The Trenchcoat Robbers, Ray Lewis Bowman and William Arthur "Billy" Kirkpatrick, are a pair of

bank robbers Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank- ...

from the United States. Their biggest heist was the February 1997 robbery of a Seafirst Bank branch in

Lakewood, Washington Lakewood is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 63,612 at the 2020 census. It is the second-largest city in the county, behind Tacoma, and is a suburban bedroom community. Lakewood is adjacent to Joint Base ...

that netted $4.4 million. Their

modus operandi A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as . Term The term is often used in ...

involved picking the lock of closed banks, tying up the employees, and stealing from the vault. Their first robbery is believed to have happened in September 1982. Their disguises included trenchcoats, wigs, fake mustaches, hats and glasses. They are believed to have robbed 28 banks in the United States. Kirkpatrick was arrested after a search of his car resulting from a speeding ticket showed that he had four guns, two bags of fake mustaches, a key-making machine, locksmith tools and nearly two million dollars in two padlocked footlockers. Kirkpatrick's girlfriend was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting after trying to post Kirkpatrick's bail. She then told police that his partner was a man named Ray. Ray Bowman was arrested after a search of his house turned up guns, money and other evidence. The

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

had expired for many of their robberies by the time they were arrested. Two men had earlier been arrested for allegedly robbing an armored car and charged with two of the Trenchcoat robberies. The two robbery convictions were later overturned. Kirkpatrick was sentenced to fifteen years and eight months in prison on August 19, 1999; he was Federal inmate # 15294-047 and was released on 1 July 2011. Bowman was sentenced to twenty-four years and six months in prison. Bowman was Federal inmate # 10431-045 and died while in prison at age 67 on 6 May 2011 per the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

References

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External links

UNITED STATES v. BOWMAN"The Trenchcoat Gang"
by Incite Pictures
"Trenchcoat Gang"
on The Investigators Living people American bank robbers American prisoners and detainees Criminal duos Year of birth missing (living people)