Father and Son Help Crack Unsolved 1969 Bank Robbery

The lad watched arsenic his father, John K. Elliott, sat successful the room 1 day successful 1970, mislaid successful thought.

“Can you walk the mashed potatoes?” Peter J. Elliott asked his father, a U.S. marshal successful Cleveland, Ohio, who was reasoning astir the antheral who had pulled disconnected 1 of the biggest slope robberies successful the city’s history.

“When americium I going to get Ted Conrad?” Mr. Elliott asked his son, a twelvemonth aft Theodore J. Conrad had walked disconnected with $215,000 successful cash, the equivalent of astir $1.6 cardinal today.

On Friday, much than 50 years aft the heist, the younger Mr. Elliott, present a U.S. marshal himself, had an reply for his father.

The U.S. Marshals Service announced that it had recovered Mr. Conrad aft investigators pursued a pb and discovered that helium had been surviving nether the fictitious sanction Thomas Randele successful Lynnfield, Mass., astir 16 miles northbound of Boston, until his decease from lung crab successful May.

Investigators had chased leads crossed the country, to California, Hawaii, Texas and Oregon, successful hunt of their fugitive. Mr. Conrad was featured connected respective true-crime shows, including “America’s Most Wanted” and “Unsolved Mysteries.”

Investigators learned that aft the theft, Mr. Conrad fled to Washington, D.C., and past to Los Angeles, and yet went to Massachusetts successful 1970, wherever helium established heavy roots with his woman and daughter. There, helium was a play pro, worked astatine a luxury-car dealership for 40 years and enjoyed watching “NCIS” and different instrumentality enforcement shows connected television, Mr. Elliott said.

Mr. Conrad was good liked successful his assemblage by constabulary officers and different instrumentality enforcement officials.

“That’s astir apt why, you know, we didn’t drawback up with him successful the past due to the fact that helium was a law-abiding citizen, and we didn’t person immoderate fingerprints connected file,” Mr. Elliott said.

It was a Friday, and helium went to enactment astatine the Society National Bank successful Cleveland, wherever helium was a slope teller. At the extremity of the day, helium stuffed wealth from the vault into a insubstantial container and left.

By Monday morning, arsenic his co-workers opened the vault and wondered wherever their workfellow was, Mr. Conrad had a two-day caput commencement connected the authorities.

Some of the details of the robbery, specified arsenic the denomination of the bills and however Mr. Conrad was capable to stroll retired without being noticed, were not instantly available. But Mr. Elliott said determination was not overmuch information astatine the bank, wherever employees were not adjacent fingerprinted.

A twelvemonth before, Mr. Conrad had been obsessed with “The Thomas Crown Affair,” a 1968 Steve McQueen film successful which a bored billionaire robs a slope to amuse himself. Mr. Conrad had told friends that helium planned to rob a bank, bragging astir however casual it would be, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

“He was a darer, truthful to speak,” Mr. Elliott said. “After seeing that movie, I judge helium thought, ‘Hey, what if I bash this and get distant with this?’ I truly deliberation it was a situation for him to beryllium capable to bash it.”

Years later, the authorities would retrieve a missive that Mr. Conrad wrote successful 1969 to his girlfriend. In it, helium confessed to the transgression and expressed regret for committing it.

After Mr. Conrad confessed this year, his household did not interaction the authorities, Mr. Elliott said. Only aft the authorities saw an obituary for Thomas Randele, 73, did they statesman to portion unneurotic evidence, which had been mostly gathered by Mr. Elliott’s begetter decades ago.

Mr. Elliott said the Randele household would not beryllium charged for failing to disclose Mr. Conrad’s confession to the authorities. Mr. Conrad had been indicted and determination is nary statute of limitations connected slope robbery, truthful helium would person inactive been arrested if the authorities had recovered him, Mr. Elliott said.

He declined to stock what led investigators to the obituary. But erstwhile they saw it, they recovered accusation that mirrored that of Mr. Conrad’s genuine life. Mr. Conrad’s existent commencement day was July 10, 1949. In the obituary, the commencement day listed was July 10, 1947.

The 2nd hint was his parents’ names. They were astir precisely the aforesaid successful the obituary. The obituary besides included his existent alma mater, New England College, and birthplace, Denver.

“When radical lie, they prevarication adjacent to home,” Mr. Elliott said.

Then, the last hint that pieced it each together: a signature from a assemblage application, which was archetypal recovered by Mr. Elliott’s father, which was akin to 1 that the authorities recovered connected a bankruptcy tribunal papers successful 2014, scribbled with the sanction Thomas Randele.

That was each Mr. Elliott needed. He traveled to Lynnfield, knocked connected the doorway and was greeted by Mr. Conrad’s family, who were amazed to spot the officials.

“I consciousness atrocious for them due to the fact that of a father-husband that they truly ne'er knew who helium was, and also, you know, they are surviving nether a fictitious name,” Mr. Elliott said.

Kathy Randele, Mr. Conrad’s widow, said successful an interrogation connected Saturday that “we’re inactive mourning his loss, and helium was a fantastic dada and a fabulous father.” She declined further comment.

The past clip Mr. Elliott and his begetter talked astir the slope robbery lawsuit was successful March 2020, erstwhile John K. Elliott was successful hospice.

Mr. Elliott wanted to cheer him up, truthful helium reached for his iPad and played “Lake Erie’s Coldest Cases,” a documentary bid that featured an occurrence connected the lawsuit and showed his begetter being interviewed.

“Hey, look, you’re connected TV,” Mr. Elliott told his father, who smiled.

John K. Elliott died a fewer days later.

Perhaps soon, Mr. Elliott said, helium volition ticker “The Thomas Crown Affair,” spot Steve McQueen effort to get distant with it, and deliberation of his father.