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| Joel Singer |
| Joel Singer was born in 1943 and grew up in Chomedey, Laval, on the north shore of Montreal. After finishing high school, he got involved with the West End Gang, doing various robberies, and served prison time for burglarizing a store. In 1965, Singer joined into a clever conspiracy that would net him more money than he's ever seen before. It would almost be the biggest mistake of his life. Jack Franck, a New York mechanic and uncle of Singer's, walked into a Alexandria, Virginia arms depot on March 30, 1965 and purchased two Finnish Lahti 20mm Cannons and 200 rounds of armor piercing ammo for $800. He asked for the guns to be delivered to Plattsburgh, New York. |
A suspicious store employee investigated the address that Franck had provided and discovered that it was fake. He alerted the FBI who in turn contacted the Canadian authorities, who were wary of weapons being smuggled into Quebec for the terrorist group Federation du Liberation du Quebec (FLQ). The weapons arrived in Plattsburgh on April 5 and, like the rest of the merchandise, was kept in a storage office. Singer knew that the police were probably watching the building and broke into the warehouse that weekend and took his high-powered firearms back. The employees arrived at work early Monday morning to find that the locks had been broken and that the weapons had disappeared. Singer was ecstatic. Things had went off without a hitch so far. He and four associates, with one of the Finnish cannons and various other burglary equipment in their position, left Montreal six months later, on October 23, 1965, and headed for Syracuse, New York. The group broke into its target, the Brinks company, the next night. They entered through the garage and made their way to the vault, where they shot 33 armor piercing rounds from one of the Finnish Lahti 20mm Cannons Singer that stole earlier that year. Their mission took more than two hours to complete and the group got away with almost $425,000! Singer visited his uncle, Jack Franck, the next day to tell him that he was behind the spectacular robbery. He also handed Franck $200, for his help in getting the firearms. Franck panicked and called the FBI. In return for immunity, he promised to tell them everything. Singer was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List on November 19, 1965 and was arrested in a Henri-Bourassa restaurant 12 days later. Staying true to the code of the streets, Singer refused to name his accomplices and was sentenced to ten months in prison. Singer was among the inmates in Attica when chaos erupted on September 9, 1971. Prisoners revolted and the government had to take back the penitentiary by force. 43 inmates were murdered and the horrific incident marked Singer for life. He was transferred a psychiatric hospital in July, 1972 and released three months later. He returned to Montreal, where he continued to experience psychological problems. Singer killed himself by swallowing cyanide in his apartment on February 6, 1973. Police have only recovered $166 of the nearly $425,000 stolen seven years earlier. |