Summary

Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot in a premeditated attack outside the New York Hilton Midtown before speaking at an investor conference.

The gunman, still at large, fired multiple times, leaving shell casings marked with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.”

Authorities suggest Thompson was targeted but remain unclear on the motive. His wife confirmed prior threats against him.

Analysts speculate a possible vendetta tied to his company. The case raises questions about executive security, as Thompson lacked personal protection despite known risks.

  • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Its simple all you clueless colombos. Just start investigating all denied claims where the person died at a result. Shouldn’t take more than a decade or so to go though that list.

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    To those upset that this is headline news because he’s rich, remember that exposure breeds copycats.

        • Bronzebeard@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          Or maybe a sauce that’s not owned by a decent sized corporation pulling in 10s of millions a year…?

          • Lennny@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Homemades the way to go for sure but idgaf what BBQ sauce someone decides to use. I didn’t say use fucking kc masterpiece.

            • Bronzebeard@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              I didn’t say you did. I was specifically commenting on the sweet baby Ray’s.

              If you’re going to eat the rich, don’t give more money to the rich when you season them…

              • Zink@programming.dev
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                7 months ago

                Surely you’d make an exception if the mass-market seasoning used on a CEO was sold by that CEO’s own company!

              • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                ¾ cup yellow mustard

                ½ cup honey

                ¼ brown sugar

                ½ cup apple cider vinegar

                1 tablespoon of ketchup

                1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

                1 teaspoon garlic powder, or ½ tsp fresh finely minced garlic

                ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper powder

                ½ teaspoon salt

                For extra spice ½ teaspoon or more of your favorite hot sauce.

                Combine in a saucepan, and whisk together till smooth

                Heat to a simmer, and low simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly

                Store in the fridge overnight.

  • not_that_guy05@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Insurance companies hate this one trick.

    But no honestly, why are they acting like CEOs are fucking important?

    Just parasites is all they are.

  • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    “The motive remains unclear” is one of those things that, as a journalist, you know you have to write because it is absolutely the truth, but you hate yourself for every letter of every word because you know how fucking stupid it sounds given the circumstances.

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Nah, that’s a cop out. They could absolutely find somebody speculating on the motive to quote if they wanted to.

    • Railcar8095@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      “I mean, there are millions of people with motive. Which one in particular we will hopefully never know”

      • ImADifferentBird@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        7 months ago

        I feel like this is going to end like Murder on the Orient Express, where…

        Tap for spoiler

        … it turns out that literally everyone took turns shooting him.

      • Gigasser@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Deny that you know or even saw them. Defend them if they do get caught, through protest, fundraising, bail, etc. Depose those who put them in jail if they are sentenced.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Unless it turns out he was murdered by, for example, an irate shareholder who didn’t make the money he wanted to make.

      There is more than one reason he could have been murdered.

      • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        Absolutely, hence why they do have to say that the motive is unclear. While we all have strong theories about why this happened, there are plenty of other possibilities that have to be considered. Could have been taken out by his family for insurance money, could have been a business rival, the guy might have gotten in shit with the mob. At this point they just don’t know.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Exactly. We just don’t have enough information yet and it is just silly to assume this is some sort of just world where people behind atrocities that are subsequently murdered are murdered because of those atrocities.

      • Nithanim@programming.dev
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        7 months ago

        For some very weird reason it never crossed my mind, and I really do not know why, that I could invest in a huge healthcare corporation whose target it is to provide as little healthcare as possible. But your comment made me think about that that is possible to do.

      • Schmoo@slrpnk.net
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        7 months ago

        If that were the case writing the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” on the bullet casings was a pretty stupid move, given that it calls attention to the atrocities said shareholder profits from. It seems most likely that the motive is exactly what the bullet casings suggest.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Which is exactly why someone would do it to make the police think it wasn’t for another reason.

          Really, I have no idea why all of you assume a criminal will say, “yep! It’s me!”

      • rumba@lemmy.zip
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        7 months ago

        Murder bingo, murder scavenger hunt, time traveler trying to stop the future apocalypse no lack of options…

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Are you really suggesting that only possible realistic motive to murder him is because of his position at UHC?

          I can think of so many plausible scenarios. I just gave you one, here’s another: he was cheating on his wife, so she paid to have him killed, something that actually happens in the real world and doesn’t involved time travelers.

          I’m sure you would like this to be a just world where bad people get killed for good reasons, but that’s not how the world works. Hitler’s generals tried to assassinate him and it wasn’t because they thought he was being too mean to the Jews.

          • rumba@lemmy.zip
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            7 months ago

            Are you really suggesting

            nope, just toying around with the concept, figured it would be about 3/5 on the joke scale.

            edit: Though if you really wanted to get into it, the words scribed on the casings might direct you to a likely solution. *

          • Windex007@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Obviously there are many plausible scenarios, but one of them scales significantly differently than the others.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              If there are many plausible scenarios, even if one is the most plausible, it’s silly to assume that’s the one.

              • Windex007@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                It’s only silly if one misunderstands an assumption to be established fact.

                If I hear hoofbeats, I will assume horses, not zebras.

                If I see Zebras, I’ll say my assumption was wrong. No shame in it. I’m wrong all the fucking time, being right isn’t part of my identity.

                But until then, if someone says “what do figure those hoofbeats are?” I’m not going to say “50/50 horses or zebras”

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  Assumptions are claimed to be established facts. That’s what an assumption is. You’re making a claim of fact without having the evidence.

          • Lightor@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Possible vs Probable.

            Lots of things are possible, sure, but his position and impact on people due to his position does make one very probable.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I am guessing you do not know enough about him personally to know what is the most probable. Maybe he very openly cheats on his wife. That would make his wife hiring a hit man very probable. Maybe he’s swindled someone out of a ton of money on a personal level rather than via UHC. Again, that would make a good motive to kill him.

              We do not have enough information here and pretending we do is not very wise.

              • Lightor@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                True, it’s possible he has numerous enemies.

                But what I can say is the average person doesn’t have people wanting to kill them. If all things are equal, and given the message written on the casings, there seems to be one that is currently the most probable.

              • Windex007@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                He MAYBE fucked around on his one wife causing embarrassment.

                He CERTAINLY fucked around with THOUSANDS of people causing DEATH.

                It’s worthwhile to consider alternatives but it’s unwise to paint all scenarios as equally likely.

      • Sabata@ani.social
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        7 months ago

        “deny,” “defend,” and “depose.”

        He literally left the manifesto there and they can’t figure it out.

        • Freefall@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          He left “A” manifesto. I have never dealt with his company,but if I was hired to kill him I would most definately make look like a disgruntled parent if a dead kid or some such.

          Hopefully he(another common assumption) never gets caught and we never know.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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      7 months ago

      “The motive remains unclear”

      Was it him that got denied, or was it a recently deceased family member?

      There’s several options.

  • M0oP0o@mander.xyz
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    7 months ago

    Authorities suggest Thompson was targeted but remain unclear on the motive.

    Ummmm, real solid police work here. Although motive might be hard to narrow down, its not like this was a popular CEO.

  • Dasus@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Authorities suggest Thompson was targeted but remain unclear on the motive.

    Friggin Sherlock Holmes’ over here.

    The case raises questions about executive security

    “We won’t be pressured into changing the system we’ll just protect the rich exploiters better”

  • tyrant@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    To those complaining this is news because this is a rich white CEO and shouldn’t be. It’s fascinating to me because it seems like vengeance. It seems like it was well planned. It seems like the killer may have had a personal beef with the insurance company. I don’t usually follow things like this but I think insurance companies are genuinely evil. This one has my interest.

    • gwilikers@lemmy.ml
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      7 months ago

      I think its good for the same reason that I think extensive media focus on school shooting is bad.

    • Scrollone@feddit.it
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      7 months ago

      Imagine how interesting it would be if more copycats started killing evil rich people all around the world…

      French Revolution vibes intensify…

  • badbytes@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Wow, an investigation. Was the victim white or rich. White, rich, and male, hurry get Sherlock Holmes.

  • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    “Thompson lacked personal protection despite known risks.”

    Oh. Oh ho ho. That is an interesting bit of information.

    Not the lacking personal protection. That does surprise me, but not a lot.

    What does surprise me is the “despite known risks.”

    Was he that arrogant? Or do they, the powerful, greedy, and heartless, fear the wrong things?

    Interesting to consider. The primal instinct to fear for ones life drives the most basic of biology. Is it possible, that this class of individuals lacks that fear? Or is it that there is something that fear more?

    I think we all know the answer to that, of course. They fear losing power and wealth. That’s quite a vulnerability. They protect that wealth and power more than their own life. I feel like I’ve heard about consequences to that.

    • LiveLM@lemmy.zip
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      7 months ago

      This is the part that keeps running through my mind.

      The motherfucker ain’t stupid. He knows that as the CEO of an insurance company he is bound to be hated by lots of people, and yet he chooses to go without Private Security? Bruh. All those fucking dollars, couldn’t spare some to increase his chance of survival eh?

      Did the almighty dollar cloud his thoughts so much he thought he couldn’t die no more? He thought he was above the rules of the physical plane? Dude thought he was gonna re-sleeve like Altered Carbon

      • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        The assassin was a pre-existing condition, a condition caused by his last workplace, clearly.

    • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      He was that arrogant, and the powerful and rich don’t know actual fear at all until they meet a guy like the one this CEO met.