Stopwatch Gang leader, Paddy Mitchell, 64
Yersinia Pestis
Patrick (Paddy) Mitchell of Ottawa, leader of the notorious Stopwatch
Gang of bank robbers, died of cancer Sunday morning in a U.S. prison
hospital at age 64.
News of Mitchell's death at the Federal Medical Centre in Butner, N.C.,
while serving a 65-year sentence, was posted on his blog by his son
Kevin Mitchell.
"This brings the end to North America's most famous, most successful
and, especially, most likeable bank robber of our time," Kevin Mitchell
wrote.
Paddy Mitchell, shown in his 1993 mugshot, was serving time for a bank
robbery in Mississippi when he died.
(CBC) Paddy Mitchell grew up on Ottawa's Preston Street to become the
leader of the Stopwatch Gang, earning a place on the FBI's most-wanted
list by working with fellow Canadians Stephen Reid and Lionel Wright to
steal about $15 million, mainly in the 1970s and 1980s, from more 140
banks and other sites across Canada and the U.S.
The gang, which was famous for its speedy heists - including the 1974
robbery of $700,000 in gold bars from the Ottawa airport - took its
name from the stopwatch worn by Reid.
The gang, known for being non-violent and polite to their victims,
fascinated the public and inspired television documentaries and books,
including Mitchell's autobiography, This Bank Robber's Life, which he
wrote from prison and sold over the internet.
Reid, who is married to Canadian poet Susan Musgrave, has been serving
an 18-year sentence in a Canadian prison since his conviction for a
1999 bank robbery in Victoria.
Wright was arrested in Arizona in 1980. As of 2005, he was reported to
be living in Kingston, Ont., working as an accountant.
A latecomer to the gang, Christopher Clarkson, was arrested in Florida
in October 2005 after 29 years on the run from law enforcement
authorities.
Gold was never recovered
Mitchell served time in a number of prisons in Canada and the United
States for crimes that included the airport gold robbery. In that case,
Mitchell pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property, but the gold
was never recovered.
He escaped from prison three times, and moved to the Phillippines for a
period of 15 years, where he re-married and had a son who shared his
first name. During that time, he often flew back to the U.S. to visit
banks.
Paddy Mitchell was on the FBI's most wanted list for the Stopwatch
Gang's bank robberies across the U.S. The gang stole about $15 million
from across North America.
(CBC)
Finally, in 1994, he was convicted for a solo robbery in Mississippi
and put in prison for the last time to serve a 65-year sentence.
Mitchell was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006, and was trying to get
transferred to a Canadian prison before his death, he reported on his
blog.
Mitchell is survived by Kevin and two grandsons: Joey, 15, and Jacob,
13.
MGW
<table...@yahoo.com> scrawled:
> Wright was arrested in Arizona in 1980. As of 2005, he was reported to
> be living in Kingston, Ont., working as an accountant.
Who in their right mind would hire a bank robber as their accountant!
--
MGW
I have yet to see a problem, however complicated, which when you looked at
it in the right way, did not become still more complicated. ~ Poul Anderson