New evidence comes to light in hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO's New York killer

The hunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has entered its third day, as US investigators continue their efforts to piece together the murderer’s identity.

Several new clues have emerged about the man the authorities believe shot Thompson, a father-of-two who lived in Minnesota, in what US police have said was a targeted killing.

The insurance executive was fatally wounded shortly before 7 am local time (1 pm CET) on Wednesday in central New York after leaving the Hilton Midtown hotel on his way to his company’s annual conference, which was being held across the street.

On Thursday, the New York Police Department issued a photo of a man smiling at a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They said he was a “person of interest”.

Speaking anonymously to CNN, a law enforcement official said the picture shows the suspect after he had lowered his mask to talk to a female hostel employee. Staff there told police that the man typically covered his face when interacting with them.

The man is thought to have used a fake New Jersey ID card when he checked in at the hostel.

The authorities have also started to probe the suspect’s movements in the run-up to the attack, in the hope that it sheds some light on his identity. They believe he reached New York last month on a Greyhound bus that departed from Atlanta, Georgia.

Police were also examining a phone recovered from a square through which the gunman fled, as well as a discarded water bottle and a protein bar wrapper.

The gunman’s motive remains unknown.

However, investigators said they found the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on ammunition uncovered at the scene of the shooting. This echoes “delay, deny, defend,” a phrase used by critics of the health insurance industry, which is often accused of avoiding payouts on patient claims.

Thompson had worked for Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004, serving as its CEO for more than three years. More than 49 million Americans use the insurer, which is the country’s largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans.

The victim’s wife, Paulette, told NBC on Wednesday that “there were some people that had been threatening him.”

The shooter was last seen riding into Central Park on an electric bike early on Wednesday morning.