Notorious bank robber nabbed almost 30 years after heists
Murderer, bank robber and prison escapee Alexander Robert MacDonald is behind bars once more – and facing 30-year-old charges for two more bank robberies.
A convicted murderer and bank robber has been extradited interstate to face more historical armed robbery charges, just as he finishes his latest long stint in prison.
Alexander Robert MacDonald, 76, was arrested on Monday as he was leaving prison in Queensland after finishing his 22-year sentence for nine armed robberies.
MacDonald was serving the Queensland prison sentence after being locked up for several decades in Western Australia for murder and robbery convictions.
He was extradited to NSW on Tuesday to face armed robbery and hostage-taking charges relating to incidents from nearly 30 years ago.
Police allege MacDonald entered a bank on October 28, 1996, in Coonabarabran, west of Tamworth, armed with a shotgun and demanded cash from staff.
He allegedly took a female customer hostage and held her until he reached his motorcycle to ensure his escape.
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Three months later, MacDonald allegedly robbed another bank in Laurieton, on the NSW mid-north coast, again armed with a shotgun.
After allegedly directing staff to fill his duffle bag with cash, MacDonald is accused of taking a staff member hostage and escorting her to his getaway car before releasing her.
NSW Police issued arrest warrants for both incidents in 1997.
Before his alleged NSW spree, MacDonald was already a notorious bank robber, having been convicted and sentenced to 22 years in jail in the 1980s for nine armed robberies in Queensland.
He escaped from Borallon Correctional Centre, west of Brisbane, on September 12, 1995, 12 years into his sentence.
After his escape, he committed another armed robbery in Busselton, southwest of Perth, in September 1996, again taking an employee hostage.
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Later, he met Melbourne man Ron Williams in January 1997 after he placed a newspaper ad for a general hand to work in the Western Austrailan mining industry.
The two started driving to Western Australia on February 25, but Williams never made it to a mine.
MacDonald later confessed to shooting Williams twice in the head, stripping the body of identification and clothes and burying it on a beach near Albany.
MacDonald assumed Williams’ identity and moved to Carnarvon, north of Perth, before hitch-hiking to Victoria in August 1996 where he was captured.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment in WA for the murder and robbery offences, with a minimum sentence of 25 years imposed.
MacDonald was forced to return to Queensland at the end of his WA sentence to serve the rest of the jail term he was serving when he escaped.
Upon his release on Monday, Queensland police executed the nearly 30-year-old NSW warrants and transported MacDonald to a watch house pending an extradition hearing.
The request for extradition to NSW was granted on Tuesday and the 76-year-old was driven to Tweed Heads Police Station and charged with two counts robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon.
He was also charged with two counts of detaining for advantage without causing injury and refused bail to face court on Wednesday.
-with AAP
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