Title: 'Goth Bonnie and Clyde' in $7.4m 'theft'

Source: Telegraph, 01/28/08

NOTICE: The following material is copyrighted as indicated in the body of text.  It has been posted to this web page for archival purposes, and in doing so, no claim of authorship is expressed or implied, nor is a profit being made from the use of the material.

'Goth Bonnie and Clyde' in $7.4m 'theft'

By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 2:08am GMT 28/01/2008

A couple dubbed the "Goth Bonnie and Clyde" for their penchant for vampire novels and fantasy games have been charged with stealing $7.4 million (£3.75 million).

Roger Dillon, 23, and Nicole Boyd, 25, who deny charges of bank larceny, are accused of taking the money after Dillon spent nine months working for a security company.

During his time at Armored Transportation Systems in Liberty, Ohio, Dillon learnt its staff shift patterns and access codes for its safe, prosecutors say.

Police say he and his girlfriend waited until the night of Nov 26, when safes were full of Thanksgiving store takings, before entering the building using an employee security code. The pair then drove 250 miles to the remote hills of south-west Virginia, where they lay low with Dillon's mother in a mobile home.

Having no criminal history and described as decent people by everyone who knew them, the pair initially attracted public sympathy.

Their landlord said they had helped him look after his mother, who just broken her hip, on the day of the theft.

Before setting off for their mobile home, with their cat and their dog, they stopped off to post a month's rent, along with a note saying "sorry".

However, the sympathy turned to ridicule after police revealed how easily the suspects had been caught. Local radio stations have even been playing a specially composed song, Dumb As Dillon.

Thanks to what Tony Slifka, the local police chief, called a "trail like Hansel and Gretel leaving the crumbs in the forest", the FBI had a series of obvious clues to track down the fugitive pair.

These included buying a people carrier on the day of the theft, Dillon's unexplained absence from work the morning after, and sales receipts left in his old car that led them to the mobile home within five days.

"The agents tell me the first thing he asked them was, 'How'd you get us so fast?'," said Mr Slifka.

The couple face up to 25 years in prison. Friends stress that the pair lived in something of a dream world.

They said that the pair never drank, took drugs or smoked, preferring to read books, listen to Goth rock music and play the role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.