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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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Alcatraz Barack for over 29 years a
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nation's most notorious prison a home
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for such master criminals as Al Capone
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Machine Gun Kelly and it's Birdman
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Robert Stroud Alcatraz stands in the
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middle of San Francisco's icy cold Bay a
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treacherous moat that was a best
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guarantee that nobody would successfully
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escape and nobody did until June the
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11th 1962 on that night three men broke
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out of their cell house and vanished
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into the waves of the homemade raft John
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Anglin his brother Clarence Frank Morris
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bring it masterminded the escape were
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never seen again ten days later
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authorities discovered pieces of the
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raft it had broken up at see the three
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convicts appeared to have swum before it
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did they make it 8 continues if they
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went into the water were the primitive
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flotation equipment that they had they
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were drowned within 30 minutes they
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succumbed to hypothermia and drown I'd
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stake my life on it that they're out
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there not me right now but their bones
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are out there I felt that they didn't
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make it but I thought we'd find a body
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and we didn't find a body I think they
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made it if you call a Bureau of Prisons
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today they will tell you no one escaped
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from Alcatraz they made it in the 25
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years that have passed since that June
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night no trace of Frank Morris John
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Anglin and Clarence Anglin has ever been
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found
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they may still be at large and perhaps
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are still in hiding
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tonight and a special 90-minute edition
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of unsolved mysteries we will see
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exactly how the anime is conceived and
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executed their ingenious escape we all
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follow the exact route they took as they
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broke through the walls of Alcatraz and
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just as they face the icy waters of the
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San Francisco Bay
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we have asked triathlon swimmer Dave
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Horning to attempt to duplicate their
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dangerous swim to freedom we've also
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done a replica of the convicts makeshift
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raft to see if it could possibly survive
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the one and a half mile trip across the
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bay
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renowned endurance swimmer Diana Nyad
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will closely track Dave and the rest
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progress from our camera boat just a few
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feet away they'll also take you inside
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the walls of Alcatraz for society's most
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incorrigible criminals including Al
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Capone or finally tamed so join me for
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this 90-minute special edition of the
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unsolved mysteries from Alcatraz
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[Music]
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in August of 1934 Alcatraz opened its
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doors its inmates the most troublesome
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escape pro and cons on the system were
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gathered from prisons around the country
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Alcatraz is first convicts were loaded
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on special armored trains
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shackled to their benches they made the
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slow journey to Tiburon on San Francisco
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Bay
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the guards were so concerned about an
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escape that once there the railroad cars
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themselves were loaded onto barges and
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taken across to the rock the men were
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not allowed out of these train cars
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until they stepped on the dock of
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Alcatraz an outer trans inmates who
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behave themselves were given the
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privilege of working a few hours a day
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in the industries building here in the
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laundry aisle component once made
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$100,000 a week ruling Chicago's
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underworld earned seven cents an hour
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pressing and folding the clothes of
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military personnel in the inmates it is
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possibly the first honest job he ever
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held an Alcatraz was the first
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institution to truly tame the cunning
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gangland boss Capone was convicted of
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income tax evasion in 1931 initially he
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was jailed in Chicago and then Atlanta
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it was able to bribe authorities for
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special privileges he had a carpeted
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cell a smoking jacket and was even
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offered a ticker tape machine to keep
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track of his investments at Alcatraz
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however he adored the same Spartan
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conditions as everyone else
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Al Capone was a very good inmate on
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Alcatraz unfortunately some of the
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inmates were very jealous ohm because of
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his millions of dollars and he was
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treated very badly by the inmates one
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inmate stabbed him one time in the
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barber shop during Capone's first two
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years at Alcatraz the warden established
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a policy forbidding the inmates to speak
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to one another this strict rule of
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silence was impossible for the
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boisterous Capone at least three
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occasions he was caught talking to other
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inmates and it was here that he paid the
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penalty confinement an isolation room
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these 200-pound doors of Steel blocked
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out all the lights they forced the
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inmate to sit in a tiny cell in
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pitch-black dark with no human contact
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for 24 hours a day if a convict was
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particularly troublesome his bed
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blankets and clothes would be
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confiscated and he had to endure the
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ordeal naked when Capone entered
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Alcatraz he was diagnosed with syphilis
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Capone wouldn't believe it and paid
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other convicts to take his medicine
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after a few years the gars noticed that
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the syphilis was affecting his brain his
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speech deteriorated and from time to
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time he had put his clothes on backwards
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eventually Capone was completely
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disabled by the disease he died on
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January 25th 1947 eight years after his
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release from Alcatraz one of the Rock's
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most famous residents was Robert Stroud
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who served a life sentence for two
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murder convictions Stroud initially was
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incarcerated at Leavenworth where he
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spent his time in solitary confinement
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studying birds and wrote two books on
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their diseases his life is chronicled in
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a movie called the Birdman of Alcatraz
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starring Burt Lancaster it painted a
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heroic picture of Stroud as an oppressed
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convict tormented by prison officials
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who wanted to confiscate the 300 Birds
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he had collected Robert Stroud was surly
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quiet a morose individual he did very
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little talking very few of the inmates
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talked to him and most most of them
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disliked him char was a very intelligent
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man with only a third-grade education
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get to read and write about three four
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languages but it was psychotic very
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demented man and at most times very
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difficult to get along with
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at Leavenworth Stroud was caught hiding
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three and a half gallons of grain
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alcohol which he had distilled from
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birdseed and from contraband smuggled to
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him in the bottoms of bird cages for
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this and other offenses he was
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transferred to Alcatraz in 1942 he had a
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lot of funny habits a lot of times he'd
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walk around in his cell quite naked it
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also shave every here off his body and
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those are some of the things that were
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different than most inmates on the rock
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Stroud was not allowed to keep a single
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bird in his cell but apparently as
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biographers felt the titled Birdman of
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Alcatraz had a catchy ER ring and
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Birdman of Leavenworth the thirty-years
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Alcatraz was the most dreaded prison in
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America tough cold and virtually escape
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proof 14 escapes or attempt 10 men died
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and all the rest were captured except
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three many former inmates believe those
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three made it one of these inmates was a
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suspected collaborator Clarence Karns a
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confidential close friend of the
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escapees Clarence Karns spent 13 years
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on Alcatraz and was a youngest person in
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confinement arriving in 1946 when he was
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just 18 years old that same year
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Clarence became embroiled in the
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bloodiest escape attempt on Alcatraz his
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history a desperate bid that resulted in
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the deaths of two guards and three
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inmates two other inmates were executed
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for their role in the murders but Carnes
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was spared and instead received a life
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sentence Don de Navy a professor at
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Merritt College in Oakland co-wrote a
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manuscript with Clarence Karns this was
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a first insider's account of the escape
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Clarence passed away last year but Denis
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shares his collaborators opinion these
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guys made us they made it because
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Clarence said they did and I trust that
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if you call the Bureau of Prisons today
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they will tell you no one escaped from
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Alcatraz they made it this is an
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embarrassment
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who's going to admit to
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in Clarence's manuscript he wrote
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cowardice in Alcatraz was a thing you
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didn't want into very often those had
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proven long before they got there that
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they were cowards a daring escape of
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Frank Morris and the Anglin against the
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longest odds that could possibly exist
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his telling proof that Clarence knew
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what he was talking about Alcatraz had a
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deservedly formidable reputation the
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ratio of guard to inmate was the highest
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of any prison in the country one guard
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to every three convicts Alcatraz was a
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last stop in the federal prison system
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only the worst troublemakers were sent
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there there were a few privileges for
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the first two years of operation
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prisoners were not even allowed to talk
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to one another out of a 24 hour day
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twenty-three were spent in a solitary
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cell the inmates were counted at least
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fourteen times a day but no man made
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security precautions could begin to
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match Alcatraz's most distinguished
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feature the bay that surrounds it
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Alcatraz was open because it was hoped
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to be and we believe it has been the
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inescapable prison Alcatraz was never
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considered escape proof it was
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considered to be a very difficult place
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to escape from for one reason and one
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reason only and that was the water that
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lay between the island and the mainland
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or in the other direction from the
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island and Angel Island that was the
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only thing that made it difficult to
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escape from Alcatraz was that water the
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water was there that was the barrier
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Alcatraz a state-of-the-art security
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included a master control room that
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oversaw the three-tiered cell blocks
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there each prisoner was assigned to his
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own cell guards prowled restlessly
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looking for signs of trouble
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you got so many counts you make a day
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and you gotta count bodies and we had a
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lot of official counts then we had a lot
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of unofficial counts which the officers
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working and supposed to take so what my
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opinion is if you can beat the count you
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can escape from anyplace if you can't
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beat the count you're gonna get caught
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one of the hallmarks of Alcatraz is
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rigid security with a sporadic
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shakedowns of the prisoners cells
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Clarence Karns was often targeted as he
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worked in a prison library and
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distributed reading material to the
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board prisoners authorities suspected
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that he used this job as a cover to
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circulate contraband materials they were
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correct Karns was the most important
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inmate on Alcatraz he had gained the
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respect of virtually all the other
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inmates because he knew how to keep his
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mouth shut
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he was in a sense the Godfather of
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Alcatraz those who needed information
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those who wanted advice sought Karnes
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out okay cause about Clarence was
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invited to participate in the escape but
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as he was under such close scrutiny he
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declined he did remain close to the plot
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a plot that began with a robber named
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Allen West West was a close friend of
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Carnes and was assigned to paint the top
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tier and ceiling of the cellblock at the
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prison one day while working there he
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discovered a way to access the prison's
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roof through a ventilation shaft West
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noticed that the ventilation duct
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through the cell house roof was
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constructed in such a way so that there
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were cross bars in between you couldn't
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cut the bars but Wes discovered that all
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you had to do was cut the entire duct
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from its surrounding support and just
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shove the whole thing out
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by October of 1961 West had begun
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planning his escape he enlisted the help
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of the Anglin brothers they had been at
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the prison for one-and-a-half years and
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had a history of escapes from other
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institutions the angle ins were expert
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craftsmen because he'd grown up in the
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Florida swamps they knew how to
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construct rafts they knew how to
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negotiate currents they were expert
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swimmers as well perhaps the most
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pivotal figure in the plot was another
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bank robber named Frank Morris according
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to prison records he had an IQ of 133
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approaching the genius range his cell
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was next to Wes and once he was brought
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into the plan
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he put his intellect to good use Morris
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also had a record of other escape
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attempts he had been at Alcatraz for one
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and a half years Morris if you could use
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the term was the intellectual type he
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was a thinker anything connected with
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this escape that had any real brains
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behind it can be credited to Moore's
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prisoner still have no way to get to the
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top of the cellblock for their first
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floor settlers but Clare's cars grew
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away during this few hours of freedom
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during the 1946 escape Carnes had
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discovered this utility corner that ran
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the length and the height of the
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cellblock inside the corridor heating
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and water pipes have formed a makeshift
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ladder it is a dangerous climb but it
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was the only way the convicts could
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reach the roof Ward began to circulate
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through the prison grapevine that an
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escape was on it seemed everyone but the
00:16:05
guards knew that something was up
00:16:07
Kearns's job made it possible for him to
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pass information to the four ringleaders
00:16:12
it was not what might be called general
00:16:15
knowledge but I think that there was
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quite a few of the other inmates that
00:16:20
were aware that an escape attempt was
00:16:23
being made
00:16:24
and it's surprising to me that this
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could be the case without some
00:16:32
information getting to the authorities
00:16:35
and a convicts on Alcatraz you know even
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if the whole population know about it
00:16:42
you can almost be guaranteed that a
00:16:44
guards wouldn't never hear about it
00:16:46
that's just the way the cons on Iraq
00:16:48
were in preparing for their escape the
00:16:53
convicts took advantage of one of
00:16:54
Alcatraz's few luxuries in the early
00:16:58
part of the evening there was what they
00:17:00
call a music R and anybody who had a
00:17:04
string instrument could play when that
00:17:08
music is playing it kind of has an
00:17:12
effect of deafening the officer who was
00:17:16
making his inspections and the inmates
00:17:21
that were digging were is digging away
00:17:29
you think that somebody's gonna escape
00:17:31
they're gonna escape through the front
00:17:33
it never entered my mind did somebody go
00:17:35
back through the corridor I don't know
00:17:37
why it's like I guess you don't use the
00:17:38
back door in between head counts the
00:17:46
angle ins Westin Morris dug out the rear
00:17:48
of their respective cells West also used
00:17:56
the time to craft false ventilation
00:17:58
fronts to hide their escape materials in
00:18:04
order to evade the incessant head counts
00:18:06
while they prepared their escape the
00:18:08
convicts devised a brilliant ploy they
00:18:12
decided that they would have to make
00:18:13
dummy heads to be in their bunks in case
00:18:18
one of them was not in there when the
00:18:19
guard would go by and this was at a time
00:18:23
when the lights were turned low and it
00:18:26
would be difficult to recognize either
00:18:28
then see that a face was in the bed
00:18:32
Morris asked me about how you mix flesh
00:18:35
tone salmon arm and iris I did I did a
00:18:38
lot of oil painting on Alcatraz he asked
00:18:43
me a number of times and I begin to
00:18:44
wonder why is he so interested in flesh
00:18:47
tone and then I began to put it all
00:18:48
together because they needed a flesh
00:18:51
tone color for a dummy heads the
00:18:57
construction of these dummies took place
00:18:58
after the lights had been extinguished
00:19:00
the dummies themselves were made from
00:19:03
soap concrete powder and stolen paint
00:19:06
one of the angles worked in the barber
00:19:09
shop and provided the hair that gave
00:19:11
them an extra touch of realism this is
00:19:20
one of the actual dummies the men
00:19:22
created still preserved by the National
00:19:24
Maritime Museum across the bay in San
00:19:26
Francisco these are two drills used by
00:19:31
the convicts they're constructed from
00:19:33
Barbara shears and parts from a vacuum
00:19:34
cleaner they're thought to have been
00:19:37
used to drill through the huge duct
00:19:38
leading to the roof these are the actual
00:19:41
spoon
00:19:42
which authorities believe are used to
00:19:44
dig through the convicts cell walls by
00:19:47
the time the convicts had crafted these
00:19:49
items they'd managed to surmount many of
00:19:51
the obstacles standing between them and
00:19:53
freedom but huge ones remain they still
00:19:57
had to find a place to hide while they
00:19:58
used the drills that cut through to the
00:20:00
roof additionally in the midst of the
00:20:02
prison's tight security and close
00:20:04
scrutiny they had to find some private
00:20:06
space where they could build their raft
00:20:08
alan west came up with a solution when
00:20:18
West was painting some material would
00:20:20
get down and get scattered around and so
00:20:24
I don't know who gave the orders that
00:20:27
that he would be allowed to hang some
00:20:29
blankets up along the side of there so
00:20:31
that this material would not get thrown
00:20:33
over the side in retrospect it gave
00:20:36
those people a place to to work for
00:20:45
eight months the cell house roof is
00:20:47
blanketed on giving the inmates complete
00:20:50
privacy to drill out the ventilation
00:20:51
shaft and collect the items they needed
00:20:53
for their escape Morris and the Anglin
00:20:56
would take turns climbing to this
00:20:58
workspace the dummies left on their
00:21:01
pillows enable them to evade the nightly
00:21:03
headcount each night with a lookout in
00:21:13
place they would make the hazardous
00:21:15
climb to the roof in his manuscript
00:21:18
Karns writes many times through the
00:21:21
years I had met men who had tried to
00:21:23
escape but their floor had been too
00:21:26
little planning and being too hasty to
00:21:28
try to get away he had not been thorough
00:21:31
in their thinking and that's what
00:21:33
defeated them on Alcatraz
00:21:38
the four men who painstakingly prepared
00:21:41
their daring escape that winter in 1962
00:21:44
made no such mistakes back in 1962 the
00:22:07
angle ins Frank Morrison Ellen West
00:22:09
spent nine months preparing for their
00:22:11
impending swim and as winter pass into
00:22:13
spring they made their final plans for
00:22:19
the patrolling guards the spring of 1962
00:22:22
is like any other but the inmates do
00:22:25
differently and right under the gaze of
00:22:27
their keepers they help the four
00:22:28
escapees in their preparations one by
00:22:31
one other convicts are up tsch asleep
00:22:34
assed the escapees the raincoats they
00:22:36
needed to build their raft and life
00:22:37
jackets at night the men made their life
00:22:45
preservers in their cells and hid them
00:22:47
in the partially dug out escape tunnels
00:22:52
in this secret workspace hidden by the
00:22:55
blankets the englands and morris took
00:22:57
turns assembling their raft they were
00:23:00
getting close very close to the time
00:23:03
when they would be ready
00:23:11
[Music]
00:23:16
June 11th 1962 the lights have been
00:23:20
extinguished the time to escape and
00:23:22
finally arrived
00:23:27
[Music]
00:23:39
Allen
00:23:42
[Music]
00:23:45
time to comb quietly the anglers made
00:23:55
the buy now routine trip to their
00:23:56
workspace and for the first time west
00:23:59
tried to slip through the hole in his
00:24:01
cell wall West had his exit carved out
00:24:14
to the point where all he needed was to
00:24:17
punch his way through suddenly there's
00:24:20
an iron bar that had been used as part
00:24:23
of the reinforced masonry when the cell
00:24:26
house had originally been built and that
00:24:28
no one knew was there leaving the
00:24:40
instigator the plan behind the angles
00:24:43
and Morris finally in the words of
00:24:44
Clarence Karns saw the moon for the
00:24:47
first time in decades
00:24:48
they were almost free the convicts
00:24:59
descended from a corner of the roof by
00:25:01
way of an exhaust pipe adjoining the
00:25:03
kitchen
00:25:08
ironically though prepared for every
00:25:10
security breach inside the prison
00:25:12
security outside was weak nobody noticed
00:25:15
the men as they carried their raft and
00:25:17
life preservers closer to the beach the
00:25:19
last step before the most grueling part
00:25:21
of the journey only one fence stood
00:25:25
between them and the 54-degree waters of
00:25:27
San Francisco Bay ever so carefully
00:25:35
planned utilizing of dummy faces the
00:25:39
making of the lifejacket the making of a
00:25:42
raft I don't know of any escape from a
00:25:46
prison which had more ingenuity utilized
00:25:53
the escapees were confronted by one
00:25:55
final hurdle how to quietly inflate
00:25:58
their huge raft their solution was
00:26:01
perhaps a most ingenious yet Frank
00:26:04
Morris had received a small accordion
00:26:06
called a concertina used during the
00:26:08
daily music hour they had taken the keys
00:26:12
out of the concertina and therefore you
00:26:15
could put your hand on one strap the
00:26:17
concertina and push it up and down it
00:26:19
would operate just like a bellows very
00:26:25
remarkable exercise of patience and
00:26:28
stick-to-itiveness the only weak point
00:26:32
in this escape was the failure to really
00:26:36
take serious consideration of that water
00:26:38
out there the record of previous escape
00:26:42
should have been sufficient to determine
00:26:45
from tackling that water it's impossible
00:26:48
to beat that water that was the mistake
00:26:53
break Morris John Anglin Clarence Anglin
00:26:57
had made it off the rock
00:27:00
what happened to the next remains a
00:27:02
mystery
00:27:03
[Music]
00:27:07
the following day it was business as
00:27:09
usual on Alcatraz beginning with a
00:27:11
morning headcount dummy in 152 Clarence
00:27:21
Anglin John Anglin and Frank Morris had
00:27:24
escaped
00:27:30
immediately extensive search began one
00:27:34
of the largest manhunts in the countries
00:27:35
it's a Lindbergh kidnapping 25 years
00:27:38
earlier we were ordered to broaden the
00:27:43
bay and course start looking around the
00:27:45
eye and then over an angel on scanning
00:27:48
the beaches to see if anything that
00:27:50
pertained to them might have washed up
00:27:52
and then it became evident that we
00:27:58
weren't going to find him whether he had
00:28:01
made it or not no one knew for sure
00:28:05
authorities believe that the men were
00:28:07
headed for nearby Angel Island but for
00:28:09
24 hours nothing was found
00:28:11
then remnants of the escapees rat began
00:28:14
to surface and so too did a controversy
00:28:17
on whether or not the men survived the
00:28:21
day after the escape a home made or was
00:28:24
discovered floating between Alcatraz and
00:28:25
Angel Island this paddle matched one
00:28:29
that the convicts had left behind in the
00:28:31
cellblock On June 14th two days after
00:28:36
the breakout a rubber rat packet was
00:28:38
also discovered floating near Angel
00:28:40
Island they contained an address book
00:28:43
eighty family photographs and a money
00:28:45
order that belonged to one of the
00:28:47
escapees my conclusion would be that it
00:28:50
was items that these people needed these
00:28:53
were keepsakes of these men this is all
00:28:55
they had in this world when I seen that
00:28:58
I said well I think they didn't make it
00:29:01
because I think it's something they
00:29:02
would even possibly risk her life to
00:29:04
save on the 15th of June a prison
00:29:09
raincoat was found floating near the
00:29:11
North Shore of San Francisco on the 22nd
00:29:14
ten days after the escape pieces of the
00:29:17
convicts raft were finally only 50 yards
00:29:20
off the east shore of Alcatraz I feel
00:29:24
sincerely that the floatation equipment
00:29:29
that they had came apart on them and
00:29:32
that instead of being able to ride above
00:29:36
the water
00:29:37
they were submerged in the water
00:29:41
[Music]
00:29:45
Donna Burleigh was the FBI agent in
00:29:47
charge of the investigation
00:29:49
probably the earliest thing could have
00:29:51
gotten into the water would be 10:30 the
00:29:55
outgoing tide started that night at 10
00:29:58
o'clock and that outgoing tide is very
00:30:02
strong and I firmly believe that they
00:30:07
were taken by the currents into the
00:30:10
Pacific Ocean the day of the escape a
00:30:14
Norwegian ship spotted a body floating
00:30:16
20 miles past the Golden Gate Bridge the
00:30:18
one able to retrieve it their
00:30:21
description matched that of Frank Morris
00:30:24
they cited what he had on and it
00:30:29
coincided with the apparel of the
00:30:34
escapees there is some evidence to
00:30:37
suggest that at least one of the men
00:30:38
survived the day after the escape a man
00:30:42
claiming to be John Anglin called a San
00:30:44
Francisco lawyer known to represent
00:30:46
Alcatraz inmates the attorney in
00:30:49
question was out of the office so the
00:30:51
call was transferred to another attorney
00:30:53
eugenia McGowan the person called and
00:30:57
the receptionist put him through to me
00:30:59
and he said I'm John Anglin and I want
00:31:03
you to contact the US Marshals office to
00:31:06
set up a meeting and I said for what
00:31:08
purpose and he said in effect don't ask
00:31:11
questions just do as I tell you call the
00:31:14
US Marshals office to set up a meeting
00:31:15
and I said well I'm not going to do that
00:31:17
unless I know why and he said Do You
00:31:19
Know Who I am and I said no he said read
00:31:22
the newspaper and he hung up the FBI set
00:31:26
up a phone tap in eugenia McGowan's
00:31:28
office hoping the man would call back he
00:31:30
never did and they eventually ended the
00:31:33
surveillance dismissing the call as a
00:31:34
prank a few weeks after the break
00:31:38
Clarence Carnes claimed he received a
00:31:40
postcard from the escapees in it they
00:31:44
gave the pre-arranged code words that
00:31:46
confirmed their success the card read
00:31:49
Gone Fishing if they had made it to
00:31:52
shore the first thing they would have
00:31:55
had to do was was was
00:31:58
something off of somebody they would
00:31:59
have had to get a car they were had to
00:32:01
get money they would had to do something
00:32:02
that would have certainly been noticed
00:32:05
there were no reports of robberies a car
00:32:08
thefts attributable to the escapees
00:32:10
however the men may have been helped by
00:32:12
someone on the outside Claire's believed
00:32:15
that convicts secured the aid of an
00:32:17
Alcatraz inmate named bumpy Johnson
00:32:20
Clarence
00:32:21
shared with me that Ellsworth bumpy
00:32:25
Johnson black Capone of Harlem
00:32:28
underworld king of Harlem had arranged
00:32:33
for a boat to be out there to pick the
00:32:37
Englund and Morris up now it would have
00:32:43
been pitch black out there but my guess
00:32:47
is that they did get to that boat that
00:32:50
was waiting for them according the class
00:32:55
cars the boat then took the convicts to
00:32:57
pier 13 in San Francisco's Hunters Point
00:33:00
district my feeling is that that's just
00:33:05
something that Karns has dreamed up and
00:33:07
that there is not the slightest
00:33:10
possibility there's any truth in it my
00:33:13
opinion of Clarence Carter that he's in
00:33:17
in many of Alcatraz and they any
00:33:20
information he received from him would
00:33:22
have to be taken with a grain of salt
00:33:23
because of his background and that you
00:33:27
would have to said you flee verify
00:33:30
everything that he said so far there
00:33:33
have never been any indication that what
00:33:35
he has said has any truth concerning the
00:33:38
fact that they have escaped
00:33:43
co-conspirator Allen West was questioned
00:33:46
about these outside contacts he denied
00:33:48
existence
00:33:51
the race wouldn't have copped out you
00:33:55
incop bow you know I wish West was
00:34:01
people he was solid people and I don't
00:34:03
believe you know there until his day I
00:34:04
don't believe you have a toll of nothing
00:34:10
today the FBI and prison authorities
00:34:12
have not changed their opinion they
00:34:16
believe the men drowned within minutes
00:34:18
of hitting the water the escape was just
00:34:23
another dismal failure in our opinion
00:34:28
now of course we never are cocksure
00:34:31
enough to say well we're know they're
00:34:33
dead but we were pretty sure that they
00:34:36
were dead because there was no trace of
00:34:38
them whatsoever however they're still on
00:34:42
the missing list and not the dead list
00:34:46
six months after the escape of Morris
00:34:49
and the Anglin brothers another attempt
00:34:50
proved that they could have survived the
00:34:52
swim it began in the storeroom located
00:34:55
underneath the kitchen over a period of
00:34:58
time that must have been years
00:34:59
a succession of convicts sawed away at
00:35:01
the bars on a window some believe they
00:35:04
use a spatula stolen from the kitchen
00:35:06
another theory is that the inmates use
00:35:08
pieces of string covered them in wax and
00:35:10
then dip them into ordinary kitchen
00:35:12
cleanser making a crude and fragile file
00:35:15
imagine the frustration of trying to
00:35:17
sort through steel with a piece of
00:35:18
string but by December of 1962 two men
00:35:23
ready to make the final cut
00:35:26
John P Scott and Lee Parker two
00:35:29
convicted bank robbers made the last
00:35:31
cuts on the bars on December 14th 1962
00:35:34
the cold waters quickly convinced Parker
00:35:37
to give up the swim but Scott was
00:35:39
undaunted he was carried by the current
00:35:42
over three miles to the south base of
00:35:44
the Golden Gate Bridge where he washed
00:35:46
ashore half frozen
00:35:47
nearly dead onto a rocky beach some
00:35:50
children thinking he had fallen off a
00:35:51
boat alerted authorities Scott was
00:35:54
immediately taken into custody
00:35:55
his escape attempt is the only known
00:35:58
case of an inmate sir
00:35:59
the frigid waters which that December
00:36:02
would have been the same temperature as
00:36:04
the water and the bay today on Alcatraz
00:36:10
one of the few privileges granted to
00:36:12
inmates was a prison library
00:36:13
and it was here according to authorities
00:36:15
that the Anglin brothers and Morris had
00:36:17
access to two magazines that may have
00:36:19
aided their escape a March 1962 issue of
00:36:24
Popular Mechanics contained an article
00:36:26
on water tight sailing jackets and the
00:36:29
may 1962 edition of Sports Illustrated
00:36:31
featured an article on makeshift
00:36:33
rubberized boats police authorities
00:36:36
believe that the men modeled their life
00:36:38
jackets and raft on these articles was
00:36:43
this crudely made raft sturdy enough to
00:36:46
survive the forceful currents of the bay
00:36:48
and if the raft did fail could the
00:36:51
escapees have made it to shore by
00:36:53
swimming to test the likelihood of the
00:36:57
rafts survival we've constructed a
00:36:58
similar raft out of raincoats three
00:37:01
experienced kayakers will attempt to
00:37:03
paddle this raft to shore to test a
00:37:07
theory that the convicts had to abandon
00:37:08
the raft and swim to shore
00:37:10
we've asked endurance swimmer Dave
00:37:12
Horning to brave the frigid waters
00:37:14
surrounding Alcatraz and swim to a San
00:37:16
Francisco Beach Diana Nyad is standing
00:37:20
by with our team of rafters who are just
00:37:21
about ready to begin their journey the
00:37:24
only thing that we're not duplicating
00:37:25
accurately for the from the day of the
00:37:27
escape is the time of day they left at
00:37:29
night would that have made a tremendous
00:37:30
difference I don't think a tremendous
00:37:33
difference but I think it is to our
00:37:34
advantage and that we can see and make a
00:37:35
plan for the first few obstacles that
00:37:37
they had to overcome first of which is
00:37:39
this 8-foot sea wall which has is very
00:37:41
sharp and slippery like breaking rocks
00:37:44
below the second is that we can see
00:37:45
these swirling Eddie's and currents that
00:37:47
are around Alcatraz and we can make a
00:37:49
plan as to how to get out of here I
00:37:50
think the context really didn't know
00:37:52
where the curve was going to take them
00:37:53
well I thank you all very much for your
00:37:55
adventuresome spirits and we'll be
00:37:57
checking in with you all the way along
00:37:58
we've switched now to our swimmer Dave
00:38:01
Horning and dave has swum some of the
00:38:02
coldest bodies of water in the world
00:38:04
including in the Soviet Union tell
00:38:06
people at home who have never been
00:38:08
immersed in dangerously cold water what
00:38:09
happens to the body as I go into the
00:38:12
water here this morning
00:38:13
be like an embracing shock which will go
00:38:15
through my body and this thing when I
00:38:16
hit the water and there will be some
00:38:18
question in my mind in regards to how
00:38:19
long I'll be able to last in this 47
00:38:21
degree water okay now that's you you're
00:38:24
very experienced in cold water now what
00:38:26
what about these three convicts I
00:38:28
understand that they were not even
00:38:29
allowed to take cold showers on Alcatraz
00:38:32
for fear that they might acclimate
00:38:33
themselves to the bay so what do you
00:38:36
think their chances might have been well
00:38:37
I think they had a chance to stay in the
00:38:39
water for a certain amount of time
00:38:40
because of the fact that they had a
00:38:41
certain thing going for them known as
00:38:43
motivation the motivation to get off of
00:38:45
Alcatraz and the escape from the rock
00:38:46
once they hit that water that a
00:38:48
motivation would concentrate them into
00:38:49
being able to generate some adrenaline
00:38:51
to keep them growing and once that
00:38:53
adrenaline sunk in that would help keep
00:38:55
them insulated for a certain period of
00:38:56
time but once they started really
00:38:58
succumb to the effects of the cold water
00:39:00
who knows what would happen okay well we
00:39:03
thank you very much and good luck to you
00:39:04
the swimmer and rafter will be off in
00:39:07
just a few minutes and Bob all I can
00:39:08
really say is that I'm just so very
00:39:10
happy it's not going to be me in the
00:39:12
water today back to you
00:39:13
Thank You Diana the route these men will
00:39:16
be taking will be the same route it is
00:39:18
believed the 1962 escapees followed the
00:39:21
escapees left from the eastern shore of
00:39:23
the island approximately here if they
00:39:26
were attempting to swim to Angel Island
00:39:27
about one and a half miles away as the
00:39:29
authorities believed the currents would
00:39:31
have carried them away from the island
00:39:33
out toward the Pacific Ocean if they
00:39:35
were lucky they made it ashore at the
00:39:37
Golden Gate Bridge Dave is facing the
00:39:39
same conditions but his plan is that cut
00:39:41
across the strong currents here and swim
00:39:44
ashore at Crissy Field our swimmer and
00:39:47
Raptors are now in position Diana will
00:39:49
give them a signal to start Diana is
00:39:52
everyone ready well Bob I'd say we're
00:39:54
just uh less than a minute away from
00:39:56
getting underway here let me quickly set
00:39:57
the scene for you we have a number of
00:39:59
camera crews out here including one up
00:40:01
in a blimp to get the aerial view we
00:40:03
also have a couple of paramedic teams
00:40:05
and this is why the water temperature at
00:40:07
47 degrees is colder than the ice water
00:40:10
you keep in your refrigerator and that
00:40:12
means that upon entry the body
00:40:14
dramatically and immediately loses heat
00:40:17
and if you're in there for too long you
00:40:19
go into a state of hypothermia meaning
00:40:20
that the bloodstream and the core organs
00:40:23
cannot function properly anymore and
00:40:25
literally you can go into a state of
00:40:27
arrests so I don't care how expert a
00:40:29
swimmer you are you take this situation
00:40:31
very seriously let me check on Shore now
00:40:34
to see if Dave and our three rafters are
00:40:36
just about ready to embark David are you
00:40:41
ready we're upstairs all set
00:40:44
good luck be safe everybody from three
00:40:49
two one go
00:40:56
we have asked Dave to wear an underwater
00:40:58
microphone so that we can communicate
00:41:00
with him if any problems should arise
00:41:03
you'll notice from the very beginning
00:41:06
that Dave will keep up a very very rapid
00:41:08
stroke pace and that's because he is
00:41:10
going to be chilled all are shocked when
00:41:12
he first enters the water and he wants
00:41:14
to generate a great deal of heat the
00:41:16
rafters are going to have even more
00:41:17
problems staying warm because they've
00:41:19
got to just kind of float and kick
00:41:21
behind them with that cumbersome raft a
00:41:27
David told me before that he's probably
00:41:29
going to get to shore in about 45
00:41:32
minutes but let's be accurate about the
00:41:34
convicts we look at Dave over here
00:41:36
stroking very powerfully and even though
00:41:39
a couple of the convicts the Anglin
00:41:41
brothers were from Florida and I
00:41:43
understand very good swimmers still they
00:41:45
weren't in this kind of condition
00:41:46
obviously they hadn't swum in years they
00:41:48
weren't used to cold water so they were
00:41:50
not going to be stroking as powerfully
00:41:52
as this now if you look back at the
00:41:56
rafters and see just how slowly they are
00:42:00
progressing this is probably more
00:42:01
realistic to what went on that night in
00:42:04
1962 you might have had three powerful
00:42:07
people but still they weren't used to
00:42:08
the cold it was nighttime they didn't
00:42:11
know precisely where they were going so
00:42:13
I think that this progress that the
00:42:15
rafters are doing is is probably very
00:42:17
similar to what we could expect and
00:42:19
they're probably if they make it gonna
00:42:21
take more like two hours and that would
00:42:22
be just at the edge of hypothermia later
00:42:29
on we'll be able to see if we talk to
00:42:30
him that his face will be quite stiff
00:42:32
his mouth will look as if it's a
00:42:34
somewhat frozen and the signs of
00:42:37
hypothermia that a trainer would look
00:42:40
or as he's swimming as he if he becomes
00:42:41
confused if he swims around in circles
00:42:44
if he hallucinates and is telling you
00:42:46
that he's seeing things that aren't
00:42:47
really there that's your sign to take
00:42:49
your swimmer out and get him warm
00:42:57
[Applause]
00:42:58
[Music]
00:43:07
we are now 20 minutes at a Dave hornings
00:43:09
attempt to swim from Alcatraz to San
00:43:11
Francisco for years the guards on
00:43:15
Alcatraz told inmates that the bay was
00:43:17
infested with man-eating sharks marine
00:43:19
biologist Leighton Taylor says that that
00:43:22
is a myth
00:43:23
there are not man-eating sharks here in
00:43:26
San Francisco Bay there certainly are
00:43:27
just outside the Golden Gate on the
00:43:29
outer coastal beaches and I'd really
00:43:32
guess that the the guards probably told
00:43:34
the prisoners about the attacks in 1950s
00:43:36
and so forth and probably really put the
00:43:39
fear of God and the prisoners about
00:43:40
sharks but it's not true that San
00:43:42
Francisco is a shark infested Bay has
00:43:44
there ever been a shark attack inside
00:43:46
the bay no there are sharks in San
00:43:48
Francisco Bay but they're mud dwellers
00:43:50
and they're on the bottom and by the
00:43:52
time a prisoner got to the bottom he was
00:43:54
out of the picture by then anyway I say
00:43:56
thank you
00:43:57
even though inmates believed there were
00:43:59
sharks in the bay this didn't stop some
00:44:01
convicts from trying to make a break for
00:44:02
freedom the first escape attempt was in
00:44:05
1936 just two years after the prison
00:44:08
opened Joseph Bowers received the
00:44:12
25-year sentence receiving $16.63
00:44:16
because he robbed the store in the same
00:44:18
building as a post office a federal
00:44:20
offense he was given the maximum
00:44:22
sentence with little likelihood of
00:44:24
parole from the island of Alcatraz the
00:44:28
city of San Francisco seems just an
00:44:30
arm's reach away on April 27th 1936
00:44:34
Bowers is working at this incinerator
00:44:36
this must have been one of the most
00:44:38
tempting spots to try and escape
00:44:40
suddenly Bowers appear to go berserk and
00:44:43
began a scale of fence an alert guard
00:44:45
spotted Bowers from a catwalk close by
00:44:47
yelled at him to stop and fired two
00:44:50
warning shots over his head Bowers made
00:44:52
it over the top of the fence and began
00:44:54
to clamor down the other side the guard
00:44:56
now aiming to stop him fired again ours
00:44:59
was hit wounded he relaxed his grip on
00:45:02
the fence and fell 60 feet to his death
00:45:05
in December of 1937 another escape was
00:45:10
tried this was no impulse rather a
00:45:12
carefully planned scheme that might have
00:45:14
been successful
00:45:18
Theodore coal was taught he find the 50
00:45:21
years sentence for kidnapping his
00:45:23
partner was ralph roll a 37 year old
00:45:25
bank robber with a long criminal record
00:45:27
in a 99 years sentence on December 16th
00:45:33
1937 the two men were making mats in the
00:45:36
industrial building north of the
00:45:37
cellblock even for San Francisco it was
00:45:40
a foggy cold day approximately 1 o'clock
00:45:43
in the afternoon they sought out a shop
00:45:45
window and broke through a fence the
00:45:47
current was Swift that day running at 8
00:45:49
miles per hour
00:45:50
grabbing hold of a 5-gallon can they
00:45:52
attempted to swim to freedom
00:45:54
the Rowan Code scape 1937 was one that I
00:45:58
think was impossible to make the tide
00:46:01
was running very swiftly outdoors to go
00:46:03
and gate the water is 55 degrees Alvin
00:46:06
Karpis an inmate told me that he watched
00:46:09
a row and Co escape and as he looked out
00:46:12
he could see the bodies slipping into
00:46:15
the bay and he believed they drowned
00:46:17
just recently John Stanley a San
00:46:20
Francisco reporter discovered this 1941
00:46:23
article in the files of the San
00:46:24
Francisco Chronicle it claims that Rowan
00:46:27
Cole survived fled to South America and
00:46:30
then using a secret code contacted their
00:46:33
confidence back at Alcatraz federal
00:46:36
officials still maintain the row and
00:46:38
Cole had perished
00:46:39
perhaps a story was a hoax concocted by
00:46:42
inmates but to this day Rowan Koehler
00:46:45
officially listed as missing
00:46:52
this newsreel documents the bloodiest of
00:46:55
all the escape attempts on Alcatraz it
00:46:57
began on May 2nd 1946 here for nearly 40
00:47:03
hours of murderous mutiny armed convicts
00:47:06
shut it out with God
00:47:10
bring me just webinar coil Louisville
00:47:12
Bank Robert joke read SEC in cold blood
00:47:15
he shot down an armed guard in an orgy
00:47:17
of murder
00:47:18
Marv Hubbard Tennessee kidnapper with
00:47:21
one rifle and one automatic they waged a
00:47:23
desperate but futile fight you can see
00:47:26
the smoke from rifle firing tear gas
00:47:28
bombs as gods fought to rescue prison
00:47:31
officials held as hostages in cellblock
00:47:33
C it all began here the north end of the
00:47:38
cellblock convicts coy and Hubbard
00:47:41
jumped on armed guard William Miller
00:47:43
taking his keys and locking him in an
00:47:45
empty cell coy greased his body and
00:47:48
climbed to the top of the cellblock
00:47:49
where the bars were weakest using a
00:47:52
homemade tool he managed to spread the
00:47:53
bars and squeeze through into the gun
00:47:56
gallery over the next few hours a
00:47:58
convicts captured nine guards held them
00:48:01
hostage here in these two cells
00:48:04
hour after hour guards and convicts
00:48:07
exchanged gunfire as crowds gathered to
00:48:09
watch from the hills of San Francisco a
00:48:12
detachment of Marines scaled the walls
00:48:15
and dropped concussion grenades into the
00:48:17
cellblock from the roof or the second
00:48:21
day two teams of guards entered the
00:48:23
cellblock in a furious shootout the
00:48:25
hostages were rescued and the
00:48:27
ringleaders killed
00:48:31
to the gods all credit to of their
00:48:34
number were killed 15 wounded assistant
00:48:37
warden Miller shot by coy Scott perhaps
00:48:40
for life
00:48:42
for the criminal ringleaders dis blue
00:48:45
some in coy [ __ ] hubbard fingerprinted
00:48:48
as they lie on slabs in the mall theirs
00:48:51
is the final reward for a life of crime
00:48:54
[Music]
00:48:59
here's a quick update on both the
00:49:01
swimmer and rafters Dave Horning just
00:49:03
off my shoulder here is about 35 minutes
00:49:06
into the swim and I would say he's made
00:49:08
it two thirds of the way just taking a
00:49:10
quick look back there to see just how
00:49:11
far he had gone quickly to let you know
00:49:16
how the rafters are doing at the moment
00:49:18
now that they have broken free from the
00:49:20
shore of Alcatraz they're actually
00:49:22
making much better progress I keep going
00:49:24
back and forth with the potential
00:49:26
scenario of those convicts that night
00:49:28
just a few minutes ago I thought boy
00:49:30
they're they're barely moving they're
00:49:32
never going to make it to land anywhere
00:49:33
now they've actually been able to catch
00:49:35
the current somewhat they're going maybe
00:49:37
a mile and a half to maybe even close to
00:49:40
two miles an hour so I'm switching back
00:49:43
the other way again and thinking maybe
00:49:45
they could have made it I understand
00:49:48
that the rafters are getting very cold
00:49:50
and frustrated that they aren't making
00:49:51
much progress
00:49:52
they're only still a quarter of a mile
00:49:54
away from Alcatraz let's go to Diana we
00:49:57
have three men here who have kayak all
00:50:00
over the world they're young they're
00:50:02
strong in excellent shape and they're
00:50:04
having a great deal of difficulty making
00:50:06
any progress and you can see they're
00:50:08
being thrown around by the tide left and
00:50:10
right probably what was happening that
00:50:13
night to the convicts out here was just
00:50:15
some desperation not not a goal of
00:50:17
getting somewhere but just to get
00:50:19
anywhere I'm sure the convict didn't
00:50:23
have much traffic out of here on the bay
00:50:25
but our swimmer and rafters today are
00:50:28
having a great deal of traffic we've got
00:50:30
barges tugboats
00:50:32
tourist boats etc not to mention a
00:50:34
number of seals so it's somewhat
00:50:36
entertaining although they're casting
00:50:38
quite a bit of weight
00:50:39
[Music]
00:50:42
just to check on Dave's medical
00:50:46
condition we've asked him a few simple
00:50:48
questions like his name this the same
00:50:50
way that referees in boxing ask the
00:50:53
fighters if they if they're coherent
00:50:55
he's responded very well but evidently
00:50:58
he is cramping in one leg cramps can be
00:51:01
very very serious in the water but we
00:51:03
still assume that he's going to be ok
00:51:12
Dave is only a few yards away from
00:51:15
completing his swim Diana how is he
00:51:17
doing the one thing I'm concerned about
00:51:19
is not the cold but the cramp in his leg
00:51:21
we still assume that since he's closing
00:51:23
in on the beach
00:51:24
that he's going to be ok and we should
00:51:27
mention here we've talked so much about
00:51:28
hypothermia your core temperature
00:51:31
actually goes down even further once you
00:51:33
get out from a spell in cold water so
00:51:36
when he gets out of here we're gonna be
00:51:37
able to talk to him very briefly but 3
00:51:39
or 4 minutes after that he's going to
00:51:41
have to get warm and the way he does it
00:51:42
is put on a pair of running shoes and go
00:51:45
for a jog and generate his own heat it's
00:51:46
actually the best way to do it
00:51:49
well it looks conclusive Dave is
00:51:52
literally 20 yards from the shore
00:51:55
lifeguards have now entered the water
00:51:57
with him for the last few feet
00:51:58
especially having reported a cramp just
00:52:01
to make sure that he's able to walk out
00:52:04
and he seems to be just fine we'll have
00:52:07
a word with him in just 30 seconds or so
00:52:09
[Applause]
00:52:11
[Music]
00:52:17
[Music]
00:52:22
yeah how's going ball all right Dave I
00:52:26
know we don't have much time before you
00:52:27
get your running shoes on tell me your
00:52:29
experience first of all you came in in
00:52:31
just a little bit over an hour how was
00:52:32
it out there it was great when I first
00:52:35
hit the water the cold shock the water
00:52:38
definitely was embracing halfway through
00:52:41
the snow my feet and legs went numb
00:52:43
and then a final 10 to 15 minutes both
00:52:46
legs totally cramped up and I really had
00:52:48
to wonder whether I'd be able to make it
00:52:50
in I I can hear just the way you're
00:52:53
talking it is slightly a bit of slurred
00:52:54
speech as your mouth quite frozen in
00:52:57
place sleep called chin well listen this
00:53:07
brings us to your opinion now that
00:53:09
you've done it do you believe they could
00:53:11
have made it there's no question in my
00:53:13
mind that they could have made it the
00:53:16
question is how they were felt it's the
00:53:19
coffee that probably would have been
00:53:20
their motivation okay well listen we
00:53:23
thank you so much for your brave effort
00:53:25
today and I'm going to reserve my
00:53:27
opinion later because Dave Horning is
00:53:29
one thing the rafters are another thing
00:53:32
so we're going to go back out and check
00:53:34
and see how they actually do Davis
00:53:39
succeeded in a swim to Crissy Field
00:53:41
however the rafters have only reached
00:53:43
this point a quarter mile off Alcatraz
00:53:47
let's go back to Diana for an update on
00:53:50
the rafters they are not doing well they
00:53:54
just haven't made much progress they
00:53:56
came around Alcatraz very quickly but
00:53:58
now they're kind of stuck in the front
00:53:59
of the island maybe kept in by that
00:54:01
incoming flood tide come on over bill
00:54:06
[Music]
00:54:12
so I know you're strong it must not be
00:54:15
you guys what's happening out there
00:54:17
we're actually fairly comfortable but
00:54:18
we're not getting anywhere and then the
00:54:19
boat is starting to fall apart and we
00:54:23
think even with the we have certain
00:54:25
advantages with the type of rig we have
00:54:27
and if we're trying to really assess how
00:54:30
the conducts that we don't think they
00:54:32
did very well and we have a little more
00:54:35
modern clothing on and and I think that
00:54:38
given the situation when they left at
00:54:41
night that know where they're going
00:54:42
they're in pretty weak condition from
00:54:44
not having much exercise that the prison
00:54:47
they probably at least we're very
00:54:50
uncomfortable more likely got
00:54:51
hypothermia and just didn't get anywhere
00:54:53
we were actually very confident when
00:54:55
we're leaving Alcatraz and the boat was
00:54:57
in good condition but the more the more
00:55:00
time we had to think about it the more
00:55:02
unlikely the whole possibility of them
00:55:05
surviving seems these guys were career
00:55:09
convict and they hadn't shown up since
00:55:11
and you would think over 27 years they
00:55:14
would have probably committed another
00:55:15
crime have gotten caught so I have a
00:55:18
feeling their fish burger did the Anglin
00:55:30
brothers and Frank Morris survived their
00:55:32
daring escape based on what we've seen
00:55:34
today it certainly is possible yet it
00:55:37
seems odd that in the last 27 years so
00:55:39
few clues of surface to prove that they
00:55:41
made it whether or not the men survived
00:55:43
their escape compromised the reputation
00:55:45
of Alcatraz less than a year later the
00:55:48
prison closed for that reason alone it
00:55:51
can be said the men did beat the rock
00:55:54
thanks to Diana Nyad congratulations
00:55:57
Dave thank you very much you brave men
00:55:59
on the raft join us again next week for
00:56:02
another edition of unsolved mysteries
00:56:07
[Music]
