Father's Day Bank Massacre
| Father's Day Bank Massacre | |
|---|---|
 Wells Fargo Center building in Denver, site of the Father's Day Bank Massacre when the building was called the United Bank Tower. | |
| Location | Downtown, Denver |
| Date | June 16, 1991 9:14 a.m. - 9:56 a.m. (MDT) |
| Deaths | Four bank security guards |
The Father's Day massacre was a bank robbery and shooting that took place on Sunday, June 16, 1991 at the United Bank Tower in Denver, Colorado. The perpetrator killed four bank guards as well as holding up six tellers in the bank's cash vault. An estimated $200,000 was stolen from the bank. Nearly three weeks later, on July 4, 1991, authorities arrested retired police officer James W. King, 55, for the crime. The subsequent trial was broadcast nationally on Court TV. After a highly-publicized trial and nine days of deliberation, the jury acquitted Mr. King. The crime remains unsolved and considered a cold case. [1]
Timeline of Bank Heist
Bank entry and murder of guards
At 9:14 a.m. on Sunday, June 16, 1991, a man identifying himself as the bank's vice president, asked for entry into the bank through a side freight elevator. He called the bank's guard room using a street-level security phone. Guard William McCullum Jr. responded by riding the elevator up from the guard room. When the elevator doors opened, the gunman forced McCullum to ride to the subbasement area of the bank. There, the gunman killed McCullum, hid his body in a storage room, and took his electric pass card. The killer made his way through the bank tunnels and up one floor to the bank's basement-level area which housed the vault and guard station.[2]
During the journey, the intruder set off an alarm at 9:20 a.m. when entering a stairwell. The alarm alerted one one guard, Todd Wilson, to investigate the area. The intruder made his way into the vault area and first entered the guard room. There, the gunman forced two guards, Phillip Mankoff and William McCullum, into a battery room. Both men were shot and killed. Investigators believed Todd Wilson returned to the area during or immediately after the shooting. Upon his return, Wilson was shot several feet away from the battery room where Mankoff and McCullum lie.[2] Upon investigation, police figured the shooter fired 18 shots during the killing spree.[3]
Before making his way into the vault area, the intruder removed and tampered with evidence so as to eliminate any trace of his identity. The perpetrator seized ten videotapes, bank keys, a two-way radio, and pages of the guard logbook.[2]
Hold up of tellers and robbery
Electronic records indicated that the vault door was opened at 9:48 a.m. At that time, six vault employees were on duty processing deliveries of cash. The intruder appeared on the scene and ordered the employees to cover their eyes and lay on the floor. Vault manager David Barranco was ordered to fill a satchel with cash from the work stations. Meanwhile, the assailant told the tellers to crawl into a small room near the vault otherwise known as a man trap. Of confusion to investigators, the robber neither filled up the entire bag with money nor took bundles of cash from the vault. The robber made his escape at 9:56 a.m. according to electronic records, leaving the employees locked in the man trap. Using a broken spoon found on the mantrap door sill, the tellers were able to free themselves approximately 20 minutes afte the robbery. [2]
Prime Suspect
From the beginning of the robbery investigation, authorities suspected that the killer was associated in some way with the bank. Investigators questioned current and former bank employees until narrowing their search to James King, a retired Denver police officer as well as a former guard at the bank building. Mr. King was arrested on the evening of July 4, 1991.[1]
Victims
- Phillip Mankoff, age 41
- William McCullum, age 33
- Scott McCarthy, age 21
- Todd Wilson, age 21
References
- ^ a b Romero, John. "19 years later, Denver bank massacre still a mystery", Fox 31: KDVR, Denver, May 24, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Murders in the Bank Vault, New Social Publications, 1997.
- ^ Arias, Ron. "A Bloody Sunday", People, August 5, 1991.
