Did Brian Thompson Hire His Own Assassin? CNN Guest Shares Conspiracy Theory About the 'Targeted' Hit

Conspiracy theories have begun to pop up around late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's assassination in New York City.

The unnamed masked shooter is still on the run, but former Maryland state police commander Neill Franklin suggested police may know who the killer is.

"It’s a good chance. It’s a very good possibility with these new photographs, that is, that they already know who he is. It’s a very good chance of that. But I also I want to say something else that I know these criminal investigators are looking into as it relates to motive," he told CNN host Dana Bash. "There have been times when people have orchestrated their own demise for certain reasons. We know that."

Before Bash could ask a follow-up question, the former commander clarified, "I’m not saying this is the case, but as an investigator ... Insurance purposes, you know, maybe they fear some type of investigation down the road. Maybe they want to leave their family in a good light. But there have been cases where people have orchestrated their own demise."

Bash asked Franklin to clarify if he was suggesting the possibility that Thompson himself hired somebody to kill him.

He answered, "Absolutely. It cannot be ignored. This is what's really digging at me as a former criminal investigator."

"This guy knew too much about where he was going to be at a specific time. There’s no evidence that I’ve seen of him. When you look at the timeline of him coming to that area outside of the Hilton and where he was outside of the Hilton, it’s a very small window. Very small window. It’s not like he was roaming around," the ex-police commander explained.

Thompson, 50, was shot to death outside a Hilton hotel in New York City by a masked individual who fled the scene on a bike on Wednesday, December 4.

As OK! previously reported, the police later released photos of the alleged killer’s face but have not publicly identified him.

The CEO leaves behind his wife, Paulette "Pauley" Thompson, 51, and two children in Minneapolis, Minn.

Several online critics of the late CEO have taken to social media to defend and even celebrate Thompson's assassination.

Reporter Taylor Lorenz took to BlueSky, a microblogging social media network, to share an article about how Blue Cross Blue Shield was once going to stop covering anesthesia for the full length of some surgeries and wrote, "And people wonder why we want these executives dead."

Other users commented on Lorenz's post with memes and stories about how Thompson's company denied their health claims.

One user wrote: "This dead CEO story is getting more coverage than UHC ever provided."