Stanley Ray Bond

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Stanley Ray Bond (October 30, 1944 – May 24, 1972) was a former U.S. Army soldier who later studied at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. In February 1970, while on parole, he enrolled through a government program for ex-convicts and became involved with left-wing student and anti-war groups. He met Susan Saxe and Katherine Ann Power, and the three, along with ex-convicts William Gilday and Robert Valeri, planned a bank robbery to help fund their activities.

Earlier in 1970, Bond and the group burglarized and burned a Massachusetts National Guard armory, stealing ammunition. On September 23, 1970, they robbed a Brighton, Massachusetts bank of about $26,000. During the robbery, police officer Walter A. Schroeder was shot and killed by Gilday. Bond said the raid was a success and that the money would be donated to left-wing groups. They divided $2,500 as their “payment,” giving $500 to each participant.

Bond, Gilday, and Valeri were captured soon after the robbery, while Saxe and Power remained at large for years (Saxe until 1975 and Power until 1993). On May 24, 1972, Bond died in Walpole State Prison during an attempted escape when an improvised explosive device he built exploded prematurely. His body was buried at Los Angeles National Cemetery in California on July 2, 1972.