osoab
10th February 2012, 07:32 PM
Not so fast, Eddie: Fugitive in British heist arrested in Missouri (http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/09/3419446/fugitive-sought-in-16-million.html#storylink=misearch)
He gave it a good run, but not even “Fast Eddie” could elude the law forever.Edward John Maher, whom British authorities suspect in the brazen 1993 theft of an armored van stuffed with nearly $1.6 million in cash, was arrested Wednesday in the southwest Missouri town of Ozark, 4,457 miles away from the scene of his alleged crime.
Federal prosecutors were holding Maher, 56, on charges of illegally possessing two pistols and two rifles.
British newspaper The Guardian quoted police there as saying they were working with U.S. authorities to speak with Maher.
Maher disappeared after he and a co-worker at an armored car company made a delivery to a bank in Felixstowe, an English town on the North Sea in Suffolk, authorities said. While the co-worker was in the bank, Maher allegedly took off with the van. It carried 50 bags containing about $1.6 million worth of British coins and notes.
Authorities later recovered the van and two other vehicles thought to have been used in the heist, The Guardian reported.
Given Britain’s affection for bold thieves, reporters nicknamed Maher “Fast Eddie,” and his legend never has died out across the Atlantic.
“A lot of people … thought he was some sort of hero,” a retired police inspector said in a 2003 BBC retrospective on the crime. “It’s a reflection of this society.”
On the 19th anniversary of the heist last month, the Ipswich Star newspaper doubted that Maher ever would be caught.
“But after all this time a mistake by the thief remains the best chance of him being found,” reporter Richard Cornwell wrote. “That would seem unlikely, as the master criminal has survived two decades so far, but it can never be ruled out.”
Maher’s trail went cold until Monday, when he appeared at the Nixa Police Department in Christian County to post bond for his adult son, who had been arrested on an unrelated matter, according to federal court records.
While there, Maher complained that one of his guns had been stolen. A Nixa officer taking a report about the gun said something that made Maher think they knew who he was.
Maher’s son later told authorities that his father was “irate” on the way out of the police station.
“Maher told his son they would have to leave again, and threatened to kill the person who tipped the police off about his identity,” FBI agent Jeffrey W. Atwood wrote in court records.
In nearby Ozark, meanwhile, police had sought the FBI’s help in investigating Maher, said bureau spokeswoman Bridget Patton.
“Credit to them,” Patton said. “They got the information and reached out to us.”
Police in Ozark set up surveillance on Maher’s apartment, while FBI agents interviewed Maher’s son, Atwood reported.
During the interview, Maher called his son to say that they had to “leave immediately,” but the son declined to join him.
Ozark officers soon saw Maher leave the apartment, carrying clothes, and accompanied by a woman and another son, whom neighbors described as about 14 years old. The three soon checked into a motel, court records said.
On Wednesday, Maher’s adult son called the FBI to say that his father was going back to his home and would not resist if authorities came to arrest him.
FBI and immigration agents soon spoke with Maher, who gave them a driver’s license under the name Michael Maher. Maher’s wife, identified in court records as Deborah Ann Brett, later said that Michael was Edward Maher’s brother and that he had used the name to obtain work and state identification, and to purchase firearms in the United States.
In a search of the apartment, Ozark officers found two pistols and learned that rifles had been housed at a storage facility.
During an immigration interview, Maher acknowledged using his brother’s identity since about 1998, when he began working in the United States, to conceal his true identity “because he was wanted for a crime that he committed in England,” court records said.
Property records show that someone using that alias has, since 1997, moved every couple of years, living at addresses in New Hampshire, Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri.
Maher’s adult son, Lee King, told Springfield television station KSPR that he was stunned by the arrest.
He said his mother called him Wednesday and told him he has a different last name, is two years older than he thought and was born in the United Kingdom a few years before the heist.
“My dad is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. He’s only ever done what’s good for us,” King said.
He said he couldn’t believe his father capable of carrying out such a heist.
“I just don’t want people to see him in a bad light for something he did 20 years ago,” King said. “There’s no way he’d ever do this by choice. He wouldn’t just do it to do it. He doesn’t commit crimes, and he’s the one that gets me out of trouble.”
King said that his family moved a lot in his life and that his father said it was because of his job.
Brandon Wise, a neighbor of Maher’s, told KSPR that Maher worked for a cable television company and stayed to himself.
“I never really saw the husband,” Wise said. “He was kind of in and out in the (cable company) truck. That’s all I saw of him.”
The company that employed Maher, Suddenlink, released a statement Thursday that said, “With respect to the individual in question we can tell you that, per standard operating procedure, a thorough background check was conducted before he was hired and we found no information to indicate there were any issues of any kind.”
Neighbors and friends in Ozark used words like “lovely,” “charming” and “extremely nice” to describe Maher and his wife.
“They were very well-loved around here,” said Brenda Morris, manager of the apartment complex where Maher and his wife lived for the last year.
Morris said they never talked about where they lived or what they did before moving to Ozark a few years ago. Morris said she considered them more friends than tenants.
“I would trust them with my life and all my money,” she said. “They are good friends of mine, and I love them dearly.”
Morris and other neighbors said they were shocked by the stories of Maher’s arrest and the allegations against him.
Another neighbor, who did not want her name used in an article, said she had liked Maher and his wife but felt betrayed after learning they were not who they pretended to be.
“It really kills me,” she said. “I’ve been crying off and on today. It’s almost like I’m mourning the death of someone I thought was a friend.”
Of the two, Maher’s wife was the more outgoing and sociable, neighbors said.
Edward Maher mostly waved and said hi as he went from his home to his work truck.
“He was very quiet, but he was a very nice gentleman,” one neighbor said.
Friends who had been inside their home said it was sparsely and modestly furnished.
“It looked like they could be packed and moved out in eight hours,” one commented.
Had Maher had not been arrested Wednesday, he may have come to authorities’ attention in another matter.
Missouri court records show that Maher was named as a defendant, with three others, in a landlord-tenant dispute filed in Christian County on Monday. According to James Randal Howell II, the attorney for the landlord, the lawsuit involved unpaid rent on property rented by Maher’s adult son. Maher was included in the lawsuit because he had signed to guarantee the rent agreement.
Maher appeared before a federal judge Thursday for his initial appearance in the gun case. Magistrate Judge James C. England appointed the federal public defender to represent him and set his next court appearance for Feb. 22. He will be held by the U.S. Marshals Service until then.
(http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/09/3419446/fugitive-sought-in-16-million.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy)
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/09/3419446/fugitive-sought-in-16-million.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy
He gave it a good run, but not even “Fast Eddie” could elude the law forever.Edward John Maher, whom British authorities suspect in the brazen 1993 theft of an armored van stuffed with nearly $1.6 million in cash, was arrested Wednesday in the southwest Missouri town of Ozark, 4,457 miles away from the scene of his alleged crime.
Federal prosecutors were holding Maher, 56, on charges of illegally possessing two pistols and two rifles.
British newspaper The Guardian quoted police there as saying they were working with U.S. authorities to speak with Maher.
Maher disappeared after he and a co-worker at an armored car company made a delivery to a bank in Felixstowe, an English town on the North Sea in Suffolk, authorities said. While the co-worker was in the bank, Maher allegedly took off with the van. It carried 50 bags containing about $1.6 million worth of British coins and notes.
Authorities later recovered the van and two other vehicles thought to have been used in the heist, The Guardian reported.
Given Britain’s affection for bold thieves, reporters nicknamed Maher “Fast Eddie,” and his legend never has died out across the Atlantic.
“A lot of people … thought he was some sort of hero,” a retired police inspector said in a 2003 BBC retrospective on the crime. “It’s a reflection of this society.”
On the 19th anniversary of the heist last month, the Ipswich Star newspaper doubted that Maher ever would be caught.
“But after all this time a mistake by the thief remains the best chance of him being found,” reporter Richard Cornwell wrote. “That would seem unlikely, as the master criminal has survived two decades so far, but it can never be ruled out.”
Maher’s trail went cold until Monday, when he appeared at the Nixa Police Department in Christian County to post bond for his adult son, who had been arrested on an unrelated matter, according to federal court records.
While there, Maher complained that one of his guns had been stolen. A Nixa officer taking a report about the gun said something that made Maher think they knew who he was.
Maher’s son later told authorities that his father was “irate” on the way out of the police station.
“Maher told his son they would have to leave again, and threatened to kill the person who tipped the police off about his identity,” FBI agent Jeffrey W. Atwood wrote in court records.
In nearby Ozark, meanwhile, police had sought the FBI’s help in investigating Maher, said bureau spokeswoman Bridget Patton.
“Credit to them,” Patton said. “They got the information and reached out to us.”
Police in Ozark set up surveillance on Maher’s apartment, while FBI agents interviewed Maher’s son, Atwood reported.
During the interview, Maher called his son to say that they had to “leave immediately,” but the son declined to join him.
Ozark officers soon saw Maher leave the apartment, carrying clothes, and accompanied by a woman and another son, whom neighbors described as about 14 years old. The three soon checked into a motel, court records said.
On Wednesday, Maher’s adult son called the FBI to say that his father was going back to his home and would not resist if authorities came to arrest him.
FBI and immigration agents soon spoke with Maher, who gave them a driver’s license under the name Michael Maher. Maher’s wife, identified in court records as Deborah Ann Brett, later said that Michael was Edward Maher’s brother and that he had used the name to obtain work and state identification, and to purchase firearms in the United States.
In a search of the apartment, Ozark officers found two pistols and learned that rifles had been housed at a storage facility.
During an immigration interview, Maher acknowledged using his brother’s identity since about 1998, when he began working in the United States, to conceal his true identity “because he was wanted for a crime that he committed in England,” court records said.
Property records show that someone using that alias has, since 1997, moved every couple of years, living at addresses in New Hampshire, Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri.
Maher’s adult son, Lee King, told Springfield television station KSPR that he was stunned by the arrest.
He said his mother called him Wednesday and told him he has a different last name, is two years older than he thought and was born in the United Kingdom a few years before the heist.
“My dad is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. He’s only ever done what’s good for us,” King said.
He said he couldn’t believe his father capable of carrying out such a heist.
“I just don’t want people to see him in a bad light for something he did 20 years ago,” King said. “There’s no way he’d ever do this by choice. He wouldn’t just do it to do it. He doesn’t commit crimes, and he’s the one that gets me out of trouble.”
King said that his family moved a lot in his life and that his father said it was because of his job.
Brandon Wise, a neighbor of Maher’s, told KSPR that Maher worked for a cable television company and stayed to himself.
“I never really saw the husband,” Wise said. “He was kind of in and out in the (cable company) truck. That’s all I saw of him.”
The company that employed Maher, Suddenlink, released a statement Thursday that said, “With respect to the individual in question we can tell you that, per standard operating procedure, a thorough background check was conducted before he was hired and we found no information to indicate there were any issues of any kind.”
Neighbors and friends in Ozark used words like “lovely,” “charming” and “extremely nice” to describe Maher and his wife.
“They were very well-loved around here,” said Brenda Morris, manager of the apartment complex where Maher and his wife lived for the last year.
Morris said they never talked about where they lived or what they did before moving to Ozark a few years ago. Morris said she considered them more friends than tenants.
“I would trust them with my life and all my money,” she said. “They are good friends of mine, and I love them dearly.”
Morris and other neighbors said they were shocked by the stories of Maher’s arrest and the allegations against him.
Another neighbor, who did not want her name used in an article, said she had liked Maher and his wife but felt betrayed after learning they were not who they pretended to be.
“It really kills me,” she said. “I’ve been crying off and on today. It’s almost like I’m mourning the death of someone I thought was a friend.”
Of the two, Maher’s wife was the more outgoing and sociable, neighbors said.
Edward Maher mostly waved and said hi as he went from his home to his work truck.
“He was very quiet, but he was a very nice gentleman,” one neighbor said.
Friends who had been inside their home said it was sparsely and modestly furnished.
“It looked like they could be packed and moved out in eight hours,” one commented.
Had Maher had not been arrested Wednesday, he may have come to authorities’ attention in another matter.
Missouri court records show that Maher was named as a defendant, with three others, in a landlord-tenant dispute filed in Christian County on Monday. According to James Randal Howell II, the attorney for the landlord, the lawsuit involved unpaid rent on property rented by Maher’s adult son. Maher was included in the lawsuit because he had signed to guarantee the rent agreement.
Maher appeared before a federal judge Thursday for his initial appearance in the gun case. Magistrate Judge James C. England appointed the federal public defender to represent him and set his next court appearance for Feb. 22. He will be held by the U.S. Marshals Service until then.
(http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/09/3419446/fugitive-sought-in-16-million.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy)
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/02/09/3419446/fugitive-sought-in-16-million.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy