Retired NYPD Lt. says person of interest is ‘fascinated’ by attention
A retired New York City Police Department (NYPD) Lieutenant and former NYPD commander are shedding light on the manhunt for the suspect who gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and what investigators are doing to track him down.
“He’s not a professional, but he is calculated. He obviously planned this out to a very good degree as well. He planned his escape route, he planned everything prior to it,” Joe Cardinale told Fox News Digital.
Cardinale added the fact the killer left behind the bullets and left messages on them, like “depose,” makes him think it could be someone involved in a civil suit with UnitedHealthcare or at least connected, making this not a coincidence or “wrong place, wrong time” situation.
The words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” were written on the live rounds and casings left behind by the assassin after the shooting.
The words could be derived from “Delay. Deny. Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It,” a book published by Jay Feinman in 2010. Fox News Digital could not reach Feinman or the book’s publisher, Delden Press, for comment.
“I’m still not convinced that this is somebody who just happened to be, you know, upon him on that morning. I think he had intimate knowledge of where Mr. Thompson would be at that hour. Now, how did he get that knowledge? That is the big million-dollar question right now,” Cardinale said. “He’s leaving these clues, he’s discarding it, he planned it from the beginning.”
Cardinale said he has seen actions like these from past criminals who he says get arrogant and feel like they are “smarter than the police.”
What we know about the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
- Brian Thompson, the CEO of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down Wednesday outside a luxury Midtown hotel in a “brazen, targeted attack,” police said.
- The methodical killer used a firearm with a silencer outside the Hilton hotel along Sixth Avenue.
- The gunman fired at Thompson multiple times, striking his back and right calf before fleeing on foot.
- The NYPD released a new photo of the hooded suspect standing in front of the counter at the Starbucks at West 56th Street and 6th Avenue, just minutes from the Hilton hotel where he gunned down Thompson, 50.
- Thompson was named CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021. He joined the company in 2004. He was one of several senior executives at the company under investigation by the Department of Justice.
- Thompson’s wife, Paulette, said her husband had been getting threats before he was killed.
- The NYPD is investigating a possible message — which appears to include the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” — engraved on live rounds and shell casings left behind by the masked assassin.
Follow along with The Post’s live updates on the news surrounding Brian Thompson’s murder.
“They want to commit the perfect crime, but they’re doing things to let them know that it is me. I mean, him showing his face, he had to know that there was a camera there and he showed his face. Maybe it was just for that flirtatious moment that they discussed. But I even said that’s somebody I would like to speak to because she actually had a conversation with him, the clerk at the hostel,” Cardinale said when talking about the person of interest showing his face inside a lobby at a Manhattan hostel.
Thompson’s wife, Paulette, has also said that her husband had been receiving death threats.
“There had been some threats,” Thompson’s wife told NBC News.
“Basically, I don’t know, a lack of [health care] coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.”
When asked why the NYPD is not releasing the name of the person of interest, Cardinale said the public is on a need to know basis and that right now, there are certain elements of this case they do not need to know.
“They’re giving as much as they can without compromising a case that once he is caught needs to move forward and get a conviction. So they can not, just for the sake of putting it out there to the public, blow their case before it’s even formed,” Cardinale said.
He added that the authorities know the person of interest is watching and listening and knows everything that is going on at this point and is most likely even “fascinated” by all the attention he’s getting.
Cardinale praised the NYPD and FBI and said they are doing everything right in this investigation and taking every tip seriously.
“I’m sure there are tips coming in because somebody, this man’s face, is on a nationwide platform right now through all the media, and somebody has got to recognize this individual, and he (the person of interest) has to know that. He has to know that he left those clues. And I think it’s going to be when he does get caught, he’s going to make it his moment in the sun,” Cardinale said.
The manhunt has now spread into multiple states and entered its fifth day on Sunday.
The FBI released new images of the person of interest on Sunday and is now offering up to $50,000 as a reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS, or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA.
Tips can also be submitted on the Crime Stoppers website by visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.com.
Fox News Digital’s Christina Coulter, Christina Shaw, and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
