Investigators in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson are taking a “deep look” into his personal life, including his family and friends, a former NYPD officer told Fox News Digital on Friday. .
“I think what the police are really looking at in this case is what the investigators are really looking at is the victim, because the vast majority of murders are committed by someone the victim knows. “Because they're in charge,” says former Detective Deputy Commander Ralph Cilento. explained the New York City Police Department and adjunct professor of police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“I think that's a very high percentage, close to 90%. So beyond the crime scene analysis, what's being done forensically, what shell casings and live ammunition have been recovered, etc. [there are] Not only this murder, but all murders require a deep investigation into the victim. ”
He said that even if the victim did not know the suspect, they may have known each other “as a proxy if someone sends an assailant to kill someone.”
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's 'premeditated' attack on suspect's escape destination: Timeline
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed Wednesday morning in midtown Manhattan. (Businesswire | NYPD Crimestoppers)
“Typically, the way we investigate things like murders is to start with the victim and follow concentric circles, and usually the perpetrator is somewhere in there. Usually, but not always,” he explained. did.
Cilento also noted that the shooting occurred on the morning of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony.
Thompson was killed early Wednesday morning in front of the Hilton in midtown Manhattan.
“It's before the tree lighting, but the way the NYPD works is that every detail starts the night before,” he said. “So this is a pretty brazen act and you can assume there are more cops on the streets.
“So we don't know if this guy walked past an officer with a body camera, so we have to go through all of that footage, which is a huge, arduous, tedious task. It's a tremendous amount of work to collect that video. ”
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A split image of Brian Thompson, United Healthcare's head office and CEO, who was killed on Wednesday. (Getty Images, Associated Press)
Cilento also noted that a team of investigators was at Thompson's home near Minneapolis.
“Remember, to get any clues about a murder, you always have to investigate the victim,” he said. “And from there you go round and round, his emails, his communications with his wife and family, his communications with current and former employees. Was he being intimidated in any way? Is it just a denial? Is the medical company covering something? All these avenues need to be considered.”
He said he was not surprised that the suspect was able to escape in such a short time, but added that his “life expectancy is limited.”
He said law enforcement authorities were dedicating “too many resources” to the investigation to make arrests immediately. And even though the suspect used a fake ID to check into a Manhattan hostel before the shooting and tried to pay in cash, it's impossible not to leave an electronic footprint.
A screenshot of surveillance footage released by the New York City Police Department shows the suspect in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (NYPD Crime Stoppers)
Cilento argued that the suspect's use of false identification and cash payments were merely “speed-ups” in the investigation.
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“They're closing the lead in every way,” Cilento said. “We have a team in Minneapolis that specializes solely in video recovery, which in itself is a tedious and daunting task. And we do much more than just recover videos.
“We have to go through thousands, cumulatively, thousands of hours of video. And there are detectives somewhere out there looking for video to get a glimpse of this guy. There are other detectives out there, too. Some detectives are looking for the NYPD's body cameras in case they walked past the officer unmasked, and the only way to do that is to do it. And I guarantee you it needs to be visible.”
