THE HOLD UP ARTIST

To fellow tourists he met around the world, JEFFERY SHUMAN was a semi-retired developer with a bright smile, an even tan and a fat wallet. In truth, he was a legendary bank robber on the run from the Toronto police and the US Marshals. Inside the rise and fall of the Vaulter Bandit

- MALCOLM JOHNSTON

Sabrie Yilmaz followed a predictable morning routine. As manager of a TD bank in Mississauga, she would arrive at work around 7 a.m., unlock the doors, flick on the lights and start opening the branch for business. Perhaps because the process was so familiar, she hadn't noticed the man in the parking lot. For several days in a row, he sat in a silver Chevy Cruze just beyond the sweep of the security cameras, making note of her arrival times, taking down her licence plate, watching her every move.

The branch was in a shopping centre near the crook of Highway 427 and the QEW. As far as workplaces go in a city notorious for congestion, hers was relatively accessible. Yet for those same reasons, it was also the perfect site for a robbery, ideal for a quick score and an even quicker exit.

On May 8, 2015, a day she would remember for the rest of her life, Yilmaz woke early, pulled her jet-black hair into a tight bun and slipped on a loose-fitting pink blouse that covered her baby bump. At 35, she was pregnant for the first time. Mother's Day was two days away, and the city around her, finally in bloom after a historically cold, cruel winter, seemed to match her mood.

She arrived at the doors at 7:12 a.m. and greeted a young female teller and the bank's security guard, an elderly man who was chatting amiably with a construction worker. Since construction was happening nearby, the man didn't seem out of place. He was dressed in a hard hat, work boots, gloves and an orange shirt criss-crossed with a reflective X. In one hand, he clutched a black clipboard. Just as Yilmaz unlocked the doors, the man stepped forward and shifted the clipboard to reveal a pistol.