Crime

The wife of slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson says he had received threats before his shocking assassination on the streets of NYC.

In a phone conversation with NBC News read out by the anchor ... Paulette Thompson said, "There had been some threats basically. I don't know. A lack of coverage? I don't know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him."

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ there’s no official record of any threats being reported by Brian or any other UnitedHealthcare executives.

The masked assassin who took out UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was caught on camera casually chatting on the phone just minutes before pulling the trigger, new video shows.

Surveillance footage shows a man decked out in the same dark outfit -- hat, ski mask, and gray backpack -- holding a phone to his ear as he strolled east on 54th Street toward the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue around 6:30 AM Wednesday -- just 15 minutes before the fatal shooting.

The NYPD said the killer showed up about 5 minutes before the attack, lying in wait for his target. When the moment came, he used a gun with a silencer to fire the shots that killed Thompson.

A man’s stepping forward with a jaw-dropping claim -- he says he may have figured out the whereabouts of the assassin who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ... all thanks to Citi Bike's tracking data.

A data scientist named Riley, who goes by @rtwlz on X, dropped a bombshell post, revealing how he's been scraping Citi Bike data every minute ... and he could see exactly where individual bikes go.

And here's the kicker -- he says the only northbound Citi Bike to leave within 10 minutes of the shooting near the Hilton hotel where Thompson was entering, left at 6:44 AM and headed straight to a location at Madison Ave & 82nd St at 6:52 AM.

NYPD has clear footage of the killer who opened fire on UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan ... but only from behind the suspect.

Cops released the surveillance images captured Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel on 6th Ave and 54th Street ... and it shows 50-year-old Thompson strolling into the hotel by himself around 6:45 AM. The shooter walks up behind him, draws a handgun and starts shooting from less than 10 feet away.

It appears the suspect fired his weapon, which was fitted with a silencer, at least 3 times ... before fleeing into an alleyway on the other side of the street. Police say he made his getaway on a bicycle, which was captured on a different surveillance camera, and rode into Central Park ... just a few blocks away.

Los Angeles County’s new District Attorney, Nathan Hochman, is wasting no time after being sworn into the high-profile gig -- he's kicking things off with a case that’s been on everyone's mind -- the Menendez Brothers.

Hochman chatted with TMZ outside the Hall of Justice in downtown L.A. Tuesday after he was sworn in by Arnold Schwarzenegger, making it clear that, despite the public's obsession with Erik and Lyle's case, he's not going to treat it any differently than others.

Hochman explained to us that while he's sticking to his no-special-treatment approach, he sees the public interest as a win. Why? Because it helps shine a spotlight on the bigger issues in criminal justice and reform.

Los Angeles County's new District Attorney Nathan Hochman was sworn in by Arnold Schwarzenegger Tuesday at the Hall of Justice in downtown L.A.

Hochman is replacing outgoing D.A. George Gascón, who Nathan says was way too soft on violent and repeat offenders during his 4-year term ... and apparently voters agreed.

It's fitting ... Hochman says he's going to terminate a lot of the policies he calls lenient that Gascón was known for ... like not prosecuting drug possession and trespassing offenses ... and he's turning to the "Terminator" star -- and former California governor -- to get his first day in office started.

Leighton Vander Esch's dad was arrested over the weekend after he allegedly attempted to strangle the former Dallas Cowboys star's mom, new court documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, show.

According to the docs, the incident happened around midnight on Dec. 1 in Idaho County ... when Darwin Vander Esch allegedly got physical with his wife, Sandy Vander Esch, following an argument at a nearby bar.

Cops wrote that Sandy told them Darwin had locked her out of their house after the dispute, so she broke in ... and soon after, officers say she claimed her husband confronted her and put both of his hands around her neck and "was pushing and squeezing, not letting her talk or breathe."

The father of retired Dallas Cowboys star Leighton Vander Esch was arrested in Idaho over the weekend on several charges -- including felony attempted strangulation.

The Idaho County Sheriff's Office says it received a call regarding a domestic battery outside the city of Riggins around 12:16 AM on Dec. 1.

After cops arrived at the scene, 61-year-old Darwin Vander Esch was arrested for felony attempted strangulation and cited for misdemeanor domestic battery and misdemeanor intentional destruction of a telecommunication device.

Harvey Weinstein is back at Bellevue Hospital in New York City after getting some alarming results from a recent blood test ... TMZ has learned.

Weinstein's attorney, Imran H. Ansari, tells TMZ ... the blood test, taken at Rikers Island, was related to Weinstein's leukemia diagnosis, and while the results are concerning, his condition is treatable.

It's the latest health issue for Weinstein -- his attorney says he's "been suffering from a lack of adequate medical care and enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions on Rikers Island."

Mark Geragos says he's confident he would have gotten Hunter Biden off scot-free in his tax evasion trial, but President Biden's son didn't want to put his family back in the spotlight ... so he entered a guilty plea.

Hunter's attorney joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday and we pressed him about his risky decision to have Hunter enter an "open plea" ... meaning there was no deal with prosecutors regarding sentencing.

Mark says he was going to win Hunter's case by flipping the government's argument in the Delaware gun trial on its head ... namely, that HB was so addled by drug use he could not have intentionally violated tax codes.

Young Thug may have sprung out of jail, but one of his co-defendants is still having a rough time behind bars ... dodging sharp, pointy objects that want to take him out!!!

According to reports straight outta Fulton County, Georgia ... YSL rapper Yak Gotti, AKA Deamonte Kendrick, was involved in an altercation on the inside with another inmate on Sunday, resulting in him being stabbed!!!

"Kendrick received treatment for minor injuries from a sharp object at the Fulton County Jail," Fulton County Sheriff's Office Communications Director Natalie Ammons tells TMZ Hip Hop.

Francesca Eastwood won't face prosecution after her recent felony domestic violence arrest ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the D.A. decided in October not to prosecute the case -- citing insufficient evidence.

We're told the alleged victim in the case -- Francesca's boyfriend -- would not cooperate with law enforcement and turned down medical treatment ... so, the D.A.'s office isn't prosecuting.

Arnold Schwarzenegger hosted some law enforcement personnel on Thanksgiving ... though he wasn't expecting them when the day started.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD responded to a call that a bomb had been placed in the actor-turned-politican's mailbox at his L.A.-area home.

We're told cops rushed to the home and searched the mailbox and surrounding area ... but, they did not find an explosive device.

Diddy is staying behind bars ... after a judge just ruled his bail is denied because no conditions can assure the safety of the community.

In his decision, filed Wednesday the judge in the case wrote there is a serious risk of witness tampering and direct evidence of Combs' violence ... pointing to the infamous 2016 video of Diddy beating Cassie and subsequent text messages with her.

In the texts, included in the judge's decision, Cassie wrote to Diddy about her injuries ... adding he was "sick for thinking it's OK to do what you've done."

Dee Devlin just went scorched earth on Conor McGregor's sexual assault accuser ... lighting her up in a series of Instagram posts on Tuesday afternoon.

In the IG Stories, the UFC superstar's longtime partner called Nikita Ni Lamhain -- who just won her civil case against McGregor in Ireland last week -- a liar ... and said straight up, "My sons will be warned women like you exist in the world."

Devlin claimed that back in 2018, prior to Ni Lamhain's suit against McGregor, Ni Lamhain would send "messages and pictures of herself over and over to my man" ... despite knowing he was in a committed relationship.

The Menendez brothers are going to spend at least one more Thanksgiving behind bars ... and TMZ has the cranberry sauce on what their gobble-gobble day is going to look like.

A source in the California Department of Corrections tells TMZ ... Lyle and Erik -- who've been in prison nearly 35 years for the double murder of their parents -- will feast on turkey slices, mashed potatoes, greens, and peach pie this Thanksgiving.

InTouch was the first to report on the Thanksgiving menu.