Robert Trenholm in 1955
Real Name: Robert F. Trenholm
Aliases: Francis R. Nye, Robert F. Murphy, Robert F. Kostas, John Robert Cahill, Anthony Michael Shea, Tony Shea, Robert Coyne, Robert Carren, Robert Kostros, James Russell
Wanted For: Robbery, Rape, Assault, Escape
Missing Since: 1985
Case[]
Details: Sixty-year-old Robert Trenholm is considered the definition of a “career criminal.” He is an escaped convict with a criminal record that stretches back four decades, with convictions for robbery, assault, and rape. On May 8, 1955, while jailed at the Essex County Industrial Farm in Massachusetts on robbery, assault, and battery charges, he and two other inmates took two guards hostage during a daring escape. They later released the hostages in Boston. He and one of the other inmates were captured the next day in his hometown of Lynn, Massachusetts.
Trenholm was later sentenced to more than ten years in prison. In November 1955, he was involved in a fight in which a guard was injured. After his release, Trenholm was involved in a robbery in Saugus, Massachusetts. He was arrested and held in the Essex County Jail while awaiting trial. On January 10, 1963, he and another inmate escaped by sawing through the cell bars. They were both recaptured later that day.
After his second release, Trenholm married and had three children. In 1981, he was charged with forcible rape and indecent assault and battery of a child. The victim was his own five-year-old daughter. He was convicted on those charges and given a six-to-ten-year sentence. But on April 25, 1985, he escaped from a Massachusetts prison.
Trenholm traveled to Van Nuys, California, where he married for the second time. According to family members, he conned his new wife out of $21,000 and tried to rape her eighteen-year-old daughter. But before the police could close in on him, he disappeared. He has since been seen in Tampa, Florida. Police believe he may be traveling back and forth between Florida and California.
Extra Notes:
- This case first aired as a Special Bulletin on the November 22, 1996 episode.
- It was excluded from the FilmRise release of the Robert Stack episodes.
Results: Captured - In December 1996, Trenholm was seen in Tampa, Florida. However, police were unable to locate him at that time. In January 2002, investigators in Massachusetts learned that he was living in Lexington, Kentucky, under the alias “Patrick Murphy.” They forwarded this information to the FBI. On January 17, 2002, Trenholm was arrested by FBI agents at his home in Lexington.
Links:
- Robert Trenholm on Unsolved Archive
- “Tough” Trio Flees; 2 Quickly Seized - May 9, 1955
- State Prison Guard Slugged by Convict in Cellblock Brawl - November 18, 1955
- Transferred Convicts Well Known to Public - January 14, 1958
- Pair Captured, 3d Hunted in 2 Jail Breaks - January 11, 1963
- Commonwealth vs. Robert F. Trenholm - December 8, 1982
- Suspect sought on escape charges - October 28, 1991
- FBI agents arrest fugitive in Kentucky - January 18, 2002