A fort was built on Alcatraz Island to protect the San Francisco Bay during the gold rush in the mid-19th century. Subsequently, it was adapted first as a military prison, and then - in a super-protected prison for especially dangerous criminals, from which it was impossible to escape. Being located on an island surrounded by icy waters with strong sea currents made any escape plan an absolutely crazy idea. All attempts to leave Alcatraz ended in the fact that the villains either died during the escape, or they were caught and returned to their cells. However, the fate of the three prisoners is still unknown, and even the special services do not rule out the possibility that they did manage to escape.
The escape was led by Frank Lee Morris, who was sentenced to 14 years for robbing a bank in 1956. He initially served time in an Atlanta prison, but after attempting to escape in 1959, he was transferred to Alcatraz. His accomplices were brothers John and Clarence Anglin, also arrested for robbing banks. Sentenced to 15 and 20 years in prison, the criminals were first assigned to Atlanta Prison, then to Florida State Prison and Leavenworth Federal Prison. For repeated violations of prison rules, the brothers were eventually sent to Alcatraz. The fourth accomplice was Allen Clayton West, who was arrested for carjacking and sent to Alcatraz after attempting to escape at another prison.
It took about seven months to prepare for the escape. The implementation of the crazy plan began with digging a hole. An old service tunnel was located across the wall from the cells. The inmates knew about this, and, trying to get to him, they took turns picking concrete from the wall. To punch the hole, they used a homemade drill, made from a sharpened spoon, a dime that replaced the solder, and a motor stolen from the vacuum cleaner. The criminals drowned out the noise of the drill with music.
For most of his life, Frank Lee Morris was in prison and made 11 attempts to escape, not counting this one. His IQ was 133 points.
On day X, the criminals had to gain time and make sure that during the evening round, the guards did not notice their absence. To do this, they put homemade heads made from scrap materials in their beds. They had to look as natural as possible, so the fugitives stole hair from the hairdresser. To make the frame itself, they used homemade cement, soap, toilet paper and paints borrowed from an art workshop. Under the blanket, the criminals stuffed all kinds of rags, which, together with a fake head in the dark, created the illusion of a sleeping person.
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Although Allen Clayton West was involved in organizing the escape, he did not escape with everyone else. He did not manage to get out of the cell in time and the trinity of accomplices decided to leave without him.
The water temperature in the bay was about 10 ° C. To prevent prisoners from getting used to cold water, the temperature of the water in Alcatraz's showers was moderately hot.
The escape took place on the night of June 11, 1962. The criminals put "mannequins" in the bed and climbed out through the hole they had made into the service tunnel. Having got out of the cells, they filled the hole with bricks from the inside. In the tunnel, they reached the ventilation shaft and through it entered the roof of the prison. We went down the drainpipes.
The corridor through which the path to freedom lay
The Trinity manages to get to the water unnoticed. To cross the bay, the fugitives made a raft from the rubberized raincoats included in the prison clothes, and oars from plywood. Both their own cloaks and those stolen from other prisoners were borrowed. A total of 50 raincoats were used. At 10 o'clock in the evening on a makeshift ship the criminals sailed from the coast.
Homemade paddles
The absence of prisoners was discovered only in the morning. The investigation into the escape lasted 17 years, after which the FBI closed the case. According to the official version, the fugitives drowned in the cold waters of the bay, according to the unofficial one, they reached the shore and disappeared. The latter is supported by eyewitness reports who saw a boat on the night of the escape in the bay, a Chevrolet disappeared on the shore, as well as unsigned postcards and letters that were received by relatives and family members of prisoners.
In addition, the version of the successful escape is confirmed by the experiment of the program "mythbusters". Jamie Heineman and Adam Savage waited for similar weather conditions and, having built a raft and oars from the same materials, sailed to Cape Marin. The crossing took about 40 minutes, after which the presenters concluded that, most likely, the fugitives managed to get to land. In 1993, the Alcatraz Red & White Fleet ferry operator awarded a $ 1,000,000 bounty for the capture of the fugitives. Until now, the award remains unclaimed.