Notorious 1987 Bank Robber Linked to Paula Deen Heist Discovered Dead in New York City

A man notorious for once robbing a bank and holding up disgraced celebrity chef Paula Deen back in 1987 was discovered dead in his Brooklyn home on Thursday.

Eugene Thomas King, Jr. was found unresponsive in his apartment in Brooklyn by authorities and was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical services later that evening, as reported by sources.

The medical examiner determined that King passed away from natural causes. He was 75 years old.

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner disclosed to TMZ that King’s death was due to hypertensive and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

King became infamous for a bank robbery where he confronted Deen, who at the time was working as a teller before her rise to fame. According to Deen, during the heist, King “never took the gun out of my face,” as she recounted in her police statement.

Following the robbery, King was convicted and served time in prison. He expressed remorse in a police statement, asking authorities to convey his apologies to Deen, stating, “I never intended to hurt anyone.”

King’s profile was relatively low until Deen referenced the robbery incident during a 2013 lawsuit.

In a deposition for the suit – in which a manager of a restaurant owned by Deen alleged that the Food Network star and her brother engaged in sexual and racial harassment – Deen was asked if she had ever used any racial epithet, including the N-word. 

“Yes, of course,” Deen told the examiner. When asked to clarify when, she said, “It was probably when a black man burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head.” 

Deen’s admission to using the slur to describe the robber destroyed her career, while also bringing King to the public’s attention. 

Reporters later asked King about his reaction to Deen’s use of the slur. 

“I really feel for her,” King told Inside Edition in 2013. “She’s being persecuted because of that one little mistake in her judgment.  She was acting out of anger.”

The NYPD directed inquiries to the city medical examiner, which did not immediately respond to a request for information.