The trail is cold, but the loot is still out there ...
New 4th Line play is based on the 1961 robbery of the Toronto-Dominion Bank in Havelock
Small-town Ontario has a reputation for being quiet and boring. However, beneath the surface our communities have as much history and mystery as any other place. One of the most pervasive of these mysteries is the location of the missing money from the 1961 robbery of the Toronto Dominion Bank in Havelock. If you talk to the locals, everyone has a theory about where the money ended up, but so far, no one has ever managed to find it.
In September of 1961, five men successfully stole about $250,000 in cash and bonds from the bank in Havelock. The group then fled town, resulting in a high speed police chase through the treacherous roads in the Canadian Shield north of Highway 7. After ditching one car, picking up another, and engaging in a shootout with police, the robbers escaped into the rugged wilderness east of Crowe River. After successfully evading police for four days, the thieves’ luck finally ran out and the OPP picked up the bedraggled fugitives near Highway 62 and took them to the Peterborough County jail.
One of the men died of a heart ailment during the trial and the other four were found guilty of robbery and sent to prison. Even so, the money was not recovered and according to Grace Barker in her book The Bad Luck Bank Robbers, the Royal Canadian Mint reports that none of the stolen bills have been found in circulation.
Most speculate that the money was either buried deep under the glacial rocks of the drumlin ridge near Coe Hill and Gilmour where the robbers had camped, or submerged in Round Lake. In either case, the money would have deteriorated completely by now. However, one fact of note is that a pair of heavy milk jugs was reported stolen during the week that the robbers were on the lam. If the money was hidden in the jugs, it could have survived the rigours of the Canadian weather. However, if this was the case, military mine detectors loaned to the OPP failed to uncover the stolen milk jugs.
Another possibility is the involvement of an unknown accomplice who helped the men hide the money. The youngest of the accused, Jean-Claude Lalonde, was offered bail of $30,000, which was posted immediately by an anonymous source.
The robbers were professional criminals and the posting of such a large amount of money implies the involvement of organized crime. Around this time, the men were visited by several attractive women from Montreal, presumably their girlfriends.
Did they pass on information about how to find the money to these women? We may never know. Journalist Mark Bonokowski claims to have met a man who knew where the stash was located, but could no longer remember due to many years of alcohol abuse.
Grace Barker did an excellent job gathering evidence connected to the case of the missing money and her book The Bad Luck Bank Robbers is a mustread for anyone who is interested in this local history. Over the years, the rumours grow and the trail gets colder, but many are still intrigued by this story, which remains one of Ontario’s great unsolved mysteries.
Toronto playwright Alex Poch-Goldin has done his part in unravelling the mystery of this fascinating case and the location of the money. He has written a play also titled The Bad Luck Bank Robbers, inspired by Grace Barker’s book. The play tells the exciting tale of the robbery, the pursuit, the trial and the impact of the event on the residents in the communities surrounding Havelock.
Don’t miss the world premiere of this highly anticipated and outrageously funny play at 4th Line Theatre in Millbrook this summer. Directed by 4th Line’s managing artistic director, Kim Blackwell and featuring 4th Line’s founder and creative director, Robert Winslow as well as Paul Braunstein, Ryan Hollyman and Tim Walker as the ill-fated bank robbers and playwright Alex Poch-Goldin as a slick defense attorney, this show is sure to intrigue and entertain.
Shows run at the Winslow Farm in Millbrook from June 30 to Aug. 1, 2015. Save $2.00 on single tickets for 4th Line’s upcoming 2015 summer season productions when you purchase gift certificates before December 24th. Call 1-800814-0055 or 705-932-4445, visit 4thlinetheatre.on.ca, email boxoffice@4thlinetheatre.on.ca or visit one of the Box Office outlets; 4 Tupper Street, Millbrook (open until 12:30 p.m. Dec. 24), Kent Bookstore in Lindsay (15 William Street N., 705-328-1600), Peterborough Museum and Archives (300 Hunter Street E., 705-743-5180).