And Justice for All

On June 24, 1984, Victor Manuel Gerena celebrated his 26th birthday by parking his car inside The Wells Fargo company garage, rather than the employees lot. Nobody seemed to mind this little request for the birthday boy. He was a new security guard who seemed interested in law enforcement.

Victor had attended Annhurst College, a female only college that had admitted men recently to pay the bills. This private Catholic institution was run by the nuns and they had no use for the males, and treated them accordingly. Victor saw the handwriting on the wall and left before graduation. He got a job in West Hartford, Ct, not far from the South Woodstock campus.

Following the morning meeting, Victor would take two security employees as hostage, injecting them with a non-lethal substance and tying them with nylons. He would drive out the main gate with $ 7 million. His whereabouts are still unknown.

During a game of Hearts with UPI Editor-In-Chief William Hutchinson in 1949, FBI Chief and cross dresser J.Edgar Hoover, were discussing ways to promote the capture of the “ bad guys.“ Victor is at the head of the class, ranked #1 in the Top 10 most wanted. Alexis Flores is now at #2 and Luis Macedo ranks third.

The only correspondence in the past 24 years was a phone call to his girlfriend 3 days after the robbery. He told her that “ he hated the nuns more than they hated him” . He also said that Wells Fargo was “cheap. “ I will be making more than 5 bucks an hour not working.

Recently, a bag of money fell out of the back of a Wells Fargo Armored vehicle. A homeless person returned the money bag worth more than $ 1 million and was given a reward of $ 10, 000.00. I know The Greatest Generation tipped at a rate of 15 %, maximum. Today, a decent tip is 20% and a very good one is 25 %. Wells Fargo must be still using the Gold Rush rate. Score one for Victor.

The last time Victor was seen when he dropped his girlfriend at City Hall for a marriage license. She would later tell the FBI that “ Victor would return.” They were to have the song by Fleetwood Mac, The Chain played at their wedding.

On May 14, 1984, Gerena became the 386th fugitive to be placed on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He remains at large, and on April 11, 2010, became the fugitive to have spent the most time on the list, surpassing Donald Eugene Webb, who was removed from the list on March 31, 2007, after 25 years, 10 months, and 27 days (no leads for many years, presumed dead). As of June, 2016, Gerena has been on the list for 32 years. He is believed to be living in Cuba.


I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy