A Florida woman has been accused of threatening a health insurer with the same words found on the bullets that killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Briana Boston, 42, has been charged in connection with a threatening phone call she allegedly made to BlueCross BlueShield about a denied medical claim.
Towards the end of the call, she allegedly told the operator, “Slow down, deny, delay.” You’re next.’
The messages were found on bullet casings at the scene of Thompson’s murder, in which Luigi Mangione, 26, is the prime suspect.
Boston’s arrest affidavit obtained by KSNnoticed the similarity in the wording.
Police contacted Boston at her Lakeland home and said she admitted to using the phrases.
She reportedly told investigators that “health care companies were playing games and earning karma in the world for being bad.”
She reportedly claimed she chose the words “because this is in the news right now,” referring to Thompson’s murder.
Briana Boston, a Florida woman, has been accused of threatening a health insurer with the same words found on the bullets that killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
Police have found bullet casings with the words ‘Delay, deny, depose’, which they believe belonged to prime suspect Luigi Mangione
However, she stated that she is not a gun owner or “a danger to anyone,” police said.
She was charged with threatening a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.
Her bond was set at $100,000, with a judge noting that this was “appropriate given the status of our country at this time.”
It’s been just over a week since Thompson, 50, was gunned down in the middle of Manhattan while on his way to an investor conference at a Hilton Hotel.
His suspected killer evaded capture for six days despite a massive manhunt.
Mangione has since been charged with manslaughter for the death.
The words on the bullet casings bore similarities to Jay M Feinman’s 2010 book, ‘Delay, Deny, Defend’, which describes ‘why insurance companies don’t pay claims and what you can do about it’.
Thompson’s murder has sparked conversations about the state of the healthcare system, with many portraying the suspect as a vigilante-style hero.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead in Manhattan while on his way to an investor conference
Mangione is currently being held in a Pennsylvania prison, where he plans to fight extradition charges to New York.
He was captured by police after a tip from an Altoona McDonald’s employee who served him while he was on the run.
Mangione’s mother Kathleen reported him missing in San Francisco last month and alerted police that she had not heard from him since July 1.
Reports say he was estranged from his family after moving to Hawaii and aggravating a painful back condition in a surfing accident.
Friends believe the crippling injury limited his mobility, hampered his sex life and left him in a mental health crisis.