Ohio Bank Robber Wanted for 50 Years ID'd as Mass. Man

[jcmaine72]

Source: NBC News Channel 10 Boston NBCLX

Ted Conrad has been one of America’s most wanted men for the last fifty years

An Ohio cold case that puzzled investigators for more than 50 years has finally been solved in Massachusetts.

On July 11, 1969, a 20-year-old man vanished after stealing $250,000 from a bank in Cleveland. The man walked out of the bank with the money in a paper bag, and it took bank employees two days to realize what had happened. By then, the bank robber was long gone, having created a mystery that would take five decades to solve.

Ted Conrad has been one of America's most wanted men since he committed the crime in 1969 while an employee at the Society National Bank in Cleveland.

Read more: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/52-year-old-cleveland-bank-robbery-mystery-comes-to-an-end-in-mass/2565366/

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Wow! 52 years! Imagine living with a secret like that for five decades? I'll admit I would've cracked under such a burden, especially after assuming a fake name and getting married. Now, you're involving someone else in your lies and deception. It would just be too much for me to handle.

[WestIndianArchie]

4. My sentiments too

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. If all your money is fake, give it to me. If you don't give it all away, your logic is fake. . . nt

[oldsoftie]

12. Post of the day!

[keithbvadu2]

19. Give me your useless money

[KS Toronado]

23. Your toon should have had 7QQ club written on his stand.

[keithbvadu2]

25. How to tell if the 'end times' preachers are genuine:

How to tell if the 'end times' preachers are genuine:

Are they accumulating wealth?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

27. No personal attacks, please. Welcome to DU, I think. Read the Terms of Service at bottom of page. nt

[marble falls]

21. Hard to work up an atta boy about this, how did the Marshals spend on this?

[mitch96]

22. "victimless crime for 50 years. Who fucking cares?"... the Insurance company. Then again

they just raise their rates and move on..
m

[PatSeg]

24. Yeah, I have to agree

Sounds like a waste of resources over a crime no one even cares about anymore. AND the perpetrator has died!

Welcome to DU!

[catchnrelease]

2. Seems kind of ironic

Per the article he was found out because of bankruptcy documents he'd signed!

"Investigators from Cleveland say they were able to identify Conrad by matching documents he signed in the 60s to more recent court paperwork from a 2014 bankruptcy case, determining they were the same person."

Of course the money wouldn't necessarily last 50yrs, but makes me wonder how he ended up bankrupt.

[oldsoftie]

13. He must've been as good a businessman as Trump.

To start off with almost $2M and go broke?

[Dopers_Greed]

30. Bad money management

If he would have invested even a chunk of that money, he'd have been set for life.

[Polybius]

36. Who the heck has the same signature 50 years later?

I'm in my 40's and my sig looks completely different than when I was 20.

[left-of-center2012]

3. Talk about inflation ! (from another link)

"John Conrad walked into his job as a bank teller at the Society National Bank in Cleveland and
walked out with $215,000 — the equivalent of $1.7 million today"

https://whdh.com/news/bank-robber-wanted-in-connection-with-historic-ohio-heist-found-in-lynnfield-more-than-50-years-later/

[muriel_volestrangler]

40. That's an average of 4% over the 52 years (nt)

[Demovictory9]

5. Investigators from Cleveland say they were able to identify Conrad by matching documents he signed i

Investigators from Cleveland say they were able to identify Conrad by matching documents he signed in the 60s to more recent court paperwork from a 2014 bankruptcy case, determining they were the same person.

[nuxvomica]

6. Did the statute of limitations apply?

If he were alive would he have avoided arrest anyway?

Found the answer:

A federal grand jury indicted Conrad for embezzling and falsifying bank records in December 1969. That stopped the clock on the statute of limitations, Edwards said. Conrad faces about 10 years on each charge.

https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2008/01/theodore_john_conrad_the_fbi_h.html

I don't know how that "stopped the clock" though.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. It just does, by well-established law. It's like law establishes your time; it just does. . . nt

[RepublicParty_Stank]

11. Statute of limitations does apply,

in that he was indicted many years before the s.o.l. expired. But the case doesn’t have to be resolved within that time.

Being a fugitive from justice doesn’t prevent him from being held to account when he is found. If that were the case, charged/indicted criminals would be highly incentivized to flee, and I’d imagine judges would be extremely reluctant to grant bail in any case where a statute of limitations applied.

[Polybius]

37. I think for things like this, 52 years is more than enough

For murder, up the SoL to 70 years.

[nuxvomica]

39. I see. It would only apply if he wasn't charged

The statute of limitations applies to how much time passes before the suspect is charged, not to how long before the suspect is caught. That's what I wasn't clear on. If the suspect leaves enough evidence for a grand jury to indict them by name, the clock stops. In a recent episode of the CBS series "Ghosts", only one of two bank robbers was identified, and she was killed by a bear soon thereafter. The other one took the money and started a business. Fifty years later, the business owner doesn't object to the story going public because the statute of limitations has passed.

[Fla Dem]

34. Pretty much nixed the Statute of Limitations. He's dead. His Obituary

http://hosting-6792.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-Randele-108518750

Thomas Randele, age 73, of Lynnfield died Tuesday, May 18 at his home surrounded by his loving family.

Born in Denver, Colorado on July 10, 1947 he was the son of the late Edward and Ruthabeth (Krueger) Randele.

"Tom" was raised and educated in Colorado before moving to the east coast and attending New England College. Tom then split his time between Florida and Boston, where he was the Assistant Golf Pro and Teaching Pro at Pembroke Country Club. In the off season he played on the professional winter tour in Florida, eventually transitioning to Manager of Pembroke Country Club full time. He eventually shifted his vocational interests from golf to his second love, cars and began a successful career in luxury automotive sales which spanned nearly 40 years. He had worked at Woburn Foreign Motors, Range Rover, and Volvo until his retirement. He was also an excellent cook who loved watching any and all cooking shows, and enjoyed testing out new recipes on his wife and daughter, always asking "So, can I make this again?" at the end of every meal.

Tom leaves behind his beloved wife, Kathy (Mahan) Randele and his cherished daughter, Ashley Randele. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Richard Mahan of Swampscott as well as many extended family members and friends.

A memorial service for Tom will be held at the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield on Tuesday, May 25 at 11am. Visitation for relatives and friends will be held prior to the service beginning at 10am.

It shows his parents name as Randele, not Conrad which is his legitimate name. That's because they don't exist, they were Edward and Ruthabeth Conrad.

https://www.cleveland.com/crime/2021/11/mystery-solved-theodore-conrad-vanished-after-robbing-cleveland-bank-where-he-worked-in-1969-marshals-traced-him-to-boston-suburb.html


Theodore Conrad’s years in Cleveland were unassuming. He was born in Denver, the son of a Navy officer who moved his family around the country. When Edward and Ruthabeth Conrad divorced in 1958, their son Ted settled in Lakewood with his mother and sister, according to the marshals’ files. His mother remarried, and the family lived on Bonnieview Avenue on the city’s West Side.

After graduating from Lakewood High, he went off to New England College, where his father taught political science. He became freshman class president. But after his first semester, he was back in Cleveland. He later attended classes at Cuyahoga Community College.

In January 1969, he went to work at Society National Bank on Public Square. The job required Conrad to work in the bank vault. When tellers and branches needed more cash, Conrad packaged and delivered it. He had access to hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, records show.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. Thanks. I've been hearing about this on WBZ overnight. NT

[OneBro]

10. Gotta be more to the story.

Matching something he signed in the 60s to something he signed in 2014 to determine it was the same person? Hogwash.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. The whole case is not going to hang on that one fact. Duh. Of course there is more.

That was just the clincher.

Just because YOU didn't hear the rest of the case (yet to come out in court) doesn't make it "HOGWASH".

The prosecution is only obliged to give the rest of the case to the defense when one is mounted and they ask for it.

They are under no obligation to tell YOU (or the social media sphere).

[OneBro]

31. Your kind way of agreeing that . . .

. . . there’s more to the story.

[muriel_volestrangler]

41. Court? What court?

If he went bankrupt in 2014, it's not as if there's an estate to recover significant money from.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

42. And it turns out he's dead. . . . nt

[imavoter]

44. he's passed away, there won't be a trial

what happened to the money, and how did he get away with it?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. He admitted to the crime on his deathbed. . . . nt

[OneBro]

32. Ah. Now THAT makes sense.

Odd that the linked story omitted that little detail.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

33. Even deathbed "confessions" have to be checked in case it is meant to shield somebody else

His handwriting was the clincher.

[Klaralven]

14. His obituary

July 10, 1947 - May 18, 2021
Lynnfield, Massachusetts | Age 73

Thomas Randele, age 73, of Lynnfield died Tuesday, May 18 at his home surrounded by his loving family.

Born in Denver, Colorado on July 10, 1947 he was the son of the late Edward and Ruthabeth (Krueger) Randele.

"Tom" was raised and educated in Colorado before moving to the east coast and attending New England College. Tom then split his time between Florida and Boston, where he was the Assistant Golf Pro and Teaching Pro at Pembroke Country Club. In the off season he played on the professional winter tour in Florida, eventually transitioning to Manager of Pembroke Country Club full time. He eventually shifted his vocational interests from golf to his second love, cars and began a successful career in luxury automotive sales which spanned nearly 40 years. He had worked at Woburn Foreign Motors, Range Rover, and Volvo until his retirement. He was also an excellent cook who loved watching any and all cooking shows, and enjoyed testing out new recipes on his wife and daughter, always asking "So, can I make this again?" at the end of every meal.

Tom leaves behind his beloved wife, Kathy (Mahan) Randele and his cherished daughter, Ashley Randele. He is also survived by his brother-in-law Richard Mahan of Swampscott as well as many extended family members and friends.

A memorial service for Tom will be held at the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Ave., Wakefield on Tuesday, May 25 at 11am. Visitation for relatives and friends will be held prior to the service beginning at 10am.

http://hosting-6792.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-Randele-108518750

[bucolic_frolic]

15. He wins the "Die Broke" Sweepstakes

50 years, he died earlier this year, and involved in a bankruptcy case recently. They didn't say it was his own. But there it is ... he walked off with it, lived all that time, never got caught, and apparently went BK so had spent everything.

Die Broke ... Die in Debt ... Die Bankrupt ... He with the most toys wins!

[getagrip_already]

38. there are lots of forms of bk.....

The article doesn't say if it was business or personal. He could have just liquidated a business and declared bk on that entity.

He could still have had wealth.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Crime

Mystery solved: Theodore Conrad vanished after robbing Cleveland bank where he worked in 1969; marshals traced him to Boston suburb

Updated: Nov. 12, 2021, 3:53 p.m. | Published: Nov. 12, 2021, 11:21 a.m.

By John Caniglia, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Fifty-two years ago, a young teller left his job at Society National Bank on Public Square with $215,000 in stolen cash. Within hours, he vanished.

Theodore Conrad, just 20, had pulled off one of the biggest bank heists in Cleveland history. His disappearance became one of the city’s greatest mysteries.

Federal agents from across the country tried to track down the graduate of Lakewood High School, class of 1967. Some believed he had bolted for the beaches of California, hoping to ride waves and escape Cleveland winters. Others thought he had settled in Europe. The missing cash, adjusted for inflation, would be worth about $1.7 million today.

On Friday, U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott said his office solved the mystery his father, John, had investigated decades ago: Theodore Conrad died in a suburb north of Boston in May. He was 71.

He had changed his name, and became known to many as Thomas Randele. He also changed his lifestyle and the details of his past.

He had a family, became a local golf pro and sold luxury cars. He was a fixture in a small town. The stolen money didn’t last, as he had struggled financially in recent years, records show.

In his final days, as lung cancer drained him, he admitted to his lifelong secret.

{snip}

[twodogsbarking]

17. Many years ago in the town where I live

a local bank moved it's money from branch offices to the main office at 5 am. While delivering it to the back door
of the bank a jogger in a grey sweat suit pulled a pistol (possibly a toy) and took an undisclosed
amount. I heard it was $ 125k. He was never found. There are hundreds of apartments in the vicinity
and grey sweat suits were the norm. It was around 1976 so that was a chunk of change.

[Farmer-Rick]

29. Just why?????

So what? He stole money from an insured bank.

How many hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars were wasted on hunting him for 50 years? I bet if he stole $10,000 from a middle class person, the cops and prosecutors would let the clock run out.

Cops and detectives are really bad at their jobs. Only about 15% of theft crimes are ever cleared. So, why a 50 year search for this guy? Seems it rankled somebody.

Glad he had a half decent life at the expense of a bank and insurance company.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

46. Not a 50 year search, and $10,000 is not $10,000. But it wasn't $10,000.

It was not a 50 year search. More like a usual search that gives up after a month or two.

Then 50 years later, he confesses on his deathbed and dies. At that point, the police are involved again to check his story to close the case.

Since the statute of limitations period had expired it was effectively closed long ago.

So, no, not a 50 year search.


Back then $10,000 bought a lot more, like more car and house. Adjusted for inflation, it is more than $73,000 today.

The average car cost $3,400 in 1969.
The average car cost $41,000 in 2021. So the $10,000 would be $120,000 today.



But it was $250,000. Back then. In 1969.

That would be $3,000,000 today.

So, no, not $10,000 like you try to make it out like.

[Farmer-Rick]

47. I was alive in 1969 and I can tell you

A theft from a middle class person would not have been of much import to the police or prosecutors, despite the inflationary adjustments.

And no, the statute of limitations was stopped. And did not apply in this case.

"A federal grand jury indicted Conrad for embezzling and falsifying bank records in December 1969. That stopped the clock on the statute of limitations, Edwards said. Conrad faces about 10 years on each charge."

He was listed as Americas most wanted, US Marshals were involved and it was an active federal investigation. So, yeah a lot of our tax dollars were wasted on this hunt.

[Polybius]

35. Wow, he just died in May

Wonder if he knew that the feds were onto him.

[TygrBright]

43. Federal bank robbery statute of limitations: 5 years. Ohio robbery SoL: 20 years. He's clean? n/t

Well, dead. But clean.

interestedly,
Bright

[TomWilm]

45. I swindled a bank for a nice sum back in the early 1980ies ....

They found out, but I was never charged or paid them back . I think they were embarrassed of their bad security systems. I had lost my house in the economic crisis, and needed a fresh start!