A deathbed confession: The story behind one of Cleveland’s largest bank heists
CLEVELAND (WJW) – Pete Elliot is Ohio’s current and longest serving U.S. Marshal. Before that, his father John Elliot helped bolster the program in his time as a leader for the U.S Marshals.
“He ran the witness protection program during the real hot days of the mob and so on,” said Elliot.
Over the length of John Elliot’s career, there were few crimes he couldn’t solve.
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But the one that got away happened in 1969, when one man walked away with one of Cleveland’s largest bank heists.
“He followed up in different states, different places. It’s what he talked about. I remember, we’d be sitting at the dinner table and he say “pass the mashed potatoes and where is Ted Conrad?” said Elliot.
Conrad worked at Cleveland’s Society Bank, when he devised a plan rob it and disappear.
In the summer of 1969, Conrad did just that by stealing over $1 million worth of cash in today’s money.
“I tell people, sometimes in life you need an enemy and sometimes you need to create an enemy and Ted Conrad was my dad’s enemy,” he said.
For decades, John Elliot tried all he could to crack the Conrad case but it just never happened.
Right after the heist, Conrad became Thomas Randele. He moved to Boston, started a family and lived his entire life without getting caught.
In fact, it wasn’t until the year 2020 and on his deathbed that Conrad confessed his crime to his family.
This was around the same time that Elliot was connecting the final dots that would lead him to finding Conrad.
In 2021, Elliot traveled to Massachusetts to finally finish the case his father tried to close for years.
He met Conrad’s widow and daughter at their home in Lynnfield. They confirmed that everything was true.
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Now, Conrad’s daughter Ashley Randele is going public with her father’s story via a popular podcast. It’s a decision that Elliot supports.
“At the end of the day, it’s not Ashely’s fault. I hope her podcast goes well and goes far,” he said.
When Conrad died, Elliot says his family was left with no money and a false last name. It took many years to solve but solved it is.
Now, at the U.S. Marshals Office in Cleveland, a single artifact stands out among the rest.
On one side of a framed picture, it’s the original arrest warrant for Conrad signed by John Elliot in 1969.
Next to it, the official document closing the Conrad Case signed by Pete Elliot who made sure to add a special note at the end.
“The way we signed it, I made sure to add one more line saying ‘On behalf of John K. Elliot.’”
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