Letters from Alcatraz
Page 34
In a later interview, West said that their plan had been to use their raft to make their way to Angel Island. After resting, they would then reenter the bay on the opposite side of the island and swim through a waterway called Raccoon Straits, and then on to Marin County. They would steal a car, burglarize a clothing store, and then venture out in their own separate directions. West had finally been able to complete the removal of his grill and climb to the rooftop, but by then all of the other inmates had disappeared. With no raft or other means of escape, he was forced to return to his cell.
For decades, speculated abounded about whether or not this famous escape attempt was successful. The FBI spent several years investigating, and later resolved that the inmates’ plan had failed. The families of the Anglins stated that the escape had been a topic of family discussions for several years. None of the family had ever been contacted by the brothers, and they felt that the men would have made some form of contact if they had survived. The third Anglin brother, Alfred, was electrocuted on secured fence while attempting to escape from Kilby Prison, Montgomery, Alabama, just two years after his brothers’ escape from Alcatraz.
The mysteries are still being explored decades after the escape, and it remains as one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries surrounding the world famous prison.
* * *
Warden,
I think I’ve done as much as any man can do to keep a clean record here. I worked as hard as I knew how. I have went out of my way to avoid trouble when I seen it coming my way. I worked very hard on my job over in Industry and liked it. I had worked my way up to a second grade job and pay. It took me two long years to get there and I would like to say that it meant plenty to me. No one has spoke up for me or did anything in my favor.
I feel that my two years here has been in vain to all of you. I think that I have earned the right to let all of you know how I feel. I’m not guilty of the charge against me and I want my job back. I’ve got thirty five years hanging on me and I can’t do it over here in A-S. I’m being punished for something I knew nothing about and I wish that some of you would come up with that same idea. I can’t just sit here and watch everything that I’ve worked for go down the drain without saying something.
This might not sound like much to you but here is one of my main reasons for trying to keep a clean record here.
I wrote my mother last year and told her that I would have a photo made to send her. I lacked just a few days having in enough time to qualify. So I wrote and told her that I would have to wait until next Xmas. She asks me about that in her letters. It doesn’t mean all that much to me, but it do to her. I haven’t had a visit since I’ve been here. My people don’t have that kind of money. I was planning on sending her a photo this Christmas and make a phone call.
I would like to know how and where I stand, on all this. I’m only asking for what I have earned here. I would also like some kind of Consideration on my case. Please.
Yours Truly,
John William Anglin
25034
United States Penitentiary
RECEIVED
NOV 30 1959
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From Clarence Anglin 5/58
75H56
To James V. Bennett Dir. Bureau of Prisons
Washington D.C.
Mr. James V. Bennett
Dir. Bureau of Prisons
Dear Sir.
I am writing in regard of transfer to Atlanta U.S.P.
I was transferred here to Leavenworth from Atlanta but not by my request. If I had broken their rules or done something wrong I could understand being here, but I was getting along real good there. My Mother and Family were visiting me. And everything was ok.
Now I am fifteen hundred miles from home and no chance of even getting a visit.
I have a long time to stay in prison. I would appreciate it if you let me visit them while they still live. They are not in good enough health to travel so far or afford such a trip.
For consideration I thank you in advance.
Clarence Anglin
75456
* * *
George and Rachel Anglin, the parents of John and Clarence.
A portrait of John Anglin taken at Alcatraz for his family. The photo can be seen being held by his father in the previous photo. It would be the last image his family would see of him.
June 6, 1958
Dear Sir
I’ve got two boy one in Kansas & one in Pennsylvania. There in Prison there & their names are Clarence Anglin & John William Anglin & I would like to get them brought back to Atlanta Ga. so I can go to see them, they are too far away & I can’t go to see them, & me & their Daddy are getting old & we’re not able to make a trip like that even if we had the money which we don’t have. I would like very much if you would give them a transfer to Atlanta Ga. as we can visit with them once in awhile, as we are about 500 miles from Atlanta, we could go once in awhile.
Mrs. G. R. Anglin
* * *
Ruskin, Fla
Oct 28, 1960
United States Dept of Justice
United States Penitentiary
Leavenworth, Kansas
Dear Sir:
I am writing you in regards to my Son – John William Anglin. I would like to have some information concerning his removal from there to the Penitentiary in Alcatraz California. I know there must be something wrong and I would like very much to hear something about this. I would like to know also about my other son Clarence Anglin. Is he alright? I thank you for your help.
Mrs. Rachel Anglin
Route 10 Box 205
Ruskin, Florida
Alvin Karpis, 325-AZ
Alvin Karpowicz
Karpis in October 1951.
Alvin Karpis, would hold the exclusive distinction of serving the longest single term on Alcatraz: nearly 26 years. Alvin Karpowicz was born in Montreal, Canada in 1908 and his father moved the family to Topeka, Kansas when Alvin was still a young boy. It was an elementary school teacher who decided to shorten his name to simply Alvin Karpis. Later while at Alcatraz, he was tagged by fellow inmates with the nicknames of “Creepy” Karpis and “Old Creepy.”
Karpis lived a quarter of a century in a place where he would never be allowed to walk astray; at Alcatraz, he would never see many of the areas that were only a few yards from his cell. In his memoir published in 1980, Karpis claimed that his first encounter with crime occurred when he stole a gun when he was only ten years old, thus beginning his lengthy crime pursuit during his formative years as a youth. Like many other criminals of his era, Karpis’ first arrest was for illegally hopping trains. He was sentenced to a Florida chain gang, and after his release he was again arrested for robbery. He subsequently escaped from prison and became a fugitive.
Karpis joined the Barker gang after meeting Fred Barker in 1930 at the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing. With the bang, he embarked on a long and violent crime spree that consisted of bank robberies, kidnapping, and several murders, including the slaying of three police officers. Karpis had also been one the architects of the famed kidnapping of the Hamm’s Brewery heir William A. Hamm in 1933. Karpis’s vicious crimes earned him the designation as one of America’s most wanted public enemies. He received equal billing as a leader of the Barker-Karpis Gang, which became one of the most formidable criminal gangs of the 1930s.
Fellow convict James “Whitey” Bulger wrote of Karpis: “I never heard anyone ever call Karpis “Old Creepy.” On the Rock they called him Ray. Rumor had it that Blackie Audette was the one who made up the name and Karpis hated him. I never recall seeing Audette in the prison yard, but never looked for him either. Guys didn’t like Blackie and it wasn’t uncommon for cons to turn on guys who worked in the offices.
J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover—who had personally designated Alvin as Public Enemy Number One—initiated an intense pursuit to capture Karpis and his gang. On May 1, 1936 in New Orleans, under Hoover’s person
al direction, the FBI descended on Karpis and Fred Hunter, another alumnus of Alcatraz. Hoover was on hand to command the squad of FBI agents who performed the arrest. Karpis would later mock Hoover’s claim that he had been present for the arrest, stating that Hoover was actually nowhere to be seen until Karpis and his accomplice had already been cuffed. Only then did Hoover emerge for the photo opportunities. Karpis would later credit FBI Agent Clarence Hurt with the famed arrest. His capture would signify the end of the gangster-driven public enemy era, and elevated J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI to national prominence for taking back America.
Sentenced to life imprisonment, Karpis was incarcerated at Alcatraz from August 1936 to April 1962. He did, however, enjoy a short absence from Alcatraz during a six-month transfer to USP Leavenworth in 1958. Karpis served his time quietly at Alcatraz, though he was far from considered a model inmate by correctional officers. Former Alcatraz Correctional Officer Alver Bloomquist called Karpis a mild nuisance. Bloomquist described him as an inmate who complained frequently about the conditions and who bickered constantly with fellow inmates. He was known as an obsessive reader and held numerous positions in the Alcatraz industries and a kitchen assignment. It is rumored that when baseball games were broadcasted inside the cellhouse in the late 1950s, Karpis would bellow in laughter when the Hamm’s jingle played during commercial breaks.
He remained at Alcatraz until his transfer to USP McNeil Island in 1962. He was released on parole in 1969 and deported to Canada. He had difficulty obtaining Canadian passport credentials initially, because the well-known underworld physician Joseph Moran removed his fingerprints in 1934.
Karpis would later write two books about his life at Alcatraz, including one bestseller. In 1973, he had acquired enough funds to fulfill his longtime dream of moving to Spain. His life in Spain is largely undocumented, but on August 26, 1979, Karpis was found dead. His death was originally ruled a suicide by authorities (because sleeping pills were found by his body) but the cause was modified later to “death from natural causes.” It was suggested that Karpis had become dependent on drugs and alcohol, which may have influenced his death. Karpis wrote prolifically during his incarceration at Alcatraz.
Karpis in 1962 while an inmate at USP McNeil Island.
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To: Mrs. Emily Janke Alcatraz, California
1456 W. Cuyler July 30, 1942
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Sister:
An hour or so ago the Assoc. Warden came up to my cell and told me to be sure and write a letter to you tonight as you are worried about not hearing from me for so long. Well, kid, it’s a long story but I will try to explain it provided I am permitted to do so.
On April 20th I was informed that the mat shop, where I am working, would be closed due to lack of material, etc., and that I would have to go to the laundry to work, which was agreeable, provided I wasn’t put in a certain Dept. as things were rather unsettled there. It was insisted upon that I work in that Dept. “or else.” I chose the “or else” and when the “or else was over with, on or about May the 7th, I was put in the cell without any privileges except to take a bath once a week, a shave three times a week, and a hair cut once a month and all other privileges taken until I knuckle under and do as I am told naturally my mail privileges were taken right along with my exercise, sunshine, fresh air, reading material, tobacco, personal property, etc., so I had no way of answering your letter. Now as to how long it will be until this situation will be straightened out will be strictly up to the officials for the only thing they can possibly accomplish by keeping me locked up in a cell without fresh air, sunshine or exercise, is possibly a breaking down of my health, and if by being able to do that they can derive any personal satisfaction from it, more power to them. You see Emily when I chose the “or else” I feel as though I paid in full for my refusal even though under the circumstances I considered my refusal un-wholly justified due to existing conditions at that time, so as far as I am concerned I just have no way of knowing when I will be able to write again for I have no intention of going to work down there in view of the fact that I have already paid for my refusal with “or else”. I realize that what I have already written in this letter will come as a shock to you since in my mail to you in the past I have always covered up the more unpleasant things that have occurred since I have been out here, but I for some unexplainable reason find myself unable to go on using such hypocrisy this time. Maybe I should have let you know about these things long ago but I just didn’t care to bother you. There isn’t anything that I am able to do about except explain it to you as I have done on the other side of this paper. Oh I guess I could have done as I have in the past, give you a line of bull as to why I wasn’t writing etc. but it would have been the same old thing over again. Oh I could probably get permission to write by asking for permission every time I intended to write but you can imagine how that works out the first time you get in some scrape it was “or else” so until I am given back my mail privileges by them on their own account why I won’t be writing to anyone for awhile. Now Emily whatever you see fit to do, don’t you dare let the folks know about all this you know how upset they get. After this whenever you want to get information and aren’t getting it why you know you can always get it thru your Senator Brooks or someone like that you know who to see about matters of that kind. I think he is working on the Chicago Tribune. Well I sure have my doubts as to whether you will receive this as the truth sure hurts some people but I have read it over carefully and I am sure there are no military secrets in it so maybe it will pass. Well the above just about covers it. Now once more don’t say nothing to the folks. How is Betty? Tell her I said hello. I received a letter from Father the other day and one from Mother a week or so ago. For some reason or other they allow me to receive mail sent to me. I am getting short of paper, so I may as well close. Now that you understand what is what there isn’t any use in you worrying—I will write to you when my mail privileges are restored, so pay it no mind if you don’t hear from me for a few years.
Alvin Karpowicz, Reg. No. 325-AZ
* * *
AUGUST TWELFTH
1 9 4 2
Mrs. Emily Janke
1456 W. Ruyler Street
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Madam:
Responsive to your letter of August 5, 1942, regarding your brother, Alvin Karpavicz, Reg. No. 325-AZ, I want to tell you at the outset that there is not any person here, certainly not any officer, who is putting any pressure on your brother for any personal reason. Of course, it may be that he may consider that an order in accordance with regulations is pressure, for it sometimes happens that while the officers endeavor to carry out their duties in an impersonal way and without any prejudice, the inmate who is subject to the order and the regulations may view it differently because he is in a different position with different ideas.
As you stated in your letter, your brother seemed to be getting along quite well for a long time, and I was glad to see him make what appeared to be a fair adjustment to his difficult position. The facts with regard to his loss of privileges to which he refers are as follows:
He was working in the Mat Shop and seemed to be getting along quite well until we reached a situation where we ran out of rubber, couldn’t make any more mats for the time being, and were obliged to close the Mat Shop and to transfer the inmates who were working in that shop to the laundry, where we were very busy. Your brother seemed to think that since he was assigned to the Mat Shop that was his place and therefore it was unfair for us to send him to the laundry just because the Mat Shop was closing, and he refused to obey the order or take the assignment in the change of work.
As a fair-minded person, I am sure that you will see the reasonableness of the order, and I am sure you would if you were in my position. I think it would be better for your brother if he accepts the order and goes about the work to which he has been assigned, using what few privileges it is possible for us to grant. Although his privile
ges have been restricted, he has been advised that he could write to you, and he availed himself of that privilege and probably told you about his trouble in his own way, so that now you have his point of view as well as the facts which I have given in response to your request.
Sincerely,
J. A. JOHNSTON, Warden
* * *
From Alvin Karpowicz No. 325 Sept. 1945
Alcatraz California
To The Warden Alcatraz Island California
Dear Sir:
As the time available for personal interviews is somewhat limited, I thought it best that I explain what I have in mind in form of a letter.
I would like to find out what my chances are, in getting transferred to one of the other institutions by the end of 1946, preferably Leavenworth.
While I am satisfied with this place in most ways my reasons for wanting a transfer, are as follows;
I have been working in the Bakery for over 26 months and I would very much like a chance of doing the same kind of work where modern bakery equipment is extensively used so that when I am eventually deported I would feel confident in being able to get and hold a good paying position in the Baking industry.
My parents and son reside at Topeka Kansas which is about 60 miles from Leavenworth. It is now over nine years since I have seen anyone of my family and as my parents are getting pretty old I think them being able to visit me once a month would be a very nice thing.
By the 26th of July 1948 I will have 10 years served, which would leave me 5 years more to serve before becoming eligible for deportation. I could learn a great deal working 5 years in a large Bakery.