Two brothers named John and James Pardue kicked off a vicious life of crime in 1968, and in 1970 the two men terrorized the City of Danbury.

In 1970, Two Men Robbed a Danbury Bank + Blew Up the Police Station

The story of the Pardue brothers, their connection to Danbury and what happened in the Hat City in February of 1970 came to us from Mike Allen. Every Tuesday Mike joins the Ethan and Lou Show on I-95 for a feature called "The Place You Live" and this week it was a local story unlike any I'd ever heard.

John Pardue was a 27-year-old man in 1970 who lived in Danbury, his brother James was 23, and living in Lusby, MD. Before the story finds its way to the Hat City, and the brothers rob the Union Savings Bank on Main Street, they had already racked up quite the list of astonishing crimes.

Prior to Danbury, they robbed banks in Lewisboro, NY, Georgetown, CT and Union, MO. They also killed their father, their grandmother, two other men who helped them pull off the robbery in Georgetown, CT and had, at minimum, a role in the death of an innocent Bridgeport man that they stole a car from. John and James Pardue were hardened criminals before their Danbury bank robbery.

Other horrifying facts about the Pardue brothers:

  • They came from wealth - Their father was an engineer from the Shell Oil Company
  • John seemed to enjoy violence - John Pardue got into trouble while living in Westport, CT for shooting ducks at a local pond. He also shot at his father.
  • The apple doesn't fall far from the tree - The father (J. Russell Pardue) took shots at his wife with a gun.
  • Loyalty is not a virtue for these men - They killed two men who helped them rob a bank in Georgetown, CT. The murders took place in Redding, CT and the bodies were burned and disposed of in Kent, CT.

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