Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years

by Michael Esslinger

  His present crime he says was committed because he was out of funds and was actually hungry most of the time. He says he met a man sleeping in a Park in Sacramento who persuaded him to go along while they robbed a store and post office near Orville California. He claims that he did not actually go with the man to Orville but that the man himself proceeded with his plan and robbed the store and finally was arrested and confessed and lay the blame on Bowers, he himself going free for his testimony.

  Dr. Ritchey’s 1933 report at McNeil Island stated Bowers’ official mental diagnosis as “constitutional psychopathic state, inadequate personality, emotionally unstable and without psychosis.” However, fellow inmates of Bowers’ at Alcatraz considered him insane. In a subsequent report by Dr. Hess, there were references to Bowers that indicated some suggestion of mental illness. Bowers believed that other inmates were plotting against him, and he alleged that he could “hear” them talking about him at night after lights out. On March 7, 1935, he attempted suicide by trying to cut his own throat with a broken glass lens. The attempt was unsuccessful, as the wound was only superficial. He apparently reported hearing voices, and would continually ask to be admitted to the hospital for protection. But each time he was admitted, he would quickly demand to be released.

  The silence rule and strict unrelenting routine at Alcatraz seemed to weigh heavily on Bowers’ mental state. In one incident which occurred on June 1st, 1935 and was documented by Deputy Warden C.J. Shuttleworth, Bowers was waiting in line to go to work in the laundry when he started shouting: “Put me in the dungeon. I do not want to go to work.” While this may have seemed to some like a relatively minor misbehavior, Bowers was punished harshly by being placed in solitary confinement with the “solid door open,” and put on a restricted diet. At around the same time, a letter from an inmate was smuggled to a San Francisco newspaper, alleging “cruelty practices on prisoners” at Alcatraz, which were causing inmates to go insane. The letter was rumored to have been smuggled out by a correctional officer, and Bowers was one of four inmates named in the case.

  Warden Johnston later wrote that he looked at Bowers as “a weak-minded man with a strong back who would get piece of mind by exercising his body.” This essentially translated to a trivial and tough labor work assignment for Bowers at the island’s incinerator, which was located on the lower level on the west side of the island, close to a wire fence that rimmed the shoreline. It appeared that Bowers was coping well with his job until the day of the escape. There have been several versions proposed as to the etiology of Bowers’ ascent of the fence.

  Correctional Officer E.F. Chandler

  The Road Tower and Incinerator from where Chandler pitched aim at Bowers with a high powered rifle. After being struck by two bullets, Bowers fell on the side of freedom onto the rocky cliff.

  On the day of the escape attempt, Correctional Officer E.F. Chandler reported his recollection of the events to Warden Johnston in a formal memorandum:

  While on duty in the Road Tower at about 11:00 A.M., I suddenly looked to see inmate Joseph Bowers 210-AZ on the top of wire fence attempting to go over, I then yelled at him several times to get down but he ignored my warning and continued. I fired two shots low and waited a few seconds to see the results. He started down the far side of the fence and I fired one more shot, aiming at his legs. Bowers was hanging on the fence with his hands but his feet were pointing down toward the cement ledge. After my third shot I called the Armory and reported the matter. When I returned from calling the Armory, the body dropped into the bay.

  Several other correctional officers witnessed the shooting, and essentially confirmed Chandler’s report. Guard Joe B. Steere also described what he had witnessed in his report to Deputy Warden C.J. Shuttleworth:

  At about 11:00 A.M., I was in the industries area between the Mat Factory and Blacksmith Shop, when I heard a shot fired apparently from the Road Tower. I ran to the corner of the building and looked at the tower and saw Mr. Chandler raise his rifle for another shot. I looked in the direction he was aiming, expecting to see a boat, but saw Number 210 with his back to me going over the fence in back of the incinerator. Mr. Chandler fired and I started to run towards the incinerator. When Mr. Chandler fired a third shot, I was between the Renovating Plant and the Rock Crusher. I looked at Number 210 then and could see only his head due to the fact I was running parallel to the fence at this point and Number 210 was around a bend in the offset where the incinerator is located. He then disappeared from my sight.

  When I reached the incinerator and looked down through the bars over the concrete chute, I could see him lying on his back on the rocks just at the edge of the water. The Deputy Warden was in the Road Tower and instructed me to attempt to reach the body by going over the side of the cliff. I then went through the gate and down the lower road and dropped down from the retaining wall to the rocks of the cliff, and tried to go down the face of the cliff, but I was unable to proceed very far. I remained here until the trucks arrived with slings and ropes. Then I assisted Mr. Curry who went down on a rope and secured the body until the Launch "McDowell" arrived.

  Sanford Bates, Federal Director of Prisons, was on Alcatraz at the time conducting an inspection of prison workshops, accompanied by Warden James A. Johnston. Following the inspection, the two were entering the office of the warden when the gunfire broke out. Johnston would then request that the escape siren be sounded for the first time ever on Alcatraz, and several guards were directed to report to the escape location. Dr. George Hess also responded after hearing of the injuries inflicted, and he pronounced Bowers dead before the body was secured with ropes and pulled into the launch.

  During the initial examination, Hess reported that in his opinion, Bowers might have broken his neck in the fall. After the body was brought to the mainland and transferred to the coroner’s office, Dr. Hess was permitted to attend the autopsy performed by Dr. Sherman Leland. Although Bowers had fallen approximately seventy-five feet, his physical trauma was limited to two gunshot wounds. Hess recorded:

  A bullet wound into the right posterior chest, just lateral to the scapula and penetrating the right lung. Upon opening the chest cavity it was found that the bullet had transversed the chest cavity and had emerged from the left chest just below the clavicle leaving a ragged wound about two inches in length. As the bullet emerged from the chest it fractured the second rib on the left side. There was also found a bullet wound of the right buttock and right thigh. These wounds were made by fragments of a bullet and no whole bullet was found. No other bones of the body were fractured.

  Following Bowers’ death, tension increased between the correctional staff and the inmates of Alcatraz. During the investigation, Correctional Officer Chandler was reassigned to work in the Armory. There were several rumors going around that Bowers had been shot in cold blood. The San Francisco Examiner published former inmate Henry Larry’s account of the incident in a feature article entitled Inside Alcatraz, which described tales of abusive incarceration practices at Alcatraz. Larry alleged that Bowers had simply climbed the fence to feed a seagull, and suggested that Bowers’ disturbed mental condition was a result of the treatment he had received at Alcatraz. Other inmates later reported that Bowers had been ordered to clean the area, and he was only attempting to pick up papers that were lodged high up on the fence. These accounts were quickly dismissed, as the correctional staff confirmed that Bowers was “aggressively” attempting to “go over.” It was determined in the investigation that Chandler’s actions were fully justified. One report stated that any lesser response would have been deemed a breach of duty. Bowers was buried at the Mount Olive Cemetery in San Mateo, California

  The San Francisco Examiner published former inmate Henry Larry’s account of the Bowers escape attempt in a feature article entitled Inside Alcatraz. Larry’s article was one of the first “inside stories” to surface in the press.

  ESCAPE ATTEMPT #2

  Date:

  December 16, 1937
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  Inmates:

  Theodore Cole

  Ralph Roe

  Location:

  Mat Shop (Model Industries Building)

  The second fateful escape attempt would end in the suspected death of two inmates in the icy waters of the turbulent bay. The headlines would read “ISLAND LEGEND SHATTERED,” as the name “Alcatraz” had until then been synonymous with the word “escape-proof.” Fellow inmates Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe had been long-term associates at McAlester and Leavenworth prisons, both had established escape records, and each was known in their own right as a Houdini of escape. Their crafty escape plan would give them the opportunity to sneak beyond the view of a correctional officer, and then slip past the barbwire fences and into the chilly waters of the fog-laden bay, never to be seen again.

  Theodore Cole

  Theodore Cole

  Theodore Cole was a violent killer who had escaped a death sentence through “sentimental pressure.” Born April 6, 1912 in Pittsburg, Kansas, Cole began his life of violent crime in his early teens. He was the youngest in a family of one brother and two sisters and grew up primarily in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father died when he was only two years of age and his mother eventually remarried in July of 1925. It is documented that his mother and his new stepfather were both strict disciplinarians. His family moved about frequently as his stepfather, a paving contractor, strived to maintain steady employment.

  In February of 1927, at only fourteen years of age, Cole robbed a gas station using a handgun. Cole’s criminal record would grow over the coming years to include a variety of burglaries, one of which would involve the non-fatal shooting of a police officer in Hot Springs, Arkansas. At seventeen, Cole robbed the Dr. Pepper Bottling Works in Tulsa, and this crime resulted in another conviction for armed robbery. His parents spent everything they had to defend their son, but their efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful. Cole was prone to intensely violent and unpredictable outbursts and District Judge Saul Yager sentenced him to die in the electric chair stating, “The boy is a potential killer and deserves such a sentence.” Cole had been sentenced to death without having committed murder and this initiated nationwide sentimental protests led by various women groups and civil rights organizations. The groups were successful in getting his sentence reduced from life to fifteen years, but it was a barren victory.

  In November of 1933, while imprisoned at McAlester Penitentiary in Oklahoma, Cole attempted to escape and was critically wounded but survived and it only emboldened his violent tendencies. Only a few months after his failed attempt, Cole murdered his cellmate William Pritchard, using a homemade knife to stab him twenty-seven times. Amazingly, Cole was able to convince the jury that Pritchard had attempted to kill him, and therefore that he had acted in self-defense. On November 30, 1934 Cole managed to escape the Oklahoma prison by concealing himself in a laundry bag which was loaded onto a truck and driven into town. On the afternoon of December 5th, Cole secured a pistol and approached a forty-eight year old gentleman named James A. Rutherford, pleading that he was stranded and needed a ride into the next town. Rutherford obliged, and as they drove away, Cole drew his pistol and took him hostage. He forced Rutherford to drive him to Illinois, where he released him. Cole then stole another vehicle and traveled south, committing a few small robberies along the way for quick cash. Finally, on January 6, 1935 in Dallas, Texas, Cole was captured and extradited back to Oklahoma. This time the court showed less leniency, stating “He is moronic, vicious, and a killer” – and Cole was sentenced to fifty-years in prison.

  Throughout his trial, Cole continued his efforts to escape from the Oklahoma County Jail, where he was incarcerated during the proceedings. He succeeded in sawing through several bars of his cell using a razor, and he continually boasted that he would eventually break out. He was considered such a high escape risk that a sensitive ribbon microphone was installed to monitor any unusual sounds emerging from his cell. On May 20 1935, Cole was transferred to Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas, where he renewed a longstanding friendship with Ralph Roe, a fellow inmate he had known at McAlester.

  Ralph Roe

  Ralph Roe

  Ralph Roe was born on February 5, 1906 in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, and like Theodore Cole, he had endured a troubled childhood. Roe’s mother died of tuberculosis when he was only nine, and he later lost his two sisters to the same disease. At fourteen, Roe quit school and ran away to California. It was in Los Angeles that Roe was convicted of his first robbery in April of 1923, and this would be only the beginning of his lengthy criminal record. In July he was sent to the Preston Reformatory in Ione, California, but he escaped and trekked onward to Little Arkansas. Roe would then go on to commit a string of robberies throughout the west. His robberies became ever more violent, and one resulted in a gun battle which left accomplice Wilbur Underhill wounded and bleeding to death, hiding in the back of a furniture store.

  Then on September 10, 1934 Roe and his accomplice Jack Lloyd robbed and took hostages at the Farmers National Bank in Sulphur, Oklahoma. This Federal crime would earn him a ninety-nine-year sentence and a recommendation for transfer to Alcatraz. Like Cole, Roe had also previously attempted to escape from McAlester. He had gotten another inmate to nail him into a utility crate, but he quickly started to suffocate inside of it, and thus was forced to abandon his plan. Both Cole and Roe were transferred via the same train from Leavenworth to the Rock.

  Ralph Roe’s conduct report at Alcatraz.

  Alcatraz

  The two inmates maintained a close friendship at Alcatraz, both taking paying jobs and working side-by-side in the Mat Shop. The Mat Shop was a facility where prison workers transformed used car tires into rubber mats for the Navy, and it was located on the bottom floor of the Model Shop Building at the northernmost tip of the island. The area was recognizable by the piles of discarded tires that were pitched down from the industry building, littering the waterline.

  Roe and Cole had spent several weeks in preparation for their escape, studying the habits of the correctional staff, and working to identify potential loopholes in the security system. Using a stolen hacksaw blade, they were able to saw their way through the steel sash window grill, packing the saw gaps with grease and shoe polish to avoid detection. On the morning of Thursday, December 16, 1937, dense fog forced the docking of almost all the small vessels in the area. The forceful currents leading out past the Golden Gate Bridge and toward the Pacific Ocean were fluctuating between seven to nine knots, creating what were considered death-trap conditions for anyone willing to try their fate in the perilous waters. The two inmates were likely not aware of how dangerous the currents and foggy conditions could prove to be. It was speculated that they might have seen the spell of bad weather as an opportunity to escape under cover of dense fog.

  At about 12:50 p.m., the inmates returned to the Industries Building from the mess hall after lunch, and underwent a count by Junior Officer Joe Steere, who found all inmates present and accounted for. Steere was alternating his patrol between the Blacksmith and Mat Shops, and he left the Mat area unattended while performing his routine watch. Steere returned to the Mat Shop for the 1:30 p.m. count, but inmates Cole and Roe were not at their assigned work detail. He hurriedly searched the shop and immediately noticed the punched-out panes of glass and bent-out steel grilling. Officer Steere ran to the phone and sounded the escape sirens, in what was known among the custodial staff as a “22-Alarm.”

  The pathway to the waterline, showing where Roe and Cole entered the freezing Bay waters.

  San Francisco Police Chief William Quinn is seen here handing out photos of Roe and Cole to street officers.

  A tide chart showing the forecast ebb tide conditions for December 16, 1937.

  It is speculated that Roe and Cole bent out the sawed bars using a heavy wrench, punched out two panes of glass, and climbed through the window, dropping down to the ground below. They swiftly ran to a locked gate that led down to the waterline. It is also believed
that in preparation for the escape, the two inmates had constructed floats from lightweight metal five-gallon fuel canisters with specially made handles, and they carried these makeshift floats with them. Using the wrench, the inmates quickly unfastened the bolts of a chain-link gate, and then laid the gate over the five rows of sharp barbwire, thus making a protected pathway down to the water’s edge.

  In his book On the Rock, former Public Enemy Number One Alvin Karpis stated that the winter of 1937 started off with severe rains and flooding along the Sacramento River. Large pieces of debris floated down the River toward the Pacific Ocean, and the fragmented wreckage ranged from large sections of barns to dead livestock carcasses. The currents were so fierce that the debris could often clearly be seen floating swiftly past the island from the Industries Building windows. Another inmate, “Blackie” Audett, wrote in his 1954 memoir Rap Sheet that he was able to watch the two inmates as they made their entry into the bay and began their swim. He noted that he saw Roe come up out of the water several yards off the island, appearing to be struggling desperately, and attempting to stay afloat in the rough waters. Audett recalled that Roe came up and then drifted into the dense fog, never to be seen again.

  Despite the dangerous fog, Warden Johnston dispatched the launch, which started a circular search pattern around the island, but found no signs of any debris from the inmates’ improvised floats. The officers in the towers searched with binoculars, but were hardly able to see much of the surrounding waters because of the thick fog. Associate Warden E.J. Miller described his actions following the escape in a December 18th, 1937 memo to Warden Johnston. He wrote in part: