In July of 1932 Karpis, Phillips, Fred and Ma Barker, and another accomplice named Jess Doyle fled together from Kansas City to White Bear Lake in Minnesota, where they rented a summer cottage in a small resort. The gang maintained a low profile with the exception of frequenting a small nightclub called the Hollyhocks, which was owned by an a.s.sociate named Jack Peifer. Their crime spree continued with a daring daylight robbery of the Cloud County Bank in Concordia, Kansas, where they secured over $240,000 in bonds and thousands of dollars in cash.
The family paid for the services of a private detective named Jack Glynn to help negotiate the release of Doc, who was imprisoned at Leavenworth at the time. Glenn conducted independent investigations, and managed to win Doc"s release on September 10, 1932. Glynn had also attempted to achieve the release of Lloyd Barker, who was likewise imprisoned at Leavenworth. But the authorities were unmoved by Glynn"s attempts, and denied Lloyd"s appeal. Doc spent a short time visiting with his father and a small stint attempting to make an honest living as a gla.s.s blower, and then reunited with Ma and the others back in Minnesota. Volney Davis was also successful in getting paroled, and he soon joined up with Doc.
On December 16, 1932 the Barker-Karpis Gang robbed the Third Northwestern Bank of Minnesota, and the violent aftermath left one bystander and two police officers dead in a hail of machine gun bullets. The gang had thought that the bystander was attempting to get their license plate number, and had therefore shot him to death. Gang member Larry DeVol was captured, and he was found to have $17,000 in his possession from the Third Northwestern Bank robbery. The others took flight once again, this time making their way to Reno, Nevada, where they stayed for only a short period.
The reign of terror would continue as the Barker-Karpis Gang raged through the Midwestern States, eventually ending up in Chicago, where they murdered another police officer. The gang split up and kept separate residences, Ma living on the exclusive South Sh.o.r.e Drive, and Alvin cohabiting with Dolores Delaney, the sister-in-law of Pat Riley, a mobster from the Dillinger Gang. In 1933 the Barker-Karpis Gang had returned to St. Paul and was keep a low profile while they began to meet and plan the kidnapping of William A. Hamm, Jr., the President of Hamm"s Brewing Company. On June 17, 1933 the gang abducted Hamm, demanding a $100,000 ransom from his family and threatening his certain death if they tried to involve police. The ransom money was paid two days later and Hamm was released unharmed.
The gang"s next victim was Edward G. Bremer, a prominent community leader and President of the Commercial State Bank in Minnesota. Edward Bremer was the son of Adolph Bremer, one of the most well known figures in Minnesota, who owned his own brewing company. On the morning of January 17, 1934 Bremer drove his nine-year-old daughter to school, as part of his normal daily routine. After dropping her off, he proceeded to a crossroad and stopped to check for oncoming traffic. Volney Davis approached the Lincoln Sedan and held a pistol to Bremer"s head, directing him to "move over." Another man then entered on the pa.s.senger side and struck Bremer over the head several times with a blunt object, then covered his eyes with a pair of goggles that had black electrical tape over the lenses.
At 10:40 a.m. Walter Magee, a very close friend of the Bremer family, received a call at his St. Paul office from a man who called himself Charles McGee. The caller explained that Bremer had been kidnapped, and that a note could be found on the side of the building providing further instructions. Under a side door, Magee found a note which read: You are hereby declared in on a very desperate undertaking. Don"t try to cross us. Your future and B"s are the important issue. Follow these instructions to the letter. Police have never helped in such a spot and won"t this time either. You better take care of the payoff first and let them do the detecting later. Because the police usually b.u.t.t in, your friend isn"t none too comfortable now so don"t delay the payment. We demand $200,000. Payment must be made in 5 and 10-dollar bills - no new money - no consecutive numbers - large variety of issues. Place the money in two large suit box cartons big enough to hold the full amount and tie with heavy cord. No contact will be made until you notify us that you are ready to pay as we direct. You place an ad in the Minneapolis Tribune as soon as you have the money ready. Under the personal column you must write: We are ready Alice. You will then receive your final instructions. Be prepared to leave at a minutes notice to make the payoff. Don"t attempt to stall or outsmart us. Don"t try to bargain. Don"t plead poverty; we know how much they have in their banks. Don"t try to communicate with us; we"ll do the directing. Threats aren"t necessary - you just do your part - we guarantee to do ours.
Magee promptly notified the FBI, and they began a full-fledged investigation. Bremer"s abandoned car was discovered with bloodstains on the steering wheel, the gearshift, and all of the car seats. It was clear that a struggle had taken place, and the Bremer family feared that Edward was already dead. The gang quickly learned that the police had been summoned, and sent several more letters warning of the outcome if the family didn"t pull the police off the case. The gang also devised a new signal, which would be to place a special sticker on the office window when the money was ready, and they warned again that they would kill Bremer if the family failed to come through with the ransom. On January 25, 1934 another note and a key were found inside a can of Hills Brothers coffee. The note instructed Magee to open a locker at the Jefferson Lines Bus Station, located in downtown St. Paul, and stated that additional instructions would be found inside this locker. Magee complied fully with their demands, a.s.suming the name of John B. Brakesham and boarding a bus that departed at 8:40 p.m. for Des Moines, Iowa. But despite Magee"s efforts, the payoff failed to transpire as planned, and officials later found another note canceling the whole thing.
The kidnapping finally came to an end on February 6, 1934, when Magee received new instructions to locate a vehicle that had a note hidden in the glove box. Magee followed the additional instructions, which eventually led him down a dark dirt road at night, where he was to drop off the money. The FBI allowed the transaction to take place according to the wishes of the family, but they carefully recorded the serial numbers of the five and ten dollar bills. The following day, Bremer was released in the middle of an intersection near Rochester, Minnesota, and was told to stand with his back to the car and to count to fifteen before removing the large bandage covering his eyes.
After the kidnapping was safely resolved, U.S. special agents immediately embarked on an intensive investigation. Bremer had not been kept blinded folded all of the time, and he told agents that he could hear children playing outside of the hideout and two dogs barking frequently close to the house. Bremer had also studied his surroundings with great care. He had memorized the wallpaper and furnishings in the house, and the FBI searched for matching samples using old store receipts and other investigative means. Bremer had also heard traffic, and he told agents that when buses approached he could hear the drivers apply their brakes. Magee took agents to where he had dropped off the ransom money, and they found four flashlights that had been left behind. A young girl at a local store later identified photographs of Alvin Karpis and Doc Barker as the ones who had purchased the flashlights in downtown St. Paul. Bremer also remembered that his captors had thrown away a gas can that had been used to refuel the car during his kidnapping. The FBI recovered the gas can and it was found to have Doc"s full hand and fingerprints all over it.
The bills that had been used to pay in the ransom soon started surfacing in various banks around the Chicago area. Officials also later confirmed that Karpis and Fred Barker had met with Dr. J.O. Moran, a physician with close ties to Capone and the Chicago Crime Syndicate. Both of the criminals had received surgery to alter their facial features, and had also attempted the removal of their fingerprints. The operations were apparently severely painful, and the FBI later doc.u.mented that Fred became a "raving maniac" from the acute distress. Volney Davis and Doc later underwent similar surgery, also attempting to conceal their ident.i.ty. The Barker-Karpis Gang then started to split up to avoid apprehension, since word was growing stronger that the FBI was closing in on them.
Karpis moved to Cleveland, Ohio with Dolores Delaney, taking enough funds to live happily for several years. Soon thereafter Fred Barker followed them, and rented a home in a nearby housing development. Doc and several of the others also moved to Cleveland and led a fairly quiet existence. According to FBI reports, the gang still had about $100,000 of the original ransom money in their possession. The idyll was soon disrupted however, when a few of the female members were arrested for being drunk and disorderly in a hotel, and were quickly linked to the Barker-Karpis Gang. Karpis moved around the states, ending up in Miami, Florida, and then he and Dolores made their way to Havana, Cuba, where Alvin felt confident that agents would not find them. But Alvin Karpis would not be granted any rest, as his picture was already being circulated in the newspapers of Havana. He fled back to Miami, where once again several of the other gang members were starting to rea.s.semble.
The FBI noted that during this period, Doc Barker spent time hiding in Toledo, Ohio, where he became infatuated with a woman named Mildred Kuhlman. Until then, many of Doc"s a.s.sociates had termed him as a woman hater, who spurned female companionship with the exception of his frequent visits to houses of prost.i.tution. He persuaded Mildred to accompany him back to Chicago, where he promised a life of luxury and riches. When she agreed to go with him, the FBI had already put her under surveillance. On January 8, 1935 special agents surrounded the Barker house on Pine Grove Avenue in Chicago and took them both into custody. Agents also found a Thompson submachine gun, and the crime lab determined that it had been used in a robbery on August 30, 1933, in which a policeman had been killed with that very weapon. Also found in the house was a map with a street in Ocala, Florida circled in pencil. Doc received a life sentence for his role in the Bremer kidnapping, and was sentenced to serve his time at Alcatraz. He was shipped to the Rock in October of 1935.
The hunt intensified even with the capture of Doc and special agents quickly descended on the town of Ocala and began an extensive investigation, believing that the map found in Chicago indicated the whereabouts of other Barker-Karpis gang members. Their hunch was right and they soon learned that Fred and Ma were living in a remote cottage located on Lake Weir at Ocklawaha, Florida. At 5:30 a.m. on the morning of January 16, 1935, special agents surrounded the cottage and told Fred and Ma to surrender. No answer or movement was detected for nearly fifteen minutes, and then finally the voice of Ma Barker was heard shouting: "all right, go ahead." This was interpreted as indicating that they were going to surrender, but still no one emerged from the cottage. Seconds later the true meaning of the message was clear the agents were forced to take cover under an intense bombardment of machine gun fire. The agents returned fire with a heavy barrage of machine gun rounds, rifle shots and tear gas grenades, and finally everything became quite.
FBI agents waited for nearly an hour before entering the bullet-riddled gang hideout. When they went in, they found Ma Barker dead with a machine gun lying by her left hand, and Fred spread out on the floor next to the window, dead from multiple bullet wounds. He was still clutching a .45 caliber pistol. In the aftermath of the shootout, agents discovered a small a.r.s.enal of weapons and nearly $14,000 in large bills. The bodies of Fred and Kate (Ma) Barker would remain unburied from January 16, 1935 until October 1st, when George Barker finally received a.s.sistance for their burial. The two would be laid to rest in a small unknown and unmarked countryside cemetery in Welch, Oklahoma, next to the eldest Barker son Herman.
Agents had also learned that the hideout where Bremer had been held during his kidnapping was in Bensenville, Illinois. Bremer returned to the house and made a positive identification, which would ultimately led to more arrests. Special agents from the FBI continued their search to locate the other fugitives from the Barker-Karpis Gang. Their efforts were successful and they continued to make arrests, including the capture of Volney Davis and Dolores Delaney. Delaney gave birth to a baby boy while in prison, and the child was named Raymond Alvin Karpowicz after his father. The boy was ultimately turned over to Alvin"s mother and father to care for until Dolores was released a few years later.
Following the deaths of Fred and Ma Barker, Alvin Karpis would continue his criminal activities with other gangsters. After he and an accomplice returned to Toledo, Ohio, Karpis recruited another underworld figure and future resident of Alcatraz, Freddie Hunter. Karpis, Hunter and some other gang members pulled off a few more successful robberies, including a railroad station heist in which they made off with $34,000 in cash and nearly $12,000 in U.S. Treasury Bonds. It was reported that Freddie Hunter held the station"s mail clerk at gunpoint with a Thompson machine gun, while Karpis and the others gathered up the money. Hunter was later identified as the driver of the gang"s getaway car.
Freddie Hunter.
Alvin Karpis is pictured here being apprehended by FBI agents in May of 1936. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (seen in the foreground) he would later claim to have planned the capture and the arrest himself. Karpis would comment that Hoover was "nowhere to be seen" during the arrest, and that he came out only after the suspects were handcuffed.
Meanwhile J. Edgar Hoover had initiated an intense pursuit to capture Karpis and his a.s.sociate gang members. On May 1, 1936, under Hoover"s personal direction, the FBI descended on Karpis and Hunter in New Orleans. Hoover was on hand to command the squad of FBI agents who performed the arrest. Karpis would later laugh at Hoover"s claim that he had been present for the arrest, stating that Hoover was actually nowhere to be seen until Karpis and his accomplice had already been cuffed, when he quickly emerged for the photo opportunities.
Karpis would not formally partic.i.p.ate in the 1939 escape attempt, and would remain at Alcatraz for twenty-five years, the longest term ever served on the Rock. He was sent to McNeil Island in 1962, and finally released in 1969 under condition of deportment to his country of birth, Canada. Karpis would later write two books about his life at Alcatraz, including one bestseller, and he would thus acquire enough funds to fulfill his longtime dream of moving to Spain. His life in Spain is largely undoc.u.mented, but on August 26, 1979, Karpis was found dead from what was alleged to be an intentional overdose of sleeping pills. It was speculated that Karpis had likely run out of money, and had no other means to support himself. This was contested by many who knew him, and his death was officially ruled as occurring by natural causes.
Karpis on the day of his release in 1969. Karpis would hold the distinction for the longest single prison term on Alcatraz, nearly 26 years. He would spend a total of 32 years in prison and was finally granted parole on the condition of deportation to his native Canada, from McNeil Island. His lawyer James Carty, later stated that Karpis dreamed of moving to an exotic place where he could escape his past and live his final years in peace. He was estranged from his son Raymond, who had visited him once at Leavenworth (his son died in October of 2001), as well as his only grandson Damon, who died at only 15-years of age. Using money he acc.u.mulated from books, interviews and movie rights to his story optioned by Harold Hecht (producer of the Birdman of Alcatraz and other Hollywood greats) for the motion picture The Last Public Enemy (which never made it to production), he moved to Torremolinas, located in Spain"s Costa del Sol. Karpis led a quiet and simple life during his final years. Karpis died in August of 1979 at the age of 71.
A photograph of Alvin Karpis taken during his release from prison in 1969.
Henri Young and Rufus McCain.
Henri Young and Rufus McCain.
Two other accomplices in the escape of 1939 were Rufus Roy McCain and Henri Young. Both of their biographies are covered extensively in a separate chapter. Rufus McCain maintained a reputation as a difficult and violence-p.r.o.ne inmate at Alcatraz. He had built a record of violent acts and rebellion against his guards, and therefore he was no stranger to the solitary confinement cells in A and D Blocks.
Henri Young would later become one of the most famous inmates ever to reside on Alcatraz. He would also be the subject of several books and of the Hollywood motion picture Murder in the First, which chronicled the psychological effects of the harsh punishment he allegedly received while imprisoned on the Rock. Like McCain, Young had a long record of outbursts and unusual behavior. He was a problem inmate whose ill-mannered acts would frequently land him in solitary confinement.
William "Ty" Martin.
A mug shot series of William "Ty" Martin.
William "Ty" Martin was another accomplice in the escape who had a close a.s.sociation with inmate Bernard Coy, the gang leader of the 1946 "Battle of Alcatraz," which was debatably the most significant escape attempt ever to take place on the island. Ty was an African-American from Chicago, serving a twenty-five year sentence for armed robbery. He was well liked among the Caucasian inmates, which was unusual as there was heavy racial tension and segregation among prisoners during this period.
Dale Stamphill.
Dale Stamphill.
The last of the inmates who partic.i.p.ated in the escape of 1939 was Dale Stamphill, born March 12, 1912. Stamphill was a habitual criminal serving a life sentence for kidnapping and robbery. On February 17, 1935, while serving time at the State Reformatory in Granite, Oklahoma, Dale and twenty-one other prisoners escaped after killing a tower guard. Then on February 27, 1935, Stamphill and two accomplices, W.L. Baker and Malloy Kuykendall, robbed the 1st National Bank in Seiling, Oklahoma, and kidnapped Dr. Fred Myers from his residence at gunpoint. Dr. Myers was forced to treat a hip injury that Kuykendall had received during the bank robbery, and then to drive the men to Grazier, Texas, with a shotgun trained upon him. The outlaws were captured by the police, and Stamphill was sentenced to life imprisonment on October 26, 1937. He was initially sent to Leavenworth, but then was transferred to Alcatraz on January 21, 1938, because of his escape history.
Malloy Kuykendall, Ira Earl Blackwood and Slim Bartlett. William "Slim" Bartlett was rumored to have a smuggled a bar-spreader device to Doc Barker.
The Escape.
In the autumn of 1938, several months before the escape, Barker started recruiting his accomplices and plotting a breakout from D Block. After striking deals with other inmates to have a hacksaw blade and makeshift bar spreader delivered to him in D Block, Barker worked on getting himself thrown into segregation. On October 30, 1938 Barker a.s.saulted fellow inmate Ira Earl Blackwood while standing in line in the recreation yard waiting to file down to their work detail. Karpis later wrote that Ira had a reputation with most cons as a stool pigeon. a.s.sociate Warden E.J. Miller, nicknamed "Meathead" by the inmates, was on a month-long vacation, and Acting Deputy Warden C.J. Shuttleworth had Barker thrown into isolation for the full nineteen-day duration. After completing his time in isolation, Barker was moved to a standard segregation cell where he would remain until the escape.
D Block was one of the few areas besides A Block that had remained in its original state, just as it was when it was utilized during the military years. The cell bars were still of the flat soft iron type, with outward swinging door hinges similar to those found in A Block. The inmates would exploit this weakness to their advantage by using their hacksaw blade to saw methodically through the soft iron bars in sequence, filling the gaps with debris and paint to avoid detection. The bars that encased the windows of D Block were made of tool-proof alloys, and this would make gaining access an even greater challenge.
A typical cell in D Block, prior to the 1940 remodeling. Note the flat soft iron bars.
The D Block area had not yet been walled off from the rest of the prison, which allowed for the easy transfer of contraband from inmates performing clean-up details and other a.s.signments inside the main cellhouse. It was further rumored that inmate William "Slim" Bartlett, who apparently had worked as a machinist before being incarcerated, had requested permission to build a lap steel guitar. It was said that once it was completed, he smuggled the makeshift bar spreader into the main cellblock inside the guitar, so that another collaborator could pa.s.s it to Barker in D Block. The bar-spreader was in some respects similar to the device that would later be used by Bernard Coy in the 1946 escape attempt. It was small, consisting of two bolts with a cross thread, and if used in combination with a crescent style wrench, it could exert enough force to reposition and force apart the bar section.
Before the escape could be attempted, a few of the inmates would have to leave their cells and try to displace one the window bars, during a period when the guards would be performing duties in the main cell house. This was a risky undertaking, since they would have to leave their cells when noise levels allowed some degree of cover, also taking care not to be spotted by any of the custodial officers. During the early evening hours when the cellhouse inmates were herded into the dining room hall for dinner, two of the inmates left their cells to work on the window bars, while another went to act as a lookout, keeping an eye on the guard inside the gun gallery. The inmates manipulated a wrench to exert enough force against the bar, which snapped free from its foundation. Using putty and cement, they set the bar was back in its place to avoid raising suspicion. As the inmates worked, other prisoners around the cellhouse banded together to flush toilets and make various other subtle noises, in order to keep the guards from hearing the inmates working outside their cells in D Block. Once they were able to sneak back into their cells undetected, with the window bar prepared for easy removal, the inmates were ready to make their escape.
On the fog-laden morning of Friday the thirteenth at 3:00 a.m., the guard in D Block performed his customary counts of the inmates, thinking all of them to be asleep. At this hour there was only one guard on the cellhouse floor, and one in each gun-gallery. After the guard finished the count in D Block, he walked over to B Block and started his next round of counts. As soon as the path was clear, the escape accomplices bent out the lower bars of their cells, which they had been preparing for weeks, and made their way to the window. Karpis later wrote that Ty Martin was the first to climb through the window, and when his large shoulders became stuck, he hung helplessly attempting to squeeze through without making any noise. With Stamphill"s help he managed to painfully cram himself through the small opening and drop to the path eight feet below. After the five inmates had all made their way out of from the cellhouse, they stealthily hiked down to a small clearing at the water"s edge, and then started to gather wood, attempting to build a makeshift raft. The harsh waves pounded against the jagged rock forms as the men stripped down to their underwear, using clothing to tie the pieces of wood together.
By 3:30 a.m. the guard had started making another round, and he reached the disciplinary section at about 3:45. In a shocking discovery, he found one of the D-Block cells empty with the sheet stripped from the bed. He quickly ran to the administration phone and called the Armory, anxiously communicating the news of the escape. Minutes later, sirens and searchlights saturated the fog-shrouded island, and a quick phone call was placed to the Warden. Johnston quickly dressed himself and was met at the front door by a.s.sociate Warden Miller. Little information was available other than that the inmates had all been present during the 3:00 a.m. count. Captain Weinhold had been awoken, and he quickly reported to D Block. It was found that the five inmates, all of whom shared adjacent cells, had sawed through the bottom bars of each cell and were now missing. Meanwhile down by the water"s edge, as the sirens wailed in the distance, the inmates became separated and hurried to complete their improvised wooden rafts.
The fronts of Rufus McCain"s cell and Dale Stamphill"s cell following their escape.
D Block as it appeared following the 1939 escape. Note the spread bars on one of the cell fronts. Also note the extended cell front toward the rear of the cellblock. This was one of the early closed-front solitary confinement cells.
The area where the escapees entered the water, known today as Barker"s Beach.
The off-duty correctional staff poured into the Armory to get weapons, and then started to search the island in groups. The launch McDowell was sent out to begin searching the sh.o.r.elines through the dense fog. It was well known among the staff that the inmates would try to take hostages in their desperation to attain freedom, and officers were sent to search every conceivable hiding spot around the living quarters, including the Warden"s bas.e.m.e.nt. As the officers walked quietly along the roadway, one of them heard voices coming from a remote cove below, but was unable to see anything because of the fog. Finally, the road tower guard shined the powerful searchlight into the cove, and followed two figures running for the water. One officer observing from the roadway yelled at the inmates to halt, and fired several warning shots ahead of them. The two men hit the water, and the officers, now able to target the inmates, opened fire with a shower of machine gun and rifle bullets raining into the cove.
The first men to be captured were Young and McCain, who were stripped of their clothing, and stood chattering and cold from exposure. The two inmates were brought up to the visitor"s area of the administration building and given blankets until they could be escorted to the prison hospital. The cove proved to be too dangerous for the McDowell, so two officers took a small rowing boat into the shallow water, and pulled the wounded inmates Stamphill and Barker into the craft. Stamphill was lethargic and had suffered serious gunshot wounds to his lower extremities. He was. .h.i.t twice, with one bullet through his left leg just above the knee, the wound bleeding profusely from a severed artery; and the second to his right leg near the ankle. When he was carried to the Alcatraz Hospital, he was in critical condition. Barker was pulled into the boat and was also found to be critically injured. He had suffered gunshot wounds to the head and thigh, and he had an obvious fracture in his left leg that most likely resulted from a stray bullet. Ty Martin was found standing almost completely naked, wearing only a pair of water soaked socks, bleeding from several cuts and bruises and nearly frozen from exposure. Warden Johnston later wrote that when Miller shined the light onto him, Ty started yelling, "I give up, I give up." Martin was also taken to the hospital for an examination.
McCain and Young were found to be uninjured and both were immediately sent to solitary confinement in A Block. Martin was also treated and released back into solitary confinement. Barker was semi-conscious when he arrived at the hospital, and complained that he was in severe pain. Warden Johnston stated that they tried to get a formal statement from Barker His last words were doc.u.mented in a formal report by Junior Officer George Hoag, who a.s.sisted in the Operation Room. Hoag wrote in his report and recorded Barker"s final words: While in the hospital, after Stamphill and Barker were laying on the operating tables, at approximately 5:25 A.M. Barker started to roll and twist, you directed me to hold him from falling off the table, I stepped to table and held him, while doing so, Mr. Pepper, being on the opposite side of the inmate, Barker spoke to me, saying, "I"m crazy as h.e.l.l, I should have never tried it.
In a memorandum to the Warden dated January 14, 1939, Dr. Romney Ritchey described Barker"s condition: Re: Barker, Arthur, 268-AZ.
This will inform you that the above captioned Inmate, who came to the Hospital yesterday morning with injuries mentioned in a previous memorandum, showed a gradual lost of strength during the day and died at 5:40 P.M. last night.
When first brought in he was greatly confused but partly conscious and complained of pain in the left leg which was broken, and of being cold. Later on during the morning he was restless in bed and would rally to look around him but made no statement or gave any indication that he understood the situation more than to realize at time his own precarious physical condition. Everything possible was done to improve his condition and Dr. E. M. Townsend of the U.S. Marine Hospital was called in consultation. During the afternoon he became more restless and confused and was constantly rolling about in bed. His circulation became weaker more rapidly during the afternoon and his breathing more labored and it was realized that he probably would not survive the night. A Spinal Puncture revealed a large amount of blood in the cranial cavity resulting from a skull fracture. His condition showed little change after 3:00 P.M. until 5:30 P.M. when he became rapidly worse and in spite of stimulants died at 5:40 P.M.
Cause of Death: Fracture of Skull.
Doc Barker"s father could not afford to have his son brought back to Oklahoma. Warden Johnston arranged for a small formal service and burial in Colma, California, where ironically several other celebrity crime figures have been laid to rest, including the famous old-west lawman Wyatt Earp. Services for Barker were held on January 17th at the La.s.swell Funeral Parlor, and he was laid to rest in a pauper"s grave in the Mount Olivet Cemetery late that afternoon. Protestant Chaplain Wayne Hunter wrote a memo to Johnston stating that the only people in attendance were a prison clerk, two men from the funeral parlor, the manager of the cemetery, and four other cemetery employees.
The only unusual occurrence reported was that when Barker"s casket was being prepared to be driven to the cemetery, a drunk staggered into the funeral parlor and yelled out only one word, "Barker." When asked what he wanted, he turned around and walked out.
Doc"s grave was marked only with his Alcatraz inmate number, #268.
A telegram from Barker"s father asking that his son be buried in San Francisco.
Stamphill"s wounds proved serious but not fatal and he would remain in the hospital until April 8, 1939. He was subsequently transferred to isolation, and was kept there until August 3, 1940, when he was released back into the general prison population. The experience of the escape attempt seemed to have changed Stamphill; from then on he would maintain a fairly clear conduct record and he held several jobs in various departments at Alcatraz. Stamphill was approved for transfer to Leavenworth in 1950, and he remained there until his parole in 1956. Once paroled, Stamphill started a small tax preparation and business accounting firm, which kept him out of trouble for nearly ten years. He married, but soon after started having personal and business problems that ultimately led to severe debt, and he eventually would violate his parole following another burglary. He was returned to Leavenworth and released several years later. He died in September of 1998 in Kansas City following complications from a stroke.
A coroner"s inquest conducted by Coroner... B.W. Leland following the death of Doc Barker resulted in a deluge of negative press about the security practices at Alcatraz. a.s.sociate Warden Edward J. Miller appeared as the sole witness in the inquest. Miller admitted that the officers on duty could have been asleep during the escape and that they were "definitely not alert. " However he did make it clear that the officers were required to call the Armory every half hour, which made it seem very unlikely that they were taking a nap during the time period when the inmates had escaped from D Block. Miller testified that no saws had been found, and no trace of filings or any material which might have been used to conceal the progress of work on the iron bars. The instrument that had been used to force the "tool-proof" outside bars was likewise never found. The jury findings of the inquest stated the following: We, the jury, find that the said Arthur R. Barker met his death attempting to escape from Alcatraz Prison from gunshot wounds inflicted by guards unknown.
On December 30, 1940, Henri Young fatally stabbed Rufus McCain. He would later claim that this act resulted from conflicts that arose during the failed escape attempt of 1939. In news reports describing the murder trial, it was reported that Young stated to the jurors: "McCain held a great deal of animosity toward me. He wanted to use the wives of the guards as shields in the break, but I wouldn"t do it. I obstructed the plan. I told McCain freedom wasn"t everything, but he wouldn"t listen." Young"s life would later be fictionalized in the book and motion picture Murder in the First.
The escape of 1939 had been the first ever on the Rock to demonstrate a weakness in the main security system. This would be last escape to initiate from within D Block.
ESCAPE ATTEMPT #5.
Date:
May 21, 1941
Inmates:
Joseph Paul Cretzer
Sam Richard Shockley
Arnold Thomas Kyle
Lloyd H. Barkdoll
Location: