Disappearing Act

In July 1969, Ted Conrad, a twenty-year-old bank employee from Cleeland, ripped his bank off. He made off with a paper bag full of cash - $215K. A lot of money then - worth $1.9M  in today's dollars. And though it's not as big a deal as $1.9M, even by today's standards, $215K is a ton of cash. 

He robbed the bank late on a Friday, and the theft wasn't discovered until the following Monday. This gave Theodore Conrad plenty of time to pull his disappearing act. Which he did, quite successfully.

The story's in the news now because a U.S. Marshal from Cleveland has finally tracked their man down.

Turns out, Theodore Conrad was living in a nice little Cape Cod house, on a nice little street, in a nice little town outside of Boston. That was until last May, when he died of lung cancer. Only he was no longer Theodore Conrad. For decades, he'd been going by the name Thomas Randele. That was his name when he got married in 1982, and Randele is the last name of his only child. Before he died, Randele confessed to his wife and daughter that he had quite a past. They didn't pass this info onto the authorities, but somehow those authorities managed to figure out it was him anyway.

The US Marshal who was most intently focused on this case was Peter Elliott. He had taken up the mantle from his US Marshal father, John, who had been involved in the case since the get go, remained obsessed with it, and with his son, had become a cold case hobbiest after he retired. John Elliott died last year without making the big solve.

I haven't seen any info on the definitive bit of evidence that helped solve the case. There was mention of a 2014 Massachusetts bankruptcy petition that Thomas Randele had filed, that showed that Theodore Conrad and Thomas Randele had the same signature. But how in god's name did they come across that without have more leads pointing to Thomas Randele as Theodore Conrad.

There were plenty of breadcrumbs, many revealed in the obituary.

Thomas Randele added two years to his life, changing his year of birth from 1949 to 1947, but keeping the same July 10th birthday. He used the same place of birth: Denver. The same college: New England College, which he attended for a while, where his father taught at one point. And the same first names for his parents. No big deal for his father. There are a lot of Edwards out there. But his mother's maiden name was Ruthabeth Krueger. And there aren't all that many Ruthabeth Kruegers out there.

The obituary was likely the key to the discovery that Theodore Conrad had gotten away with the heist for over 50 years. Presumably, Peter Elliott searched for keywords like the date of birth, New England College, and Ruthabeth Kruegers.

(Interestingly, I found the obituary of Theodore Conrad's father. It mentions other children, but not his son Theodore. The one who pulled the disappearing act.)

One of the more interesting aspects of this story is Conrad's love affair with the 1968 movie, "The Thomas Crown Affair," which is set (and was filmed) in Boston and its surrounds. I haven't seen it in years, but - of course! - saw it at the time: Boston setting, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway. Say no more. But never became obsessed with it. 

The year before Conrad's well-executed robbery, he had become obsessed with the 1968 Steve McQueen film, "The Thomas Crown Affair," about a millionaire who robs banks for the sport of it.

Conrad saw the film more than half a dozen times and told friends he planned to take money from the bank, bragging about the ease with which he could get away with it.(Source: DW)

And taking the name Thomas for himself.

Over half a century, investigators were unable to crack the case, which was featured on American true crime shows such as "America's Most Wanted" and "Unsolved Mysteries." There were leads into the case across the country from Washington, D.C., to Inglewood, California, western Texas, Oregon and even Hawaii. 

But no one looked in Massachusetts. 

Other than the bankruptcy hiccup, by all accounts "Thomas Randele", post heist, lived a pretty normal middle class life. He worked as a golf pro, then in luxury car sales. He married his "beloved wife" Kathy and raised his "cherished daughter" Ashley. He mowed his lawn. He was a good neighbor. An all-round good guy.

One might ask why no one ever checked his references and discovered that Thomas Randele hadn't gone to New England College. But the world was a less suspicious place during his career. I don't know whether my college and grad schools were ever checked, or even the past employees I had on my resume. And maybe country clubs and fancy car dealerships were never that concerned. 

But what must it have been like, walking away from your life? 

Did he ever see his parents again? Have any contact? How do you do this to your parents? Did he know that his father - his parents were divorced - had other children? What about his other relations? His friends?

I can't imagine.

We all compartmentalize and put things away, but was there ever a day when Thomas Randele/Theodore Conrad didn't wonder about those he left behind? Was there ever a day when he didn't fear, at least for a fleeting moment, that there would be a knock on the door?

The statute of limitations has long run out on his bank robbery, although there may be some wiggle room given that he was a fugitive. Obviously, they can't try Theodore Conrad for his crime. He's dead and buried. But can they try to claw back the money he stole by seizing his home? 

I hope not. His unknowing wife should be left in peace. Bad enough she has to deal with all this at this stage in her life. 

What an interesting story, though. 

Fifty-two years on the lam. Quite the disappearing act.