Crime Reporter

Sixth Avenue this time of year. You probably don't have a more trafficked or highly populated part of Manhattan or New York, except for Times Square. We're talking about a couple of blocks away from Rockefeller Center with the famous Christmas tree. Right near there, you have Radio City Music Hall, famous for its Christmas show. Hilton itself is a busy, busy place.

Sixth Avenue this time of year. You probably don't have a more trafficked or highly populated part of Manhattan or New York, except for Times Square. We're talking about a couple of blocks away from Rockefeller Center with the famous Christmas tree. Right near there, you have Radio City Music Hall, famous for its Christmas show. Hilton itself is a busy, busy place.

That morning, UnitedHealthcare was having an investor conference.

That morning, UnitedHealthcare was having an investor conference.

After he gets the water bottle and the kind bar from the Starbucks, he takes position and then holds up in the pre-dawn dark and he sees Brian Thompson.

After he gets the water bottle and the kind bar from the Starbucks, he takes position and then holds up in the pre-dawn dark and he sees Brian Thompson.

You see Brian Thompson walking past the area where the shooter is located. The shooter comes up behind him. It appears that it may be 10 or 12 feet behind Brian Thompson. The shooter fires three times. It seems that the gun jammed several times in between the shots. And that's going to be very, very important down the road for police investigating the crime.

You see Brian Thompson walking past the area where the shooter is located. The shooter comes up behind him. It appears that it may be 10 or 12 feet behind Brian Thompson. The shooter fires three times. It seems that the gun jammed several times in between the shots. And that's going to be very, very important down the road for police investigating the crime.

You see a bystander run out of the frame in the other direction. Brian Thompson is on the floor.

You see a bystander run out of the frame in the other direction. Brian Thompson is on the floor.

When detectives went back and started looking at these images frame by frame over and over again, they noticed a couple of things. First of all, they noticed how far away the shooter was from Brian Thompson. Detectives were saying to us that if this had been somebody who was really a trained assassin, he wouldn't have fired from 10 or 12 feet away. He would have fired from five or seven feet away.

When detectives went back and started looking at these images frame by frame over and over again, they noticed a couple of things. First of all, they noticed how far away the shooter was from Brian Thompson. Detectives were saying to us that if this had been somebody who was really a trained assassin, he wouldn't have fired from 10 or 12 feet away. He would have fired from five or seven feet away.

He took off before he made sure that his victim was dead. And trained assassins would not do that.

He took off before he made sure that his victim was dead. And trained assassins would not do that.

Police quickly get into Brian Thompson's hotel room. They get his phone. They're trying to see, is there somebody out there that might have a grudge or a vendetta against Thompson? Did he owe money to people? Was there some sort of a drug thing, an alcohol thing? All these things are quickly being cycled through. And pretty fast, the police determine there's none of that.

Police quickly get into Brian Thompson's hotel room. They get his phone. They're trying to see, is there somebody out there that might have a grudge or a vendetta against Thompson? Did he owe money to people? Was there some sort of a drug thing, an alcohol thing? All these things are quickly being cycled through. And pretty fast, the police determine there's none of that.

Investigators were telling us that they believed in theory, without having a ton of evidence yet, that this felt to them like this was a shooting motivated by Brian Thompson's work.

Investigators were telling us that they believed in theory, without having a ton of evidence yet, that this felt to them like this was a shooting motivated by Brian Thompson's work.

And that has an eerie echo to a book critical of the insurance industry, talking about the tactics that health insurance companies use to either refuse to pay claims, to slow paying for claims.

And that has an eerie echo to a book critical of the insurance industry, talking about the tactics that health insurance companies use to either refuse to pay claims, to slow paying for claims.