Thomas Randele was dying of lung cancer and had a secret.
In March of 2021, with his daughter at his bedside in suburban Boston after his first chemotherapy session, he made a stunning confession: He was a fugitive, and had been one for more than five decades.
About your header; USS Arizona
ReplyDeleteThanks for remembering those we lost at Pearl Harbor!
I re-enlisted on the deck of the Memorial, 1990.
DeleteIt was both awesome and humbling, knowing the history, bravery, and all the souls of all the names of the departed on the wall, staring down at me, while I raised my right hand and swore the Oath.
President Elect B Woodman
I concur. Came here to remark the same. Wonder how many of those little pukes on college campuses running around worried about terrorists have any clue. I say negative.
DeleteThe late 60s was a much simpler times.
ReplyDeleteMr Randele would not be able to get away today with what he did back then.
(too bad)
President Elect B Woodman
Oops. Forgot to ask.....what did he do with the $215K?
ReplyDeleteBack then, that was enough to set you up for life.
He could have lived extravagantly.....but he would have been caught immediately.
Yet, for all of that, he managed to live a quiet, simple life and fly under the radar for over 50 years.
Impressive.
"Mr Randele", I salute you! (drains a shot of top shelf Scotch, throws and breaks the glass)
President Elect B Woodman
My Dad was at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7. His ship was on the other side of Ford Island from the BB's. His Duty Station was in the Crows Nest so he had a front row seat as it were. He said the planes were coming in so low he could see into the cockpits.
ReplyDelete2150 $100 bills in a paper bag?
ReplyDeleteA few years after the D. B. Cooper incident a hiker found some currency in the mud of a river somewhere near where he had bailed out of the airliner with his stash of cash. Apparently it was never traced to Cooper.
ReplyDeleteNow that the marshals in Ohio have some time on their hands maybe they can help the Secret Service identify the owner of the cocaine left in Joe's White House???
Great story! Sure, it would be more difficult today with our "surveillance state", digital signatures of all sorts, etc., but not impossible. Probably the biggest single factor that kept him out of the penitentiary was the fact that he not only played it smart, but he kept his mouth shut until his dying day was at hand.
ReplyDelete"....he kept his mouth shut until his dying day was at hand."
DeleteAs the saying goes, the best way for two people to keep a secret is if one of them is dead.
President Elect B Woodman
I wonder if the bank will want to get the money back from his estate
ReplyDeleteSo his daughter almost immediately cashed in on her father or did I get this wrong?
ReplyDeleteCool story. Takes notes on living on the lamb.
ReplyDeleteSo who waited until his obituary was published to send a note to the Marshals? Seems they could have done that at any time. Maybe it was his last act, to send a confession to the Marshals.
ReplyDeleteI agree, there is no way some random person read an obit and recognized a aged face from decades before in a state the crime did not happen.
DeleteAlso, he could have had a real good friend who had given pre-arraigned instructions from Ted/Tom "open this envelope and follow the instructions when you learn of my death" or something similar. That part of the story will probably be revealed in time too.
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