Forbidden History - Extra: The Chronicles of Alcatraz

Episode Date: July 27, 2023

Bonus Episode: What was it like to be a prisoner at the infamous Alcatraz Federal Prison? In this episode of Forbidden Fruit, we take a deep dive into the lives of its notorious inmates, and one of its most high-profile escape attempts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This program is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. It contains mature adult themes. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to Forbidden Fruit, the Forbidden History Podcast Extra. In our last episode, we detailed the incredible rise and fall of the world's most notorious gangster, Al Capone. In this episode, we're going to explore the history of the fastest. the fascinating island prison of Alcatraz,

where Al Capone was once incarcerated. We'll cover its most intriguing stories, from the lives of notorious inmates to the high-profile escape attempts. This is The Chronicles of Alcatraz. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, often referred to as Alcatraz, is a once operational maximum security prison,

prison, located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California. Located on a rocky, isolated island about 1.25 miles or 2 kilometers offshore from the city of San Francisco, its location made it difficult, near impossible for inmates to escape. It would go on to earn the nickname the Rock. built as Fort Alcatraz, complete with coastal batteries designed to protect San Francisco Bay. The complex was then turned into a detention camp to house political prisoners during the Civil War, then military and army prisoners throughout the late 19th century and early 20th centuries.

Crucial to our exploration, though, in 1934, the buildings are converted into a federal prison. It is specifically designed to house dangerous and high-profile criminals. Inmates who cause trouble in other prisons or pose a significant escape risk. Armed guards, watch towers, high walls topped with barbed wire, and bright searchlights are just a few of the strict security measures the prison has in place. The strong ocean currents, frigid waters, and high winds of the San Francisco Bay, act as natural barriers. Alcatraz gains such a mysterious reputation that some gangsters actually want to be incarcerated there in order to enhance their status

among other mobsters. Despite housing the most dangerous criminals, the inmates of Alcatraz have strict daily routines. They are confined to their cells for most of the day and have limited recreational time outside. At Alcatraz, a prisoner has four rights, food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Everything else is a privilege that has to be earned. It seems the rock has the desired effect on its inmates. No matter how tough or rowdy, the mundane routine and highly structured rules and regulations whipping them into shape. One such prisoner is is the legendary Chicago crime boss, Al Capone. As mentioned in our main episode,

the rise and fall of Al Capone, Al serves some of his sentence at the Rock after being convicted of tax evasion. Al is one of the first groups of men to serve at Alcatraz. He had been transferred from an Atlanta prison where, unlike Alcatraz, he had leveraged the system massively in his favor. Al was known for being able to be able to be a lot of his favor.

Al was known for being able to persuade his keepers to bow to his every whim, to the extent that he was able to wrangle a carpeted cell with expensive furnishings. He had daily visits from family and friends, and even had a radio that he and his guards would sit around and converse. Alcatraz was the perfect answer to the problem that the Atlanta prison could not seem to control. And without any formal warning, he is relocated. Al becomes prisoner A-Z number 85. Compared to Al's days being kingpin on the streets of Chicago, he is a surprisingly well-behaved prisoner.

Spending most of his time reading and composing, he keeps a low profile and actually rarely resorts to violence. Well, unless provoked. In one instance, he bashes a fellow inmate his head with a bedpan. He even lobbies for a year to start a musical band with the other inmates. Once permission is granted, he's allowed to practice for no more than 20 minutes a day. His health declines hugely whilst in Alcatraz due to syphilis

that has been left untreated and infected his brain. The prison doctors attempt various experimental treatments, but in doing so, doing so make his behavior totally unpredictable. He's later moved to a Baltimore mental hospital. Another infamous inmate at Alcatraz, who just so happens to end up serving his time alongside Al Capone, is George Kelly Barnes, also known as Machine Gun Kelly. His nickname comes from the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun that he uses to commit gangster-related crimes throughout the 1930s.

His machine gun, however, is actually gifted to him by his wife, Catherine, who is also involved in various criminal endeavors with her husband, including bank robberies, bootlegging, and kidnappings. Despite Kelly having little interest in weapons, Catherine insists that he performed target practice in the countryside. She also goes to great lengths to circulate his name

throughout underground crime circles. In 1933, Kelly is involved in the high-profile kidnapping of Charles F. Urchall, a wealthy Oklahoma oil tycoon. The kidnapping draws significant attention and results in a nationwide manhunt. Kelly and his gang eventually release Urshall after receiving a ransom payment of $200,000, $4.5 million in today's money. The FBI relentlessly pursue Kelly, and he's eventually captured in Memphis, Tennessee.

He's subsequently tried and convicted and is sentenced to life imprisonment at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas. While in prison, Kelly brags to prison officials that he plans to escape and break his wife out too so they can spend Christmas together. The guards decide to take the threat seriously, and he's transferred to Alcatraz.

Kelly becomes prisoner A-Z-1-1-7. Whilst on the rock, he's known for his over-exaggerated tall tales and earns himself the nickname Pop Gun Kelly, named after the small cork guns kids used to play with. His fellow inmates do not take him seriously. Despite this, he too is a model prison citizen, much like Al Capone. He does not act anything like the brutal and dangerous gangster. His wife, the media, and the FBI all make him out to be.

George Machine Gun Kelly returns to Leavenworth Prison in 1951 and dies of a heart attack on his 59th birthday. James Whitey Bulger, another notorious inmate, finds himself serving one of his first of many stints in federal prison at Alcatraz. This is prior to his years as the central figure of the Irish-American Mafia. After spending most of his teenage years in street crime and earning his first arrest at age 14, as a young man, Whitey is in and out of jail for various of assault and theft charges.

In 1956, he is convicted of truck hijacking and armed robbery in three different states. Whitey is sent to Atlanta Penitentiary for his crimes. As we explored in a previous podcast episode, he later reports that whilst there, he's used as a human test subject in the CIA's MK Ultra Mind Control Program. He's later transferred to Alcatraz in November 1959, and much like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly, he spends his time on the rock as a decently well-behaved prisoner. He keeps in shape through weightlifting and takes advantage of the educational opportunities that Alcatraz offers. He serves until July 1962, before being moved to Leavenworth,

federal penitentiary and is then granted parole in 1965. He wouldn't be arrested again for another 46 years. Despite Whitey's fairly good behavior whilst in prison, it doesn't take long for him to resume his criminal activities. For almost five decades, Whitey is a member of various gangs and commits a string of crimes throughout the U.S. He even becomes an FBI informant for several years, but then goes into hiding after his own FBI handler tips him off about a pending indictment.

Whitey remains at large for 16 years and is added to the FBI's most wanted list in 1999, being only second to Osama bin Laden. He is finally arrested in 2011 and would spend the rest of his life. in prison. He is beaten to death by fellow inmates in 2018. Despite three of the most notorious Alcatraz inmates being model prisoners during their time on the rock, there are many who are not tamed by the strict regime. Throughout the 29 years that Alcatraz is in operation, 36 men are involved in 14 separate escape attempts. Of the 36, 23 are caught, six are shot and killed, two drown, and five are listed as missing. One attempted escape stands out above the rest.

The Great Escape of 1962. It's June 11th and Frank Lee Morris, Alan West, and the Anglin brothers, John and Clarence begin their planned escape from Alcatraz prison. All four inmates had been moved to Alcatraz after successfully escaping previous prisons or having repeatedly attempted to do so. Frank Morris has an IQ of 133, reportedly ranked in the top 2% of the general population. He has been incarcerated for multiple crimes, ranging from narcotics possession to armed robbery. Alan West is arrested 20 times throughout his lifetime and is imprisoned for car theft.

The Anglin brothers also spent their youth in 20s robbing banks and other establishments. The group all know each other from previous imprisonments in Florida and Georgia, and after being assigned to adjacent cells in Alcatraz, they decide to start planning a getaway. Over the subsequent months, they widen the ventilation ducts in their cells, using discarded saw blades, metal spoons, and an electric drill crafted from the motor of a vacuum cleaner. They masked the noise of the drill with the sound of Frank's accordion during music hour. They create dummy heads, complete with real human hair, and place these in their beds, ensuring their accounted for in the nighttime head count.

Three of the men, Frank and the two Anglin brothers, exit through the vent holes they've enlarged in their cells and into a utility corridor. From there, they climb the utility pipes to the top of the cell block and squeeze through yet another air vent. Now on the roof outdoors, they shimmy down a drain pipe and head towards the water. In addition to their homemade tools and accessories,

They had also crafted crude life vests and a small raft out of prison-issued raincoats in the hopes of assisting their treacherous swim. The next morning, when the prison guards realize they are missing, the three men are nowhere to be found. Alan West, for some reason, had failed to escape his cell and join the others. It is assumed that Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin escaped the prison successfully, but most likely drowned before making it ashore. Whilst their bodies were not found, suggesting an accomplished escape, it said that they could have easily been swept out to sea with the vicious San Francisco Bay currents.

Fragments of their homemade raft wash up ashore on the nearby Angel Island, and an unidentifiable body is found near the Golden Gate Bridge. In the following years, there are a close to the close, there are claims of sightings of the escapees, as well as reports of their survival offered by family members and friends. Despite this, the FBI closes its case in 1979 and concludes that the three prisoners drowned in the bay.

On March 21, 1963, less than a year after the notorious escape attempt, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closes its doors. the harsh and isolated conditions had deteriorated the prison facilities over the years, and along with high operating costs contributed to the decision to shut it down. Some say the great escape of 1962 was the final nail in the coffin. If the prison wasn't escape-proof, did it really serve its purpose? After its closure, Alcatraz Island was occupied by

Native American activists in 1969, who protested against the U.S. government's treatment of Native Americans. Today, Alcatraz is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and operates as a popular tourist attraction. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary remains an iconic symbol of the U.S. incarceration system, known for its reputation as an almost inescapable prison, as well as its extreme treatment of the most notorious criminals of its time. This is an audio production by Like a Shot Entertainment, presented by Bridget Lappin. Executive producers Danny O'Brien and Henry Scott. Story producer Maddie Bowers, assistant producer Alice Chudor.

Thank you for listening.