UNSOLVED VEGAS MYSTERIES: What Happened to Stardust Bandit Bill Brennan?
Posted on: March 7, 2025, 12:28h.
Last updated on: March 7, 2025, 12:31h.
While researching the history of Las Vegas for our other two regular Casino.org features, “Vegas Myths Busted” and “Lost Vegas,” we’ve run across quite a few fascinating unsolved mysteries. Instead of continuing to ignore them, we’re delving in. Welcome to the inaugural “Unsolved Vegas Mysteries.”
Most Las Vegas casino heists play out predictably. The robber makes demands that are met, then they’re allowed to walk out of the casino. (Getting an innocent bystander shot to protect your money isn’t a good look for casino companies.) The perp is then captured within minutes, hours, days or, at the most, a few months.
The case of William John Brennan didn’t unfold like that. He didn’t make any demands, since he was an employee at the casino he robbed of half a million dollars. And he’s gotten away with it for 32 years so far.
Who Was William Brennan?
Brennan, 34 at the time, had worked for four years as a cashier for the sports book at the Stardust (where Resorts World is today). Co-workers and sports book regulars described him as a shy, polite and immensely ordinary guy who lived in an apartment across the street from the casino with his cat.
Part of his Brennan’s job was counting the nightly take and depositing it in the sports book’s vault. At 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 22, 1992., a half hour before his scheduled deposit, he exited the casino and never re-entered.
The morning in question was a Tuesday, immediately following a big game between the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears aired on ABC’s “Monday Night Football.” This insured a large betting handle.
A few hours after Brennan left the Stardust for the last time, about $225K in cash and $280K in casino chips was discovered missing. Police were contacted. They entered his apartment to find neither Brennan nor his cat.
What they did find were a number of books about how to change one’s identity.
Before the robbery, Brennan is reported to have befriended a “big bettor” at the sports book who didn’t have the best reputation.
“The was a bettor that we didn’t trust,” former Stardust sports book manager Richard Saber told KLAS-TV/Las Vegas decades later. “He was a shady character. He disappeared from the face of the earth too, just a few months after Bill had gone.”
Within a day, a warrant was issued for Brennan’s arrest, which activated a nationwide manhunt. Brennan even made the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Though many people called in tips seeking a reward, none ever proved useful.
How Did He Get Away With It?
- Since Brennan, a trusted employee, carried a bag of chips and cash every night, guards wouldn’t have found that a suspicious sight
- Police and security analysts were unable to determine where he exited the building, or in which direction he escaped. That’s because, in the most remarkable detail of the case, Brennan’s exit wasn’t captured by surveillance cameras — even though they recorded every square inch of the casino floor 24 hours a day
- Brennan has not contacted anyone in his family since the robbery
A leading theory has the big bettor hatching the scheme. Somehow, he convinced the good-natured Brennan to go rogue and take all the heat. Knowing that Brennan would eventually get himself caught, the big bettor murdered him before that happened, disposing of the body and taking the cash.
“I don’t think Bill Brennan ever left this city,” Saber told KLAS.
There is no evidence supporting this theory. However, there is no evidence supporting any other theory, either.
In 2006, the same year the Stardust closed its doors for good, Brennan’s case was dismissed by the US Attorney’s office in Nevada.
The exact reason for the dismissal wasn’t detailed in public records, but it aligns with the statute of limitations for many federal theft-related charges, which can expire after a certain period — typically 5 to 7 years under U.S. Code Title 18, Section 3282 — unless extended by specific circumstances, such as ongoing flight from justice.
Given Brennan’s disappearance and lack of new evidence 14 years after the crime, authorities likely concluded that pursuing the case further was untenable.
Last Comments ( 3 )
Shawn is a retard. Check the statutes on conspiracy. Limitations. Another public school moron. Don't forget Lefty managed 5 casinos not just the Stardust. And the people he worked for owned Harry Reid and others.
I knew Bill. I used to work as a bartender at the Westward Ho on the graveyard shift in 1992. As an avid sports fan, I would walk over to the Stardust on my break and look at the tote board.There was a little sports handicapper's library to the left of the counter where gamblers placed their bets.And to the left of that was a narrow corridor which led from the sports book to the parking lot.This was open to the public.I entered this way myself many times as I was residing in the Budget Suites directly behind the Stardust.Curiously, this single door entrance/ exit has not been mentioned in any report I have seen and was most certainly the way Bill exited the casino on September 22, 1992.Bill and I got to know each other from my frequent visits.We both worked from 12-8 and would occasionally have breakfast together in the diner.Not Toucan Harry's, but another diner on the west side of the casino.I cannot recall the name.Bill would get a comp from the supervisor and we would enjoy a hearty breakfast on the house. We would talk sports, about life and current events. Bill was good company.We had breakfast together a dozen times or so.On a handful of occasions we would go back to his room at the Convention Center Lodge and hang out as friends do for a couple of hours.This was in the summer of 1992. With football season approaching, Bill had come up with a plan He knew from previous experience on Monday nights, he would be assigned a till with $250,000 in cash and $250,000 in chips.That seems like a lot, though keep in mind, this was the major sports book in the city and a ticket written for $11,000 would require a payout of $21,000. Not uncommon at the Stardust.He told me that the only people working in the sports book at that hour was his supervisor and himself.He said his supervisor would take a 45 minute break every night, during which he would be alone in the sports book.He then told me of his plan to leave with the cash and chips in his register when his supervisor went on break.Bill then asked me if I would be willing to meet him in the parking lot to give him a ride out of town. Bill did not own a car.For this, he would pay me $10,000.I agreed .The day, time, or destination was not discussed.He wanted to see if I would do it .Unfortunately, I was fired from the Westward Ho for fraternizing with a cocktail waitress and lost contact with Bill.I ended up moving in with this lovely woman at The Paradise Bay Club apartments across from the Continental.One day, I went to the corner store and in the newspaper rack the headline blared "Stardust hit again".Next to the headline was a an old picture of Bill. I let out a whistle and shook my head.Bill did what he said he was going to do He found somebody to give him a ride.He was a great guy and I really hope he made it.So, a couple of things Bill didn't drink, smoke, or do drugs.He was an avid jogger.And as the papers reported, he did have a cat he was fond of.I remember him expressing surprise that someone making $8 an hour would be left by himself with a quarter of a million dollars in cash every night.The temptation proved to be too much.He knew that money would not last forever and mentioned moving to a college town and opening a business.To be clear my story is quite different from the narrative given by the Stardust.Their story doesn't quite make sense though.Their version is that Bill was responsible for counting the take from the previous shift and then making a deposit.This is unlikely.First of all, $250k is alot of money to count by hand.Too much.This would have required a counting machine. Now we have all seen counting rooms in a casino.It is usually glass enclosed, there are many cameras, the employees wear uniforms without pockets, and a security guard is present.So to go from that that level of oversight to a scenario where an employee wearing jeans and a flannel shirt is counting hundreds of thousands of dollars without camera surveillance in a back room of the sports book by himself is hard to believe.I would think the supervisor would be tasked with this responsibility or the money collected from sports bets would be taken directly to the counting room.Also, the reports I have read stated that Bill was supposed to count the money and deposit it in a vault .Another stated it was a safe-not a drop box.This would require an employee making $8 an hour to have the combination or access to a vault containing, literally hundreds of thousands of dollars.Again, unlikely Finally, if Bill was going to steal the take from a night of sports betting, it would not be on a Monday night.Monday night football starts a 6pm on the West coast and there would be modest betting on a Monday night after the game starts.If this was his plan, he would have done it on a Friday or Saturday night when many more wagers would have been made.When Bill told me of his plan, he did not say anything about taking a deposit.He only said he was going to take the money in his register.And he knew precisely how much he would be leaving with, minus the money he had to pay out until his departure.Thid is because Bill did not leave with deposit from the previous shift Bill left with the chips and cash he was assigned to start his shift.The story the Stardust came up with, I will speculate, was to assure that they would be compensated by the insurance company who underwrote the policy.The lack of security and oversight borders on negligible.Incidentally, I do not recall seeing surveillance cameras in the sports book at that time.Surely, this did not go unnoticed by Bill.As soon as his supervisor left, he stuffed the contents of his register into a duffle bag and left out the side exit to a waiting vehicle and was on the freeway heading out of town within minutes Brilliant! It would be interesting if an intrepid reporter could contact a former employee or two who worked at the sports book back then to find out exactly what the procedures were relevant to the handling of the cash at the end of the shift. The Stardust was outdated in terms of cash handling protocol as well as physical surveillance and Bill hit them in their soft underbelly! Well, the statue of limitations on this matter ran out a while ago, so this was a good a time as any to share my story.I have not mentioned any of this to anyone until now I hope you made it and are doing well, Bill.Bon voyage and All The Best! Truly, Shawn
I remember the case. Big hoopla back then. Thanks for the memories.