A Tale of True Crime in the South

In 1971, a man entered a bank in a small North Carolina town and demanded all the money in the safe.

The police arrived at the scene within minutes of the robbery but mistook another man in the building for the criminal. Despite his cries of innocence, the suspect was arrested while the true thief escaped undetected.

When presented to the public as the alleged perpetrator, the media noted that the case against him was thin and suggested that the incident may be one of mistaken identity. Captivated by the theory, the public grew to believe the accused to be a victim of unjust persecution by the judicial system. As such, they showered him with support and adoration. Subsequently, after appearing in court and having the charges against him dismissed due to a lack of evidence, the accidental martyr was set free.

. . .

In the years that followed, the once-admiring public lost interest—first, in the man's story, and eventually, in the man. Riddled by cold, sleepless nights spent longing for the warmth of the fame and celebrity that the events of years prior had brought, the man entered a bank in the neighboring county one afternoon and demanded all the money in the safe.

Coincidentally, in that bank, on that day, and at that moment . . . the never-previously-apprehended man responsible for the years-old theft was depositing a paycheck to the teller inside.

When the speedy police arrived this time, they inversely mistook the depositor for the man committing the in-progress theft while his once-inadvertent-patsy fled unnoticed. But after arresting the original thief and presenting him to the courts as the present-day culprit—all the while remaining oblivious to his prior indiscretion—he too was released thanks to the case against him having been built upon insufficient evidence.

. . .

Neither man ever contacted the other nor the authorities regarding his respective role in the crime which he committed, but for which the other was arrested.

Neither man was ever brought to justice.