For more than five decades now, the federal law enforcement agency announced Friday that the person identified as one of the country’s most wanted fugitives has been identified.
Officials say Conrad has lived in Boston since 1970 under the name Thomas Randall. In another dramatic turn, his house was near where the movie “The Thomas Crown Affair” was filmed. In the original film, the main character stole more than $ 2 million from a Boston bank.
“A year before the Cleveland bank robbery, Conrad was obsessed with the 1968 Steve McQueen movie,” the U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement. “The film is based on a millionaire businessman robbing a bank for a game, and Conrad … proudly told his friends how easy it is to withdraw money from a bank.”
Chasing has been at the forefront across the country for decades
The theft allegedly committed by Conrad took place on Friday. Until Monday, the bank was unaware that the money was missing from the vault because he had not come to work. Then the case cooled.
For decades, investigators have been chasing hints about Conrad’s whereabouts in various states, including California, Hawaii, Texas and Oregon. His case focused on “America’s Most Wanted” and “Unsolved Mysteries”.
After years of investigation, federal officials traveled to Massachusetts last week to confirm living a quiet life in Boston under a fictional name. As part of their investigation, they compared 1960s documents with documents he completed under the name Randall, including the 2014 bankruptcy filing in Boston Federal Court.
He died of lung cancer in Linfield, Massachusetts in May this year, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. He is 71 years old.
A father and son helped solve the mystery
One of the main investigators in the case was Peter J. Elliott is an American marshal from northern Ohio whose family lived near Conrad in the late 1960s.
“This is a case I am well aware of. My father, John K. Elliott, was a dedicated Assistant United States Marshal in Cleveland from 1969 until his retirement in 1990,” he said. “My father never stopped looking for Conrad, who always wanted to be shut down until he died in 2020.”
The son said some of the documents revealed by Elliott Elder played a role in confirming Conrad’s identity.
“I hope my father finds out about his trial and rests a little easier today … this has closed the mystery for decades,” said Elliott, junior. “In real life everything doesn’t always end in movies.”
“Communicator. Music aficionado. Certified bacon trailblazer. Travel advocate. Subtly charming social media fanatic.”
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