CNN guest suggests controversial idea that the CEO of UnitedHealthcare might have planned his own murder

A CNN guest his suggested that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have orchestrated his own assassination. 

Law enforcement veteran Neill Franklin told Dana Bash that such an idea was not out of the realm of possibility when he made the claim on Friday. 

Bash had asked the former Maryland officer if he believed that the New York Police Department knew the identity of Thompson’s shooter. 

He said: ‘It’s a very good possibility that they already know who he is, there’s a very good chance of that.

‘There have been times when people have orchestrated their own demise for certain reasons.’

Bash expresses clear surprise, audibly uttering ‘wow’, in response to Franklin’s statements. Franklin himself adds, ‘I am not saying this is the case’, prompting Bash to inquire whether it has any connection to insurance matters.

‘Maybe they fear some type of investigation down the road, maybe they want to leave their family in a good light. 

‘There have been cases when people have orchestrated their own demise, it is a possibility. It cannot be ignored.’

Expanding on his thoughts, Franklin elaborates: ‘This is what is troubling me from the standpoint of my experience as a former investigator; this individual seemed to possess detailed knowledge about his whereabouts at precise times.’

‘It’s a very small window, it is not like he was roaming around. He was there, he was laying in wait. Who would have that specific type of information?’

Officers believe they are closing the net on Thompson’s killer as the manhunt for him continued on Friday. 

Investigators managed to find what they believe to be his backpack inside Central Park on Friday which they are having tested at a lab. 

Officers were seen scouring the park near 64th street and Central Park West for evidence relating to the shooter, after he was seen fleeing into the park on a electric bike.

CNN reported that the bag was found by cops on their second sweep of the park, and was placed between boulders just south of the park’s carousel. 

The NYPD have also given a clearer idea of the killer’s movements after he murdered Thompson. 

They say he entered the park after the shooting at 6:48am and then was spotted exiting on 77th Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan oat 6:56am. 

Surveillance footage captured him near 86th Street and Columbus Avenue two minutes after he left the park, while still on his bike.

At 7:04 am he then go into a taxi cab at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue and headed north. 

By 7:30 am he had made it to the Port Authority bus terminal in the north of the city where they say he boarded a bus and left the city. 

On Thursday officials said the individual had arrived into the city in late November on a bus from Atlanta, Georgia, and had been staying inside a hostel on the Upper West Side.  

It was inside the hostel that a flirty exchange with a hostel worker gave police officers their first glimpse at the killer, when he was asked to lower his mask.  

The Chief of Detectives with the NYPD Joseph Kenny has said that they believe the assassin is either a disgruntled ex-employee or an angry client. 

Thompson had been slated to speak at an investor meeting at the hotel on Wednesday morning, in which he would announce United Healthcare’s hugely profitable 2025 financial outlook – including expected revenues of more than $450 billion. 

His schedule was widely known, and witnesses have said the suspected gunman even knew which door Thompson was going to emerge from before opening fire. 

United is the biggest health insurer by market share in America. They have been the subject of protests by activists for allegedly systematically denying care for patients. 

One such protest earlier this year led to the arrests of 11 people outside the United Healthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota. 

The company made headlines in February after it was subjected to a cyber-attack which cost $872 million. 

Thompson’s wife, Paulette ‘Pauley’ Thompson, 51, has said her husband had been receiving ‘some threats’ before his trip to New York.

Thompson was also being investigated by the Department of Justice for antitrust violations and accused of insider trading. 

The department launched a probe into whether the private company was unfairly restricting competitors and running a monopoly.