10 December 2023 , 16:50
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A dad made a shocking deathbed confession to his daughter, revealing he had been on the run from the FBI for 52 years.
Ashley Randele, 38, was watching NCIS on TV with her terminally ill father when he began to share his secret past as he was dying from lung cancer, having been given just six weeks to live. Ashley at first assumed the shocking claims were an extended practical joke.
Her dad, Tom Randele, 71, confessed to robbing a bank in Ohio in 1969 when he was just 20 years old. He told his best friend Russell Metcalf "It'd be so easy for me to walk out with all kinds of money," as Russell previously told The Associated Press.
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Ashley Randele, 38, learned her father was a fugitive (The Messenger)One Friday night, he pulled off his heist, fleeing to Washington by plane and changing his name from Ted Conrad to Tom Randele. It wasn't until Monday that Cleveland's Society National Bank noticed $219,000 was missing, which is equivalent to $1.8 million today.
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Ashley decided to Google her father's claims and found them to be true. She told the New York Post: "I went down the rabbit hole of articles and was shocked. I said out loud to my empty room, 'My god, my life is a Lifetime movie.'"
Randele, passed away in May 2021 (AP)Ashley, the daughter of a notorious bank robber, shared: "It was weird to Google your dad and see 'Kid Robs Bank,' 'Fugitive On The Run,' and knowing there's so much more to him, you know, before the crime and after the crime."
She expressed her shock to the Messenger, saying: "Who is this person I've known my whole life? It was shocking and it took me a few minutes for it to sink in. In the best way, he's that typical, suburban, boring but great-boring dad that was sort of everybody's dad."
Theodore John Conrad in 1980 (Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
Theodore Conrad aged 30 (Fairfax Media via Getty Images)Her father Tom's face was all over the newspapers, but the Apollo moon landing soon stole the spotlight. However, this didn't stop an FBI investigation led by chief officer John Elliott, who remained haunted by the case even after retirement.
Family members wondered if Tom had escaped to France, been killed by the Mafia, or simply died after they lost contact with him. Unfortunately, the stolen money was wasted on failed investments, leading Ashley to lend her father $10,000.
Ashley delves into her family's secrets in her new podcast (Sony Music)
Thomas Randele, 71, was previously known as Theodore John Conrad (AP)Ashley, who felt compelled to share her father's story and her own journey of understanding, now co-hosts a podcast called "Smoke Screen: my fugitive dad."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]