Escape from Alcatraz: The True Crime Classic

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My teenager asked a few weeks ago about the "prison on the island" on our way to baseball practice. Having been to Alcatraz myself and having seen the Clint Eastwood movie several times I mentioned to all of my sons that there were three men that escaped from it before it was shut down. Naturally that led to tons of questions about the escape from the curious. Of course each time I answered a question broadly the questions got more specific so when I got home I logged on hoping there was a book for kids about the escape. And I found this gem. Albright, Jim (March 30, 2008). Last Guard Out: A Riveting Account by the Last Guard to Leave Alcatraz. AuthorHouse. p.182. ISBN 978-1-4343-5077-0 . Retrieved September 8, 2012. James Boarman (January 1, 1919 – April 14, 1943), Harold Martin Brest (January 2, 1914 – May 31, 1979), Floyd Garland Hamilton (June 13, 1908 – July 24, 1984), and Fred John Hunter (October 13, 1899 – November 30, 1982), managed to cut window bars in the industries building's mat shop without being noticed and assemble four cans that contained army uniforms and could serve as flotation devices. They then overpowered two guards, bound and gagged them and escaped out the window, leaving behind two of the four cans. One of these guards managed to get his whistle loose and the other managed to slip his gag and blow the first guard's whistle, alerting the tower guards who opened fire on the prisoners. [11] [12] [13] [14]

a b McFadden, Robert D. (June 9, 2012). "Anniversary of a Mystery at Alcatraz". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022.Also, towards the end of the book, the author dismisses all clues pointing to the idea that the trio survived as unconvincing, while all clues pointing towards death and failure, no matter how flimsy the clues, are regarded as believable. She also speculates that, had the men escaped, they would have immediately gone on a long, loud crime spree, and been caught. This speculation is a tad bizarre, considering the fact that the escapees were able to plan and carry out one of the most incredible escapes in history, and keep their mouths shut about their plans for years. Seems it’s in the author’s family DNA to underestimate the prisoners on Alcatraz. In a 2019 episode of the series Mission Declassified, investigative journalist Christof Putzel corroborated much of the information released by the FBI and other sources, including the raft found on Angel Island. He quoted various reports mentioning a blue Chevrolet, of the same description as the one stolen after the escape, spotted in Oklahoma, [79] Indiana, [80] Ohio, [81] and South Carolina, where, three months after the escape, three men matching the escapees' description attempted to acquire a residence in the woods. [82] In popular culture [ edit ] Graff, A. (October 12, 2015). "New claim: Alcatraz escapees might have survived. could still be alive". SF Gate . Retrieved October 13, 2015. Left: Alcatraz. Right: A Malpaso-Paramount production bench used during the filming Screenplay and filming [ edit ]

Diaz, Eric (November 3, 2023). "LOKI REVEALS HOW ONE CHARACTER WAS INVOLVED IN AN INFAMOUS HISTORICAL EVENT". Nerdist . Retrieved November 4, 2023.

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Although, as Babyak indicates in her narrative, it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Complications arose weekly-daily, even- when materials wouldn’t show up, inmates had been told about their plan and threatened to compromise the whole thing or when guards did ‘shakedowns’ to turn over everything in their cells. The operation included whole wings of the prison and was one of the largest prison breaks of all time. Almost everyone did something to help. Klein, Christopher. "10 Things You May Not Know About Alcatraz". History in the Headlines . Retrieved February 26, 2017. A culmination of her persistence and skill produced the most engaging, accurate and well-written narrative of the build up and then consequences of the escape. She combines the emotion of the guards recalling their mistakes with the evidence produced in the FBI investigation, to create a whirlpool of engaging twists and turns that recall the fast- flowing events leading up to the fateful day. 90 photographs are used to further immerse you in the inmates’ world, including images used in the investigation afterwards, and aerials of the island to help you visualise their escape route. This history did however bring to the fore that there had been other escape attempts from Alcatraz which were at least as successful (two men sailing away in darkness on a self made craft and never seen again) or even more successful (man forging warden’s signature on release form and just waltzing off), which makes one wonder why this particular – probably failed – escape attempt was able to write itself into legend and receive (what’s supposed to be) it’s own book. A day after the escape, a man claiming to be John Anglin called a lawyer, Eugenia MacGowan, in San Francisco to arrange a meeting with the U.S. Marshals office. When MacGowan refused, the caller terminated the phone call. [56] [54]