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Alcatraz in 2005
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| Date | June 11, 1962 |
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| Time | Approximately 10:00 PM (UTC-7)[1] |
| Location | Alcatraz Island San Francisco, California, United States |
The June 1962 Alcatraz escape was an escape attempt by American criminals Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, Frank Morris, and Allen West from Alcatraz Island, one of the United States' most famous prisons, it is possibly the only successful escape attempt from the prison.
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There were 14 separate previous escape attempts by 36 different Alcatraz inmates.[2]
Anglin brothers Alfred Clarence (born May 11, 1931) and John William (born May 2, 1930) were born in Donalsonville, Georgia, and worked as farmers and laborers. Together they started to rob banks in Georgia and were arrested in 1956. Clarence and John were given 15-20 year sentences and sent to Atlanta Penitentiary (where they first met Frank Morris and Allen West), Florida State Prison, and Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary.
Clarence and John then made several failed attempts to escape the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, and were consequently sent to Alcatraz.[3] John arrived on October 21, 1960, as Alcatraz inmate AZ1476, and Clarence arrived on January 10, 1961, as Alcatraz inmate AZ1485.
Frank Lee Morris was born in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 1926, and spent most of his early years in foster homes. He was convicted of his first crime at the age of 13, and by his late teens had been arrested for crimes ranging from possession of narcotics to armed robbery.
Morris had a long criminal history prior to serving time in Alcatraz. He was sent to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary following one of his arrests, where he first met the Anglin brothers.
Allen Clayton West was born around 1929.[4] He was sent to the Atlanta Penitentiary (where he first met Morris and the Anglin brothers) and Florida State Prison for hijacking as a car thief. He was sent to Alcatraz in 1957, charged with attempting escape, and became prisoner AZ1335.
West was the only one of the four conspirators who did not participate in the actual escape, as he was unable to open the ventilator grill in his cell in time.[5] By the time he opened his ventilator grill, the others were gone and had taken the life raft with them. With no means of leaving the island, West had no choice but to remain in his cell until the escape was discovered the next morning. After the escape was discovered he gave several interviews to the FBI and prison authorities, during which he provided full details of the escape plan, possibly as some plea bargaining strategy. West was never charged for trying to escape from Alcatraz.
West left Alcatraz on February 6, 1963, then was transferred to McNeil Island, Washington and later Atlanta, Georgia. [4] After his release from federal prison on January 7, 1965, West was sent to serve prison sentences in Georgia and Florida.[4] He was released in 1967, but was later arrested in Florida on charges of grand larceny, robbery and attempted escape.[4] Receiving multiple sentences, including life imprisonment, West was sent to Florida state prison in January 1969.[4] On October 30, 1972, he fatally stabbed another prisoner in what may have been a racially-motivated incident.[4] In December 1978, suffering severe abdominal pains, West was sent to the Shands Teaching Hospital, where he died of acute peritonitis on December 21, 1978, at the age of 49.[4]
By September 1961, Morris, West, and the Anglin brothers were planning an elaborate escape attempt. By late May 1962, Morris, West, and the Anglins had finished cutting through the walls of their cells.
The escape was attempted on the night of June 11, 1962.[2] Morris and the Anglins climbed up the ventilation shaft through one of the utility corridors behind the cell and reached the top of the roof. The trio then climbed down the rooftop, pumped up their rubber raft, jumped in and paddled away into the night. The next morning police searched for the escapees on Alcatraz and Angel Island without success. In 1962 the three were put on the FBI's Most Wanted List. West did not make it out of his cell and no charges were pressed against him.
The acting warden said they put dummy heads, made of a mixture of soap, toilet paper and real hair in their beds to fool prison officers making night-time inspections.[6] Morris and the Anglin brothers subsequently disappeared without a trace and are still wanted by the FBI, although they are believed to have perished in San Francisco Bay.[7]
Following an investigation, it was revealed that the inmates escaped from the island by creating a hole in the building to get to the roof over a long period of time using common objects. They then climbed over the prison's fence and assembled a raft made of the prison's standard issue raincoats and contact cement, launching it from the northeastern coast of the Island.[2]
It is unknown what occurred after the inmates launched the raft. The escape was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, beginning on June 11, 1962. In theory, the three inmates could have gotten to Angel Island, but the FBI stated that the cold water temperature and direction of the ocean's tides made the odds against them.[2] The FBI also stated that the plans of the inmates were to steal clothes and a car once they reached land, although no car or clothing thefts were reported in the area following the escape.[2] The case was closed by the FBI on December 31, 1979 after a 17 year investigation.[2]
As late as September 2009, the case was still being investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to a story broadcast on National Public Radio. U.S. Marshal Michael Dyke told NPR, "There's an active warrant and the Marshals Service doesn't give up looking for people," he said. "In this case, this would be like saying, 'Well, yeah, they probably are dead. We're going to quit looking.' Well, there's no proof they're dead, so we're not going to quit looking." Dyke said that he still receives leads, including one as recently as two weeks before the story aired.[8]
In the first season of Mythbusters (eighth episode, first aired December 12, 2003) the feasibility of escaping Alcatraz on a makeshift raft was tested, and judged to be possible.
In 1963, J. Campbell Bruce published his book Escape from Alcatraz about escapes from Alcatraz Island, including that of Morris and the Anglin brothers.[9]
The 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz starred Clint Eastwood, Fred Ward, and Jack Thibeau as Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin respectively. Allen West was played by Larry Hankin; his character's name was changed to Charlie Butts. The film strongly implied that the three made it. [10]
Northern Virginian Metal/Hardcore band, In Alcatraz 1962, is named after the 1962 escapes.
Pop-rock band Capital Lights recorded a song entitled "Frank Morris" about the 1962 escape on their debut album This is an Outrage!