Florida woman arrested over alleged threats to BlueCross BlueShield with words ‘delay, deny, depose’
“Delay, Deny, Depose. You people are next.”
A woman who may have been imitating one of the modus operandi of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killer was arrested Tuesday in Lakeland, FL. Police say Briana Boston ended a call to a local insurance company with the words, “Delay, Deny, Depose”: the same message that reportedly appeared on the shell casings used in the Thompson homicide, NBC News affiliate News8 reported.
Boston allegedly called BlueCross BlueShield to complain about recent medical insurance claims that had been dismissed. Lakeland police say the complete call was recorded. Before hanging up, Boston allegedly said, “Delay, Deny, Depose. You people are next.” The arrest affidavit pointed out that the words recorded from the call were not only the same as those in the Thompson killing but are now recognized throughout the US as those “directed against insurance companies.”
“She’s been in this world long enough that she certainly should know better that you can’t make threats like that in the current environment that we live in and think that we’re not going to follow up and put you in jail,” said Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor.
Police soon found Boston at her Lakeland home where she allegedly admitted to saying the three words at the end of the call. She also told police investigators that “healthcare companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil.”
She allegedly told police that she decided to say these words “because it’s what is in the news right now,” and that she had heard the phrase because of reporting around the Thompson murder. Police said Boston was not in possession of any firearms and apparently “does not pose a danger to anyone.”
“She readily admitted that, ‘Yeah that’s exactly what I said but I didn’t mean anything by it’,” Taylor told News8. “Well, you don’t get to pull that back after you say it.”
Luigi Mangione has been charged in Thompson’s murder. His lawyer claims there is no evidence linking him to the crime. The homicide has prompted a backlash of anger against healthcare executives.