Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years
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(3) Under existing operations the officer furnishing coverage for the back of the Kitchen was patrolling from side to side on the cat-walk around the yard wall in order to check both sides and the end of the Kitchen area. We have now stationed one man on the northeast corner of the cat-walk, which will permit him to constantly observe the east side of the Kitchen and the north end at any time inmates are out of the cellhouse, and in any part of the Kitchen area. We have stationed another officer on the yard wall that can observe the west side of the kitchen and dining roof unit as well as assist in viewing the north end.
(4) We have issued a specific order that no inmate, or inmates, will he permitted in the basement of the Culinary unit unless under direct and constant supervision, and any time an employee takes inmates to that unit he must advise the Control Center first, indicating who he is taking. He must call the Control Center each fifteen minutes and must advise the Control Center as soon as he departs and secures the Kitchen basement area. This is, of course, to prevent an employee from being overpowered or otherwise incapacitated without someone being aware of it.
(5) We have issued an order that in order to protect all employees' families, in the event of escape, the gates on the Parade Ground near "B" Building will be secured during the hours of darkness and more specifically, from 5:40 p.m. until 8:10 a.m.
(6) All lieutenants have been instructed to issue specific and detailed instructions to any officer or group of officers that are designated to make searches or to check bar facilities, and then to make periodic checks to insure that they are being carried out as intended.
(7) Since we are in the process of phasing-out and have some thirteen custodial vacancies, at present we are not following our normal annual leave schedule, and are urging that those employees who do not need annual leave on an emergency basis cancel out any leave that may have been scheduled. We are not, of course, refusing leave to people who have already made specific plans or have sound reasoning for taking leave. With this arrangement we feel that additional coverage can be satisfactorily carried out without an enormous amount of overtime being paid.
Copies of reports of all employees concerned with this incident are attached, and a complete set of pictures of all specific items of interest are also attached. Copies are furnished for the inmate Bureau files and the institution inmate files. The FBI investigated this incident and reported their findings to the U. S. Attorney, who in turn presented the cases to the Grand Jury, who in turn indicted both inmates. It is expected they will be prosecuted for the escape in the early part of next year. Any further items that may develop in connection with this case will be reported promptly.
O.G. BLACKWELL
Warden
Warden Blackwell sent individual reports on the two escaped inmates to the Bureau of Prisons. The following is his memorandum on J. Paul Scott, dated December 17, 1962:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT of JUSTICE
BUREAU OF PRISONS
UNITED STATES PENITENTARY
ALCATRAZ CALIFORNIA
December 17, 1962
MEMORANDUM FOR FILE
Re: Statement or Inmate JOHN PAUL SCOTT #1403-AZ
At approximately 11:00 p.m. Sunday, December 16, 1962 inmate SCOTT was returned from the emergency section of Letterman General Hospital by Associate Warden Williard and Business Manager Bones, and brought to the Warden's office for questioning.
During the questioning SCOTT talked fairly freely and made several pertinent statements. In sequence he claims that over a period of time, which he refused to define, he impregnated string with floor wax and scouring powder and used this to cut the bars in the south-end window on the east side of the kitchen basement. He further claims that he had the bars partially cut and filled in with soap and painted over so officers would not detect it, and on both Saturday, December 15th and Sunday, December 16th, the officers were tapping bars and broke the spreader bar cut loose to the extent that he attempted to glue it back to prevent further detection. He claims that on the spur of the moment he decided he had better "go" before the cutting of the bars was detected, and asked PARKER if he would like to go with him. PARKER agreed and he (Scott) finished making the small cuts necessary on the bars, signaled to PARKER, and PARKER came down the elevator shaft and they went out the opening in the window.
He then claims they climbed some drain pipes in the corner to prevent an officer in the tower from seeing them; gained access to the roof; and lowered themselves to the ground on the opposite side of the building and behind the library by use of a knotted electric cord he had removed from the kitchen basement waxing machine. This particular descent was made, again, to prevent the tower officer from seeing them.
He then claims that he and PARKER went down the steep hill where PARKER fell and bruised himself considerable; they emerged near the north end of "A" Building, then slid down a steep cliff by holding on to a sewer pipe where they reached the water. At this point they inflated their floatation equipment, which consisted or two or three rubber gloves blown up and tied inside a piece of inmate shirt material that was crudely stitched together, this then being tied around their body. They then entered the water and for only a short time did he observe PARKER, and did not know what happened to him after that.
He claims that he spotted lights on the mainland; attempted to swim towards them and the tide carried him by; he then selected another light and repeated the performance, and this continued until he was washed on to a rock out near the Golden Gate Bridge. The tide was so swift and waves so high at this point that he claims to have almost drowned and could not maneuver around on the rock to keep the waves from covering him closing off his breath. It was at this point that he was rescued by members of the Fire Department at the Presidio of San Francisco and taken into custody by the Military Police at the Presidio. He was taken to the emergency hospital for treatment, but claims he does not recall the Associate Warden entering the room, and fails to remember several other things for a short period of time.
The inmates slid down this sewage drain pipe to make their escape into the icy Bay waters.
Under the cover of night, rain, and heavy fog, John Paul Scott washed up at Fort Point near the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, exhausted and groggy from the freezing water.
Over and above this, he stated he had heard in the yard for some months that there was a hole in the kitchen basement. He inferred but would not flatly state that some other inmate had partially cut through this window a long time ago. He indicated that the outside section of the window was partially cut by the use of a spatula that had notched edges. He added that the spatula and scraper used for this had been disposed of by putting them down the old butcher shop drain, and it should be noted that several days ago a spatula and scraper fitting that description was actually removed from that drain, and it was deteriorated to the extent to indicate that it had been there for several months.
He further claimed that the rubber gloves used for floatation purposes had been in the kitchen basement hidden behind one of the refrigerators for a long-long time. He would not establish a definite or approximate date. He claimed that he had made up five or six strings immersed in floor wax and thoroughly coated with scouring powder, and left them in his trousers that were hanging in the kitchen basement. These trousers were found but no such string could be located.
The two sections of bars had been removed and concealed underneath the large refrigerator to prevent early detection. He continually insisted that the so-called tool-proof stool bars were severed by this homemade abrasive string, and inferred that it had not taken very long to complete the job. The actual cuts on the bars had circular grooves and were highly polished and fresh, indicating that his described method was highly plausible. He offered as an excuse for his escaping that he had a long sentence and had no desire whatever to return to his detainer.
O.G. BLACKWELL
Warden
The following is Warden Blackwell’s report to the Bureau of Prisons on Dar
yl Parker, also dated December 17, 1962:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT of JUSTICE
BUREAU OF PRISONS
UNITED STATES PENITENTARY
ALCATRAZ CALIFORNIA
December 17, 1962
MEMORANDUM FOR FILE
Re: Statement of Inmate Daryl Lee Parker, #1314-AZ
At approximately 6:30 p.m. Sunday, December 16, 1962, inmate PARKER was returned from escape status and brought to the Associate Warden’s office. During questioning he was very reluctant to make any statements, however, eventually he did say that he and inmate J. PAUL SCOTT, #1403-AZ, left the main dining hall shortly after the 5:20 p.m. count, gained access to the basement by way of the elevator, and escaped through the end window on the east side of the kitchen basement after having removed two sections of the bars. From this point, he claims that he climbed up the drainpipe and gained access to the roof, crossed over and went down the other side by means of an electric extension cord, then proceeded to the water and entered. From this point on he does not know what happened to SCOTT, or how he reached "Little Alcatraz."
Following this, he refused to make any further statements.
O.G. BLACKWELL
Warden
An inventory list submitted by Officer Irvin Levinson, representing contraband items that were found in the kitchen basement following the escape of Parker and Scott.
By all accounts, Scott very nearly died in his quest to reach the shore. Open-water swimmer Lisa Johnson would later state that Scott really couldn’t take credit for “swimming to shore, ” but that actually he “was carried” by the three-knot-per-hour tide. Even Scott himself admitted that he hadn’t anticipated how violent the ocean currents could be. In fact, they were so powerful that Scott was washed onto the rock at Fort Point and lay naked except for his socks, after his clothing had been ripped from his body by repeated banging against the rocks. When Scott was revived at Letterman, he was shaking so convulsively that he could not speak. His body temperature had dropped to 94 degrees, or 4.6 degrees below normal. He was lucky to have been spotted in his near-death state. John Paul Scott’s spectacular but futile swim from Alcatraz Island to Fort Point destroyed once and for all the official position that escape from this Federal prison was impossible. As the press snapped photos of Scott wrapped warmly in knit army blankets when he was being taken from Letterman at 10:45 p.m. for his cruise back to Alcatraz, he gave them a coy smile. He had come the closest of any escape artist yet to breaking the Rock.
Scott sustained several cuts and bruises from the sharp rocks when he washed up at Fort Point.
Both inmates would be transferred from Alcatraz following its closure in 1963, and Parker would make another unsuccessful escape attempt in March of 1967, while imprisoned at Atlanta. He built a makeshift ladder nearly thirty feet in length, but his attempt ended when a tower officer opened fire on him, forcing him back down. Parker was later paroled on August 20, 1974.
Scott would also continue to build his resume of crime. In May of 1963 he was transferred back to Atlanta, where he was again found with contraband materials for an escape. His record states that he worked in the hospital as an X-Ray Technician, and was finally paroled on July 10, 1968.
Scott got married for a second time on January 20, 1970 in East Point Georgia, to Margie Morgan, a middle-aged widow. A later arrest report would indicate that Scott resided with his wife “in a very comfortable, spacious, ranch-style home. ” The report went on to say, “he himself built this home and has resided there since 1970. Estimated value is over $50,000 dollars.” It was also documented that he owned four other homes, but had placed them in his wife’s name. Scott also re-enrolled at Georgia State University for a short period. He later took a job as a lab technician at Clayton General Hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, and was described as a model employee. He then started his own business, and built and sold several homes. But despite his successful integration back into society, his skeletons still haunted him.
Scott’s driver’s license, issued during a short stint of freedom in 1974.
The following is a case report filed by the U.S. Attorney following another bank robbery in which Scott participated:
Details of the Offense reveal that at approximately 3:18 p.m. on September 5, 1975, Ronald Coleman Anderson, J. Paul Scott and Leon Johnson entered the Hearon Circle Branch of the Spartanburg Bank & Trust Company located on the Asheville Highway, Spartanburg, S.C. All three were dressed in coveralls, dark ski masks and brown jersey gloves. All were carrying pillowcases. Anderson was armed with an AR-l6 rifle, Scott was armed with a Model 10 shotgun, and Johnson was armed with a .22 handgun. During the course of the robbery, two deputies of the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office appeared at the drive-in window in a marked car, and were observed by the bank robbers. The robbers fled the bank, and shooting ensued outside the bank between the robbers and one of the deputies, with no injuries being sustained to either of the deputies, the robbers, or either of their vehicles. A chase ensued which culminated in the parking lot of a construction company located approximately one mile from the bank. As the car containing the deputies rounded the corner into the parking lot, the bank robbers fired on them, rendering the sheriff's car inoperable and slightly wounding one of the deputies in the rear of the neck. The getaway vehicle utilized by the robbers was determined stolen the previous night from a motel parking lot in Greenville, S.C. Witnesses at the switch site believe the bank robbers drove from the construction company parking lot in a two-tone blue Ford Granada, Mercury Monarch, or late model Monte Carlo.
Scott was again arrested in June of 1976 with Morris Lynn Johnson, one of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives, in eastern New Orleans. In the following report, Scott described his plight in his own words, and recounted the story of yet another attempted escape:
In February of 1977, I received a 25-year sentence for Bank Robbery in Columbia, South Carolina. I was first confined at the USP Atlanta, Georgia, however, on March 15, 1977, I was notified that I was being transferred to the USP, Leavenworth, Kansas. I was to be transported on a Federal Bureau of Prison bus.
I was confined in a Jackson, Miss. County Jail during the night of Friday, March 18, 1977. Another inmate gave me a full-length hacksaw blade. On Saturday, March 19, 1977, I smuggled the hacksaw blade on the prison bus. There were about 25 other inmates on the prison bus. I was handcuffed and had leg irons on. I sat by myself in the right hand side near the middle of the bus. I had made up my mind that I would try and escape, since on Friday I had also obtained a paperclip and a ballpoint pen cartridge.
During the morning ride thru Louisiana I was able to pick the lock on first my handcuffs and then my leg irons. It took me about one hour to cut through the bar on the bus window. I had ripped a piece of my shirt and used it to get a good grip on the hacksaw blade. No one knew what I was doing until I had finished cutting the bar and had kicked out the window. No other inmates helped me in any way.
I was able to kick out the window and escape thru the hole I had cut in the window bar. The bus came to a stop but I still fell when I escaped thru the window. I ran approximately 100 feet from the bus, but stopped when the bus guards started shooting at me. They must have fired about five or six times, however, I was not hit. I was placed back in the bus, and they radioed ahead to FCI about my escape and capture.
Scott remained a violent and incorrigible inmate until his death at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Florida on February 22, 1987. His bold escape from Alcatraz with Daryl Parker remains as one of the most notable incidents ever to occur in the history of the island prison.
An excerpt from Parker’s inmate record in 1982, showing that he still maintained his passionate desire to escape from prison.
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The Fall of an Icon
Perhaps one of the greatest ironies of Alcatraz was that the frigid and treacherous waters of the San Francisco Bay, which had proved to be the ultimate deterrent to escape for nearly three decades, fi
nally contributed to the downfall of America's super-prison. Immediately following the escape of Morris and the Anglins, the prison fell under intense scrutiny due to its deteriorating structural condition and the diminishing security measures that resulted from governmental budget cuts. These developments should not be credited to the escape, as many of the decisions were already in process before the attempt was made. In a January 1963 structural report, the following conditions were described:
In August of 1961, a state-of-the-art Control Center was built in the Armory to enhance prison security.
The cellblocks which are located over the basement areas are considered unsafe for occupancy during a severe earthquake. For minor earthquakes and normal loadings the supporting structures are considered safe at this time, although further deterioration will result in an unsafe condition. The present structural condition of the basement does not conform to the 1961 Uniform Building Code.... The present structural damage in the basement area is of continuing nature, which structural members deteriorated to a point where they will soon be inadequate to support the cellblock structures under normal loading conditions.
Criminologists were also starting to publicly cast doubt on the effectiveness of Alcatraz as a deterrent for organized crime. The corrosive effects of the saltwater and the exorbitant cost of running the prison (Cost per inmate had risen to over $13.00 per day, as compared with $3.88 at USP Atlanta, not including an estimated five million dollars in expenses for restoration) provided U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy with grounds for closure.
An aerial view of Alcatraz before its closure in 1963.