You are now listening to True Murder, The most shocking killers in true crime history and the authors that have written about them Gasey, Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker, DTK. Every week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host, journalist and author Dan Zupanski.
Kid evening at just twenty one years of age, friends Todd Wilson and Scott McCarthy were virtually inseparable. The pair reported for duty at United Bank of Denver at six am on Father's Day nineteen ninety one, McCarthy's first day on the job. They joined two more experienced guards and began making their rounds. By nine thirty am, all four were dead. The killer then descended upon the cash vault, where he held six petrified tellers at gunpoint before absconding
with nearly two hundred thousand dollars. Eighteen days later, the Denver Police Department arrested one of its own. Not only had retired Sergeant James W. King served on the force for twenty five years, he'd recently been a guard at United Bank, often complaining about the abysmal security, including a decision to disarm its guards, but would he slaughter four of his unarmed successors to prove his point and risk
a date with the execution chamber. Deadly Heist is the uptivating story of one of Colorado's most notorious crimes, and of a courtroom slugfest that would take a jury nine grueling days to resolve. It's verdict, delivered a year and a day after the bloody massacre, reverberates across the Rocky Mountains to this day. The book that we're featuring this evening is Deadly Heist, The true story of the Mile High Bank Massacre, with my special guest, attorney and author
Stephen b Epstein. Welcome back to the program, and thank you very much for this interview. Stephen b Epstein, pleasure to be with you. Thank you so much. Tell us first off, how you came to be interested in this story.
Well, I had written three true crime books about relationships, romantic relationships that were at the center of each story, and I wanted to try and get outside of that box a little bit, and I ultimately decided I want to see if there was a bank heist that hadn't been well covered in a book form. Previously, and I did just a little bit of trolling on the Internet and somehow came across the story of the Father's Day Bank massacre in Denver, Colorado, and instantly fell in love
with it. And did my research learn that although there was a book that had been written about it, it was written a very long time ago by one of the lawyers involved in the case. It was written with a slant, and I thought there was definitely room for an objective book about this case, particularly with things that we now know that maybe he didn't know back then, and I decided to take a stab at writing it.
You take us to June sixteenth, Denver, Colorado, Father's Day, Father's Day morning, the cash Register building for the United Bank. Tell us why it's called the cash Register Building. Tell us a little bit about the United Bank in Denver. Told us as you do in this introduction.
Sure, so, this story starts on June sixteenth, nineteen ninety one, Father's Day, and as of that time, the United Banks of Colorado was the largest bank bank system bank company in the state of Colorado. And the building that was completed in nineteen eighty one in downtown Denver, that's fifty two stories that bore its name. The United Bank building became known as the Cash Registered Building because its upper floors curved together, kind of an architectural marvel in the
shape of an antique cash register. And even though there have been numerous other tenants in that building over all these years, that moniker has stuck and that has been the most iconic building in Denver Skyline since it was completed over forty years ago.
You introduced two security guards, weekend security guards, Bill McCollum and Phil Mankov, and you'd tell us about their routine day that morning, tell us what they were doing, where they were and what happened.
So they parked in the parking deck that there's a three building complex. Actually the Cash Register Building is the most prominent of the three. But actually where these guys worked in the guard monitor room was under Lincoln Street, which is the street that was between the Cash ridge To building on one side and two smaller buildings that
were part of United Bank on the other side. So they went into the cash redge To building, went down an elevator to what's called the Concourse level, and they zigzagged their way through some hallways to begin their twelve thirty am shift, which was the graveyard shift that lasted a full twelve hours until twelve thirty pm. They were supposed to get off at twelve thirty in the afternoon
On Father's Day. They were to man the monitor room and also do routine guard rounds throughout the three building complex. Phil Mankoff had been doing that for just about three months and Bill McCollum had been doing that for about eight months. He was the more experienced of the two. He was forty one years old. I'm sorry, he was thirty three years old, and Phil Mankoff was forty one years old. These were both they both had weekend jobs. Their day jobs were very different. This was to make
additional money on the weekends. They were paid all of five dollars and forty two cents an hour, and importantly, they weren't armed because a new policy had gone into effect just a few months before that prevented any of the guards for United Banks throughout their whole system from carrying firearms.
Now you say they usually worked alone till the next shift of guards arrived at twelve thirty pm, but often they would have to train a newly hired guard during a swing shift. Tell us about twenty one year old Todd Wilson.
Okay, So, Todd Wilson had previously worked in United Banks credit card fraud department, but that was actually wiped out as part of a merger with a bigger bank called or West that had literally just completed the merger with the United Banks in April of nineteen ninety one, and he needed another gig, and so he was offered a position as a security guard. He was a Metro State College student. He was legally blind. He had a very difficult time seeing because of a condition he was born with.
He was going to Metro State College and he was best friends with a guy named Scott McCarthy who went to a different high school across town. They became friends as dishwashers when they were in high school, and Scott McCarthy actually was coming to work on the swing shift with Todd Wilson on his very first day of training. He didn't even have a uniform yet. Todd Wilson came to work at six am with his uniform and Scott McCarthy came to work in street clothes and cowboy boots.
Now you're right that there was another collection of employees at the bank on Sunday that were called armored tellers who worked in the cash vault just down the hall from the guard monitor room. That's correct.
There were six of them working that morning. Their job on Sunday mornings was to basically collect the cash that was delivered by armored cars Wells Fargo and Limis that came eight eight thirty in the morning, and then they would Their job until two or so in the afternoon was to count the money to make short corresponded with what the various bank customers were reporting on their reconciliation sheets.
They were depositing in the bank, and they each had their own little cubicles or teller booths and they would count the money. There was a lot of money in each of those stations that was being counted by those six employees, led by an employee who was their supervisor named David Baranco.
And you say people might not think that it would anybody could rob a bank on Sunday, or why would they. Between seven thirty and eight thirty and armored armored cars from Loomis and Wells Fargo would deliver an average approximately one million dollars in cap that's correct. That's correct.
A lot of money got delivered that morning on Father's Day, and it was scattered throughout these six color stations being counted. When the events that begin the book commence.
Tell us what happens that morning when those guards are on their route through the building.
Okay, well, so at various points in time, you've got different combinations of the four security guards, the two older guards, Phil Mancoff and Bill McCollum, and the two younger guards the twenty one year old Scott McCarthy and Todd Wilson, various combinations of them in the guard monitor room and doing rounds throughout the bank, and in particular, Phil Mancoff took Scott McCarthy under his wings and was basically showing them how to conduct rounds, how to use what was
called a Marquee card to swipe into various secure areas, how to use various keys, how to use the elevator, and so forth. And so at nine fourteen that morning, you had Bill McCollum and Phil Mancoff and Scott McCarthy in the monitor room and the phone rings, and what happens is man Coff takes the call and learns that there is somebody at the freight elevator who says he's a vice president of the bank named Bob Bardwell, got his marque card and he needed to be escorted into
the building. This was a fairly common occurrence happened fairly routinely on almost every guard ship, where employees would forget something they would need to get into the bank, and they would be met at the freight elevator at street level by a guard who would then bring them down to where they needed to go. And so at that point when he called, man Coff dispatched Bill McCollum to go greet this vice president at the freight elevator. So
that's when the events begin that we're concerned about. At nine fourteen am.
You write it on the screen in the monitor room, there was an indication that alarm had gone off in Stairwell CE, not far from the freight elevator.
At nine to twenty, that's correct, And so that required some investigation, and Mancoff was able to radio Todd Wilson, who was making rounds, and directed him to go to Stairwell C in order to check out what had caused that alarm.
Now you take us in nine twenty four and Phil Mancoff and Scott McCarthy are sitting in the monitor room, but they're watching television or watching something on VHS tape.
That's correct. They're watching a sitcom or a drama from TV that had been recorded on VHS tape on a very small TV in corner of the monitor room. They're actually not even watching the monitors that they're supposed to be watching, and they all of a sudden hear footsteps behind them. Now at this point, two of the other two guards have been dispatched to perform various tasks, man Coff to escort Bob Bardwell into the building and Todd
Wilson to check out the alarm and stairwell cease. And naturally, if they're sitting there watching the show and they hear footsteps, they're going to assume it was one of the two
of them, But it wasn't. Instead, it was the man, whoever he was, who wreaked more havoc on the city of Denver than had occurred in many decades, because what happened was he ordered man cough and McCarthy to get up from their chairs, marched them into an adjacent room called the battery room, had them get down on their knees, hands behind their heads, and before they even knew what was happening, pumped a revolver full of bullets into their heads and torsos, killing them instantly.
You're right that. Even worse is that Scott McCarthy wanted, always wanted to be a police officer, and this was his first day as a bank guard.
Yes, he was also a newlywed. He in fact, Todd Wilson had been the best man at his wedding the prior August. He had been married to his wife for less than a year. They were high school sweethearts. It's as tragic in every way imaginable that on his very first day he was gunned down and didn't have a chance to even complete a single shift as a bank guard.
You're right that. Meanwhile, Todd Wilson is confused looking for stairwell c. He's only fifteen days into his training, so he decides to head back to the monitor room to find a map to help him. What happens in the monitor room.
Well, nobody's there, and he finds that surprising because even though he's still fairly early in his training, he knows that that's a cardinal rule that the monitorom has to be manned at all times. So he steps toward the use shaped console that has all the monitors they're supposed to be looking at, and at around nine twenty six, within two minutes of when he entered the room, the murderer comes up from behind him and we know from
where the bullets entered his body. He was shot in the back and shot in the back of his head and drops to the ground and he's dead too.
Meanwhile, with the armored couriers gone, the tellers were at their stations processing money checks and food stamps. This is ninety eight tellers David Twist, Maria Christian with their boss, David Baranco, and they saw somebody walk by. What do they do?
A blur of motion and Twist says to the other two, did you see that? And Baranco says, see what he said. There was a guy in a suit, well dressed guy, And eventually they all spot him and he's walking in the opposite direction and they start to head toward him. They're wondering who they think. He's somebody associated with the bank, obviously, and he's well dressed. And the next thing they know the guy is starting to walk toward them, and he pulls out a gun, and it's very clear they're being
held up. Those are three of the of the tellers. There are another three, and eventually five of them are made to lie down on their stomachs and not look, put their hands over their eyes. And then the robber, the well dressed robber, by the way, he's in disguise. He's wearing a fedora hat, he's wearing dark sunglasses, he has a thick, bushy salt and pepper mustache, and he's got a band aid over his left cheek. So it's very hard to make heads or tails of him other
than he's white. He's about five eleven six feet, maybe about one hundred and eighty pounds, and that's all that we really know about this guy. So he asks who's the head cashier, and nobody answers, because that's not a
title that's actually used. Eventually, Bronco volunteers that he's in charge, and the robber has him get up and starts taking him around, has him get a black leather satchel and has him go from station to station, filling it up with strap bundles of five tens twenties and fifties to start getting the money that he's there to rob them of.
What he doesn't know, and in fact, what even Bronco doesn't know, is that one of their number, a teller named Nina McGuinty, never actually wound up with the group, and she's hiding under her desk in her teller booth behind a garbage can, shaking hysterically. And at the time that Baronco brings this intruder, this robber who at this point they don't know is a murderer. By the way,
they have no idea he's killed anybody. He's literally his foots, his feet are right up against Nina McGuinty, and Baronko's trying to protect McGuinty because he spots her and does that successfully. McGuinty stays under her desk the entire time this happens. The intruder is there for about eight minutes. He then locks the group, everybody except McGuinty, up in a man trap and they can't get out because it's locked from the outside. There's no way to get out,
and he's gone. At nine fifty six, He's gone. Chapter one is entitled forty two minutes, because the whole thing starts at nine fourteen, and by nine fifty six we know from various security systems he's departed the cash vault, never to be seen again.
Let's use this as an opportunity to stop to hear these messages. Now you're write that a woman named Daniel Taylor, associated with the bank, arrived at the bank shortly after ten am, and she was a twelve year she had been employed for about twelve years there investigations unit of the Risk and Bank Security department. What does she find when she gets to work, which is unusual.
Well, she usually her the Risk and Bank Security department is literally right next to the guard monitor room, and she usually goes to a door that she can buzz. The guards just outside that back door to her department, and they would buzz her in, but she kept on buzzing and there's nobody there, and that's never happened to her before. I mean, there's supposed to be somebody in
the monitor room at all times. Eventually she's able to make her way around to the other side of her department and the door there that's supposed to be locked actually opens right up. So she's very suspicious of why there's no guard, but she has work to do. She
wants to get out of there. It's the weekend. She starts working until eventually somebody from what's called the proof department comes up to her and says she's been trying to get a guard to get her into the cash vault so that she can get the checks because they're supposed to go over the checks that were delivered that morning. And now Danielle Taylor is very, very suspicious because something's
clearly not right. Eventually, she winds up going to the lobby of the Cash registered building, where there's a collection of security guards associated with the building that have nothing to do with the United Bank, and she said, have you seen any of our guards recently? And they say no, that they it was curious to them they haven't seen them in a while because usually they pass by when
they're making their rounds. And it was about that point when the six' five i'm sorry hysterical tellers who'd broken out of the man trap that they were locked up in get to the lobby of the cash register building and tell the guards there And Danelle taylor they'd just been. Robbed Remember nina McGuinty is still back at the cash, vault hiding under her desk the man trap that they escaped.
From there was no way for them to get back into the cash, vault so they weren't able to rescue, her and they had no idea if she was.
Okay very interesting you talk About Patricia western camp on patrol police officer has a response to an all points bulletin at ten fifty three possible robbery at The United bank At, denver and you write that she scoffs at the idea of a bank being robbed On.
Sunday, yeah let me, see it seemed. Ludicrous it seemed outlandish that somebody would come to a bank and hold it up on a day that the bank wasn't.
Open by the.
Time she gets, there she learns as the first one to, arrive and shortly dozens More denver police officers learned that it really, happened that the bank had been, robbed the intruder was at, large and they had no idea at this point that security guards had been massacred viciously and were dead lying in pools of their own.
Blood let's talk about that discovery of those guards and then they discover, three but are looking For bill. McCollum that's.
Correct so you have, McCollum who's the first one found because he's lying right there in the main space of the monitor. Room Todd, Wilson i'm, Sorry Todd wilson is. Found he's the first. One then they eventually get to the battery room where they see actually McCarthy draped over
the body Of Phil. Mankoff so they've accounted for. Three but they knew they had already been in touch with the security people at the bank and knew that four guards were on, duty and so basically in all, points bulletin goes out That bill McCollum is no to be, found and they initially believed he was probably, complicit if not the arm. Bandit now the problem with that Was bill McCollum Is African american and the reporting from the cash vault was that the intruder was, white so that
didn't quite match. Up but still he was nowhere to be.
Found so they eventually literally dispatched a swat team to his apartment clear across the other side Of, denver thinking that he was the bad, guy but eventually learned from what they found there that he probably, wasn't and it wasn't until five thirty that, evening as they were as the swat team was going through all three buildings that they finally were able to locate, him also dead in what was called the incinerator, room one level below where
the Guard Monitor room and the cash vault were. Located he was in the, corner shot in the head, bleat he had bled out and he was, Dead and it became clear fairly early on that when he was dispatched to the freight, elevator he was basically taken hostage by the murderer and brought down the elevator all the way
to the lower concourse, level marched to his. Death and then at that point the murderer took his, keys took his marque card and was able to use those to traverse basically the bowels of The United bank building and get to all the places he needed to, go including the Guard monitor room and the cash.
Flow you're right that there's three separate crime scenes to, investigate and they have The mosler system recorded in its memory when and where door alarms and motion detectors in the bank complex had, activated as when as well as when they were turned on and. Reset and then also you write that another march them control computer recorded each use of the marquee card to gain access to the
office or department in which employees card was. Used so tell us what else they deduce from examining these three crime. Scenes what do they conclude early?
On, well probably for we'll condense it because there's a lot that they. Learned but the most significant findings were in the monitor. Room so the monitor room is where the security feeds from security. Cameras and mind, you they're black and white security. Cameras this is, old old. Technology but the feeds all come to BASICALLY tv screens or monitors in that, room and that's what its purpose, was to, make you, know to keep your eyes on what's going
on throughout the bank based upon these. Cameras one of the cameras was actually in the monitor room to monitor the, guards and it was known by the guards at that time that THE vcr that recorded from that camera was located in a locked suit supervisor's. Office, well wouldn't you know. It what they found was that the murderer had desperately tried to break in to the locked supervisor's. Office he had tried to kick in the. Window there was a, footprint a shoeprint on that. Window he had tried to
shoot the doorknob. Off the bullet had shattered into numerous pieces and made a huge dent in the doorknob that. Office and he also tried to kick in the wall to the adjacent storage, room trying to get in through the back way and ran into plywood that foiled that.
Plan but there was dry wall that had come off the wall and was on the floor where he tried to kick it, in which made it very clear that this person who was in the guard monitor room killing these, guards knew that THAT vhs tape could be his undoing if that camera was actually operational and recording at the time he was in the monitor. Om those were probably the most significant findings that they.
Made and what of those tapes that eleven of those twelve, Tapes.
Yes so twelve tapes were recording from the different security cameras are way throughout the. Bank, basically if you remember WHAT vhs recorders or video recorders were like then, VCRs you had to pop out the tapes through a cassette. Deck eleven of the twelve VCRs had their cassette decks hopped out and the cassettes were, gone they were. Swiped only ONE vhs record OR vcr still had a tape in, it and that was to an area that had nothing to do with an area that the killer or robber had.
Traversed there were also a bunch of keys that were taken from the hooks that they were hung. On there were radios that were. Taken there was a whole bunch of stuff besides, cash that was taken by the killer bandit AS i.
Call, him what do police do in? Response, again what do they conclude this? Is you, say inside? Job are they how are they certain that they believe it's an inside?
Job, well the use of The marquee card From bill McCollum in order to traverse the areas of the, Bank there's no way an outsider would have even known what that marque card. Was and the marque card worked in some, places but AN mk one, key which was a master key on the keychain was needed in other. Places and this killer slash, ROBBER i, mean he was able to traverse a lot of, areas different areas of the bank in a very short amount of. Time and, also AS i,
said tried to break into that supervisor's. Office AND i can go on and on with all of the things that just screamed inside. Job and so it wasn't a leap of faith or logic for the police to, Conclude, yeah whoever did this was somebody who worked in the, bank probably as a security, card if not then that in the recent.
Past and also that it was not well known even by executives that the center room in this lower concourse was used. Anymore they also, found interestingly a partial shoe print in that incinerator. Room tell us about any other partial prints or any other forensic evidence that they did discover that was about to be.
Analyzed, well so the shoeprint in the there are actually a couple shoeprints in the incinerator room that appeared by the sole pattern to match what was on the glass of the window in the monitorom THAT i told you about. Earlier so that same person appeared to be in both, places and by the use of the marquee, card it was pretty clear that it was the same person in both, places and also in the cash, fault because the same marque card was used to make entrance into the cash.
Fault in the monitor. Room there were several fingerprints that were lifted off of, VCRs off of a couple, surfaces and there was a palm print on the door jam to the battery room Where mancoff and McCarthy they were, killed so they had some forensic evidence at their. Disposal there was also a mountain dew can that was used to prop open a door leading into the man trap
Or i'm sorry leading, yes leading into the man. Trap that propped open door actually prevented police when they arrived from getting into the man, trap and it took forever for them to get that door off its. Hinges and then they found the mountain dew, can which obviously was another device used by the.
Robber by the, murderer there was a.
Print lifted off that mountain dew, can so there was a lot of hope that it would eventually have enough forensic evidence to figure out who this.
Was you're right that the nine to Twenty Stairwell sea alarm wasn't actually the first to have triggered That Father's day morning they Discover.
Yeah they actually learned that there was a five h four am alarm in a completely different area of the. Bank it was from a records tunnel that had not only gone, off it had been acknowledged in the monitor room later that mon and it was reset after all the guards were. Dead so the only person who could have reset that, alarm the one that went off at five oh, four the motion detector in the records, tunnel would have been the. Murderer, so you, know just eye popping type forensic.
Discoveries you Introduced Bob, pence Special agent in charge of THE Fbi Denver Field, office And Police Chief Ari zavares from The Denver Police, department And Jonathan, priest a lead detective on The Denver Police department and on The Joint Task. Force, eventually could you introduce these central.
Characters So pence was a very gritty federal law. Man he had worked for THE fbi since the days Of Edgar Hoover Jay Edgar, hoover and he very, savvy very. Telligenic he went ON. Tv he was not afraid OF tv reporters asking him, questions and he was trying to assure the community that they would find out whoever did this and bring them to justice as quickly as. Possible Ari zavaris was the lead spokesperson for The Denver Police department as its. Chief he was constantly being asked questions
by the news. Media they were quoted in the newspaper both The Rocky Mountain news and The Denver post on a daily. Basis they were shown ON tv. Frequently the guy who was working behind the, scenes eventually assuming a leadership role on a joint task force a SEVENTY fbi agents And Denver police detectives and, investigators Was John, priest who was only thirty seven years old at the time had only recently started doing homicide, work but he emerged
as a very savvy leader of this. Investigation you're right that one of the first things they tried to do is even though the culprit war a, disguise they still try to show them some photos of passcard and present guards in the hope that somebody might recognize something about
that person in the photos that's. Correct and so they were shown two, books a red loose leafbinder filled with one photo per page of present guards and a blue book filled with one photo per page of recent, guards and all six of the, Tellers David baranco and his crew were asked to look through and identify any features that they thought were similar to the features of the disguised gunman who was with, them mind, you for only eight, minutes and during those eight minutes they were mostly faced
down on the. Floor but they were supposed to do the best they, could and they all took their best shot and identified features of various photographs that they thought were. Similar but not a single one of them, said, OH i see this, picture this is the guy who did. It no one who looked at the pictures who was inside the cash phault that morning kind of feeling about any of the.
Photos you're right about the weekend guard supervisors that the Special agent spoke To Tom, Tadlaski Jim, prato And Neil tubbs and what they thought or who they thought might be a likely.
Suspect, Yeah and so there was a guard who had a very bushy mustache who was there for five, years four. YEARS i can't remember exactly how, long but he was well known as being in one of the most expert security guards and he was gone for about a year and a half something like. That his name Was mike.
McGowan they the descriptions that were given by the guards of the bushy mustache about how, tall about how heavy that was Who, Initially Jim, prodo who was the direct supervisor of these, guards thought it Was Tom, tadlaski who Was Jim prodo's boss and the head of the whole, department the security, department said he thought it may have been a Guy Paul, yokum And Paul yoakum didn't have a bushy, mustache didn't look anything like what was being.
Described but one thing that was unique about him was he was charged with a theft from one of THE atm machines in that. Bank a year. Earlier there was a theft during The Memorial day weekend of nineteen ninety where twenty six thousand dollars was stolen from a, bin And Paul yoakum was charged with that crime and eventually. Acquitted and so the thought was maybe this guy was so mad that he was put through that that this was a revenge type act by.
Him so those.
Were the two who sort of emerged initially as potentially the types of guys or certainly the look of who they were describing to maybe have done. This mike McGowan And Paul.
Yoakum let's use this as an opportunity to stop to hear these. Messages in the conversation that the special agents had With mike McCown he also just mentioned another guard that was a friend of his that he had spoken. To who is the guard that he referred.
To So mike mccownon was actually living In, seattle which is why it made no sense that he would have been,
involved and he was able to establish his. Alibi but when he spoke to some special agents out In, seattle he just casually mentioned his Friend Jim, king who worked with him as a. Guard they were often paired together in the monitor room and he became good friends with, him and he had visited with him when he went when he came back To denver to attend his daughter's high school graduation just a few weeks.
Before let's get to the police investigation about the bullets. Themselves what did they? Find but what was it about the bullets that specially intrigued?
Them, well first of, all there were three different types of bullets that the coroners hold out of the. Victims that was very intriguing that a gunman who was responded for four deaths would have been shooting three different sets of bullets out of his. Gun the bullets also bore markings that established they had what was called a left, twist which made it clear they had been fired from
a revolver type gun as opposed to a semi. Automatic most of the bullets had what were called hollow, tips which are often used by police, departments and some of the bullets actually what were called PLUS p plus highly pressurized bullets that are department police department issue. Only so all of a sudden you have this notion that the bullets used would have come from some police organization like
The Denver Police. Department and the other thing that was intriguing was that they counted up the number of bullets that had been used in the, crime including the one that had been used to shoot that, doorknob and they counted. Eighteen, well that is the standard issue for the number of bullets A denver police officer is going to have when he's issued new. Bullets each time he qualifies at the firing.
Range six that go into the revolver's. Chamber and then you've got what are called speedloaders that each carry six to be able to quickly reload the. Chamber so two speedloaders makes. Twelve the chamber is another. Six the cylinder is another six in the, chamber and that's. Eighteen and so all of a, sudden you're now getting an indication an inside job from somebody who at one point was a security guard and perhaps somebody who used to be a police.
Officer you're right that the investigation Into Paul yoakum has some very very interesting and incriminating. Results they search his, home but they also search his his childhood home In, Flaglare. Yes what was found there that seemed incriminating.
Mountains and mountains of ammunition and weapons in both his home and home In, denver in an apartment small apartment that he lived in which was walking distance from the, bank and also at his childhood home where his mother still, Lived mountains and mountains of ammunition and some of which could have been used to closely approximated the type of ammunition that was used for at least killing some of the.
Guards so there Was they didn't find the, gun the murder weapon or nora a gun that was capable of shooting the bullets that were, used but they certainly found enough incriminating evidence in terms of. Weaponry and the other big thing they found was a, diary and that diary just Like Tom tadlaski had predicted when he was first told about the. Crime lo And, behold this was a man who was royally pissed off at what The United bank Of denver had put him through a year before
when they put him on trial for that. Theft he was a very angry, man according to the diary that he had. Created so, yeah there was a lot to make one believe That Paul yocum had the, motive had the, means lived close, by and didn't have a good.
Alibi special Agents John gedney And Kevin kiernan were going through the list of people that were spoken to by special agents and they came Across mike mccollen's statements or at least as mention Of Jim.
King so what happened was is THE fbi had a list of former guards and they were going through that list one by one just to interview as many former guards as they could to find out if they had. Alibis and that's how these two special agents wound up at the door Of Jim king On june twenty, fourth to nineteen ninety.
One and what do agents ask? Him in, particular because you talk about of a follow up interview after, That so tell us what they decide or pardon, me what they determine in that, interview and tell us about the reason for the follow.
Up, well they Asked king where he was the morning Of Father's, day and he provides them a story that he went. Downtown he lives In Golden, colorado eleven miles essentially from where the crime, occurred and they asked him where he. Was he says he went, downtown which is where the crime, occurred in order to play a game of chess On Father's day at a place called The Capitol Hill Community, center which used to host The Denver Chess, club of Which James king was a member back in the.
Day but The Capital Community center hadn't hosted The Denver Chess club in several, years and in, Fact James king. Hadn't he admitted that he hadn't played a live game of chess in, years so that seemed highly. Suspicious they also questioned him about what his activities were Throughout Father's. Day he had some vague descriptions of where he was in the times he was there when he got, back and it just didn't seem to make a lot of, sense so they were suspicious of Whether James king had
a good. Alibi and beyond, That James king went out of his way to talk about how horrible the security was At United, bank what a travesty it was as to how they ran their security operation, there from his own experience working there for about fourteen months as a security, guard so it seemed like he had somewhat of an axe to grind Against United, banks sort of Like Paul yoakum. Did so this was certainly enough to warrant a follow up.
Interview you say this information was also shared With John, priest and he said or if he thought that information jumped right off the, paper and he sent or at Least Detective Calvin hemple and with his Assistant Vi leagas went to do the follow up and a very very interesting, interview, indeed especially when he refused to do the interview on the advice of his. Lawyer, yeah initially he wouldn't let them.
In so by this, time by the second, interview which occurs On july the morning Of july second or, third AND i can't remember exactly my, timeline but when they come, back a different set of law enforcement officers come, back he cracks the door open and says he's been told not to talk to. Him he's already spoken to a. Lawyer and what they tell him, is, look we're just trying to learn from.
You you know the. Bank you used to be one of, us used to be a. Cop we'd just like to pick your. Brain you, know you're not under. Arrest we're not trying to get you under. Arrest and he eventually lets them in and he starts, talking and eventually they talk about his police, revolver and he shares with them that he's discarded his police. Revolver he doesn't have it. Anymore that makes no sense To John, priest because cops consider their, badge their, uniform their police revolver as part
of their. Identity and at least no cop that he knew who had retired had ever done anything like getting rid of their police, revolver their service, weapon their duty. Weapon To John, priest something seemed off About James king the moment he started reading the reports of these.
Interviews now tell us about their efforts to put him in a photo lineup and what they did to try to have better results from that photo.
Lineup so the first time, around you know the six cash vault tellers who were on due to that morning got rob and saw the robber for some part of eight. Minutes when they made that first. Pass what they were looking at were BASICALLY dmv, photos including A dmv photo that was taken a couple of years before Of James, king that, were you, know full frontal photos of the
whole person's face and. Head, Well priest realized that that might have been confusing because all they got to see of the robber's face was what was underneath a, hat and the dark sunglasses would have prevented them from seeing the eyes as. Well so in order to approximate that as best as they could for a photo, lineup they Took Jim king's. Picture they put it in the second, position and they cropped it right around his forehead and his ears to basically show just the interior portion of his.
Face and they did that with the other five people that were not someone they suspected of this. Crime and they showed that initially To David twist On july, third And David twist took his, time but he eventually said there was something about the look of the person in position, too who Was James, king who definitely resembled the, robber and so he more or less made a positive identification Of James king On july the, third seventeen days after the.
Crime now you introduce an attorney Named Walter, Gayrash Walter. Garsh Walter garash tell us How Jim king comes to be have this person as his attorney.
Because he played chess with him back in the day at The Capitol Hill Community center when they were both members of The Denver Chess. Club so it was the only attorney he, knew and he knew him from having played chess against, him and he called him, SAYING i THINK i might be in trouble AND i THINK i need an. Attorney this was just before the second round of interviews, occurred and in fact he was probably told
By Walter grash don't talk to. Anybody he didn't accept his lawyer's advice and had that second, interview had a third interview the next. Day, Ultimately Walter garrash winds up representing him before his arrest and obviously most significantly after his.
Arrest let's talk about that arrest and the district attorney norm.
Early, Okay so the arrest warrant and the search warrant are signed the evening Of july, third and they go do a massive search Of Jim King's James king's, property While James king and his Wife carolyn are forced to sit on the porch of their very tiny little bungalow In, Golden. Colorado the idea is they're going to arrest, him assuming they find anything further in his home that points to him having been involved in the. Crime, well they didn't find.
Much they found a set of maps diagrams to the lower concourse and concourse levels of the bank that seemed to be. Incriminating they obviously didn't find a murder weapon they looked there. Was they were looking for his police, revolver And Carolyn king actually told them that she believed it was in a box in a metal box in the.
Den it was.
Locked eventually they Got James king himself to give them the combination to the to the lock on the, box and when they opened it there was nothing. There but what they found as the hour approached midnight that seemed to tip the scales in favor of This we got, Him we got the right, guy was a pair of black shoes that had a sole pattern that looked exactly like the sole pattern in the incinerator room and also
on the glass window in the guard monitor. Room not long after they made that, discovery they Read James king his rights and this is early wee hours Of july, fourth nineteen ninety. One they put him in a squad car and they took him to.
Jail now you mentioned that, shoeprint so there is some forensic evidence to be. Tested how do the prosecution plan to what's their? Strategy and tell us a little bit more about the prosecution and what they think they have in that and they convey in their opening statement at.
Trial, Okay, well they have a lot of very suspicious evidence About James. King they have the eighteen bullets that matches what a police officer. Carried they have a lot of statements that he's made over the time he was a security guard about how poor he thought the security apparatus at the bank. Was they have an alibi that seems very, weak and nobody saw him when he went to play. Chess he didn't get, in so the timeline doesn't seem right for, Him the alibi doesn't seem right for.
Him his revolver is nowhere to be found and no police officer throws away their service. Revolver they don't have any forensic. Evidence the shoe prints turn out they tested at THE, fbi they don't match the shoes that they seized from his home at the time of the. Search they actually doubled down On it's not Only David twist who Identified James king from that. Lineup Eventually nina McGinty, Does Maria, christian one of the tellers. Does Kenetha, whistler
one of the tellers. Does so they have a collection of eyewitness. Identifications say, Yeah James king photo number two in that photo, lineup he was the guy that robbed, them and that's what they take to.
Trial how do they address his alibi or how do they say they're going to address his alibi about the chess match and being confused where they play chess?
ANYMORE i don't remember the specifics of the opening. Statement there's a lot in the book THAT i could not recite, Verbatim but the bottom line is that there's nobody who could vouch For James king's whereabouts at the time these guards are being massacred and the money is being stolen from the cash. Vault and what he says about The Denver Chess club and The Capital Community Center Capital Community center is completely unverified and there's nobody who can support that.
Alibi how Does Sam garish operate? In Walter Garsh Walter? Garage pardon? Me how does he operate? In how does he operate in the? Courtroom he's one of the most theatrical courtroom lawyers that has ever. Lived he had a booming. Voice he would make theatrical displays on a almost hourly. Basis he was a.
WARRIOR i, mean he was a great lawyer if you were in a, jam Like James king, was because he fought for you with every ounce of his. Being and there wasn't much of. Him he was only five foot. Six he was probably about one hundred and thirty five, pounds dripping, wet bald, headed sixty Something ish lawyer who had been through the trenches for many years and had quite the reputation of being a pretty darn good criminal defense attorney and someone who took no. Prisoners that was his.
Style he was. Brash he was Actually bronx, Born bronx, raised A Jewish New yorker who had at one point been a member of The Communist party quite the character and he gave and his, Partner Scott robinson Gave James king won hell of a defense in that courtroom in The city And County building during the trial that took place just a little less than a year after the.
Crime it's not uncommon for the, defense especially when seemingly desperate to accuse someone, else who did they accuse in their strategy to detract from their.
Client, well they certainly pointed at the fact that the police were much more interested In Paul yoakum than they Were Jim king up until the time they all of a sudden got interested In Jim. King so they had search warrants that stated that there was probable cause to believe That Paul yoakum committed the. Crime they called in all the witnesses who Investigated Paul, yoakum THE fbi, witnesses the police, witnesses and recount all of the arsenals of
weaponry and munitions that they found In Paul yocum's. Possession at one point tried to introduce but failed to introduce evidence About Dewey. BAKER A Dewey Calvin baker who was actually incarcerated In california who had written letters To garash saying that he was actually the one who committed this.
Crime they never were successful in introducing that. Evidence the judge kept it, out but they wanted very much to get that before the jury, too since there was essentially a confession by this other notorious bank robber who was serving time In.
California the prosecution had took aim at some of the major, inconsistencies such as When hamphill came and spoke to, him he then changed his testimony that he hadn't spoken to any neighbors at all when he came home from looking for the chess meeting to now saying that he had spoken specifically to a. Neighbor.
Yeah in, fact two neighbors came and, testified one who lived across the, STREET. Roberta, trijiho and the gentleman who actually lived next door To James king on on a corner, law and they both. Testified trhello testified that she had Seen king a little after nine that, morning And David, dell the neighbor next, door testified that he had Seen king at ten o'clock when he was coming back in his.
Car and if you believe the timing of what they, said Then James king couldn't have been the murderer because there's no way he could have gotten to the bank in time for that nine fourteen phone. Call and there's no way he would have left the bank at nine nine fifty six and then gotten home by ten. O'clock so the forty two minutes inside the bank nine fourteen to nine fifty six didn't match a nine o'clock time that he's, there in a ten o'clock time that he's
there at his. Home so but unfortunately For James, king what he told the detectives AND fbi agents when he was first interviewed was he never saw any neighbors that morning and this was very. Soon he was interviewed on the twenty, fourth eight days after the, crime and he told investigators he never saw his neighbors that morning when he either when he left or when he came back from this supposed attempt to play a game of.
Chess let's just this as an opportunity to stop to hear these. Messages now the prosecution has their, Strategy they bring forth their, eyewitnesses they explain the process they use to have these people Identify Jim. King let's talk about the. Decision which is unusual For Jim king to testify as an. Attorney you know that this is. Unusual why in this case Would Jim king want to, testify and why would possibly their attorneys want him to.
Testify, well, so even during jury, selection the prosecution picked up on what was likely going to be the overall thematic approach that the defense was going to, take which, Is Jim king is the most mild, mannered soft spoken
man you're ever going to. Meet he's not a, Monster he's not a. Killer he's not someone you can envision or picture being a monster or a. Killer their approach was to get the jury to believe from the very get, go don't judge a book by its, cover because you can have somebody who is very mild manner and seemingly very polite and yet at the same time also a monster and a. Killer, well the defense wanted the jury to get to Know James king as being the, polite
mild mannered man that he was very soft, spoken to get them to think could they possibly envision this guy being a. Killer and they also wanted him to explain where he was when supposedly he was the guy viciously massacring four defenseless security guards At United, bank and so it made sense for him to. Testify you had no prior, convictions a clean police, record even though it was somewhat, mediocre and it wasn't actually that much of a gamble
because he had a story to. Tell he was well prepared and he told that story pretty, well about what he did On Father's, day about how he protected the community for twenty five, years about how he worked for the, bank and he told his story and he stuck to.
It there was two stories that he had a reason for right after he Was police spoken to him right after the murders that he went to the bank and purchased a bigger safety deposit box and apparently told somebody that it didn't matter about the. Money he didn't care about the. Money he needed a bigger. Box at, trial he had to explain why he went to the bank for another safety deposit box that, day and also he had to explain why he threw his gun.
Away, yeah so we haven't introduced this fact yet and it was a powerful piece of prosecution evidence that the day after the massacre at the, bank the day After Father, Day James king went to his, bank which was Not United, bank it was the First bank Of westland where he had a small safety deposit box and he traded it in for a larger safety deposit box the very day after this crime where two hundred thousand dollars was stolen
from the cash. Fault and of course the prosecution theory, is, yeah he got the safety deposit box to stuff it full of the loot from the bank robbery until he figured the coast was clear and he could do something with. It problem for the prosecution team, was immediately After James king's arrest they were able to get a locksmith to break open that security box that's a safety deposit. Box
there was not a single dollar in that safety deposit. Box, Nevertheless James king had to explain that timing just seemed really. Suspicious so he had, explained and his explanation was he got that larger box because he was writing a book on police procedures and he needed a place to store
his floppy. Discs, well that wasn't such a good explanation because when they searched that safety deposit box after his, arrest there was also no floppy disks in that, box so it was kind of a peculiar explanation for why he had gotten that box and then his, gun which was probably the most significant piece of evidence in the entire. Case his gun was never, found and his explanation was he had thrown it away because it had a cracked.
Cylinder he admitted that he knew the cylinder was cracked as of the time he fired it in his last qualifying, shoot which was In june of nineteen, ninety and in he stayed there Until august of nineteen. Ninety had admitted he carried the gun for the next two, months but his explanation for discarding the gun was that it was. Dangerous well that you can't square that up very. Well it was, dangerous but he carried it to protect him
and other people in the bank for another two. Months so that was a very suspicious explanation as to why he'd gotten rid of his, gun and that gave the prosecution the opening to say that's not the real. Explanation the real explanation as he got rid of it because it was the murder.
Weapon it's very interesting that the prosecution switched off Between Attorney buckley And Lamar simms in this cross examinations of witnesses And Jim.
King So buckley was the one who took you, know he was the more. Experienced this was about his fiftieth murder, trial and he was the one who took On James king in cross, examination and he did expose some inconsistencies and some suspicious explanations for these things that we've been talking. About was it a masterful. JOB i wouldn't say it was, masterful but he did expose you, Know king kept his composure. Throughout he was mild, mannered he was, polite he was measured.
Throughout but if you listen to his answers and you really took some time to study and digest. Them some of the things he testified about in terms of his chess, alibi in terms of the disposal of the, gun and in terms of the new safety deposit box at his, bank they were very difficult to wrap your mind. Around you, say the prosecution just very much like a boxing. Match in certain rounds made some damaging blows to the, defendant but there were other ones that were undecided or not so. Effective,
well not a knockout. Blow there was No Perry mason, moment at least not for the. PROSECUTION i think there was A Perry mason moment for the. Defense you want to talk about, that we, can but there was no True Perry mason moment for the.
Prosecution, well what was The Perry mason moment for the.
Defense The Perry mason moment for the defense had to do with eyewitness. Identification and the very first witness called in the trial by the prosecution was the manager of the, Teller's David. Baranco and to prove that, Day Vid bronco couldn't possibly have identified the bandit the robber through his heavy, disguise they showed him a heavily disguised photograph of a man who was wearing a drawn on fedora, hat dark, sunglasses and a bushy. Mustache and they, asked and there
was a plastic overlay with those features on. It and they Asked, baranco this Was Scott, Robinson Walter grash's. Partner they asked, him by presenting this blow up photograph To, bronco can you tell who this? Is they even asked, him you, know do you know the Movie Late raiders of The Lost Arc And bronco just sat there and stammered he couldn't figure out what they were getting, at and he certainly couldn't figure out who was the man
behind that. Disguise and Then robinson pulls the overlay off the photograph and reveals the most famous man In hollywood who was connected With raiders of The Lost, Arc Harrison. Ford that, was you, know a real gotcha. Moment that was emblematic for the problem one of the many problems the prosecution team had with the eyewitness, identification which was that you're not going to successfully be able to identify someone that you saw wearing a disguise like. That that's
the whole point of the. Disguise and if you can't Identify Harrison ford wearing that, disguise you're not going to identify someone you've never seen before in your life wearing that. Disguise that was The Perry mason, moment and it happened with the very first, witness WHICH i think had the prosecution on their back feet from the get.
Go you say That buckley was pointing out some inconsistencies and strange, coincidences and he was making points like That king carried the same number of bullets used in the commission of the crime eighteen and then explained the. Speedloader and also during the trial there was talk of This Sam brown belt which had pouches for, speedloaders and again there was no speedloaders in that belt when.
Found, no the belt wasn't, found the speedloaders. Were all these things were, gone which was suspicious in and of. Itself he got rid of not just the, gun but he admitted to getting rid of the. Speedloaders he got rid of the ammunition that was in the, speedloaders he. Said he said he actually pulled the bullets apart and took the powder out so that it wasn't. Dangerous he said he disposed of the gun in several different, disposals took it, apart and he was very descriptive about the
way he got rid of all this. Stuff and yet it was very difficult to believe that somebody would have taken that care in disposing of a gun that supposedly was. Defective, Anyway it's the whole thing was very very puzzling on these key. Points he wasn't able to provide convincing explanations
on those key. Points that didn't change the fact that the prosecution team had heavily on eyewitness identification that had a number of problems with, it including all of the tellers having passed Over James king's picture when they first saw, it when they had those red in those blue books four days after the, robbery and didn't make up for all of the forensic evidence that didn't point To James. King the, fingerprints the palm, print none of. That the,
shoes none of that pointed To James. King so there were a number of problems that the prosecution team had to surmount if they were going to get a guilty. Verdict despite Rattling James king on those key, points.
Right you talk about, rattling but overall you write that his demeanor was. Unflappable, yes and also when they spoke to his wife originally about his movements that, day again there was no testimony that this person who had just slaughtered four fellow guards had done anything of that. Sort there was no indication of any unusual behavior from him that. Day.
Correct in, fact they went very soon, after you, know he got back from wherever he. Was his wife didn't know where he. Was, obviously they went to visit her, parents which is what traditional thing they did On Father's day that were buried at the nearby cemetery and then they went out and got some ice. Cream so you, know this was not the type of thing somebody who had just viciously killed four human beings would have been.
Doing and, that's you, know what the defense, wanted both Through James king's testimony and his wife's, testimony the jury to understand Dairy queen is where they.
Went we haven't spoken about the. Media you talk about The rocky as it was, called and another media newspaper as well and. Television tell us about the media response and how they conveyed and portrayed this trial in the.
Papers, well first of, all this was one of the very first trials covered On COURT. Tv this was a couple of years before THE oj. CASE i, Mean COURT tv was truly an infant at this, time but it was covered coast to coast on television screens all Across.
America and you, know the coverage of this case began within hours of THE i, Mean Jim king was sitting in his living, room according to, him according to his, wife watching the news of the massacre on the six o'clock news that, night and he had to testify about how he saw that on the news and how it
made him. Feel SO i, mean this was a story that Dominated denver And colorado media for a full year from the time of the massacre all the way until the time of the jury's, verdict which happened one year and one day following it Was june, seventeenth two. Thousand i'm, sorry in nineteen ninety, two one year and one day
after the. Massacre, SO i, mean it was a captivating story throughout And denveright were initially frightened to death and then they were mesmerized by this former cop charged with committing one of the most heinous crimes in the history Of.
Colorado you're right that there was fourteen. Jurors this is a three week trial that they. Endured they were later in that when they're, deliberating they were held in a hotel.
Hotel, yes, yes old downtown hotel that overlooked the cash register building of all. Places, Yes how many days did they?
Deliberate for?
Nine they were held. Captive they were held captive at the work hotel for nine. Days they on that ninth and final, day they, did in fact reach a. Verdict that nine day jury, deliberation to the best of my, knowledge is the longest in a criminal case In colorado.
History. INCREDIBLE i want to thank you very Much stephen B epstein from coming on and talking About Deadly, heist The true story of The Mile High Bank. Massacre for those people that might want to find out what happens at this incredible trial and the, aftermath tell us about a website or any social media that you. Do please.
Sure first of, all the book is obviously available On. Amazon you can get it from your local, bookstores so wherever you get your, books you can Get Deadly. Heist it will soon be out an. Audio it's already out in, Audible i'm, sorry already out in paperback On. Kindle my website Is stephenbiepstein dot com And i'm On Exit stephenbauthor and Also steve At stephen the author On Blue.
Sky thank you so. Much Deadly, heist The True story of The Mile High Bank. Massacre thank you so, Much steven B epstein for this. Interview thank you so. Much and good evening.
A, Pleasure thanks so.
Much good, night