OH - Theodore J Conrad, 20, 1969 Cleveland Bank Heist Fugitive, lived as Thomas Randele until 2021

[worm]

This is fascinating and I keep having to smack that little devil off of my shoulder that wants to laugh about this guy. Becomes a golf pro? Brave enough to file bankruptcy when one would think a court is somewhere he would surely avoid. This is amazing.

 

[Elley Mae]

Evidently he had this all planned out.
At 20 years old I reckon he dreamed of what a life he could have with some of it, and then took that chance.

Jmo

...

The bank heist in 1969 didn’t capture the attention of the nation, or even of Cleveland. Everyone else was focused on Apollo 11′s historic flight to the moon.

Friendly family man's 50-year secret: He had a shocking past

Among the many people he became friends with over the years was an FBI agent in Boston, Elliott said.

"The only way it makes sense is that at that age he was just a kid, and it was a challenge kind of thing," Kaplan said.

"If he would have told us way back when, I don’t think we would have believed him because he wasn’t that kind of guy," he said. "The man was different than the kid."

 

[worm]

Another bold move, befriending an FBI agent. This guy was slick.

 

[jgfitzge]

Another bold move, befriending an FBI agent. This guy was slick.

Ted was following one of Michael Corleone’s principles, “keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer…”

 

[Elley Mae]

Ted was following one of Michael Corleone’s principles, “keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer…”

That phrase came from Sun tzu, 6th century BC, military strategist, Author of the Art of War.

Jmo

 

[worm]

That phrase came from Sun tzu, 6th century BC, military strategist, Author of the Art of War.

Jmo

Whatever the origin this guy played it well. He even sailed thru what has been a digital tech revolution in the last 30 years when people like Bulger got found out.

 

[Elley Mae]

Whatever the origin this guy played it well. He even sailed thru what has been a digital tech revolution in the last 30 years when people like Bulger got found out.

True yet Bulger still had 15 plus years of freedom. Always wondered if fbi knew where he was ths whole time.

 

[worm]

True yet Bulger still had 15 plus years of freedom. Always wondered if fbi knew where he was ths whole time.

Agreed. I think I was aiming and missing at a broader point about how, thankfully, technology is advancing fast and closing the opportunities for crimes and criminals to prevail so often.

 

[branmuffin]

I'm so intrigued by this story and hope anybody that knew the true TJC will speak up about his early life!

At only 20 years old and to pull this off, he probably broke off with his biological family.

From his Obit (under his fictitious name Thomas Randele), he even has fake parents!

Thomas Randele Obituary - Lynnfield, Massachusetts - McDonald Funeral Home

This is so weird! One of the guest book comments said they had been in high school biology class with him.

 

[Seattle1]

This is so weird! One of the guest book comments said they had been in high school biology class with him.

I saw that when the news first broke. More and more -- sure sounds like everybody was rooting for him and probably why he was not found earlier. Nobody turned him in!

 

[worm]

I saw that when the news first broke. More and more -- sure sounds like everybody was rooting for him and probably why he was not found earlier. Nobody turned him in!

I wondered if it was another ruse where he may have BS’d this person into the notion that they went to class together. Especially if it was some time back. I went to a really small school but a somewhat bigger local college and wouldn’t remember everybody.

 

[Elley Mae]

Agreed. I think I was aiming and missing at a broader point about how, thankfully, technology is advancing fast and closing the opportunities for crimes and criminals to prevail so often.

Agree.

I have not seen that he had facebook or other things like ancestry/ 23 me. He spilled his own beans.

Also it was inside job, 3 days lead, assumed different identity and didn’t commit another crime.

Jmo

 

[Elley Mae]

'It Never Dawned On Us,' Thomas Randele's Friends Still Stunned He Was Fugitive Hiding In Massachusetts For Decades

He told his buddies, “It’d be so easy for me to walk out with all kinds of money,” Russell Metcalf, his best friend from high school, said in an interview with The Associated Press. They thought he was blowing smoke when he brought it up a few more times.

Then just a day after his 20th birthday that July, Conrad walked out at closing time on a Friday with a paper bag stuffed with $215,000 from the vault, a haul worth $1.6 million today.

In one letter, he mistakenly thought he could return in seven years when the statute of limitations expired. But once he was indicted, that was no longer true.

Conrad apparently cut off contact with his entire family, including three siblings and his parents, who were divorced. Some family members eventually presumed he was dead because so many years had passed, said Matt Boettger, whose mother was Conrad’s older sister.

 

[Elley Mae]

The man known as Thomas Randele came into existence the first week of January in 1970, investigators have found in recent weeks. That’s when Conrad walked into a Social Security Administration office in Boston, asked for an identification number under his new name and made himself two years older, Elliott said.

At that time, it wasn’t unusual to wait until you were an adult, so his application didn’t raise any red flags. With a new identification card, he was able to open a bank account, build credit and create his new life, Elliott said.

During the 1970s, Randele worked as an assistant golf pro, giving lessons at a country club outside Boston and later becoming its manager. He spent a few winters golfing in Florida, according to his obituary.

'It Never Dawned On Us,' Thomas Randele's Friends Still Stunned He Was Fugitive Hiding In Massachusetts For Decades

 

[worm]

To be serious, this had to be psychological torment on this man. I’ve said this in the context of cold case murders where spending everyday looking over the shoulder and wondering. I’m curious too on how many times in later like that he was tempted to contact family and old friends. I couldn’t live like that.

 

[Seattle1]

Friends' tribute to fugitive bank robber who lived suburban life after vanishing with $215,000 | Daily Mail Online

12/29/21

Matt Kaplan, who managed two dealerships where Randele worked and golfed with him every Sunday morning for many years, called him the definition of a gentleman.

'The only way it makes sense is that at that age he was just a kid, and it was a challenge kind of thing,' Kaplan said. 'It's not like he became a professional bank robber.'

'If he would have told us way back when, I don't think we would have believed him because he wasn't that kind of guy,' he said. 'The man was different than the kid.'

[..]

In one letter, he mistakenly thought he could return in seven years when the statute of limitations expired. But once he was indicted, that was no longer true.

Conrad apparently cut off contact with his entire family, including three siblings and his parents, who were divorced. Some family members eventually presumed he was dead because so many years had passed, said Matt Boettger, whose mother was Conrad's older sister.

His mom, he said, was relieved more than anything to find out her brother had lived a happy life. 'She thought she would go to her grave and never know,' he said.

_________________

I think the idea that he only had to remain hidden 7 years says it all. He was wrong and paid a significant price for his movie obesession/prank. JMO

 

[Seattle1]

Massachusetts family man's 50-year secret: He was fugitive wanted for Cleveland bank heist

12/29/21

[..]

The man known as Thomas Randele came into existence the first week of January in 1970, investigators have found in recent weeks. That’s when Conrad walked into a Social Security Administration office in Boston, asked for an identification number under his new name and made himself two years older, Elliott said.

At that time, it wasn’t unusual to wait until you were an adult, so his application didn’t raise any red flags. With a new identification card, he was able to open a bank account, build credit and create his new life, Elliott said.

During the 1970s, Randele worked as an assistant golf pro, giving lessons at a country club outside Boston and later becoming its manager. He spent a few winters golfing in Florida, according to his obituary.

He also met his future wife not long after arriving in Boston. They were married in 1982.

[..]

 

[branmuffin]

'It Never Dawned On Us,' Thomas Randele's Friends Still Stunned He Was Fugitive Hiding In Massachusetts For Decades

He told his buddies, “It’d be so easy for me to walk out with all kinds of money,” Russell Metcalf, his best friend from high school, said in an interview with The Associated Press. They thought he was blowing smoke when he brought it up a few more times.

Then just a day after his 20th birthday that July, Conrad walked out at closing time on a Friday with a paper bag stuffed with $215,000 from the vault, a haul worth $1.6 million today.

In one letter, he mistakenly thought he could return in seven years when the statute of limitations expired. But once he was indicted, that was no longer true.

Conrad apparently cut off contact with his entire family, including three siblings and his parents, who were divorced. Some family members eventually presumed he was dead because so many years had passed, said Matt Boettger, whose mother was Conrad’s older sister.

A lot of people who work in those kinds of environments get to see the weak spots in the security. Years ago I worked for a now defunct trust company in Canada called Crown Trust. It went down in spectacular fashion in the early 80s.

Canada real estate scam toppled

There was this guy who used to work with both Crown Trust and the Royal Bank who would ferry money and other monetary funds from CT to RBC. He'd come into our office sometimes and flirt with this woman and tell her he'd buy her whatever she wanted. The vibe was very much Wall Street. Cases of champagne on Friday after a successful week. "Greed is good".

He got a lot of eyerolls because he was basically just a courier. So one day I came to work and the place was going crazy. This guy had stolen about $600,000 CAD worth of gold wafer from CT one Friday afternoon. He left our office with one of those big blocky briefcases that must have weighed about 80 pounds to take to RBC. He called after he made the pick up and said he wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be returning back to work. Okay, said his boss and that was that.

On Tuesday morning the Royal Bank called and said where is the delivery of the gold wafer? It was delivered to the bank on Friday, we said. Nope. Chaos ensued. He had told everyone he wasn't feeling good and he was going to deliver the wafer and go home. So he had Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday before it was discovered. He was long gone.

To make a long story short, he had planned it for a while. He went to South America but Interpol was on his tail. He ended up coming back to Canada and hiding out at his parents cottage. Tragically, he committed suicide and only about a fifth of what he stole was recovered.

These are the only news article I can find about this.

A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for a Crown... - UPI Archives

A 28-year-old man who surrendered after being charged with... - UPI Archives

 

[worm]

This could have ended with a headline like “dumb kid tries to steal nearly a qtr of a million from local bank” but........

 

[airportwoman]

I'm so intrigued by this story and hope anybody that knew the true TJC will speak up about his early life!

At only 20 years old and to pull this off, he probably broke off with his biological family.

From his Obit (under his fictitious name Thomas Randele), he even has fake parents!

Thomas Randele Obituary - Lynnfield, Massachusetts - McDonald Funeral Home

But his real mother's name was also Ruthabeth! There can't be that many of them out there.