Deadly Heist

The True Story of the Mile High Bank Massacre

By: Steven B. Epstein

Narrated by: Kyle Tait

At just 21 years of age, friends Todd Wilson and Scott McCarthy were virtually inseparable. The pair reported for duty at United Bank of Denver at 6:00 a.m. on Father’s Day 1991—McCarthy’s first day on the job. They joined two more experienced guards and began making their rounds. By 9:30 a.m., all four were dead. The killer then descended upon the cash vault where he held six petrified tellers at gunpoint before absconding with nearly $200,000.

Eighteen days later, the Denver Police Department arrested one of its own. Not only had retired sergeant James W. King served on the force for 25 years, he’d recently been a guard at United Bank—often complaining about the abysmal security, including a decision to disarm its guards. But would he slaughter four of his unarmed successors to prove his point and risk a date with the execution chamber?

DEADLY HEIST is the captivating story of one of Colorado’s most notorious crimes and of a courtroom slugfest that would take a jury nine grueling days to resolve. Its verdict—delivered a year and a day after the bloody massacre—reverberates across the Rocky Mountains to this day.

©2025 Steven B. Epstein (P)2025 Steven B. Epstein

Critic reviews

"With a clear, crisp writing style, Steve Epstein has managed to capture something often lost in the retelling of a true crime: the deep human toll. It’s not just the four bank employees who lost their lives that day, but the ones who survived, left with lasting trauma and guilt. Deadly Heist is a compelling read, and also a vivid reminder of the intense human efforts so vital to bringing those accused of heinous crimes to justice."—Erin Moriarty, CBS News and 48 Hours Correspondent and host of podcast My Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty