WORLD : Gunman Kills Great Train Robber
A member of the legendary gang that carried out Britain’s Great Train Robbery of 1963 was shot to death in this Costa del Sol resort, police said today.
Investigators believe the killing of Charles Wilson, 58, may have been drug-related, a Marbella police spokesman said.
A gunmen opened fire Monday afternoon on Wilson after calling at the door of the Briton’s apartment, the spokesman said. Neighbors told police they spotted a young man in a track suit fleeing on a bicycle shortly after they heard the gunshots.
Wilson and 14 other members of a gang took part in the Great Train Robbery on Aug. 8, 1963, when they held up the Glasgow-to-London mail train.
They stole 2.6 million pounds, then worth $7.2 million, in cash. At the time, it was the biggest robbery in Britain.
Police recovered less than $966,000, but Wilson and most of the other gang members were captured and jailed. Wilson was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 1964 and released in 1978.
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