‘Deny,’ ‘defend’ and ‘depose’: Ammunition used in CEO’s killing had writing on it, source says

Members of the New York police crime scene unit pick up cups marking the spots where bullets lie as they investigate the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the chief executiveof UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot Wednesday. The masked gunman who stalked and killed the leader of one of the largest U.S. health insurance companies on a Manhattan sidewalk used ammunition emblazoned with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” a law enforcement official said Thursday. UnitedHealthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson, 50, died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton hotel in Midtown, blocks from tourist draws such as Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art. “Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him,” the insurer’s Minnetonka, Minn.-based parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., said in a statement. “We are working closely with the New York Police Department and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.” Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.