Did the Thief and Christ meet in Heaven that day?

You see criminals hung on the cross for three to five days before dying. It was newsworthy that Jesus died in the same afternoon.

The text tells us that the Roman solders broke the legs of the two thieves when they took them down from the cross to prevent their escape (they may be taken away, not burried).

They simply pierced Jesus' side when they found Him dead already. So, they could not have met in Heaven that day because the thief did not die that day.

Looking further at the story, Jesus tells Mary after the resurrection "Do not hold Me here because I have not yet ascended to My Father."

So even if the thief had died on that day, Jesus would not have been to Heaven until Sunday!

This means that Jesus did not mean they would literally meet in heaven "today", but rather Christ was telling the thief that because of his faith today ("Verily I say unto thee today") he could be assured his slavation was secure and that he would be with Christ in heaven ("shalt thou be with me in paradise").