Episode 123 – Born during the Great Depression, Ken Leishman was a stylish, good looking guy with a Clark Gable moustache. A married father of 7, he was adventurous, smart, charismatic, creative and enterprising. He used his skill as a small aircraft pilot to earn cash first as a fly in mechanic on prairie farms, then as a king cookery salesman.
Ken was also deeply in debt, his sales business was failing and he craved an even more lavish lifestyle. To get what he wanted Ken wasn’t above stealing it, but often got caught going back for more. After flying all the way to Toronto to rob banks on two separate occasions Ken was dubbed the Flying Bandit after getting caught during his second failed bank robbery.
After Ken’s release, he had an even more elaborate heist in mind – making off with a few hundred pounds of gold bullion in what would be the greatest gold theft in Canadian history.
Sources:
[Bandit – A portrait of Ken Leishman by Wayne Tefs]
[Lost: Unsolved Mysteries of Canadian Aviation by Shirlee Smith Matheson]
[In the Mind of a Mountie – Google Play]
[This Was Manitoba: Kenneth Leishman – The Flying Bandit (UPDATED)]
[Ottawa Citizen – Ken Leishman – Google News Archive Search]
[Newspapers.com search – Ken Leishman + Canada]
[Ken Leishman: The Flying Bandit – video dailymotion]
[Ken Leishman: The Flying Bandit – YouTube]
[Court Briefing for 1966 trial of Ken Leishman et al, Winnipeg Gold Heist]
[The Flying Bandit – Winnipeg Free Press]
[Canada history: Mar.1, 1966: the Great Winnipeg Gold Heist – RCI | English]
[The Flying Bandit – Winnipeg Free Press]
[The ‘flying bank robber’ died hard | Maclean’s | DECEMBER 29, 1980]
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