The Beatle Bandit: A Serial Bank Robber's Deadly Heist, a Cross-Country Manhunt, and the Insanity Plea That Shook the Nation (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781459748101)

The sensational true story of how a bank robber killed a man in a wild shootout, sparking a national debate around gun control and the death penalty.

WINNER of the 2022 Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book

On July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith disguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi-automatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario.

The intelligent but troubled son of a businessman and mentally ill mother, Smith was a navy veteran with a young Indigenous wife and a hazy plan for violent revolution.

Outside the bank, Smith was confronted by Jack Blanc, a former member of the Canadian and Israeli armies, who brandished a revolver. During a wild shootout, Blanc was killed, and Smith escaped -- only to become the object of the largest manhunt in the history of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force.

Dubbed "The Beatle Bandit," Smith was eventually captured, tried, and sentenced to hang. His murderous rampage had tragic consequences for multiple families and fuelled a national debate about the death penalty, gun control, and the insanity defence.

Author: Nate Hendley
ISBN-10: 1459748107
ISBN-13: 9781459748101
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Language: English
Published: 12/14/2021
Pages: 216
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 10/01/2021 pg. 4
Publishers Weekly 10/11/2021