Audacious gold heist launches The Stopwatch Gang’s career

A regular weekly look back at some offbeat or interesting stories that have appeared in the Citizen over its 175-year history.

On April 18, 1974, Citizen readers learned of an audacious theft at Ottawa International Airport the night before, which netted robbers five unrefined gold bars worth an estimated $165,700, the equivalent today of more than $900,000.

The gold, on its way from Red Lake Gold Mines in northwestern Ontario to the Royal Canadian Mint, was in a cage in an Air Canada freight terminal, secured by a small padlock. At the time of the robbery — between 11:30 p.m. and midnight — the terminal was manned by a lone security guard, who was threatened at gunpoint and handcuffed to a pipe as the pair of robbers escaped in a green station wagon.

As the investigation continued, it was determined that there were six gold bars taken, and that their actual value was closer to $750,000, or slightly more than $4 million today, making it the biggest gold heist in Canada’s history. The earlier estimate was based on reports of their insured value.

It was also learned that the robbery was a three-man operation undertaken by Paddy Mitchell, Stephen Reid and Lionel Wright, whose crime notoriety continued as The Stopwatch Gang, a nickname they earned for the speed and efficiency of their later bank robberies, with one of the gang, usually Reid, wearing a stopwatch around his neck.

Mitchell, who grew up on Preston Street and was the gang ’s leader, was 64 when he died of cancer in 2007, while still incarcerated. Reid died in B.C. in 2018, at the age of 68.

Wright, meanwhile, who was nicknamed the Ghost for his ability to simply blend in with a crowd and disappear, was released from prison in 1994. His whereabouts remain unknown. bdeachman@postmedia.com