Theodore Conrad

(criminal)

Theodore John Conrad (July 10, 1949 – May 18, 2021)[1][2] was an American criminal who st ole
$215,000 (equivalent t o $1.52 million in 2020) from a Cleveland bank in July 1969. He was never
apprehended, and he lived out his life under an assumed name in Massachuset t s, avoiding capt ure
for more t han five decades, unt il he was ident ified aft er his deat h by t he son of one of t he
original invest igat ors.[1]
 Theodore John Conrad

Born July 10, 1949

Denver, Colorado, US

Disappeared July 14, 1969

Cleveland, Ohio, US

Status Never captured

Died May 28, 2021 (aged 71)

Lynnfield, Massachusetts, US

Other names Thomas Randele

Education Lakewood High School, New England College,

Cuyahoga Community College

Occupation bank teller, golf pro, car salesman

Known for Successfully evading capture for 52 years after

bank robbery

Early life

Conrad was born in Denver, Colorado, t he son of Edward and Rut habet h Conrad. His parent s
divorced while Conrad was in element ary school. He moved wit h his mot her and sist er t o
Lakewood, Ohio aft er t he divorce [3] and at t ended Lakewood High School, graduat ing in 1967. He
was popular in high school and was elect ed t o t he st udent council, and was very bright , wit h an
IQ of 135. He went on t o at t end New England College, where his fat her, a ret ired capt ain in t he
Navy, was an assist ant professor of polit ical science. He left t he college aft er one semest er and
at t ended Cuyahoga Communit y College.[4]

Theft and flight

In early 1969, Conrad went t o work at t he Societ y Nat ional Bank headquart ers at 127 Public
Square in Cleveland. He worked in t he cash vault as a t eller[5], and his job involved “packaging
money t o be delivered t o Societ y branches around t own. It was a posit ion for a t rust ed
employee.”[4] According t o a summary report compiled years lat er by t he U.S. Marshals Service,
“To all appearances, Conrad was t hat All-American boy whose charact er was not quest ioned and
seemed t o be a model of responsibilit y during a t urbulent t ime.”[3]

On Friday, July 11, 1969, Conrad, t hen 20 years old, went t o t he vault and st uffed $215,000 in
cash (equivalent t o $1.52 million in 2020) int o a paper bag and walked off wit h it . The loss was
discovered only t he following Monday, giving him a t wo-day head st art t o hide. There was lit t le
securit y at t he bank, and Conrad had never been fingerprint ed.[1][4] Immediat ely aft er his
disappearance was discovered, a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of embezzlement
and misappropriat ing funds.[5] In Sept ember 1969, Conrad was indict ed in federal court on
charges of embezzlement and making a false ent ry in t he records of t he bank.[6]

Prior t o t he t heft , Conrad had been obsessed wit h t he 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair,
st arring St eve McQueen as a millionaire bank robber. Conrad “saw it more t han a half dozen t imes”
and “bragged t o his friends about how easy it would be t o t ake money from t he bank and even
t old t hem he planned t o do so.”[1][7][8] In 1969, Conrad confessed t o his role in t he robbery in a
let t er t o his girlfriend and expressed regret for t he crime.[1]

Conrad first went t o Washingt on D.C. aft er t he t heft before moving t o Los Angeles and, in 1970,
set t ling in Massachuset t s.[1] Aft er moving t o t he st at e, Conrad assumed t he name “Thomas
Randele.” He married in 1982 and t he couple had a daught er.[3] He worked as a golf pro at t he
Pembroke Count ry Club, rising t o manager, and was employed for 40 years by a luxury car
dealership in Woburn, Massachuset t s.[1][2] He was well-liked by local police and led a law-abiding
life. This, and t he lack of fingerprint s, hampered t he hunt for him.[1]

Investigation and postmortem discovery

While Conrad raised his family in Massachuset t s, law enforcement was hunt ing unsuccessfully
for him. Agent s from all FBI field offices joined in t he search, compiling not es and document at ion
t hat filled 20 binders.[4] The search for Conrad spanned 52 years, as invest igat ors followed leads
t hat t ook t hem t o Washingt on D.C., Inglewood, California, West Texas, Oregon, and Honolulu.[7] In
recent years he was feat ured on t he t rue crime t elevision programs America’s Most Wanted and
Unsolved Mysteries.[8]

The hunt for Conrad went on for so long t hat one of t he deput y U.S. marshals involved in t he
original invest igat ion, John K. Elliot t , was succeeded on t he case by his son Pet er J. Elliot t , who
became U.S. Marshal of t he Nort hern Dist rict of Ohio in 2003.[9] John Elliot t ret ired in 1990 and
never st opped hunt ing for Conrad. He died in March 2020.[1][3][7]
The case remained cold unt il November 2021, when Pet er Elliot t det ermined t hat Conrad had
been living as Randele in Lynnfield, Massachuset t s, 16 miles (26 km) nort h of Bost on. Conrad had
died of lung cancer on May 18, 2021, t elling his family his real ident it y on his deat hbed.[1][2] Elliot t
was t ipped off t o Conrad's whereabout s by an obit uary for Randele, which list ed his birt h dat e as
July 10, 1947 when his real birt h dat e was July 10, 1949. His parent s' first names in t he obit uary,
Edward and Rut habet h, and college, New England College, were t he same as Conrad's, and his
mot her's maiden name of Krueger was t he same as well. Conrad's signat ure, obt ained by
invest igat ors from a college applicat ion, was also highly similar t o Randele's.[3] His family will not
be charged for not alert ing aut horit ies t o his confession.[1] Elliot t has not disclosed how he
learned of t he obit uary.[3]

References

1. Medina, Eduardo (2021-11-13). "Father and Son Help Crack Unsolved 1969 Bank Robbery" (https://ww
w.nytimes.com/2021/11/13/us/ohio-bank-robber-dead-massachusetts.html) . The New York Times.
ISSN 0362-4331 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331) . Retrieved 2021-11-14.

2. "Thomas Randele Obituary - Lynnfield, Massachusetts - McDonald Funeral Home" (http://hosting-679

2.tributes.com/obituary/show/Thomas-Randele-108518750) . web.archive.org. 2021-11-12.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20211112160028/http://hosting-6792.tributes.com/obituary/s
how/Thomas-Randele-108518750) from the original on 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2021-11-14.

3. Caniglia, John (2021-11-12). "Mystery solved: Theodore Conrad vanished after robbing Cleveland bank
where he worked in 1969; marshals traced him to Boston suburb" (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) . cleveland.com. Retrieved 2021-11-14.

4. Nichols, Jim (13 January 2008). "Theodore Conrad, the FBI has a long memory. 39 years long" (https://
www.cleveland.com/metro/2008/01/theodore_john_conrad_the_fbi_h.html) . The Plain Dealer.
Retrieved 14 November 2021.

5. "Claim $215,000 Embezzlement" (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89035943/ap-article-on-conrad-

7-15-69/) . Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Associated Press. 15 July 1969. p. 1. Retrieved 16 November
2021 – via Newspapers.com.

. "Indicted in $215,000 Embezzlement" (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89036614/conrad-indicted-

sept-1969/) . The Akron Beacon Journal. Associated Press. 13 September 1969. p. 9. Retrieved
16 November 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

7. "One of America's Most Wanted Fugitives Identified After 52 Years" (https://www.usmarshals.gov/new

s/chron/2021/111221.htm) . www.usmarshals.gov. Retrieved 2021-11-14.