UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Assassin Left Cryptic Message On Bullets Used In Murder

The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were discovered by investigators on the shell casings found at the scene where Brian Thompson, the CEO of major insurance group UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down, according to a report from ABC News.

Thompson was shot to death at point blank range after he was exiting a Manhattan hotel on Wednesday morning. Disturbing footage of the murder shows a masked gunman in a black sweatshirt shooting the healthcare CEO at least twice, once in the back and once in the right calf, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference. The victim was transported to a local hospital by emergency workers, where he was pronounced dead at 7:12 a.m.

Investigators have yet to determine a motive, though they are treating the killing as a “targeted attack.”

“Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” Tisch told reporters. “I want to be clear: At this time, every indication is that this was a premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.”

Surveillance camera footage shows the gunman firing at Thompson (L) and fleeing the scene (M). Police have also released an image of the suspect at a nearby Starbucks (R)