Famous Prison Escapes
Katherine Edwards
CRJ 237-3564
04/12/2020
In this term paper I plan to discuss three of the most famous prison escapes. I will talk
about how prisoners successfully escaped and famous escapes that led to maximum security
prisons. I will also be discussing how prisoners are captured after their escapes and any crimes
they may have committed during the time of their escape and capture.
Alcatraz Island
In 1962, three men by the names of John Anglin, Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris
escaped Alcatraz Island off the coast of San Francisco in California. In 1909, Alcatraz Island,
also known as “the rock” was built and the work was done by the prisoners. In 1933, escape from
the island was considered impossible and it was turned into a federal penitentiary for federal
convicts who were considered to be extremely dangerous. The cells were 9ft long by 5ft wide
and 7ft high. From 1934, until the prison closed in 1963, 36 men tried 14 different escapes from
the island. Nearly all of them were caught or did not survive the attempt. On June 12th 1962,
guards went around doing the routine morning cell checks and they found 3 men gone out of
their cells. In their beds they had made dummy heads with skin color paint and human hair to use
as cover ups during the night checks, they fooled the night guards. In the morning, the men were
discovered to be missing, the prison went into lockdown and the search for the Anglin brothers
and Morris began.
When the FBI came to investigate, one man who was supposed to escape with them did
not make it out of his cell in time, providing them with information about the escape. In the
previous December, the men came across some old saw blades and made a drill with a motor
from a vacuum cleaner. They drilled openings in their cells and covered the openings with
anything they could find. Behind the walls, a utility corridor was there, which was unguarded.
They climbed up to the roof of their cell block where they set up a secret workshop and took
turns looking out for guards and to be back in their cells before routine cell check. They used
stolen and donated materials to make items to help them in their escape. They stole over 50
raincoats which were used as life preservers and a 6ft by 14ft raft.
1
This idea came from
magazines in the prisoners cells. They needed to find a way outside but the ceiling was 30ft high.
They climbed up and force opened the ventilator at the top. The man who told the FBI this
information, did not have the hole in the wall big enough to fit through and was left behind. The
three men then climbed to the top, got onto the roof where they slid down some pipes from the
bakery to the ground. Then they climbed the fence and snuck onto the northeast shore of the
island and launched their raft. What happened next still remains a mystery to this day. They say
that the currents and temperatures were against these men and they never would have made it.
The temperatures of the water would have caused the men to have hypothermia before reaching
shore. Many people have gone to great lengths to prove that they could have survived. Some
people even tried it out for themselves. Next, the plan was to steal clothes and a car once on land,
