Theodore Conrad

Theodore John Conrad (July 10, 1949 – May 18, 2021) using details from the obituary of Thomas Randele.

Early life Conrad was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Edward and Ruthabeth (née Krueger) Conrad. His parents divorced while Conrad was in elementary school. He moved with his mother and sister to Lakewood, Ohio after the divorce and attended Lakewood High School, graduating in 1967. He was popular in high school and was elected to the student council, and was very bright, with an IQ of 135. He went on to attend New England College, where his father, a retired captain in the Navy, was an assistant professor of political science. He left the college after one semester and attended Cuyahoga Community College.

Theft and flight In early 1969, Conrad went to work at the Society National Bank headquarters at 127 Public Square in Cleveland. He worked in the cash vault as a teller, In September 1969, Conrad was indicted in federal court on charges of embezzlement and making a false entry in the records of the bank.

Prior to the theft, Conrad had been obsessed with the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair, starring Steve McQueen as a millionaire bank robber. Conrad "saw it more than a half dozen times" and "bragged to his friends about how easy it would be to take money from the bank and even told them he planned to do so". In 1969, Conrad confessed to his role in the theft in a letter to his girlfriend and expressed regret for the crime. He was well-liked by local police and led a law-abiding life in disguise. This, and the lack of fingerprints, hampered the hunt for him. John Elliott retired in 1990 and never stopped hunting for Conrad. He died in March 2020. Elliott was tipped off to Conrad's whereabouts by an obituary for Randele, which listed his birth date as July 10, 1947, exactly two years earlier than his real birth date of July 10, 1949. His parents' first names in the obituary, Edward and Ruthabeth, and college, New England College, were the same as Conrad's, and his mother's maiden name of Krueger was the same as well. Conrad's signature, obtained by investigators from a college application, was also highly similar to Randele's. His family were not charged for not alerting authorities to his confession. Elliott has not disclosed how he learned of the obituary.