The Binge Cases: U R NEXT - My Fugitive Dad | 5. Tom's Very Last Round

Episode Date: January 1, 2024

Ashley realizes her Dad has been hiding a diagnosis from her and her mother. Time is running out for him to tell the truth. Hosts Jonathan and Ashley go back to the house on Carter Road, her childhood home - where her Dad dropped the bombshell that changed everything. And Pete Elliott helps his father face the fact that he may never catch Ted Conrad. Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of Smoke Screen: My Fugitive Dad, ad-free right now. Click ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Smoke Screen: My Fugitive Dad show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts. A Neon Hum Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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There's this one story that stuck out to me. It was about the time Tom drove the company car to get some Wendy's. Yeah, I've been thinking about that moment, too. I said, where you going? David saw Tom heading out to his car and asked him where he was going. He told him he was going for lunch at Wendy's. He liked that shitty chili. Fucking chili.

45 minutes later, he got a call from Tom who was in a ditch on the side of the road. The car was totaled. He says, some fucking guy just rinsed. It's the only time I hear him swear. He never swore. Some fucking guy come up on my left-hand side and run me off the road and I went down in the ditch and I'm in the ditch. I said, are you okay? Apparently, Tom was more concerned about the spilled chili, according to David, who found this story hilarious.

And Dad had like a scratch, like no broken bones, no black eyes from the airbags. And then what dad had told me afterwards is that he'd actually had a small heart episode. The reason he drove off the road was because he was having a small heart attack. And so the story he tells David is just a lie. I mean, I guess it's like 40% true, but it's 60% not telling people the whole truth. And I tell this to mom. And she's like, what are you talking about? his heart. Over the years, Tom had been successful at shielding inconvenient truths from the

people around him. But it wasn't secrets from the distant past he was hiding anymore. And he wouldn't be able to hide his health problems for long. And once those came to light, everything else would too. From Neon Hum Media and Sony Music Entertainment, this is smokescreen. My Fugitive Dad, I'm Jonathan Hirsch. And I'm Ashley Randall. Tom's very last round. In the Thomas Crown Affair, Faye Dunaway plays the part of Vicki Anderson, a private insurance investigator, working on commission for the bank,

where Crown pulls off the heist. Vicki, I want you to meet Lieutenant Eddie Malone at the Boston Police Department. The boss? The man in charge, I've read your report. She's garnered something of a reputation for herself, for her methods. Every crime has a personality, or something like the mine that planned, and this one has.

Oh, that's clever. Very clever. She quickly narrows down her suspects. The money must have moved to Switzerland on multiple trips so as to not arouse suspicion. Who would have made deposits to multiple accounts in large sums over a short period of time? There was only one person.

$16,240-20 bills. Thomas Crown. And she is unconventional in her style. So she devises an age-old method of hunting down Crown. She seduces him. And perhaps the only thing more titillating than their steamy on-screen chemistry is the fact that Crown knows she's coming after him. You have any idea how much they're costing you?

Those characters that follow us around. Following you is following me. I don't like it any more than you do. In a very 1960s fashion, things come to a head in what can only be described as the sauna scene. Crown and Anderson are shirtless in the sauna, weighing his options. She convinces him to turn himself in. Conveniently, but also kind of gross,

if you ask me, there's a telephone mounted to the wall of the sauna. She picks it up and calls the authorities. You can't ever spend it. Not yours. Not the banks. Every penny you spend, they want a trace. Don't you see? There's no way out.

You've done too good a job, Vicky. So this is it. The cat and mouse game is almost up. Tom Randall, too, would give up on running from the truth. By the time Tom had been Kathy's husband and Ashley's dad for decades, he was very good at pretending everything was fine, even when it wasn't. Tom had reasons, though, why he didn't tell his wife some things. He never wanted me to be worried or upset about anything, to the point that it would be last minute I would find out about things.

About really bad stuff? Well, for any stuff, I have anxiety, I have terrible anxiety. So for him, the best thing is to do is put it off as long as you can because she's going to get upset anyway. My theory is, tell me right away. Let me get upset and get over it. Tom tried to shield Kathy from hardship, as if not saying bad news out loud would not give it life.

But he struggled to admit some things to himself, not just her, and not just Ashley. How did you come to know that your dad was sick? Summer of 2020, I, like most of the country, was working remotely. And I still had my apartment in New York, but I really needed to get out of the city. It was a little scary being there. And so I went back to Massachusetts and was living at home in Linfield. And it was end of June.

Beginning of July, dad just started feeling not sick like he had a cold or the flu, but really tired. He was exhausted all the time. And all he would do is take Benadryl, which was weird, but sort of dad. Like, he didn't want to admit that he was sick. He refused to go to the doctor for months, and it was finally in the fall. He wasn't getting any better. Mom and dad went to the hospital to have some tests done. And they found out that his heart was only functioning at, I believe, 15%. So his heart became an issue. It was also at that time that in looking at my own medical records, there's an app called

Gateway that I don't know if it's used just in Massachusetts. are all over the country, but it has like all of my medical records, but then I can also see high level family things. So under my mom, you can see breast cancer, anxiety. And then under my dad, it said emphysema. Mum and I had no idea he had emphysema, had no idea how long he'd had it, but it's sitting there in his records. And you're just discovering it. It was so shocking. This is something he should have told, at bare minimum, me. I mean, and also you should probably tell your wife. Why do you think he didn't tell you?

You know how it was John Elliott's mission to catch my dad? Well, my life's mission was to get my dad to quit smoking. When we were digging through these home videos, we found one of me at six years old complaining about his smoking. Graham was behind the camera. Oh, there's a beautiful. Beautiful tree. Grandma.

And this Ashley St. Grandma. There's Dad on one end of the couch smoking a menthol. And me on the other end, all dressed up for the holiday in a party dress, playing with my dolls. And there's Tom. Smoking. What a smoking, cop, cop. And the tree. I actually used my allowance money one year to buy him the first ever nicotine patch.

Oh, my God. That was his birthday present for me. So I think he didn't tell me because I would have just told him to quit again for the millionth time. So, okay, so we know he has heart issues, smoker. We know he has emphysema. He's obviously sick, but I'm still having a hard time kind of understanding what's really going on. The doctors wanted to give him a quadruple bypass. Oh, wow.

That's how bad his heart was. Wow. But when they went in to check his lungs, you know, before they do the surgery to make sure everything else is okay. Yeah. That's when we found out that he had lung cancer and it was really bad. So that's the moment. Yeah. Up until then, we'd sort of been living our lives.

Yeah. But then that march with that diagnosis, I mean, I packed up my life in New York. I moved home and nothing was ever the same. And is that sort of around the time that he, like, stopped playing golf, too? He had tried to play right around when he was starting the chemo because the golf course is open depending, like, in April. Yeah. There was one doctor's visit where the doctor said, you know, like, you just do what you want to do.

And he heard that is, see, I'm fine. They're telling me to go. Do what I want to do. And mom and I hear that and know what they're saying is, you should just enjoy the time you have left. And that's when he went and tried to play a round of golf with Steve. Want more true crime? Subscribe to The Binge to get all episodes of My Mother's Lies,

add free today and get instant access to over 50 other jaw-dropping true crime stories. Plus, subscribers get a binge-dry. of a brand new series on the first of every month, every month. Search for The Binge channel on Apple Podcasts or head to getthebinge.com to subscribe today. The Binge, feed your true crime obsession. On a cold morning in April 2021, Steve Mills drove up to Sagamore Golf Club.

For years, Tom and Steve played together. They had a standing weekend tea time. I think it was about 15 years ago probably when I first met him. We had a regular tea time at a local course. They allow you to reserve a certain slot every week. They want you to show up with a full foursome. But from time to time, somebody bags out and you show up with three. And you need somebody to fill in that slot.

And we needed a fourth. And so we got paired up with Tom. and thank goodness. We knew right off, you know, wow, this guy's a really great, really cool guy, good guy. For years, this was a steady part of Tom and Steve's life, playing golf together every week. By now, Tom's closest friends knew he was sick. He'd been getting weaker and weaker. But Steve still invited him out.

And I would check in with him every week. So you're going to play this weekend? You're going to be able to do it this weekend? And every week. And he said, yeah, you know, keep... Can't do it this weekend, but, you know, keep checking. And then one Sunday he said, yes, he could play. This time was different.

Tom was frail and moving slowly. He got in the car and your mom was out on the lawn with him, waiting for me. It's been years since that last game, but Steve still thinks about it. I said, how's it going, man? Great to see you. Great to see you. This is great. And he said, well, I've gotten better news from the doctor before.

That's when I, yeah. That's, that's, the whole time I knew the guy, he never, he wouldn't have complained about a hangnail, right? It just carried his own bag, you know, gut balls down to the range. He just could not swing the club. It was just, it was still the beginning of, or mid-April. and it was just too cold and he was having trouble breathing. And at that time, he had a giant tumor in his lung that, of course, he would not tell you.

That day was Tom's very last round. It's a strange irony, too, that a year earlier, almost to the date, Deputy U.S. Marshal John Elliott gave up the game he loved the most, too. the game of cat and mouse. The search for Ted Conrad. Brian Fitzgibbibbons is the chief deputy U.S. Marshal for Northern Ohio. He's a native New Yorker. After 9-11, he joined the Marshal Service, started out in Brooklyn.

But in 2007, he had an opportunity to come to Cleveland. That's where he first met John Elliott. He always reminded me of the man in black, Mr. Johnny Cash. he had that voice that was very commanding, and he didn't have to raise it in order to get your attention. John had been retired for more than 15 years, but you could see him hanging around the office of the Marshal Service. I came here in 2007, he had been retired for quite some time.

He was still in the mix, right? He was still passionate. He wanted to know what we were doing. He'd always come to visit. Brian is filled with emotion and adoration when he talks about. about John. He could tell a great story. He was a man that he could tell a story, and I don't care how many times I heard those stories, I would just sit around and be a fly on the wall and listen to him and tell somebody else that story, right? Best thing about him up until his last days,

he had an incredible handshake. Brian and John never worked together, but they became close. They bonded over, of all things, the bagpipes. My father's father played, and it was something that I wanted to do to pay homage to my family, my culture, and the bagpipes have been really something that has transitioned from Celtic tradition to U.S. law enforcement tradition, U.S. military tradition, to honor our fallen. So when Brian arrived in Cleveland, he was looking to join a group where he could keep playing the backpipes. John, it turns out, was all. already part of a group.

So he got me in touch with the pipes and drums of the Cleveland Police. John sort of took Brian under his wing. They even performed at his wedding. John took him aside at the first parade Brian ever performed with the pipes and drums of the Cleveland Police. He said to me, he's like, you know, I'm not getting any younger, right? The parades, it became tougher and tougher for him because you have to stay in step. the day came when John could no longer join in performances

or visit the Marshall's office or check up on the Conrad case. It's interesting. Pete Elliott said something to me when we started to talk about the last years of his dad's life. He'd been quoted a decade ago in an article and he was asked where Ted Conrad might have been today if he were to guess. I always thought that Conrad was still alive,

living in a town in New England, I had said, somewhere, probably a grandfather with a family that doesn't know his true identity. I don't know why I felt that. I just kind of felt that. It was oddly prescient, creepy how accurate he was. While his dad was dying, that's exactly what was happening with Ted, or Tom, as we now know him. A satisfying resolution for John was always painfully close, almost like he could feel it. In the spring of 2020, John went into hospice. You never gave up on it.

Never, ever gave up on it. Never, never. Brian Fitzgibbons and John Elliott stayed in touch all the way to the end. And I was also someone that would provide some updates, especially when his health was ailing. And I do remember visiting him in his last days. And it was good because I had a chance to say goodbye. I remember I shook his hand.

That was our goodbye. On Friday, March 20th, 2020, John Elliott passed away in his sleep at the age of 83. Miss him dearly, and I did play the bagpipes at his funeral. John's gravestone has the U.S. Marshal badge engraved on it, a marshal till the very end. I was able to give him his badge back and put it in his pocket, so he could take it with him the rest of his life.

Pete never had the chance to haul away Ted Conrad with his dad. But that didn't mean that the search was over. Now it was up to Pete to close the case. New Mabelene serum lipstick. Maybe it's not just lipstick. It's serum infused. It's lush color. Pyloronic acid and oil blend.

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Nothing has changed. Ashley and I are driving to her childhood home in Linfield. The Randalls lived here for decades until they sold it last year in 2022. And this, from the outside, you wouldn't know that Tom, and Kathy weren't living here. The family that currently lives there let us visit for an afternoon. As we walk through all the rooms, Ashley catalogs every change she sees. The walls and the hardware and the doors and everything is exactly the same.

And then it's just different furniture. And it just looks like a slightly nicer version of when we lived here. Don't tell Mom that. We go into Tom and Kathy's bedroom. So pretty much the whole room, was my mom's stuff and her things on the big dresser, her things in the drawers that are built into the walls. And then there was this one little nook,

and my dad had a tall, dark wood dresser with really heavy dark metal hardware. And that was where his stuff went. We talk about him not having a lot of stuff and how he didn't really need things and he never bought things. And I think it was, It translated to how much space he took up in a home that you're in this large bedroom and my dad is this one corner.

Like, this is my dad right here. We go into the living room. So in the middle of the one long wall is there's like a big three cushion couch and that was my dad's spot. We had like a chair and a. half, so almost the size of a love seat, maybe a little bit smaller, and that's where I always sat. And then my mom would be nestled on the couch next to him. One day, they're all sitting in the living room, Tom and Kathy and Ashley in their usual places, when Tom drops a mom that changes everything.

Oh. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We're at that part. Yeah. Oh! Looking back, it's a huge moment, right? but at the time it was a pretty unassuming day.

We were just sitting around in the living room, watching TV, and in his very tom way, was like, I should probably tell you something. So when I moved here, I had to change my name. I don't really want to talk about it, but I had to change my name. And the authorities are probably still looking for me. So just in case that comes up, I just wanted you to know.

And back to NCIS. And I remember thinking, what? Wow. But okay, we can watch TV. Like, what do you do with that? Yeah. Did you realize it could be something really big? Honestly, no.

Like, it's my dad. he's boring, right? Like he was in a great way. He was just like a suburban dad who golfed. Like, what, do you have to change your name? Because, like, you got in a fight with some kids. And what do you mean the authorities are after you? It just, it sort of sounded like a dad's story for a moment where you're like, oh, okay,

so the authorities would be after you? Sure, Tom. Sure they are. When did you decide that you had to look into it? how long between like that confession and when you were like, okay, what the fuck's going on? It was probably a day or two. It sort of built inside of me the need to maybe not confront him, but have a conversation with him. And I very much knew that I had a better shot if it was just him and me.

So it was probably the next day or the day after next. and it was the afternoon and he was laying on the couch and I said, you know, we got to talk. I deserve to know my name. You are going to tell me your name. What do you say? And he said, if I tell you, you have to promise you will not look into it. I don't want you looking into anything. I don't want you telling anybody.

and if I tell you, that's it. Like, you're done. Like, that's, I will tell you, and then no more. And I said, fine, of course. Yeah, I won't look into it. And he said, just really quietly and almost like he was scared to say it. My name is Ted. And I said, okay.

And what's your last name, Ted? And it felt like that question hung in the air for days. It was probably five to ten seconds, but the weight of that, and he just looked at me with this face of, please, do not ask me this and do not make me tell you. He looked pained. And then he finally said, Conrad. And we just sort of left the conversation there. And I really did think in that moment, okay, I got what I needed and I can just let it be. Right.

And that was not what happened because it just started to eat away at me. And I tried to go to sleep that night, and I just remember tossing and turning. And finally, it's like 2.30 in the morning. And I just remember rolling onto my side and picking my phone up from the nightstand. And typing in TEDConnor. Conrad. And what showed up on that screen, no exaggeration, nearly fell off the bed, lightly screamed, and thought, oh my God, my life is a lifetime movie. Theodore Conrad has spent a life. The Conrad Trail is cold. Theodore Ted Conrad was a bank.

Walked out of the bank. Conrad was obsessed for the time. Had Conrad, 52 years is America's most wanted. Theodore John Conrad, the one who got away. And honestly, I still didn't believe it at first. Yeah. I was like, this is not my dad. This is not him.

And like, what do you do with that information? The box is opened. and the truth comes tumbling out. She opened her iPad and I said, put in Ted Conrad Cleveland, because by that point I knew that would be the fastest way to find it. And she looked at me like I'd hit her in the face with a brick. And we just sat quietly and I just remember her saying, oh my God.

That's next time on the finale of my fugitive dad. This episode is brought to you by an espresso. Hear that, that's your next obsession. Every coffee, a new world. Every sip, a new taste. This is the new espresso. One touch, endless possibilities. Iced, flavored, long, short.

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