This black and white inmate booking photo released by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections shows William P. Coyman, of Boston, who had been sentenced to prison for theft and drug possession. In August 2011, Coyman, who had a criminal history dating back to 1955, collapsed on the platform as he stepped off an Amtrak train at Pennsylvania Station in New York City and died. As medics tried to revive him, police searched his backpack for identification, and found $179,980 in cash bundled with rubber bands and tucked inside two plastic bags. (AP Photo/New Hampshire Department of Corrections)DAVID B. CARUSO
NEW YORK (AP) – The mystery began with a heart attack, a man with a past, and a bag of money that federal authorities now want to keep.
Last August, a retired Teamster from Boston stepped off an Amtrak train in New York City and collapsed on the platform at Pennsylvania Station. As medics tried to revive him, police searched his backpack for identification. Inside, they found the stuff that “Law & Order” episodes are made of: $179,980 in cash, bundled with rubber bands and tucked inside two plastic bags.
That raised some eyebrows. So did the dead man’s background.
William P. Coyman, 75, a lifelong resident of Boston’s Charlestown section, had a criminal history dating to 1955. His record included prison time in New Hampshire after he was caught with a pile of cocaine and $20,000 that had just been stolen from a department store.