CHICAGO, JULY 21 -- Even while in federal custody, Jeffrey Erickson had a certain swagger. In an interview last March, the accused bank robber bragged about how easy it would be to escape from authorities in charge of security at the federal courthouse here.
"I was not impressed with their officer security," Erickson told the Chicago Tribune. "Chicago and the DEA are a lot better."
No one could have guessed how accurate he was: Late Monday afternoon, as he was being led back to jail from his trial on serial bank robbery charges, Erickson somehow slipped out of his handcuffs, wrestled a revolver from a deputy U.S. marshal and went on a shooting spree that resulted in the deaths of two law enforcement officers and himself.
The bloody episode, which took place as judges and lawyers were leaving the federal court complex in the middle of Chicago's Loop, marked the violent culmination of a bizarre "Bonnie and Clyde" crime saga that began with a series of eight suburban Chicago bank robberies in 1990 and 1991.
Advertisement
Erickson's alleged accomplice was his wife, June, who fled in a gray van when police arrested her husband last December. She led authorities on a high-speed, 11-mile car chase that ended when she turned her gun on herself after a shootout with police.
Authorities have speculated that the Ericksons had made a suicide pact, vowing never to be taken alive, a view that seemed to gain some currency with Monday's dramatic scene of Jeffrey Erickson firing his stolen gun at his head on a ramp from the courthouse garage. "I'm going to die anyway," Erickson screamed, according to witnesses. "I'm going to take everybody with me."
But today, officials offered a different theory, suggesting that it may have been Erickson's goal to escape and slip into the rush-hour crowds departing downtown Chicago. Law enforcement authorities said it appears that Erickson had been fatally wounded by Harry Belluomini, a security officer who encountered the fleeing suspect, even before he put his gun to his head.
Advertisement
Under this theory, Erickson knew he was dying when he dropped to one knee and shot himself. It was only Belluomini's ability to get off a few shots before he himself was fatally wounded that prevented Erickson from getting away, authorities said.
"He was dressed in street clothes," said John Stibich, chief of detectives for the Chicago Police Department. "He would have blended right in."
The U.S. Marshals Service, which is responsible for security at the court complex, was mum today in the face of questions about how Erickson could have slipped away Monday. William Clancy, an assistant special agent with the FBI, said a handcuff key was discovered near Erickson's bloodied body Monday evening and investigators were trying to determine how Erickson obtained it.
Richard Mottweiler, a defense attorney who had been representing Erickson, told reporters that he had passed on to U.S. marshals last week a warning from Erickson's mother that "Jeff was acting funny and . . . he might make a break for it."
Advertisement
"I don't understand how all this could happen with them being on notice," Mottweiler said.
U.S. District Judge James Alesia formally declared a mistrial today in Erickson's case. Erickson, a former Marine marksman and proprietor of a used-book store, was accused of armed robbery of eight banks and related offenses. He was given the sobriquet "Bearded Bandit" for his alleged propensity to wear a fake beard during holdups.
Mottweiler said Erickson, 34, had been feeling fairly "upbeat" about how the case was going, noting that he had challenged the accounts of several government witnesses. An employee of one of the banks allegedly held up by Erickson was asked in open court to identify the robber and picked out a Chicago Tribune reporter.
"When I talked to him, he was always soft-spoken, polite," Mottweiler said. "The side that came out last night I never saw before."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZK6zr8eirZ5noKS5qsDInKpoaWluf3B8lmhpa2eipK%2BjsdGyZKyto6WypMDSZpmomaOpeqe70Z6qoZmUpMSmsIyfoKeZnGKupMCOmmhynWJrsKJ5lZ%2BcamVkbIJ1ecBua3FlYmyyd7CXbm9qaWVrfA%3D%3D