Henri Young

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For other people named Henry Young, see Henry Young (disambiguation).

Henri Theodore Young (born 1918) was a prisoner at Alcatraz who tried to escape with two other inmates, Arthur Barker and Rufus McCain and is best known for being the main character in the movie Murder in the First.

Young was born in Kansas City, Missouri. By age 14 in 1932, Young and his younger sister became orphans and were committed to an orphanage. A year later, tradition has it that he stole food supposedly so he could feed his starving sister and was put under warrant for arrest. He became a bank robber and was known for aggressively taking hostages. By 1935, he was arrested at age 17 and charged with killing a man. After spending time in prisons in Washington state, he was sent to the federal prison on Alcatraz Island. On the night of January 13, 1939, Young, with prisoners Rufus McCain and Arthur Barker attempted to escape. Barker was killed by the guards and Young and McCain were captured. Allegedly, the two were sentenced to long terms each in solitary confinement. but they were back in the prison general population within months. A year later, Young killed Rufus McCain by stabbing him with a knife; he never revealed his motive.

Following a trial in which his lawyers created much controversy by criticizing conditions at Alcatraz, Young was returned to that prison.

“Murder In The First” alleges that Young was tortured after his escape attempt, that he killed McCain in the cafeteria immediately after his return to the general population, and that he committed suicide in 1942 after his trial in order to avoid returning to Alcatraz after writing the word “victory” on the wall. But all of these movie 'facts' are wrong.

In reality, Young stabbed his victim not with a spoon, as in the movie, but with two knives he made in a prison workshop. What is not disputed is that Young was a person with a murderous anger who was very uncooperative during his trial. The real Henry Young remained in Alcatraz until 1948, and then stayed in a federal prison hospital until 1954. He was then handed over to the state of Washington because he had confessed to a murder there before he was sent to Alcatraz. He was not released until 1972. He was put on parole, but disappeared and his whereabouts are still unknown.

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While it is true that the court appointed two attorneys to represent young, only one, James Martin MacInnis,is worthy of note. At the time of the trial, MacInnis was around 26 or 27 years old (to answer some complaints that Slater was too young for the role) and was to craft an illustrious career in California trial law. MacInnis and his wife Edith were killed in traffic by a drunk driver in 1979. They are survived by three children.