On February 10, 1997, the Seafirst Bank branch of Lakewood,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, was robbed of $4,461,681 in cash by Billy Kirkpatrick and Ray Bowman, also known as the Trenchcoat Robbers. An investigation by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

caught the two, and they were both sent to 15 years in prison in 1999. It is one of the largest robberies in U.S. history.

Background

Billy Kirkpatrick, from Hovland,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and Ray Bowman, from

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, were two criminals from the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

known as the Trenchcoat Robbers, who performed robberies across the United States from the 1970s to the 1990s. In the 1970s, they stole

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

records from record stores, and then in the 1980s they started robbing banks at gunpoint. From then until February 1997, they stole $3.5 million in 26 heists across the country. Because they wore

trench coat A trench coat is a variety of coat made of Waterproof fabric, waterproof heavy-duty fabric, originally developed for British Army officers before the First World War, and becoming popular while used in the Trench warfare, trenches, hence the nam ...

s during their robberies, the two were named the Trenchcoat Robbers by the

, who had very little information on the culprits. In 1997, Kirkpatrick was 57 and Bowman was 53. Starting in January 1997, the two staked out the Seafirst Bank branch of Lakewood,

. The bank was a repository for other banks, businesses, and a casino, and at the close of business, the cash was stored in the bank's main vault. They stayed at a hotel in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and took time to blend in with the locals, eating at high-end restaurants and attending a piano recital at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. They cased the bank, finding out the vault was "packed with an extraordinary amount of cash" to cover an upcoming payday of soldiers at

Fort Lewis Fort Lewis may refer to: * Fort Lewis (Colorado), a former United States Army post (1878–1891) in the U.S. State of Colorado ** Fort Lewis College, a college in the Durango, Colorado, United States ** Fort Lewis Skyhawks, athletic teams of Fort L ...

, and devised a getaway route. The two stole a

Jeep Cherokee The Jeep Cherokee is a line of sport utility vehicles (SUV) manufactured and marketed by Jeep over five generations. Marketed initially as a variant of the Jeep Wagoneer (SJ), the Cherokee has evolved from a full-size SUV to one of the first ...

using a set of manufacturer's master keys that Kirkpatrick had bought in the mail after posing as a

locksmith Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

Robbery

At 6:30 p.m. on February 10, Kirkpatrick and Bowman approached the bank, wearing trench coats, sunglasses, and FBI caps. Kirkpatrick was wearing an earpiece connected to a

police scanner A radio scanner or simply scanner is a radio receiver that can automatically tune discrete frequencies, scanning over a frequency band to find a signal until the initial transmission ceases. The term ''scanner'' generally refers to a communic ...

in his coat pocket. Using a small L-shaped prying tool, they unlocked the bank door, and entered with their guns drawn. Three women who were working there were storing their cash for the night. They ordered the three women into the vault, and secured their wrist with plastic electrical ties. The two told the employees they didn't intend to use violence. Then they started stuffing the vault's bundled cash into duffel bags. Before leaving, they tied the women's ankles to a table. The duffel bags were driven out the front door on a metal cart, and loaded into the back of their

. The robbery was completed within minutes. It is one of the biggest robberies in U.S. history, with $4,461,681 stolen. The amount of cash weighed about . As soon as the two drove away, one of the women freed herself and set off the alarm.

Aftermath

The FBI immediately suspected the Trenchcoat Robbers. A special FBI task force, "Trenchrob", was convened shortly after. Agents went to every hotel on the

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

corridor, and stopped people in traffic to ask them if they noticed anything suspicious happening near the bank. A week later, they found a getaway car, but it was clean of identifiable information like fingerprints. Kirkpatrick and Bowman had spent the night after the heist in a hotel in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and then split up, with each person taking half of the money. Kirkpatrick went to a Holiday Inn in

Eagan Eagan may refer to: People * Charles Eagan (1921-2010), Canadian scientist * Daisy Eagan (born 1979), American actress * Dennis Eagan (1926–2012), British field hockey player * Eddie Eagan (1897–1967), American sportsman * Edmund Eagan, Canadia ...

, Minnesota, to be with his girlfriend, Myra J. Penney. He had brought "four or five" duffel bags. Bowman visited

safe deposit box A safe deposit box, sometimes referred to as a safety deposit box, is an individually secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions. S ...

es in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, Missouri,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. After the trips, he put the rest of the money in three safe deposit boxes in Kansas City, in Kirkpatrick's newly built custom log home in the northern Minnesota woods, and $338,000 was given to Bowman's friend in a trunk. In May, Kansas City police witnessed Bowman uncovering a weapons cache. Kirkpatrick paid $174,000 in cash for the Minnesota home. The details of the house were argued between Bowman and the builder, Michael Senty. Senty reported the cash payments to the

, which was a starting point for the new law enforcement investigation. In August, IRS agent Billy Waters served a subpoena for Penney. It led to agents finding $1.8 million in Bowman's car trunk, and he was arrested in October. On November 3, Kirkpatrick and Penney rented a hotel room in Eagan, planning to stay until November 14. However, on November 9, Kirkpatrick flew to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and put all his cash in the trunk of a rented car. On November 10, on his way back to Minnesota, he was stopped by a Nebraska state trooper, Chris Bigsby, for driving seven miles per hour over the speed limit. Bigsby used a drug-sniffing dog for a search, and after the dog found nothing, he searched the trunk. He found 4 guns, locksmith tools, masks, fake police badges, and $2 million in a set of foot lockers. Some of it was traceable to the Seafirst Bank. A judge later found the warrantless search illegal, forcing prosecutors to drop weapons charges against Kirkpatrick. By that time, Myra Penney, had driven to

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

with $100,000 in cash to bail Kirkpatrick out of jail. Penney's cash also contained markings from Seafirst. Facing 20 years in prison, Penney cooperated with the FBI, and gave up the name of Kirkpatrick's partner, "Ray", who was in Kansas City. It was discovered Kansas City police were watching Bowman in May. On November 14, Kirkpatrick's Hovland home and hotel room in Eagan were raided. Police and federal agents raided Bowman's house in December, where they found "$97,000 ncash, key-making and lock-picking equipment, and a small armory of guns and ammunition". Authorities searched a dozen safe deposit boxes around the Midwest, and found $1.5 million in cash. Bowman's brother then handed the authorities two locked briefcases containing a total of $480,000. In early 1998, a federal grand jury indicted Kirkpatrick and Bowman for robbing banks nationwide. In March 1999, the two were sentenced to 15 years in prison; Kirkpatrick pled guilty to the robberies, and Bowman was found guilty in a trial.{{Cite news , date=March 26, 199 , title='Trench-coat' robber pleads guilty , work=The Seattle Times , url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19990326&slug=2951621 , access-date=January 30, 2024

References

Bank robberies in the United States Crimes in Washington (state) 1997 in Washington (state) February 1997 crimes in the United States Lakewood, Washington

Background

Robbery

Aftermath

See also

References