The mystery began with a heart attack, a man with a past, and a bag of money that federal authorities now want to keep.
Last August, a retired Teamster from Boston stepped off an Amtrak train in New York City and collapsed on the platform at Pennsylvania Station. As medics tried to revive him, police searched his backpack for identification. Inside, they found the stuff that “Law & Order” episodes are made of: $179,980 in cash, bundled with rubber bands and tucked inside two plastic bags.
That raised some eyebrows. So did the dead man’s background.
William P. Coyman, 75, a lifelong resident of Boston’s Charlestown section, had a criminal history dating to 1955. His record included prison time in New Hampshire after he was caught with a pile of cocaine and $20,000 that had just been stolen from a department store.
