Saturday, December 04, 2021
This
Competition is Criminal.
Scribes love to write about competitors, especially in
sports. Pitchers versus pitchers (Koufax vs Clemens). Hitters versus hitters
(Williams versus DiMaggio). Quarterbacks (Brady versus Manning). Basketball
(Russell versus Chamberlain).
But there is competition in other fields as well.
Concert pianists compete. Actors and musicians compete (Oscar Awards, Grammy Awards). Scientists compete
(Noble Prize). Journalists compete (Pulitzer Prize). But here’s a field that
you never hear about as being competitive.
Crime.
So I’m going to propose a competition for,
“Outstanding Performance By an Individual in a High Stakes Robbery.” No
supporting players in this contest, so no gangs are in the running. Let someone
else write up that one.
Here are my nominees, in chronological order based on
the year of the heist.
1. Thomas Randele, Cleveland,
OH. 1969.
2. D.B. Cooper, Portland,
OR. 1971.
Here are their stories.
#1:
Randele’s real name was Ted Conrad who was a young teller at a bank in
Cleveland. On July 11, 1969, after his 20th birthday, he finished his shift and
walked out with a paper bag containing $215,000 (more than $1.6 million today)
and was never seen again. When he failed to show up for work Monday morning the
bank manager realized the money was missing. He stayed missing for fifty-two
years.
According
to an investigator, Thomas Randele, was a good family man, good father, good
husband, good friend, pro golfer – he seemed to be well-liked by everybody, It
appears that he lived the perfect life of a fugitive on the run.
The
key to his success was that Conrad took on a new identity and a new life,
staying a jump head of law enforcement for fifty-two years. The case was even
featured on “America’s Most Wanted” and “Unsolved Mysteries,” but he remained
elusive.
His
success continued until his death in May 2021, approximately seventy-one years
old when he died of cancer.
He
had been the assistant golf pro at the Pembroke Country Club in Massachusetts,
playing on the professional winter tour in Florida in the offseason and became
the full-time manager of the country club in Pembroke. Eventually he began a
successful career in luxury automotive sales for close to 40 years. He also
became an excellent self-taught cook. He and his family lived in a small, three-bedroom
Cape styled house.
Investigators
found connections between Ted Conrad’s background and items stated in his
newspaper death notice. For example, they both stated that they attended New
England College in New Hampshire. Also, documents signed by Conrad and Randele
had matching handwriting.
Randele
made a deathbed confession to his family, telling them who he really was. He is
survived by his wife, Kathy, and his daughter, Ashley.
#2: On November 24, 1971, a
plain looking man calling himself Dan Cooper bought a one-way ticket to
Seattle, Washington. His story has become legend.
Cooper, in his mid-40s, was
dressed in a business suit with black tie and white shirt. Shortly after 3:00
p.m., he gave the stewardess a note saying that he had a bomb in his briefcase.
Cooper opened the case, showing
the stewardess a quick look at a mass of wires and red colored sticks,
resembling dynamite. He told her to inform the captain, which she did. She told
the captain that he wanted four parachutes and $200,000 in cash.
The plane landed in Seattle, and
Cooper got what he wanted in exchange for the flight’s 36 passengers. Cooper
kept the flight crew members, and the plane took off again, heading for Mexico
City.
Hours later Cooper did
something hard to believe to this day. He jumped out of the back of the plane
with the money. The plane eventually landed safely but Cooper was gone into the
night sky.
Somewhere between Seattle and
Reno, a little after 8:00 p.m., the hijacker did the incredible: He jumped out
of the back of the plane with a parachute and the ransom money. The pilots
landed safely, but Cooper had disappeared into the night sky.
Many think Cooper could not have survived the jump.
The parachute could not be steered and he was dressed in clothes not suited for
such a jump. He was not a veteran jumper. Some of the money was found in 1980
and the serial numbers matched the cash that Cooper was given.
The case has never been closed.
So, who is the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all Time) among
these big money thieves? If success is the determining factor, I know who I
vote for. Do you?
