revelation that the DOJ was investigating whether the company had made acquisitions that consolidated its market position in violation of antitrust laws, a source familiar with the probe told the outlet.