June 19, 2013

Crime History: Suburban D.C. bank robbers hijack jet plane to Cuba

BY: SCOTT MCCABE OCTOBER 28, 2012 | 8:00 PM
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On this day, Oct. 29, in 1972, a D.C.-area father, his two teenage sons and another teen hijacked a jetliner in Houston and flew it to Cuba four days after killing an Arlington County police officer and a bank manager during a bungled bank heist.

Charles A. Tuller, 48, a former U.S. Commerce Department executive and self-styled "white middle-class revolutionary," and his gang of former T.C. Williams High School students killed a ticket agent before commandeering the 727 jet to Havana.

Three years later, the Tullers snuck back into the U.S., describing life in Cuba as a "living hell." One son was arrested during an attempted robbery in North Carolina and four days later, Charles and his other son gave themselves up to the FBI.

The Tuller gang was sentenced to life in prison. Charles Tuller died behind bars in 1987.

- Scott McCabe

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