A “person of interest” in the shooting death of a Long Island equestrian rider is a former American Express executive who had a psychotic breakdown after he sued the company — claiming bosses fired him for being HIV-positive, sources said.
Suffolk County cops are looking for Brett Knight, 45, an estranged pal of murdered Ross Reisner and his partner of 25 years, Kevin Murray, sources said.
Sources said the couple let him rent a room in their house for a while.
A gunman crept through the yard of the couple’s East Setauket spread Tuesday night and eyed them through a window before firing several shots, cops said.
Reisner was struck in the chest and killed, and Murray was grazed by a bullet.
A Utah native, Knight moved to New York in the early 1990s to work for American Express and gradually climbed the corporate ladder to become a director in its compliance division, according to court papers. He befriended Reisner and Murray soon after his move, and the trio went on trips to Fire Island and jaunts to Manhattan, relatives of the victim said.
But Knight’s world crumbled when he was terminated from American Express in 2009.
In a suit filed in Manhattan federal court that year, he claimed his bosses were repulsed by his sexual orientation and disease and fired him because of it. Records show that Knight’s suit was dismissed.
Knowing that Murray and Reisner had just made large additions to their home, Knight asked to rent a downstairs room several years ago. But sources said the couple was forced to evict the friend after his behavior became increasingly erratic.
Embittered and vengeful, Knight allegedly began harassing the couple, and Murray filed harassment charges against him recently in a sealed Suffolk County case. But Knight, who lives on Horatio Street in the city, missed a Sept. 4 court appearance and hasn’t been seen since.
Reisner’s friends and family began preparing for his funeral slated for Sunday in Queens.