"Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs Dead at 84

Convicted of a train heist in Britain, escaped from prison, settling in Brazil. Returned to UK in 2001, was released from prison early on compassionate grounds

Notorious criminal Ronnie Biggs, who played a role in Britain's "Great Train Robbery" of 1963 and escaped jail to spend decades on the run in South America, died Wednesday. He was 84.

Biggs was one of a gang that staged a heist on a night mail train almost exactly 50 years ago and made off with a haul of $4.2 million – equivalent to about $64 million today.