Jeffrey Erickson

Jeffrey "Jeff" E. Erickson (* 1958 in Chicago ; † July 20, 1992 in Chicago) was an American bank robber and murderer. Together with his wife Jill, he is said to have committed at least eight bank robberies in the greater Chicago area within two years, which led the media to use a comparison with Bonnie and Clyde . Both eventually died in shootouts attempting to escape.

biography

Jeffrey Erickson grew up with his brother Jim in Morton Grove near Chicago. His father worked in the management of a telephone company, his mother took care of the children and the house. After attending Niles West High School in Skokie , he joined the United States Marine Corps in 1977 . He met his future wife Jill on her 17th birthday in a bar near where she lived. After about six months, she lived with Jeffrey, graduated with a degree in chemistry from Loyola University Chicago and worked as a laboratory technician. The couple finally married on July 29, 1983.

After retiring from the army, Jeffrey worked as a truck driver, chauffeur and from 1986 as a police officer in Hoffman Estates . However, he only kept the job for 13 months before being fired. Police chief Donald Cundiff later named Jeffrey Erickson's alleged "lack of common sense" as a reason for dismissal. For example, he was often too "soft" towards the criminals and did not like to make arrests. As of 1991, Jeffrey lived as the owner of a used bookstore with his wife Jill in a private home in Hanover Park , a suburb of Chicago.

Crime series

The raids almost always followed the same pattern; the two preferred to steal small cars of Japanese design, which they short-circuited by manipulating the ignition. While Jill was driving the getaway car and positioning it at the financial institutions, Jeffrey carried out the robberies armed with a pistol. He always used a baseball cap, dark sunglasses and a fake beard. Until Jill accompanied her husband to one of the robberies in the financial institution, the police had assumed a lone perpetrator, the so-called "Bearded Bandit" ( Bearded Bandit ). After the robberies, they drove the escape vehicle to a predetermined location, where they either changed to their own vehicle or another escape vehicle.

When it became known that a man and a woman had committed the robberies together, the media quickly used the comparison with the legendary robber couple Bonnie and Clyde ("Bonnie and Clyde Case", "Suburban Version of Bonnie and Clyde", "Modern- day Bonnie and Clyde "," Bonnie and Clyde style ").

On November 4, 1991, Jeffrey was stopped in a stolen vehicle by a Palatine police officer . However, the officer did not know that the vehicle was stolen and only wanted to perform a routine traffic check as he saw the vehicle's expired registration plate. Jeffrey stopped the car, got out and immediately opened fire through the windshield of the patrol car, shooting the officer in the shoulder. Jeffrey managed to escape afterwards. Due to this incident, was from federal agents and seven police stations ( Police Department a) Task Force compiled, which eventually focused on the search for the bank robbers.

In December 1991, Jill and Jeffrey stole a Japanese compact car and positioned it in the parking lot of a shopping center in Schaumburg for a future robbery . There, however, the vehicle, which has meanwhile been reported as stolen, was discovered by a police patrol by chance and then observed by the FBI . Finally, on December 16, Jill and Jeffrey drove their van into the parking lot and Jeffrey got into the stolen vehicle. When the FBI wanted to arrest the couple shortly afterwards, Jill was able to escape in the van. Jeffrey was arrested in the parking lot; he had two loaded firearms and the appropriate disguise utensils with him.

Jill delivered a high-speed chase to police for just under eleven miles before reaching a dead end in Hanover Park . There she died in an exchange of fire with the police. Jeffrey was able to follow the incident over the police radio in the back seat of a patrol car. She was pronounced dead hours later at Humana Hospital in Hoffman Estates . Officially, her death is considered suicide by a self-inflicted shot in the head after she was shot by officers. This appealed to self-defense, since Jill first opened fire on the officers.

In the Erickson's home, the police secured a variety of firearms, ammunition, burglary tools, cash, bulletproof vests, smoke grenades, gas masks and a police radio. Jeffrey was transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago and charged with eight bank robberies and attempted murder of a police officer. He was charged with the following bank robberies:

• January 9, 1990; First Nationwide Bank in Wilmette
• March 5, 1990; Savings of America Bank in Chicago
• May 17, 1990; Talman Home Federal Savings and Loan Association in Libertyville
• June 8, 1990; National Bank of Detroit in Skokie
• September 20, 1990; Fairfield Savings and Loan Association in Norridge
• November 15, 1990; First Colonial Bank in Wheeling
• February 4, 1991; First Midwest Bank in Mundelein
• November 18, 1991; First Chicago Bank in Elk Grove Village

In the raids, he is said to have stolen loot of around $ 180,000 (the equivalent of around € 136,000 ).

Escape attempt and double murder

The first days of the trial in the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago turned out to be difficult, as Jeffrey denied the alleged acts and pleaded not guilty . However, he was identified as the perpetrator in comparisons between several bank employees and a customer. After another day of trial on July 20, 1992, Jeffrey, along with other inmates, was taken to the garage in an elevator, as usual, to be brought back to the prison in a prisoner truck there.

Jeffrey had opened his handcuffs in the elevator with a duplicate key hidden in his mouth and was able to overpower a female deputy marshal in the garage . With their service weapon he shot the Deputy Marshal Roy Frakes and the Special Deputy Marshal Harry Belluomini, but was shot himself by Belluomini. Seriously injured, he dragged himself in front of the justice building, where he shot himself in the head in front of several witnesses.

Two memorial plaques in front of the Dirksen Federal Building commemorate the death of the two officials . In addition, the Harry Belluomini Court Security Officer Award was launched, which is presented annually to selected security organs who have distinguished themselves in particular during operations in court buildings.

The investigation revealed that Jeffrey Erickson had obtained the duplicate key for his handcuffs from fellow inmate Robert Burke. In later trials, he was sentenced to an unusually long prison term of 20 years for his involvement in Erickson's attempt to escape. The prosecutor's office had even pleaded for an accessory to murder and demanded imprisonment from 25 years to life.

Film adaptations

Jeffrey and Jill Erickson's lives have been filmed twice; 1996 under the title Normal Life - Tödliche Illusion and 1997 under the title In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory (German title: Bankraub - The track leads to death). Jeffrey Erickson is portrayed in the films by Luke Perry and Bruce Campbell .

Web links

• Bloody ending to a double life
• Jeffrey Erickson`s 2-year Crime Spree
• Erickson Case Figure Up For Re-Sentencing
• 2 Bank Robbery Suspects Are Indicted
• Articles about the films