Garrett Brock Trapnell

Who was Garrett Brock Trapnell?

Garrett Brock Trapnell was a con man, bank robber, and aircraft hijacker of the 1960s and early 1970s. Trapnell robbed a string of banks in Canada, frequently posed as an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, masterminded a $100,000 jewelry store heist in Freeport, Bahamas, and simultaneously maintained marriages with at least six women. When arrested for his crimes, he frequently feigned madness and successfully used the insanity defense to be committed to mental institutions, from which he would later escape or be released on the grounds that he was no longer dangerous. While serving life imprisonment for the hijacking of a passenger airliner in 1972, he was the subject of a book, The Fox Is Crazy Too, written by journalist Eliot Asinof. A paperback copy of that book was later found in the possession of John Hinckley, Jr., who successfully pled insanity after attempting to assassinate President Ronald Reagan.

Trapnell was a nephew of World War II hero and Bataan Death March survivor, LTG Thomas Trapnell and a cousin of naval aviation pioneer VADM Frederick M. Trapnell.