Shawn was embarrassed to say that nobody had.
When they did, they found that Whiteman had bought a oneway ticket to Toronto on Pemair and picked up a connecting Air Canada flight to London the day before. Further questioning revealed Whiteman was wearing a suit and had one piece of luggage weighing twenty pounds. He had carried a briefcase on board.
“One-way!” MacCharles mused. That made him wonder once again if Whiteman was coming back. He sent two of his men out to the airport to see what they could learn. Then he called the London Police, identified himself, and asked to speak to someone in the holdup squad.
The polite voice of a female secretary on the other end of the phone said, “I’m sorry, sir, no one’s available right now.”
“They wouldn’t be out doing a bank robbery would they?” MacCharles asked.
“As a matter of fact they are,” she replied. “It just happened downtown a few minutes ago.”
“Really!” MacCharles groaned quietly, “I can likely tell you who did it.”
“I beg your pardon, sir?”
“Nothing,” he mumbled, “absolutely nothing.”
Then the voice cheerfully announced, “Oh, here’s Sgt. Melville just coming in. Would you like to speak to him?”
“Yes, please,” MacCharles said with resignation.
When Melville came on the phone, MacCharles told him that the OPP were working a project on a bank robber by the name of Robert Whiteman. MacCharles advised that Whiteman had left Pembroke by air yesterday to do an armed robbery in London. As MacCharles described Whiteman, Melville scribbled down some notes:
Possible North American Indian but with light skin, 30-35 years, 5’10”, 180-200 lbs., black hair, slight paunch, extremely dangerous, armed with a small automatic handgun. Generally wears a wig at robbery, also coveralls, and rubber gloves.
“From what we can gather,” MacCharles said, “he likes to stay in hotels close to the banks he’s robbing.”
“OK, we’ll get right on that,” Melville replied. “I’ll get back to you as soon as we have something to report.”
Melville immediately called the Holiday Inn, and determined that a Robert Whiteman had checked in the day before (Thursday, June 11) and, as yet, had not checked out. Melville then contacted two officers at the robbery site and sent them out to investigate at the Holiday Inn. Checking the registration list they found that Whiteman was a guest in room 2020. A search warrant was obtained and the room was entered and meticulously examined. All Whiteman’s clothes and luggage were gone.
While the two policemen were doing that search, Sgt. Melville called London Airport and spoke to RCMP Constable Leonard Washburn who reported that a tall Indian-looking man by the name of Whiteman had left London on Flight #407 at 1:00 p.m. It would arrive in downtown Toronto (Toronto Island) at 1:40.
By this time it was almost 1:30, so Melville called Jim Corrigan at the Metro Toronto holdup squad. He briefed him on the situation and made arrangements for Metro to arrest Whiteman at the Island Airport.
Then Melville called MacCharles. It was now past 1:40, and the plane had already landed at Toronto Island. He told MacCharles that he had called Corrigan and made arrangements for them to arrest Whiteman. He advised that Metro was on its way to the airport.
MacCharles told Melville he didn’t like that idea because the Toronto Island Airport would be full of people and Metro police didn’t know what Whiteman looked like. He said if Metro approached the wrong person and Whiteman spotted them doing it, he would be on his way out of the country so fast they’d never see him again, or any of the money and the jewellery that was missing.
“There’s too much at stake here.”
London Police agreed and told MacCharles he was free to phone Corrigan in Toronto and call off Metro Police. MacCharles immediately did that. Metro agreed to cooperate and backed off from making the arrest.
That left the situation exactly where MacCharles wanted it. Now the onus was entirely on him and his men, not only to capture Whiteman, but to catch him with the London money still in his possession.
The inspector’s biggest problem was to determine how Whiteman was coming home to Pembroke. MacCharles rejected one of the detective’s suggestion that he might come back by taxi. Knowing Whiteman’s preference for flying, MacCharles was sure Whiteman would return by plane. But would it be directly to Pembroke or via Ottawa?
MacCharles called out orders.
“Call every commercial airline coming into Ottawa and see if he’s aboard. Call the charter companies at Toronto Island and see if he’s got a charter into Pembroke. Call every charter service at every little airport within spitting distance of Toronto Island. We got to find out how he’s coming in here.”
Within fifteen minutes, Shawn Smith discovered that Whiteman had chartered a turboprop from Buttonville Airport to Pembroke. He reported the news to the inspector.
“We got him!” Shawn announced. “He’s on a charter that’s due into Pembroke at 4:40 p.m.” Smith enjoyed the impish smile that came over MacCharles’ face.
“Great!” he cried out, victorious and relieved. Then rising from his desk MacCharles said, “Now let’s make Goddamn sure we catch him when he lands.”
CHAPTER 16
The End of the Runway
MacCharles gave OPP officers Twomey and Sharpe a recent photograph of Whiteman so they could identify him, and sent them out to the Pembroke Airport in an unmarked grey Pontiac to await his arrival. He assigned Shawn Smith to supervise the takedown at the airport, and at 3:45 p.m., sent him and officer Tim Sheppard out in another unmarked car to join the two TRU team members at the airport. All four of them were dressed in plainclothes.
In the airport parking lot the four policemen discussed the procedure for the takedown and then Smith and Sheppard circled away from the airport building and pulled back out of sight.
The police had been briefed that Whiteman would probably be picked up by his wife, who was known to be pregnant. This complicated the takedown. They knew Whiteman was dangerous and probably armed, but because of the presence of his wife, they had to be extremely careful. If at all possible guns were not to be drawn in the arrest. The plan was to take him by surprise and neutralize his hands so that he couldn’t get at his guns.
Twomey and Sharpe watched for the arrival of Whiteman’s wife in her Chrysler 5th Avenue. At 4:25 p.m. they saw the big black car pulling into the parking lot.
“That’s it,” Twomey said. “Licence YVS 595.”
The two OPP watched with mild surprise as Whiteman’s wife lifted a small child from the car. They realized the presence of the infant would make the arrest all the more delicate. Carrying the baby, the woman walked briskly towards the terminal building and entered.
The airport parking lot where the Flying Bandit was finally grounded
(Knuckle)
At 4:36 p.m. a small plane landed from the southwest and taxied to the terminal. A few minutes later the woman and child exited the terminal with a man carrying luggage in both hands. Checking the photograph, Twomey and Sharpe determined the man was Whiteman.
“That’s him,” they said, almost in unison.
They immediately got out of their car and began casually walking towards him. As Whiteman approached, Twomey and Sharpe split apart as if to pass him on either side. Both of Whiteman’s arms were extended downward holding his luggage. As the policemen drew even with Whiteman they each slipped a forearm through his extended arms, grabbed his wrists with their other hand and forced his arms up behind his back. As they did this, the cases in Robert’s hands went flying and he shouted, “Hey, what the hell is going...” But before he could finish the sentence, he was flung forward, face down on the tarmac.
Janice jumped back out of the way with the baby and let out a scream of surprise: “Hey! Hey!, what’s going on?” She hugged Laura tightly and yelled, “That’s my husband! What the hell are you guys doing?”
By then, Robert was handcuffed and immobilized. It w
as all over in a matter of seconds.
Twomey identified himself as an OPP officer and told Whiteman he was under arrest for armed robbery.
“Armed robbery!” Janice screamed. “What the hell are you talking about?” Everything was happening so quickly that Janice was dumbfounded. She began to think the whole thing might be a practical joke.
Then Shawn Smith and Tim Sheppard drove up and hopped out of their car. Smith identified himself as an OPP detective, and showed Whiteman the warrant for his arrest. He then read Whiteman the right to counsel card and the prisoner caution.
Now Janice could see that it was definitely not a practical joke. She demanded to know what was going on. The four policemen were too busy to pay much attention to her. All she could make out from what they were saying to Robert was that he was being arrested for armed robbery in London and Winnipeg.
Armed robbery! In London and Winnipeg! She couldn’t believe her ears. She blurted out exclamations like, “Under arrest! Oh God!” and “Armed robbery! My God!” and “What do you mean? There’s got to be some mistake! How can this be?”
Whiteman didn’t pay much attention to her protestations either. After the police read him his rights, the only thing he said while lying on the ground was, “I don’t want to say anything.”
As soon as the police lifted him to his feet, they searched him. They found a lot of money in his wallet and two huge rolls of cash jammed in his pockets. Smith counted it in front of Twomey. It totalled $1402 in American money. While Smith was counting, he told Tim Sheppard to go and check with the pilot to see how Whiteman had paid for his chartered flight.
Sheppard sprinted away.
He ran through the terminal building and out on the tarmac where the plane was still sitting. When he found Grant Milburn inside the aircraft, he asked him to step outside for a minute.
“How did Mr. Whiteman pay you for his charter?” Sheppard asked.
“He paid me in cash,” the pilot replied.
“How much?” Sheppard inquired.
“Thirteen hundred and fifty dollars,” Milburn replied.
“Do you have it on you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s stolen money,” Sheppard said. “I’ve got to confiscate that.”
Milburn didn’t understand what Sheppard was talking about and the policeman had to explain the entire sequence of Whiteman’s illicit activities for that day. Once Milburn understood the scenario he painfully realized he had no choice but to hand over all the cash that Whiteman had paid him.
“Did he pay you for anything else?” Sheppard asked.
“He gave me twenty dollars for a phone call.”
“I got to have that too,” the policeman said.
“Ah, geez,” Milburn moaned, but he turned that over too.
“I’m sorry about this,” Sheppard told him.
“Believe me, so am I,” Milburn said.
“Just not your lucky day, I guess.” Then Sheppard added, “Thanks for being so understanding.”
Milburn walked away, shaking his head. Once he began to realize the enormous irony of what had just taken place, he brightened and hurried out to the plane to tell his co-pilot.
“Hey, Ian,” he called out, “you are not going to believe this! Hey Ian!”
By the time Sheppard got back to his partners Robert was locked in the back seat of a police car with Smith and Twomey seated up front. As soon as Whiteman got settled he asked Shawn Smith, “How did you get me?”
Smith said, “We’ll discuss that later.”
Robert said, “I’ll bet it was that fat Tommy Craig turned us all in. The RCMP probably got my licence plate when I was parked in front of Tommy’s place last month.”
Smith never answered him. He was delighted that Whiteman was so far off base.
Janice was still thunderstruck. She couldn’t believe what was going on and protested so vehemently that at one point Robert told her, “Janice, just get in the car and go home.”
When she went to do that Smith told her, “You’re not going anywhere in that car unless a police officer goes with you.” Smith directed Sheppard to go with Janice in her car and follow him to the station.
The three car cavalcade departed for downtown Pembroke. Janice and the baby rode in her Chrysler with Tim Sheppard driving. Sharpe followed the two cars in his unmarked cruiser. To MacCharles’ utter delight and relief, the convoy arrived at the Pembroke OPP station at 5:30 p.m.
Gilbert Galvan at the time of his arrest in Pembroke
Galvan at the time of his arrest. His sleeve has been rolled up to display his panther tattoo.
Ever since Robert’s arrest Janice had been protesting that her husband was a courier working for his father in Calgary. At the detachment office the police assured her that no such father or company existed. They explained that her husband was a bank robber and they were sure the evidence to prove it was in his luggage.
When they opened Robert’s briefcase, its contents were astounding. There was $4102 in American cash and $11,261 in Canadian cash. Included among the Canadian cash was $100 in bait money. The bait money was a series of registered ten-dollar bills whose serial numbers matched the serial numbers forwarded to Pembroke by the London Police. The total amount of money recovered from Whiteman was $20,749.
In his garment bag they found a blond wig, spirit gum, black leather gloves, his baseball cap, a blue T-shirt and a kit for making fake skin. In his shaving kit, the police found a Browning 9mm automatic and a .38 Smith and Wesson Special. Both guns were loaded.
The evidence was overwhelming.
Once it was revealed, Janice was taken away and put in a separate interrogation room.
Also in his luggage, they found a Canadian passport in the name of Bradley Kent Stafford. Whiteman’s photo was on the document. From what Pete Bond had told them, the police had reason to suspect that Robert Whiteman was not the bank robber’s real name. When they questioned him about this, he let it be known he had nothing to say and asked to call his lawyer, Scott Milloy.
When he got Milloy on the phone Whiteman told him he was being charged with an armed robbery in Winnipeg and London. He also complained that they were questioning his wife and told Milloy, “She has nothing to do with anything.”
Milloy told Robert he would speak to the investigating officer and get back to him. Until then, he was not to say anything.
After the phone call, mug shots were taken and Whiteman was fingerprinted. Because the police could not establish Whiteman’s background in Canada beyond three years, they believed his identity was questionable. Consequently, Snider and Smith took the extraordinary step of sending his fingerprints to the FBI and to Interpol as well as the RCMP. Then he was locked in a small detachment cell with a guard nearby.
It wasn’t long before Robert asked his OPP guard, “What are my chances for bail?”
The constable replied, “I don’t know. They shouldn’t be very good, but anything’s possible in this country.”
“When will I go to court?”
“You’ll probably appear before a J. P. tomorrow, but you won’t likely have a bail hearing until Monday.”
Whiteman knew the Canadian courts were lenient and felt there was a slim possibility he might be able to get bail. After all, he had a wife, a child and a fixed address. If his false identity held up and he could convince the court that he wasn’t a flight risk there was an outside chance he might be released.
Whiteman kept up a barrage of questions and comments to the guard. He talked so much that, considering his dire predicament, it was almost comical. He asked the guard his opinion about Scott Milloy as a lawyer. They chatted about that for a while. A little later, Whiteman told him the story about the pilot losing the charter money and commented on the fact that “you guys really fucked those pilots up taking that money back.” Fabricating stories about himself to the very end, he talked about his work in the welding trade and how he had to move around a lot from city to city to follow the j
obs. He wanted to know if he could see his wife tonight. He asked why they took his cigarettes away. He said he didn’t have a criminal record. He asked if he would be staying in the Pembroke Jail. He asked why he wasn’t being held in a jail cell over there. He said if he was in a normal cell he could at least have some room to walk around. The guard did his best to answer his questions.
While Whiteman was being searched and processed, Janice was interrogated in the other room. She was much more upset about Robert’s arrest than he was, furiously asking all kinds of questions in an attempt to understand what was going on. Because she was so terribly distraught, the police took it easy on her, trying to calm her down while they answered what they could. They were also trying to assess how much she knew about her husband’s activities and to determine if she was involved in any way. From what they could tell, she appeared to have been completely unaware of what her husband had been doing.
Janice’s interrogation went on for almost three hours. During all this time she kept Laura with her. At one point in the questioning, at her request, a police officer was dispatched to her house to bring back some diapers and formula.
Throughout her interrogation she agonized and cried and became fiercely defensive, when MacCharles told her he had difficulty believing that she had no idea about her husband’s illegal activities.
At one point, when he told her that she didn’t appear to be sufficiently shocked at her husband’s arrest, she argued vehemently against his allegation.
“I might not be showing it,” she said, “but I am totally devastated by his arrest. Here I am with one child, another on the way, and my whole family life has just blown up in my face before my very eyes. I feel like I’m being crushed to death.”
In the end, she satisfactorily answered every question the police put to her. The only conclusion they could reach was that she seemed to be unaware of what her husband had been doing. Nevertheless, the Chrysler 5th Avenue, which was in her name, was seized as material evidence and Inspector MacCharles ordered that first thing Monday morning Robert and Janice’s bank accounts were to be frozen.
The Flying Bandit Page 24
