The most infamous inmates of Alcatraz prison 90 years after it first opened
Once home to the US’s most evil criminals, Alcatraz now only opens its doors to tourists looking for a taste of the darker side of history.
On August 11 1934 – 90 years ago today – Alcatraz welcomed in the first prisoners who once ran riot across America.
The maximum security jail was marooned on a remote island in the middle of San Francisco Bay, and house more than 1,500 prisoners in the 30 years it ran.
Inmates only had the right to food, shelter, clothing and medical care, everything else was deemed a luxury, and had to be earnt under the strict regime.
So who were the most notorious people housed between its walls?
Alvin Karpis
Karpis, once officially public enemy number one, was the leader of a gang of robbers, hijackers and kidnappers.
The group killed anyone who got in their way, including innocent bystanders, and even pulled off a train robbery in Garrettsville, fleeing with a £27,000 fortune.
He was eventually captured and sentenced to life in prison in 1932 for ten murders, six kidnappings and a robbery.
Karpis served out the longest sentence of any other prisoners at 26 years long.
One former guard Al Bloomquist described him as a ‘mild nuisance’ and said he often complained about the prison’s poor conditions and fought with other inmates.
He was transferred to McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington as Alcatraz began closing down in 1962, where he died.
Al Capone
Alphone Gabriel Capone – also known by his nickname ‘Scarface’ – was an infamous gangster and criminal mastermind.
He had strong political connections meaning he was able to evade justice for a long time, until he orchestrated the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre which saw the killings of seven members of a rival gang.
His capture became a priority for newly inaugurated President Hoover, and in 1934 Al Capone was sent to Alcatraz.
He experienced harsher prison life in Alcatraz after coming from Atlanta Jail, where he bribed guards to bring him home comforts.
Two years into his time at Alcatraz, he was stabbed in the back by a fellow inmate, but he recovered quickly, and hevaed well during his incarceration.
He even formed a prison band called ‘Rock Islanders’ in which he played the banjo.
Capone spent the last year of his sentence in a prison hospital as his health detiorated, and he died at one of his mansions in 1947.
George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly Barnes
Barnes became a bootlegger during prohibition to avoid financial ruin.
But after meeting and falling in love with fellow outlaw Kathryn Thorne, he became increasingly notorious.
After he attempted to kidnap and ransom oil tycoon Charles Urschel, Kelly received a life sentence – but boasted to the press he will break out in time for Christmas.
The authorities took him seriously, and he was sent to Alcatraz, where he remained for three years.
But he boasted to inmates about a range of crimes he never committed.
He took a job as an alter boy in the prison chapel, with guards saying he seemed to be remorseful for what he had done.
He told guard James A. Johnston: ‘My family are good people. Only I turned out to be a heel.’
He died on his 59th birthday in 1954.
Robert Stroud, The Birdman of Alcatraz
Stroud was initially jailed for the murder of a bartender, who he claimed owed money to a prostitute he was pimping.
He was described as an ‘extremely dangerous and menacing psychopath’.
He was a violent prisoner, eventually stabbing a guard in Leavenworth Prison, Kansas, before being placed into solitary confinement.
He dedicated his alone time to studying and breeding canaries, even publishing books on the subject.
However Stroud was eventually sent to Alcatraz after he was caught using his ornithological equipment to brew alcohol.
He spent 17 years there – with no birds – writing and illustrating books and died in 1963, the same year the prison closed.
Roy Gardner
Gardner committed a number of crimes throughout his life, but he became notorious after robbing a US Mail truck in 1920, fleeing with a substantial fortune.
He escaped prison multiple times, and even managed to over power his guards on a moving train.
Gardner was sentenced to 25 years on McNeil Island, but orchestrated a succesful escape, manipulating two other prisoners – Lawardus Bogart and Everett Impyn – into joining but ultimately sacrificing themselves for him.
As the three men made their escape during a prison baseball game, they were hit by bullets, seriously injuring Bogart and killing Impyn.
As Impyn lay dying, he revealed: ‘Gardner told us those fellows in the towers couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.’
The law eventually caught up to Gardner, who only suffered a leg injury in the escape, and he was sent to various prisons, with his final being Alcatraz.
He described it as ‘the toughest, hardest place in the world’ despite being one of the most hardened criminals there.
During his time there, his wife divorced him and he worked at the mat shop and was released in 1938.
In 1939 he published his autobiography ‘Hellcatraz’, detailing his time there.
Frank Lee Morris, Clarence Anglin and John Anglin
Morris and the Anglin brothers ‘escaped’ from Alcatraz after they were
sent there for committing a number of crime sprees.
The group stole tools which they used to dig tunnels off the island, and built a raft and dummies from their beds and raincoats.
They went so far as to create life-size paper dummies to trick prison guards into thinking they were asleep.
They escaped on June 11 1962, and were never seen or heard from again.
It was presumed they had all drowned in the strong current, but no bodies have ever been found.
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