UnitedHealthcare CEO assassination: Sources reveal contents of backpack linked to killer

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Police divers in Central Park amid manhunt for CEO’s killer

NYPD SCUBA unit searched the waters of Central Park on Saturday, amid the investigation into the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Credit: Peter Gerber)

The gray backpack linked to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, which authorities found dumped in Central Park, has reportedly yielded a piece of clothing and some Monopoly money, but no gun.

Police sources told Fox News on Sunday that the backpack, which was discovered in Central Park West on Friday, contained a jacket and Monopoly money. 

Sources said the gun used in the murder was not in the bag, prompting dive teams to check the water around Central Park.

The new information came as authorities began to wrap up the first weekend of the hunt for Thompson’s assassin. The businessman was shot with a suppressed pistol at around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.

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A Peak Designs backpack found by NYPD last in a leaf pile in Central Park on Friday. The bag appears to match the description of the one worn by the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson on Wednesday morning in Manhattan.   (Obtained by New York Post)

Thompson was walking towards a Midtown hotel when the masked suspect opened fire from behind and then fled the scene. Police believe that the gunman left New York City on a bus the same day.

Police have not officially confirmed that the newly-found backpack was the same one that the suspect wore during the murder, which was captured by a surveillance camera.

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Signage posted around Midtown Manhattan asks for the public’s help in locating the suspect wanted for the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday. (Fox News)

Retired FBI agent Scott Duffey told Fox News Digital it will be taken to a lab in Queens for forensic testing, where it will undergo trace evidence processing.

“[It’s] a process for hair, fibers [and] DNA,” Duffey explained Saturday. “If he holds his hand against the strap and tightens the buckle like most of us do, that is where DNA most likely can be found. And zippers.”

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The suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is seen leaving the scene. (Amar Abdelmula)

Investigators are also analyzing clues that the suspect left, such as a water bottle at the scene and a discarded cellphone. Bullet casings with the words “deny,” “depose” and “delay,” written on them were also found.

Former Washington, D.C. homicide detective Ted Williams told Fox News that the Monopoly money in backpack is the “killer playing games with the authorities. All part of a cat and mouse game,” he said. 

“This killer knew they would more likely than not find the backpack, and he is leaving breadcrumbs to let [the] authorities know that he is in control, not them.”

Fox News Digital’s Christina Coulter contributed to this report.

Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can send story tips to andrea.margolis@fox.com.