Robert Bolden was sentenced to death by the Federal Government for the murder of a bank guard during a robbery
According to court documents Robert Bolden would rob a bank in St. Louis Missouri and in the process would shoot and kill a bank guard
Robert Bolden would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Robert Bolden would die of natural causes on Federal Death Row in 2021
Robert Bolden Photos
Robert Holden FAQ
When did Robert Bolden die
Robert Bolden died of natural causes in November 2021
Robert Bolden Case
In the afternoon of October 7, 2002, Robert Bolden, Dominick Price and Corteze Edwards attempted to rob a Bank of America branch in St. Louis, Missouri. Bolden had concocted a plan for the robbery which he discussed with Price earlier that day. According to the plan, Robert Bolden would use a handgun to disarm the bank’s security guard and then he and Price would hold the guard hostage, get the money, and drive away in Bolden’s car. At some point during the day Bolden recruited Edwards to assist in the robbery.
Robert Bolden, Price, and Edwards drove to a parking lot near the bank and got out of the car. Although Bolden had purchased a nylon stocking cap to conceal his identity, he did not wear a mask. When the security guard, Nathan Ley, came outside, Bolden approached, with Price and Edwards following 15 to 20 feet behind him. Bolden stopped a few feet away from Mr. Ley and the two men exchanged words. Bolden then pointed his handgun at Mr. Ley. A brief struggle ensued after Mr. Ley reached for the gun, but Bolden was able to fire it, shooting Mr. Ley in the jaw. As Mr. Ley fell, Bolden stepped backward and fired another shot, this time into Mr. Ley’s head. Mr. Ley died from the second gunshot.
Bolden, Price, and Edwards fled from the scene. However, several bystanders witnessed the incident and were able to provide a description of Bolden and his vehicle to the police. Also, the police gathered DNA evidence from clothing found at and near the scene that they linked to Bolden and his accomplices. Robert Bolden was arrested that evening.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1211786.html
Robert Bolden Death
Robert Bolden, a Canadian who’s been on death row in the United States since 2006, has died of natural causes.(november 2021)
Bolden, 58, was one of just two Canadians facing execution in the United States. The other, Ronald Allen Smith, an Albertan, is on state death row in Montana.
Bolden had been fighting to have his death sentence overturned; his last court hearing came just days before his death at a medical prison in Springfield, Mo., in September. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons says he died of natural causes.
In October 2002, Bolden shot and killed a bank guard, Nathan Ley, during a botched robbery in St. Louis, Mo. Four years later, on Aug. 25, 2006, Bolden was sentenced to death.
A statement from Ley’s family remembered him as “kind, funny, responsible, and hard-working.”
“We were fortunate that his killer was brought to justice. Too many families are not so fortunate,” the statement, released via the Bureau of Prisons, said.
In his early life — and in his later years — Bolden battled numerous health problems. For much of his younger life, he suffered from poorly controlled diabetes; by the last few years of his life, Bolden had stage-four kidney disease, was losing his vision and had considerable mental-health challenges, according to court documents.
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons did not respond to the National Post’s request for more information about the cause of death.
The case represented a uniquely strange one for Canada, because for many years during Bolden’s legal battles, the Canadian government was unaware that a Canadian was facing execution abroad.
The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, of which the United States is a signatory, obliges a nation to allow those under arrest to contact their consulate for assistance.
Bolden did not have this chance. And the Canadian government didn’t find out a Canadian citizen was on death row until 2012 — six years after he’d been sentenced.
This was a crucial aspect of Bolden’s fight to avoid death, in which his lawyer, Jennifer Merrigan, argued Bolden’s trial lawyers failed by not contacting the Canadian government.
“They knew that it was their responsibility to contact a foreign government … and then they failed to contact Canada without ever having learned how Canada could’ve assisted,” said Merrigan at the final court hearing in September.
Merrigan did not respond to the National Post’s request for comment. Nor did the Canadian government.
Robert Bolden was born in Stephenville, a town south of Corner Brook, on the west coast of Newfoundland, in 1963. His mother, Stella Decker, was a prostitute, his father, believed to be a U.S. serviceman named Curtis Roberts, was never a part of his life.
Rather, Bolden grew up with Lavale Bolden, another U.S. soldier, as his father. For Robert Bolden, his home life was one of “domestic violence, alcoholism and addiction,” with Lavale Bolden, a heroin addict, and Stella Decker, an alcoholic, fighting constantly.
Robert Bolden developed his own addictions, and he “spent a lot of his time in the basement … smoking crack, drinking alcohol, and huffing turpentine when alcohol and crack were not available,” says a psychiatrist’s report contained in court documents
Still, court documents painted Bolden as a dedicated father; his daughter, Ariel Bolden, described him as “really wonderful,” according to a court transcript.
“He did a lot of stuff with us and our friends. He used to take us to the movies. He used to collect Pokemon cards with us. He used to take us swimming; took us to Six Flags when his job went to Six Flags and a lot of stuff like that,” she said.
His son, Robert Bolden, said his dad took him fishing. They used to play basketball and video games together, and he was always pushing his children to get good grades in school, the son said.
“He was a really big influence in school to me. That’s why I wanted to stay in school, because of him. I wanted to do as best I can in school so I can make him proud,” his son said.