biggest heist in las vegas 1993

According to her record, she passed the firing range within the first few weeks of her employment and reportedly "stunned her coworkers" after earning record high scores on the test. In early 1993, Tallchief, 21, met convicted murderer and robber Roberto Soli, 48. And it was justI was gone. He was still working at the Bonitas House, running his youth shelter, keeping clippings about his maybe-involvement, and looking forward to seeing some documentaries made. Stardust was subject to one of the most infamous and controversial Las Vegas casino robberies, back in 1992, when Bill Brennan stole a total of $500,000 in cash and chips. Morrison: What did you think had happened to that truck when it was first reported to you?Larry Duis, Former Las Vegas police sergeant: We had no idea. Tallchief and Soils, Circus Circus Las Vegas - Back in 1993, 21-year-old truck driver Heather Tallchief was employed as the truck driver whose task was to fill up several ATMs around the. And that particular morning, she had a dressier shoe on. This robbery was committed by this duo not for fun alone but the amount stolen, $2.5 million, making it a heist of the first order. She was 20, broke, boyfriend-less, and lost. 21. Stewart: Is she okay? The thieves weren't the only ones to leave: They also took one of the guards, Thomas O'Connor, with them. On October 1, 1993, Tallchief found herself behind the wheel in one of the largest armored truck robberies in Las Vegas history. Tallchief says Roberto Solis told her that the white liquid was goats milk, the red represented blood. And once again, Heather Tallchief was the lead story in Las Vegas, as she had been 12 years before. They had lost track of her even before she disappeared with Roberto Solis and nearly $3 million from an armored truck in Las Vegas. It was the last time they saw Heather. And then about a year later, a turning point: Heather discovered she was pregnant with Robertos child, and never felt so trapped in her life. In 1993, the 21-year-old ex-nursing assistant had successfully executed a $3.1 million dollar heist, one of the largest in Las Vegas history, alongside her then-boyfriend Roberto Solis.. Morrison: Why have you decided to do this?Heather Tallchief: Well, its the right thing to do. Cause you didnt take it with you on the little plane, did you?Heather Tallchief: No. The kind you would use for moving. Year : 2000 Country : USA Casino : The Bellagio Las Vegas Thief : Jose Vigoa Amount : $160,000. Heather Tallchief: It just didnt registerthe magnitude. At the time, we just thought maybe she was going out to dinner or something after work and needed to get changed quick. The duo entered the Bellagio casino carrying firearms while wearing body armor and Kevlar and took over $160,000 in cash and chips from the counter in what . Then, she says, she managed to get a job as a hotel chambermaid, under an assumed name, she used a fake accent, so she wouldnt sound American. I did what I was told and I hurried up, especially as he had my gun. When her co-workers left Tallchief alone in the truck to organize dropping off the money, Tallchief drove straight out of the Circus Circus Hotel and Casino with $3.1 million and went on the run across the U.S. with Solis. I was treated as badly as if I was [notorious mobster, John] Gotti or someone. She would wear more of a rugged work boot-type thing because she knew she was either gonna be on her feet all day or driving all day. Heather Tallchief: I almost felt like I dont feel like I want to live anymore. They didnt take all of the money. So I had to find out. I got to get away, cause I wanted to have the opportunity to at least have this child. Consequently, it isn't clear who Donna Marie Eaton was, or if she ever existed. Morrison: What did you think?Heather Tallchief: I think it was an accident. As he told the Belfast Telegraph, it was absolutely his idea. Special agent Dushek got the name, and it rang all kinds of bells. There are two aspects to this theft which make it rather unique. No, I dont get to stop! It was very mechanical, very druid-like.Morrison: Surely you were aware of the fact that you had just lifted a whole bunch of money from somebody and that you were in a heap of trouble.Heather Tallchief: Yes. Another famous casino robbing stunt was when 23-year old Lucas Ramos stole more than $1.5 million from the Soboba casino vault in San Diego. It was a federal case now. Fred Tallchief, Heathers father: A lot of people thought it was a great thing, you know. And so here was the crux of Heathers story the one thing she wants the world to believe: He made her do it, and bewitched her with his spiritualism, and forced her to act. He also noted that while he had to fight for his religious freedoms, his fellow inmates revered him whether they believed him an innocent martyr, or a modern-day jo. Joseph Dushek, former FBI agent on the case: We asked them to pull the surveillance video for the Casino and saw that she was in the vehicle alone when it drove off. Her job, in part, was to watch the couriers backs. Intrigued, Heather agreed to let this seemingly spiritual man read her tarot cards. Morrison: Did he tell you why he was interested in Las Vegas?Heather Tallchief: Definitely the gambling. Just a leader. Just who was that boyfriend? Heather Tallchief faces 10 criminal counts all felonies. Stewart: It was basically like a point A to point B type where we would start at one ATM and just work our way through until we got to the last one. In October, 2000, Reginald Johnson burst into the Treasure Island Casino wielding a gun, making off with $30,000. Morrison: Couldnt you have just continued your life on the lam for the rest of your life? The couple soon after relocated to Las Vegas. He put them into brown cardboard boxes. But, blinded by a bag over his head, he also listened to what they were doing and was able to tell police that he heard them leave after closing the sliding door to a van. Morrison: What would you say to her if you could go see her right now?Skyler Tallchief, Heather's younger brother: Oh, Id say, I love you.. So I was extremely surprised when she showed up. At the time, though, some members were suspected of fundraising in the U.S. and sending that money to the IRA. Still, it must have seemed like he had been: It wasn't until 2015 that unidentified remains were exhumed from where they had been buried. You remember it all these years later!Heather Tallchief: Extraordinarily moved by it. And I think, I hope that he will appreciate that. She says she only took pocket money and some jewelry with her. Morrison: Was he inquisitive?Heather Tallchief: He was. I would have never accepted a beer from him if I wasnt attracted, physically. Heather and her father have exchanged letters since our interview; but, apparently some old wounds will have to heal before Heather is ready to re-unite with her family. Stewart and his partner picked up the first of the money bags and walked out of the truck into the casino. According to The New York Times, Gibbons had confided in friends that he had been in on the planning of the Brink's heist with Sam Millar and Patrick Moloney. This 21-year-old kid gets away with $3 million dollars, she rips off the casinos, the insurance companies, like a Robin Hood. So you can work it out a little bit.Morrison: When did you decide that it was a good idea to take that money?Heather Tallchief: Never. Alongside embezzlement, bank fraud, bank robbery and making false statements, Tallchief also faced charges of using a firearm in the commission and execution of a violent crime and for the interstate transportation of a firearm. Fred was at work when a friend told him the news. Its hard to say who Roberto Solis is, exactly. He took them to the Las Vegas jail where Heather is being held, but wasnt allowed in to see her. Dushek: Her clothing, a weapon, and boxes to mail things. But he was released two decades later in 1991, after his poetry, penned under the name Pancho Aguila, garnered critical acclaim. It happened and it was unfortunate and he regretted it. Heather Tallchief: Seeing his altar he had set up in his living room, it was so spectacular it had all these things on it like a goats skull, and candles and incense, and crystals. At the same time that Fennell was being summoned to court, there was another player in the game who had shown up looking for his cut of the money and then, he disappeared. Heather turned herself in. And it was kind of like, wow. Nobody was harmed when the heist was carried out and no shots were fired. But where is Roberto Solis now? Tallchief was also ordered to pay $2.9 million back to Loomis, the security company. 10 Hilton Arson The Las Vegas Hilton is famous for headlining acts like Elvis and Liberace, but the hotel is also the scene of one of the city's most horrific crimes. We were about to hear Heather Tallchief tell her story for the very first time. Treasure Island, Las Vegas (2000) - $30,000 Reginald Johnson robbed Treasure Island three times for $30,000. That's what they thought. To support her child, Tallchief was forced to take a job as a hotel chambermaid under an assumed name and a fake accent. "And that was it, you know? But the fun was short . In 2005, Heather Tallchief had been on the run for 12 years. Heathers boyfriend was Roberto Solis, a convicted murderer 27 years her senior was a man who knew how to disappear. She is going to stop running and she is going to turn herself in. On September 15, 2005, after twelve years on the FBIs most wanted list evading capture abroad, Heather Tallchief marched into the United States Marshals office in Las Vegas, Nevada with a lawyer to turn herself in. How do you feel right now?Heather Tallchief: Extremely nervous. Dushek: We found that they had cleared the place out. And then the tape would go into a colorful swirl. And from that point, we just started doing a sweep for the vehicle. The family wants to get to know the nephew they have never met, who is still in Amsterdam. Solis was 48 years old and interesting. In the new series, Tallchief tells the true story of the $3.1 million dollar Vegas heist she committed with her boyfriend Roberto Solis. When I get set up, Ill call you.. It was a story of sex, magic, money and murder that made the movies look tame. So she wrote to a U.S. lawyer, flew to California, and made her way to Vegas to turn herself in in September 2005. Heather Tallchief: We called it Sex Magick.Morrison: Sex Magick.Heather Tallchief: Yes, its a ritual.Morrison: The spiritual and the physical and they are allHeather Tallchief: combined and you use to manifest ideas, wills, powers, energy. What am I doing in this plane? Im thinking, Oh my god, this guys a maniac. The following summer, Millar's wife, Bernadette Fennell, was sent a subpoena to testify in regard to conversations that she may have been involved with or overheard. After talking a bit about his time in the IRA and his jail sentences in Belfast, he said, "But then I got myself into a lot more trouble in the U.S., when I got involved in the Brink's robbery the biggest robbery in U.S. history. Then precisely 70 years later they were targeted in another robbery that would become one of the nation's biggest bank robberies in history. The couple eventually acquired fake documents and made their way to Amsterdam from St. Maarten, where Tallchief became pregnant. The Bellagio, Las Vegas (2000) - $160K. But at the end of her shift one day in 1993, she just decided to up it and leave instead - driving away with her truck, and its contents, worth some $3 million. She got a job for a time working in an AIDS hospice, working with terminal cancer and aids patients. On the spot. The Villains: Eric Alan Aguilera and Roland Luda Ramos. October 1, 1993, saw one of the biggest heists in Las Vegas history. During the Bill Clinton presidency, Millar was part of a transfer program that saw many inmates moved and for him, it was back to Ireland. She was released in 2010. Officially, NORAID is a U.S.-based organization dedicated to things like education on Irish history and language, along with promoting the idea of a united Ireland. Only the Left Has the Answer, Democrats Pressure Biden to Cancel Student Loans After Supreme Court Ruling, Exclusive: Trump Made Shocking Comments About Ivanka, Says Ex-Staffer, We're Heading for a Social Security Apocalypse, Joe Biden is Weathering the Storm of Hunter's Scandals, Clarence Thomas Attacks Ketanji Brown Jackson Over Affirmative Action. Heather Tallchief has been through some harrowing moments in her 33 years, but never one like this: Heather Tallchief: Theres no running away anymore. According to NBC, Solis had actually attempted a similar job in San Francisco back in 1969, attempting to hijack a Loomis armored car delivering money to a Woolworth's. The series is called 'Heist', and the first crime to be featured is a $3 million armored car robbery in Las Vegas in 1993. And the voice would count from ten to one. I dont like the taste of alcohol so Id sniff the glue to get the alcohol down. And so when Roberto Solis suggested they move to Las Vegas together, Heather agreed. Heather attended a Catholic high school, got into the goth scene as a teenager. Twenty years after the story began, Schlumpf, now an investigator at the Nevada state attorney general's office, can't forget the largest bank heist in Nevada history or the events that left Blackburn, Lim and their girls, ages 5 and 4, all dead. Her lawyer will only tell us she arrived by plane. Tallchief, a 21-year-old girl from Buffalo, New York, first met Roberto Solis, who was 48 at the time, at a San Francisco bar. When The Village Sun caught up with Father Patrick Moloney in 2020, the then 88-year-old priest still maintained that he was innocent while, the publication notes, being happy to talk about all the ins and outs of the case. They black boxed me, meaning they put your hands in a device so you can't even feed yourself." The Circus Theft. They found the armored vehicle, hidden at a Vegas-area warehouse, and there were rumors of Tallchief and her co-conspirator, boyfriend Roberto Solis, showing up at Denver International Airport disguised as an old woman and a doctor. In the middle of a routine cash delivery to area ATMs, armored truck driver Heather Tallchief who'd been on the job for just a couple of months abandoned her co-workers and sped off with the cash, disappearing entirely for a solid 12 years. Keith Morrison: You have no idea what was suggested to you when you were watching those tapes, though, do you?Heather Tallchief: I basically dont remember anything other than the countdown and waking up. He was a single father at 2 and stoned. She put up with these new circumstances for a decade before deciding that, as awful as prison time would be, life on the run was almost definitely worse. She was ready to talk, and ready to accept the consequences for her actions (via NBC). Morrison: How much did they leave behind?Dushek: It was packages probably like a thousand dollars in a package and there were several of these things probably too bulky to ship. Logan Lucky (2017) (available on Amazon Prime Video ) Steven Soderbergh's "return from retirement" movie was basically a down-home, West Virginia-ized version of Ocean's 11, with a . And then the FBI got involved. She later pled guilty to one count of obtaining a false passport and to two counts of embezzlement. Morrison: What did you bring with you?Fred Tallchief: I got a couple photos of grandkids she doesnt know exist. When Tallchief and her son Emilio left Solis, they managed to get fake passports "through a friend of a friend" which allowed them to stay in Amsterdam for 10 years. Nuts. Anything could have been possible. Dushek: He considered himself to be a real intellectual, an art dealer. I thought she was, you know, there in the back.Keith Morrison: At church?Skyler Tallchief: Yeah, with me.Keith Morrison: Almost like a what, a guardian angel or something?Skyler Tallchief: Yes, exactly, a guardian angel watching out for me. Fred Tallchief hopes that happens soon. Police were called. The Circus Circus heist on October 1, 2003, remains the largest single heist in Las Vegas History. He felt that he was in a position where he could beat all the odds. She announced to "Dateline" that shes is going to surrender to U.S. marshals, and her lawyer is making her case. 2. Eric A. Aguilera and his accomplish Luda Ramos robbed The Soboba Casino in Las Vegas in 2005. Date: Aug. 6, 2005. 2023 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Sounds straightforward? 20 plus years . And they wheeled me over to a small plane and they helped me get into it. She was 33 at the time. Dushek: One of them recalled taking the couple from Las Vegas to Denver.Morrison: Did he say anything about their demeanor or what they looked like?Dushek: He remembered that she appeared in a wheelchair as an elderly woman. Roberto Solis and Heather Tallchief pulled off a $3.1 million heist. Here's the thing about getting a conviction: Law enforcement needs evidence to put away those they're accusing of a crime, and although they were connected with the $2 million recovered from the Manhattan apartment, there wasn't a whole heck of a lot of evidence actually linking any of the men Sam Millar, Thomas O'Connor, Father Patrick Moloney, and Charles McCormick to the 1993 Brink's heist. As for Heather, shesays shes discovered that life on the run isnt life at all. ), Paul Wesley Brings Captain Kirk Down to Earth, 'Yellowstone' Spinoff '1883' Airing on Paramount, Molly Gordon Is a Scene-Stealer In 'The Bear', A Guide to Every Guest Star in 'The Bear' Season 2, Coach K Is the Improbable MVP of 'The Bear' S2, Lionel Boyce Loves His Place in the Chaos, Let's Break Down the Season 2 Finale of 'The Bear'. 'A perfect crime' by a 21-year-old?Three weeks ago marked 12 years since Heather Tallchief and Roberto Solis vanished with $3 million. WEIRD HISTORY CRIME ENTERTAINMENT FACTS SCIENCE POLITICS SPORTS NEWS FEATURES. Heather Tallchief: Not really going anywhere, not really succeeding with life. According to Heather, she didnt put those two things together at the time. After a couple of weeks together, Tallchief says Solis told her about his time in prison, how he had killed an armored car driver in 1969. They suspected, perhaps, Central America, but the trail had been cold for years. And I was to drive my vehicle from Circus-Circus to a place that he had mapped out on a little bit of paper, and he made me memorize it. And what about Skyler, the little brother, now 13 years old, who has never met Heather? The suspects even had authorities saying how well planned the heist was. Her son, Dylan, graduated college in 2019. Despite his protective clothing, Vigoa, a former commando in the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, didn't even . She was gone.Elaine Tallchief: I always thought about it. At the end of Heist episode two, an update is given on Tallchief's whereabouts today. And at that last one was the exit to where Heather was supposed to pick us up.Morrison: So you got to the end of that run?Stewart: Got to the end of the run and no truck. He came into our lives and adopted both of us. Angie Wagner. I mean there had to be something behind that. Larry Duis, former Las Vegas police sergeant: Of course I dont like the word perfect crime, but it appears that it was very well-executed. Furthermore, while O'Connor testified that he had been taken in a moving van, evidence including tire tracks suggested that it had been a minivan. The Los Angeles Times says that it took O'Connor four days to hand over a deposition about the robbery unlike the other two guards, who had been forthcoming with testimony and a willingness to take a polygraph test. Morrison: Was that a eureka moment for you?Dushek: That was, uh, pretty astounding. On March 30, 2006, she received a prison sentence of five years and was released in 2010. Morrison: What was going on with you?Heather Tallchief: Well, as a young person in a bad relationship that was slightly abusive, perhaps clouded by the drugs. Much, much later, he explained that he had spent a good part of his life accused of being part of a secretive group deep within the IRA. Unfortunately, the identity of the man who became part of Tallchief and Dylan's family is never revealed in the Netflix documentary. She was also struggling with her own addiction, and unfortunately the pair never established a mother-daughter relationship. Still, authorities felt they had enough to arrest him eventually. Stewart: Another armored vehicle came to pick us up. Its nothing compared to what Ive already been through. Skyler Tallchief, Heather's youngest brother: I always have thoughts of when I get older I can, you know, go out looking for her. After 12 years, Heathers family had moved on, scar tissue forming over the emotional wounds her absence had caused. He soon met Tallchief and moved with her to Vegas, where he began pushing her to get a job with Loomis. Heather Tallchief: It takes a tremendous amount of courage to face and confront whats in front of me. How does it work?Dushek: The FBI kept it very active. She met Solis during this tough time in her life, and he showed her affection and introduced her to a new world of sex magic, mysticism, and crime. Tallchief was released in 2010 and spent the following five years under federal supervision. October 1, 1993, saw one of the biggest heists in Las Vegas history. The Casino: Soboba Casino. She says she didnt think anything of it when he guided her toward armored car services and says she didnt even think about the fact that he had killed a Loomis guard all those years before. But then he was back to the city, where he met the adventurous young woman named Heather Tallchief. Their first stop was Tallchiefs apartment, which she shared with her boyfriend. Do people just keep checking and checking and checkingbut the trail goes cold? Buckle up. Heather Tallchief: Well, you certainly dont holler and make yourself noticeable.Morrison: What would have happened if you had hollered, Hey, police, Ive just been forced to do something I didnt want to do and now Im scared.Heather Tallchief: I was told that the authorities would shoot me dead on the spot. Im not proud of this. It was the "family friendly" phase. Up until that moment, I absolutely worshiped him. Speaking to reporters before she gave herself up,. When they did a deep dive into his past, the Democrat & Chronicle reports that he was linked to the immigration of an Irishman named Samuel Ignatius Millar, and he will become crucial to the tale. Heather's last visit homeHeather had recently returned from her last trip home to Buffalo, where shed helped her stepmother prepare for her baby brothers birth in 1992. That was at a Woolworths store in San Francisco where Solis and two accomplices approached Loomis driver Louis Dake. The Soboba Grab and Dash was a casino heist straight out of the Hollywood movies. And the only way I could have a chance of surviving was to listen to him and follow his instructions. And he captured the attention of well-known writers, who asked the parole board to grant him leniency. Heather Tallchief: One was fortune. 11. That's where a little creative license can come in, but honestly, what we do know which has come in part thanks to some serious investigative journalism and a conspirator who has no problem talking (to a point) these days is movie-worthy alone. When police raided the apartment of Tallchief and Solis after the heist, they came across a goodbye letter written by Tallchief to her mother. Now I got through this. Morrison: This is quite a moment for you. Both these robberies are right out of a movie plot. Some of them were "gravitas", some -. Sometimes a simple 'walk away with a bag full of chips' approach would do the job perfectly. Scared? Investigative reporter Gary Craig wrote that he had kept in touch with Gibbons's family, and continued to promise them that he hadn't been forgotten. What she told the media and authorities was one of the wildest stories ever told. Elaine was 14 at the time. She invoked gods and goddesses and let them take over her body. Location: Fortaleza, Brazil. But then things turned and she lost her job. Heist doesn't touch on the fact Tallchief also spent five years under federal supervision following her release, meaning she wasn't truly "free" until 2015. Im doing this for him. I feel that by turning myself in and surrendering, I can give him a better life, one that he deserves.Morrison: He doesnt have a real name right now?Heather Tallchief: No, he doesnt.Morrison: Doesnt have a country. By 1917, they had become a target for entrepreneurs of the shadier variety, and following a major robbery, they bought their first armored car in 1923. Its a lesson she hopes to teach her son. The heistThe tale begins on October 1, 1993, a Friday. Authorities had been given a few minutes notice. Roberto Solis had murdered a father of six. After reporting on Bernadette Fennell's subpoenaed testimony, the Democrat & Chronicle noted that they were probably going to be reporting more on the disappearance of Gibbons, as opposed to their long-running coverage of the robbery. She must drive the truck loaded with its $3 million dollars out of the parking lot, said her instructions, drive down the street, and there, shed see a sign. There were Americas Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries episodes about Heather. She didnt make the connection. Her sister Elaine is less forgiving, and feels wounded not just because Heather took part in the heist and not just because she vanished from their lives but because, since her surrender, she had not reached out to contact her family. I had no guidelines. The first thing he asked for was for my gun. An Unlikely Robber Unlike Jose, Brennan had no criminal record prior to the big event. Solis eventually packed most of the money and fled. I had no idea what they were there for.Fred Tallchief: They said, We got her as armed and dangerous with two registered handguns. Authorities were genuinely baffled, and a years-long investigation turned up almost nothing. And if they had to lay odds, they would tell you that if anybody ever found Heather, it would be her dead body. Did she get lost? Hardly. Larry Duis was a sergeant back then. She drove to a storage unit where her boyfriend Roberto Solis was waiting, they transferred the money into their getaway car, shipped it to Miami in boxes, and drove to the airport where they hopped on a chartered airplane in disguise. It wasnt her units visiting day. (Both passed, while O'Connor refused to take one.) One of his books,"On the Brinks,"is his true story of how the Brink's heist went down. She beat the system. The following are the biggest heists known based on the sums stolen. It's all over. He took it hard, did Dushek, that one case he just couldnt solve. My worst thought was he dumped her in the ocean for $3 million. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005 | 11:27 a.m. Heather Catherine Tallchief, a fugitive in a $3.1 million Las Vegas Strip casino armored truck heist, surrendered to federal authorities today in Las Vegas . What makes this crime truly fascinating is that it was car. Morrison: In Miami?Dushek: In Miami. No truck and no Heather Tallchief. And I got the job. And over ten years later, the story isnt over. Moloney served five years, and while he was originally sent to a federal prison in Pennsylvania, the Irish Independent says that he was moved to a facility in Minnesota. Heather Tallchief: He opened up the trunk of his car and he pulled out a wheelchair. The Biggest Real-Life Casino Heists of All Time (Part 2) I hope you enjoyed part one about the biggest casino heists in history. And she woke me up and she said, All right, Im leaving. And she gave me a kiss on the head. She had a troubled childhood. As for Millar and Moloney? Time was ticking.". I was under strict orders and I carried them out. Dushek: So we began tracing an address we had located for them. She was sentenced to only five years in prison for the crime. But forget? The FBI agent on the case and the Las Vegas police sergeant both have since finished up their time and retired, and still there was no trace of Tallchief, Solis, or the money. Heather Tallchief: I tried to keep it very, uh, casual. Rather successfully?Heather Tallchief: Oh yes. Heather Tallchief: Maybe later in life he will understand that Ive done something wrong and I came to do the right thing. Two hours isn't really enough time to tell this stranger-than-fiction tale and there are inevitably details and events that were missed out from the small-screen adaptation. Inside the van were more clues. Heather Tallchief: I found him attractive as a man. Amount stolen: 160 million Brazilian real . In episode two of Heist, Tallchief recalls Solis and her purchasing a collection of firearms and Solis training her in the use of an AK-47. Heather Catherine Tallchief, center, flanked by her attorneys Daniel J. Albregts, right, and Robert M. Axelrod, turns herself in to authorities at U.S. District Court in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday Sept. 15, 2005.

Oma's Hazelnut Cookies, Articles B