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True Story of John Wojtowicz and the Bank Robbery That Inspired ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive. Ready for a story that's
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  even crazier than a movie. We're diving into the real
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  life heist of John Wojevic. You might know the movie
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  Dog Day Afternoon.
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, classic.
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  Speaker 1: Well, there's the guy behind it. Tried to rob a
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  bank in nineteen seventies Brooklyn to pay for his lever's
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  gender reassignment surgery. Talk about a wild ride of love, desperation,
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  and a robbery that well, it kept New York City
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  on the edge of their seats absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: And what's so fascinating is how this whole thing, this
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  seemingly simple bank robbery, it becomes this like, I don't know,
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  this unexpected portal into a really specific moment in American history.
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  You know, you've got the LGBTQ plus rights movement of
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  finding its voice, the Vietnam War still casting a shadow,
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  and this like rapidly changing media scene, all of this
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  swirling around in nineteen seventies New York City.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, a total pressure cooker. So let's start with the
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  man himself, John Wojevic, who.
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  Speaker 2: Was he Well, John was kind of a walking contradition.
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  Born in forty five, lived a pretty normal life at first,
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  Glance high school, did his time in Vietnam, even landed
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  what you'd call a respectable job Get this at Chase
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  Manhattan Bank.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, you're kidding. He worked at the bank. He ends
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  up robbing. Talk about poetic justice or maybe just irony,
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  I don't know which.
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  Speaker 2: Right, It's like, did those years working there plant some
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  kind of seed? It makes you.
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  Speaker 1: Wonder, it really does. So what happens next?
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  Speaker 2: So he marries a woman, Carmen Bifolko in sixty seven.
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  But this whole time, John's wrestling with his sexuality. You see,
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  had his first gay experience back in basic training, and well,
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  imagine trying to reconcile that with you know, the expectations
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  of the time.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that must have been incredibly tough living with that secret,
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  especially back then.
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  Speaker 2: It definitely took a toll. The late sixties were a
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  time of huge social change, but the LGBTQ plus community
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  they were still facing so much discrimination.
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  Speaker 1: Right, it'stainly things changed overnight exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And it wasn't until sixty nine, after he and his
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  wife split, that John really starts embracing who he is.
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  He even becomes part of the gay activist Alliance, starts
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  fighting for change.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, sounds good, a real turning point for him. So
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  how does Liz Eden enter the picture?
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  Speaker 2: So John meets Liz, a trans woman, sometime after this
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  whole you know, self discovery phase, and they fall head
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  over heels, head over heels, Yeah, totally smitten. Their connection
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  was so powerful that they even had this like unofficial
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  wedding ceremony in seventy one, even though, of course same
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  sex marriage was like decades away from being recognized. It
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  really shows you how deeply they felt for each other.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, that's some serious commitment. But then their story takes
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  this well, this insane turn with the robbery. What on
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  earth pushed John to that point?
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  Speaker 2: So Liz, she desperately wanted gender reassignment surgery. This was
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  still really new territory back then, incredibly stigmatized. At first,
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  John's hesitant, but then everything changes when Liz tries to
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  take her own life. Oh God, seeing her in so
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  much pain, it was like something snapped in John. He
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  felt like the surgery was the only way to save her.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, it's I don't even know what to say.
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  Speaker 2: It's intense, it is, And this is where things get
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  a little murky. The popular story is that John robbed
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  the bank to pay for Liz's.
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  Speaker 1: Surgery, Right, That's the story everyone knows, But some.
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  Speaker 2: Accounts claim he was actually trying to clear a debt
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  with the mafia.
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  Speaker 1: Whoa hold on? So which is it? Was it love
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  for Liz or was he caught up in something way
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  more dangerous?
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  Speaker 2: It's really hard to say for sure. We don't have
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  john side of the story. Sadly, the sources we have
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  they contradict each other. It's like this puzzle with missing pieces.
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  But here's the thing. Regardless of the reason, John was desperate,
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  and that desperation it led him to put together well,
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  let's just say a very interesting crew for a bank robbery.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting is one way to put it. So spill the tea.
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  Who are these accomplices?
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  Speaker 2: Okay? Picture this. John recruits two guys, Bobby Westenberg and
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  Salvatory Natural. Okay, and get this, He meets them at
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  a local gay bar.
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  Speaker 1: A gay bar not exactly the mafia hangout, is it right?
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  Speaker 2: And these weren't like seasoned criminals or anything. We're talking
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  about three guys with basically zero experience in robbing a bank.
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  Speaker 1: Not exactly Ocean's eleven. Huh. Okay, So what was their
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  big plan or did they even have one? All right?
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  Speaker 2: So their idea of a plan was driving all over
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  New York City for an entire.
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  Speaker 1: Day, an entire day August.
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  Speaker 2: Twenty second, nineteen seventy two, just aimlessly looking for a
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  bank to rob.
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  Speaker 1: You're kidding. They were just driving around hoping a good
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  target would just like jump out.
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  Speaker 2: At them pretty much. And get this, they even tried
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  to rob a couple of banks before they finally decided
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  on one.
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  Speaker 1: You're kidding. What happened? Did they just chick it out?
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  Speaker 2: You could say that picture this the first bank they
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  dropped their shot ben Oh no, it goes off obviously,
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  chaos everywhere, I bet. And then at the second bank, Westenberg,
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  he bumps into someone he knows.
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  Speaker 1: Oh god, no, who was it?
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  Speaker 2: His mother's friend? Talk about awkward.
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  Speaker 1: I can't even imagine. This is unbelievable. So with those
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  stellar track records, how they end up at the Chase
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  Manhattan Bank in Gravesend.
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  Speaker 2: All right, So this is where it gets really cinematic.
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  They decide, you know what, let's go to the movies.
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  Speaker 1: The movie in the middle of all this.
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  Speaker 2: And not just any movie. They go see The Godfather
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  The Godfather.
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  Speaker 1: Are you serious? The irony is almost too much, right.
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  Speaker 2: And somehow this gives them the inspiration to rob the
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  Chase branch in Gravesend.
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  Speaker 1: No way, the same branch John used.
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  Speaker 2: To work at the One and Only. And get this,
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  they even try to use a line from the movie
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  on the teller.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't wait what they say, I'm going to make
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  him an offer he.
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  Speaker 2: Can't refuse something like that. They hand the teller a
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  note with like a paraphrase line from the movie. He
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  can't make this stuff up.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my god, only these guys.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, it didn't go exactly as planned, though they
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  did get away with some cash.
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  Speaker 1: How much are we talking about?
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  Speaker 2: Thirty eight thousand dollars in cash and one hundred and
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  seventy five thousand dollars in travelers checks? But here's the kicker.
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  Turns out the vault was half empty that day. Talk
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  about bad timing.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, you really can't make this stuff up. Okay, so
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  they've got the money, now what.
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  Speaker 2: Well, this is where things escalate from a botch robbery
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  to like a full blown media circus. We're talking a
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  fourteen hour standoff with hostages, the works, police, FBI, snipers,
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  on rooftops. It was mayhem and the media they ate
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  it up.
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  Speaker 1: It's like Dog Day Afternoon, practically wrote itself.
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  Speaker 2: So what about John during all this? He wasn't exactly
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  keeping a low profile, was he, Jean? Are you kidding?
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  He was loving it. Orders pizza for everyone, hostages included,
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  starts flashing the cash, even throws some of the crowd outside.
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  Speaker 1: He was throwing money around.
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  Speaker 2: Seriously, taid the pizza guy with stacks of bills, then
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  just starts tossing more money to the crowd like it
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  was all a big show. And speaking of a show.
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  Speaker 1: There's more. You're killing me with this story.
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  Speaker 2: This is the best part. A reporter from the New
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  York Daily News, Robert Kapstadder, He calls the bank on
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  a whim. He just called the bank on a hunch,
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  and guess who answers.
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  Speaker 1: Seean He answered the phone like he.
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  Speaker 2: Was expecting a call. They end up doing this whole
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  impromptu interview right there in the middle of the standoff, get.
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  Speaker 1: Out with hostages in the other room. This is wild.
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  Speaker 2: That's John Wojtowitch for you. But as you can imagine,
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  this whole thing couldn't last forever.
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  Speaker 1: So how does it end? Does he surrender the FBI?
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  Speaker 2: They negotiate a deal, convinced John and his accomplice Sal
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  to let the hostages go. In exchange, they get safe
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  passage to Kennedy Airport and a flight out of the country.
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  Speaker 1: Wait, so they thought they were actually going to escape, right?
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  Speaker 2: It seems crazy, but somehow they bought it. Of course,
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  it was a setup. The moment they get to the airport,
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  tragedy strikes. Natural gets shot and killed, the only fatality
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  of the entire ordeal. John's arrested on the spots.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my god, what a terrible ending from a so. So,
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  what happens to John? Does he ever find out his
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  story becomes this like cult classic film? Oh my god,
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  what a terrible ending for so. So what happens to John?
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  Does he ever find out his story becomes this like
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  cult classic film?
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  Speaker 2: He does?
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  Speaker 1: He does?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? John gets sentenced to twenty years ends ob saving
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  five gets out in seventy eight. Okay, and get this
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  while he's locked up, Yeah, he actually gets to see
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  Dog Day Afternoon.
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  Speaker 1: He saw the movie in prison. What was his reaction?
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  Speaker 2: Well, he hated it.
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  Speaker 1: He hated it. Why what didn't he like about it?
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  Speaker 2: John always felt like the movie was inaccurate, you know,
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  like the exaggerated thing sensationalized the story, and they got
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  a lot of it wrong. Like what one of his
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  biggest issues The film makes it seem like he threw
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  his accomplice sal under the bus to save himself. John
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  always maintained he'd never do that, said loyalty was everything
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  to him.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I can see why that would be a sore spot,
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  especially in that world. What else bothered him?
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  Speaker 2: He also wasn't happy with how they portrayed his wife, Carmen.
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  Really yeah, it felt like it painted her unfairly, like
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  he left her for a man because of who she was,
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  which John insisted wasn't true.
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  Speaker 1: It's easy to forget there are always multiple sides to
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  every story, and a movie, even one based on a
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  true story, it's still, you know, someone's version of events exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Real life is messy, complicated. You can't capture all that
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  in two hours.
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  Speaker 1: So what happens to John after he gets out? Does
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  he ever reconnect with Liz?
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  Speaker 2: Sadly no, While John's in prison, Liz moves on with
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  her life. She tragically passed away in eighty seven from
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  AIDS related pneumonia.
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  Speaker 1: Oh wow, I didn't know that. So what about John?
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  Speaker 2: He returns to New York, lives with his mother for a.
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  Speaker 1: Bit, and get this what don't leave me? Hang him?
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  Speaker 2: He applies for a job as a security guard. Okay,
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  at a Chase Bank.
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  Speaker 1: You're kidding. He wanted to work for the same bank
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  he tried to rob.
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  Speaker 2: Seriously, seriously apparently he even joked about it in the interview,
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  something like, I'm the dog day afternoon, guys, so you know,
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  no one's robbing the dog's bank.
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  Speaker 1: I can't even imagine what they must have thought. Did
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  they think it was funny?
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  Speaker 2: They did not. Didn't get the job, But it shows
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  John never lost a sense of humor, Right.
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  Speaker 1: It really does. What a story.
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  Speaker 2: He was a complicated guy, lived a life full of
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  highs and lows, shaped by the world around him.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it reminds you that no one is just one thing.
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  You know, one event, even a bank robbery, doesn't define
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  a whole life.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely makes you think. Was he a folk hero, a
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  desperate guy pushed too far? Are or you know somewhere
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  in between?
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  Speaker 1: Right? There's no easy answer. Yeah, and maybe that's why
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  we're still talking about them, you know, for sure. And
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  on that note, that is your deep dive for today.
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  Who knew a bank robbery could be so thought provoking.
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  If you want to learn more about John Wotrovich and
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  this crazy piece of history, check out the show notes
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  for more information. Until next time, keep diving deeper.