Ken Leishman
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kenneth Leishman (June 20, 1931 – December 14, 1979), also known as the Flying Bandit or the Gentleman Bandit was a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
criminal responsible for multiple robberies between 1957 and 1966. Leishman was the mastermind behind the largest gold theft in Canadian history. This record stood for over 50 years, until it was surpassed by the Toronto Pearson airport heist in 2023. After being caught and
arrested An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be Interroga ...
by the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
(RCMP), Leishman managed to escape twice, before being caught and serving the remainder of his various sentences. In December 1979, while flying a Mercy Flight to
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...
, Leishman's aircraft crashed about north of Thunder Bay.


Early life

Leishman was born on June 20, 1931, in the town of Holland, Manitoba. Coming from a troubled home, he dropped out of school before graduating, and worked various jobs before marrying Elva Shields at the age of 17. Sometime in the summer of 1951, Leishman started working as a travelling mechanic for Machine Industries, repairing straw cutters in southern Manitoba. In 1952, he was able to purchase an
Aeronca Aeronca, contracted from Aeronautical Corporation of America, located in Middletown, Ohio, is a US manufacturer of engine components and airframe structures for commercial aviation and the defense industry, and a former aircraft manufacturer. ...
aircraft, using it to fly to the farms he needed to work at, as well as making additional money selling short rides in the aircraft. At some point in the next five years, Machine Industries closed its doors, and Leishman started working for Queen Anne Cookware. He continued working with them until November 1957, when they went
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...
."Documentaries:'Ken Leishman: The Flying Bandit'."
''Telefilm Canada''. Retrieved: January 21, 2016.


Criminal career


First theft

On December 17, 1957, Leishman, by posing as a friend of the manager, robbed the
Toronto-Dominion Bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (), doing business as TD Bank Group (), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The bank was created on February 1, 1955, through the merger of the Bank of ...
on the corner of
Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...
and Albert in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario. He got away with $10,000. This was accomplished by arranging to meet the manager to talk about a business loan. Once inside the manager's office, with the door closed for privacy, he produced a gun, and had the manager write him a cheque for $10,000. After receiving the cheque, and questioning the manager for personal information about himself, his family and friends, he coerced the manager into taking him over to a bank teller, and having the cheque cashed. The knowledge gained from the questioning was used to appear as though he was a close friend of the manager. After getting the money, under the pretence of getting a drink, Leishman took the manager with him to the getaway car, then let him go.


Attempted theft

Three months later, on March 16, 1958, Leishman attempted to rob the
CIBC The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; ) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Toronto, Ont ...
bank on the corner of Yonge Street and Bloor, in Toronto. This time, he was not successful, as the manager, Howard Mason, upon sight of the gun, did not acquiesce to his request. As Leishman attempted to escape the bank, he was tripped by a female customer, before being tackled by a teller less than a block from the bank, and was arrested. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, to be served at Stony Mountain Penitentiary. Leishman was
parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
d on December 21, 1961, and for a time, to support his family, worked as a
door-to-door salesman Door-to-door is a canvassing technique that is generally used for sales, marketing, advertising, evangelism or campaigning, in which the person or persons walk from the door of one house to the door of another, trying to sell or advertise a pro ...
. By 1966, however, with his family having grown to seven children, the income provided by legitimate work was insufficient, and Leishman needed to find another means of supporting his family, reverting to a life of crime.


The Great Gold Heist

On his most famous robbery, Leishman and four accomplices stole almost $385,000 (just over $3.5 million 2023 dollars) in
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...
being transported by TransAir to
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
where it would be shipped via
Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...
to
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, Ontario. While watching aircraft at Winnipeg International Airport as a form of inexpensive entertainment, Leishman had occasionally seen gold shipments from Red Lake being flown into the airport for transport via Air Canada to the
mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...
in Ottawa.Barnes 2008, p. 106. While incarcerated in Stony Mountain Institution, he formed the basics of the idea. Leishman recruited four people to be accomplices in the robbery. Harry Backlin, a Winnipeg lawyer who had befriended Leishman in Stony Mountain was to provide financial backing. John Berry and Richard Grenkow were recruited to be the ones to actually get the gold, as Leishman was too well known to the police to take the gold himself. Grenkow's brother, Paul, was recruited to go to Red Lake in the guise of a salesman to watch for a large shipment to leave. In addition to this preparation, Leishman also prepared fake Air Canada coveralls by purchasing some winter coveralls, and stenciling the Air Canada logo onto them. Lastly, he acquired some Air Canada waybills from the Air Canada desk at the airport by simply waiting until the desk was unmanned at lunch, and taking what he needed.Schroeder 1997, p. 161. On March 1, 1966, the lookout called Leishman to report a large shipment of gold was being delivered. The team put their plan into action. Wearing the fake Air Canada coveralls, Rick and John stole one of the Air Canada trucks, and drove to the tarmac to meet the arriving TransAir aircraft carrying the gold shipment. Pretending to be Air Canada staff, they explained that there had been a change of plans, as there was a charter flight leaving in an hour, and Air Canada wanted to ship the gold out immediately, rather than waiting on the normal flight. As the two were driving an Air Canada truck, had Air Canada uniforms, and had what appeared to be a valid waybill for the shipment, their ruse worked, and the gold was loaded into their truck, and they drove off with the gold. The gold was then transferred into Leishman's car, and driven to the house of Harry Backlin, his lawyer, who was on vacation with his family. The gold ingots were loaded into his freezer. The plan was to leave the gold there overnight, before moving it to a farm in Treherne, belonging to Leishman's uncle, but a blizzard on March 3 and 4 prevented them from recovering it. Since Backlin had distanced himself from the robbery, the gold could not stay there. Most of the gold bars ended up buried in Backlin's backyard, but were soon unearthed by the local police force who were investigating all of Leishman's suspected associates.


Later life

Imprisoned again as a result of the gold heist and awaiting trial, Leishman, assisted by some accomplices, managed to escape from Headingley Jail in September, 1966, and stole an aircraft from
Steinbach, Manitoba Steinbach () is the List of cities in Manitoba, third-largest city in the province of Manitoba, Canada, and with a population of 17,806, the largest community in the Eastman Region, Manitoba, Eastman region. The city, located about southeast of ...
, reinforcing his reputation as the "Flying Bandit." Leishman and his accomplices were arrested after a shootout in
Gary, Indiana Gary ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 69,093 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it Indiana's List of municipalities in Indiana, eleventh-most populous city. The city has been historical ...
. In 1975, after his release from prison, Leishman moved to
Red Lake, Ontario Red Lake is a municipality with town status in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, located northwest of Thunder Bay and less than from the Manitoba border. The municipality consists of six small communities ( ...
, to manage Tomahawk Airlines. He was a "model citizen", even being nominated as a candidate for Reeve of the community.


Death

On December 14, 1979, Leishman was piloting a
Piper Aztec The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, is an American four- to six-seat twin-engined general aviation light aircraft, used also in small numbers by the United States Navy and military forces in other countries. Originally designed as the ...
on a Mercy Flight, when the plane disappeared. It was last heard from just five minutes before it was supposed to land in
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...
. With him on the plane was a patient, Eva Harper, who had broken her hip in a snowmobile accident, and medical escort Janet Meekis. An initial search for the wreckage was called off after 10 days. It was later discovered 40 kilometers north of Thunder Bay on May 3, 1980. The remains were sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto, where both female passengers were identified. However, according to the coroner in the case, the lab was unable to identify Leishman as the third victim. He was declared dead 1 year and 2 days after the crash, on December 16, 1980.


In popular culture

Leishman's exploits caught the fancy of the public, and he became something of a "Robin Hood" figure. A 2005 television documentary, written by Bob Lower and directed by Norma Bailey, entitled ''Ken Leishman: The Flying Bandit'' recounts his life and career as a criminal. Other biographical material about Leishman includes a play (''The Flying Bandit'' (2007) by Lindsay Price), a book (''The Flying Bandit'' by Heather Robertson)"The Flying Bandit."
''This was Winnipeg''. Retrieved: January 21, 2016
and a "
non-fiction novel The non-fiction novel is a literary genre that, broadly speaking, depicts non-fictional elements, such as real historical figures and actual events, woven together with fictitious conversations and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction. The ...
" based on his life, called ''Bandit: A Portrait of Ken Leishman'' by Wayne Tefs."Daily Book Review: Inside the life of Canada's rock-star criminal."
''Globe & Mail'', July 7, 2011. Retrieved: September 28, 2011.


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Barnes, M. ''Red Lake: Golden Treasure Chest''. Renfrew, Ontario: General Store Publishing House, 2008. * Redekop, Bill. ''Crimes of the Century: Manitoba's Most Notorious True Crimes''. Winnipeg: Great Plains Publications, 2002. . * Schroeder, A. ''Cheats, Charlatans, and Chicanery''. Toronto: McLelland & Stewart, 1997 . {{DEFAULTSORT:Leishman, Ken 1931 births 1979 deaths Canadian aviators Canadian people convicted of robbery Fugitives