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.

Corey Levitan Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

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?

1. Since Brennan, a trusted employee, carried a bag of chips and cash every night, guards wouldn’t have found that a suspicious sight
2. 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
3. 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.