Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years

by Michael Esslinger

  After the meal was over and men went back to cells, Capone started up on the upper gallery instead of going to his own cell. Officers sent him back to his own cell and being locked in, he proceeded to get sick and threw up what he had eaten for breakfast and then appeared to be all right.

  After we let the men go out to work, I went up to Capone’s cell and talked to him to see what was the matter with him and what explanation he had for his actions. He was sitting on the toilet and in response to my questions all I could get were indistinct, incoherent mumblings.

  At about 8:15, Mr. Amende, Cell House Officer, called me and said that Capone had thrown a fit in his cell. I went to Capone’s cell and found he was laying on the floor and appeared to be in a hysterical fit of some sort. I immediately sent for the doctor and when Dr. Hess came and put him on the bunk and examined him, he said we had better take him to the hospital.

  Capone was checked into the Hospital.

  Capone had developed symptoms of syphilis, a disease that he had evidently been carrying for years. He was committed to the prison hospital, and would remain there for the duration of his imprisonment at Alcatraz. The prison doctors attempted a variety of treatments with no success. Capone was frequently restrained for rants of yelling “at the top of his lungs” and other irrational behaviors. At one point, Capone was located in the “A-Ward” hospital section and locked in what was termed a “bug cage” for mentally unstable or at risk patients. It was a stiff wired cage that sectioned off the large hospital wardroom, typically housing multiple patients. Inmate Alvin Karpis later recounted a fierce fight that ensued between Capone and an inmate named Carl Janaway.

  Carl Janaway

  Janaway shared one of the adjacent beds, separated by steel-mesh wire enclosures, and it is claimed that the two men constantly argued like small children. Their fighting climaxed in an event that would have them both separated, and would finally convince the administration of the need to transfer Capone to a facility that could better care for his medical condition. The altercation stemmed from Janaway’s insults, which were reciprocated by Capone using names such as “Bug House Janaway.” At the peak of their exchange, both inmates started hurling the contents of their bedpans at each other through the wire caging. They would end up so saturated with urine and feces that they had to be hosed down before being removed from their enclosures to shower. In Another incident, Capone got into an altercation with inmate Phil Ryan (AZ-134) assaulting him with a bedpan. In a prison report it stated in part:

  Capone has been turned into ward “A” by the guard on-duty in the Hospital, to empty his bedpan. He was in the toilet cleaning it perhaps with a towel which the Ward patients used to clean the table in Ward “A.” Ryan who was mopping in front of the toilet, asked him not to use it. Capone flew into a rage and struck Ryan in the temple with the bedpan inflicting a small laceration. Ryan then struck Capone over the head with the mop. Capone grabbed the mop out of Ryan’s hands and when the Guard, Mr. Comerford and Mr. Sabin arrived on the scene Capone was fighting off all of the patients in the Ward, but no other injuries resulted.

  Capone underwent aggressive treatment for syphilis during his final years on Alcatraz and his family made frequent visits to help provide him support. Warden Johnston provided frequent updates on Capone’s condition to the Bureau and surmised that he had both good and bad days while battling his illness. In one such report Johnston noted:

  You will note from the above that I told her that he is quiet, cooperative and has good attitude and disposition and that if he continues as at present she may have her regular visit as scheduled.

  My view of this is based upon reports from Doctor Hess, the Associate Warden and my own observations. I have seen him several times since he has been in the Hospital and not noticed anything about him or his conduct that make it necessary to cancel the regular visit of his wife. In fact, if it were not for my knowledge of his collapse on Saturday, the fifth, and the history of syphilis, and what the Doctors say about possibilities of progressive deterioration, I would say to ordinary observation, he is just acting normal.

  When I was in the Hospital the afternoon of Saturday, the 12th, I walked into the small ward where Capone is and I observed that he had on the regulation hospital pajamas and robe and was by his bed where he had some magazines and writing paper. He greeted me in his usual manner, which as I have noticed on interviews and in conversation is generally a bit effusive. He made inquiry about being allowed to write his regular letters to his wife and possibility of having his regular visit and I told him that if he retained his privileges and took his treatments and there was no radical change that indicated that visiting would be undesirable, it would be allowed.

  When I talked to h1m about how he was occupying his time he said he had been writing and he had been reading the magazines. I asked him what magazines he had been reading and he said the last one he read was the Cosmopolitan. I noticed that particularly because Dr. Hess had told me that his tongue was thick and speech slurring which was a noticeable sign in such cases, but I must say that at that particular time I thought his speech was quite clear and that he had no difficulty with the word "Cosmopolitan."

  I noticed also that on a previous visit with him when I was endeavoring to appear casual and not testing him, I had some conversation with Dr. Hess not directed to Capone but in his presence and hearing, in the course of wh1ch I referred to another patient who had athletes foot, and Capone hearing it and wanted to get into the conversation, asked me if I knew what was the best thing for that. I said I did not know the best thing, and he said "Absorbine, Jr."

  I mention this because I would expect him to be a bit thick tongued, although he was not, on such words as Absorbine, Jr. and Cosmopolitan and in the use of words that he ordinarily employed, he seemed all right. I have no doubt that in the tests that are made in which departures are from his regular vocabulary and sentences are given in order to test out his speech for clearness, that he may become thick.

  When I asked him how he was getting along, he responded he was getting along all right and he was going to do whatever the Doctor told him and take whatever treatment was prescribed. I asked him if he was entirely clear and he said he was at that time. When I asked him what happened to him originally to get him to the hospital, he said he did not know exactly but he guessed that he was a bit "wacky". When I asked him to describe just what happened, he said "Well, it's hard to describe. I felt something coming on and seemed to get a little dizzy and things went black and I just laid down."

  I asked him if he vomited any after breakfast on that first day, Saturday, the fifth. He said "Well, they told me I did but I do not remember it." When I asked him if there was a feeling of nausea or biliousness and dizziness or what it was like, he said "Something like being bilious, felt kind, of dizzy" but I could not get any better description. I did not interrogate him in such manner as to make him think that I was taking it too seriously or that I wanted precise and accurate answers but Just as if my approach to it was more or less casual and I was just interested in finding out what happened originally and

  how he felt at the moment.

  If there are any changes in the situation, I will advise.

  J.A. Johnston

  Warden

  Al Capone’s Terminal Island mug shot, taken on January 6, 1938, the day of his release from Alcatraz.

  The United States Federal Penitentiary at Terminal Island, California.

  Capone and his brothers Albert and Ralph (wearing their ranger style hats) in Mercer, Wisconsin. This never before published photo was taken during a hunting trip in 1944.

  Capone at his Palm Island estate following his release from prison.

  Early on the morning of January 6, 1939, Associate Warden E.J. Miller escorted Capone to the mainland, where Federal Marshals awaited to take custody of the famous prisoner. He was transferred to Terminal Island, a Federal Prison in Southern California where he would serve out the remainder of his sentence. H
is time served at Terminal Island, proved to be a continuum of harsh confinement. George Hess, the one-time Chief Medical Officer at Alcatraz (who had also transferred his practice to Terminal Island), wrote to the Medical Director at the Bureau of Prisons in September of 1939:

  Capone is now confined to one of the Segregation Cells but is permitted books, magazines, papers, commissary and proper exercise. It became necessary to segregate this man from other inmates for his own protection. His most recent assault of another inmate happened to be one of our model inmates who is very well liked by the inmate body as well as the officials. The feeling against Capone for this unprovoked assault was decidedly one of intense resentment. It is felt that the best interests of all concerned will be adequately protected by Capone’s indefinite segregation under careful supervision.

  * * *

  He was released from prison on November 16, 1939, following a brief stay at the Federal Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and was then voluntarily transferred to the Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore to undergo a three week treatment program for paresis. The Department of Justice provided only a brief official news release to members of the press. It read simply:

  Alphonse Capone was released today from the United States Penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He was met by a member of his family. He was recently transferred to the United States Penitentiary at Lewisburg from, the Federal Correctional Institution near Los Angeles, California.

  Upon the petition of Capone's attorneys the computation of his sentence has again been reviewed, and he is now being given credit for three days he served in federal custody between October 24, 1931 and October 27, 1931, the date on which the United States Circuit Court of Appeals granted a supersedeas suspending execution of the judgment under which he was originally incarcerated on October 24, 1931. He began service of the ten-year sentence on May 4, 1932, to be followed by a one-year sentence. Allowances for good conduct on both sentences and allowance for the time held in the jail between the date of his sentence and the granting of the supersedeas bring his release date to November 16, 1939.

  Capone died on January 25, 1947 in his Palm Island Mansion, in Miami Beach Florida. On his death certificate, completed by Medical Examiner Kenneth Phillips, “Bronco- Pneumonia and Apoplexy” were listed as the official cause of death. His older brother Raffaele would also later serve time for tax evasion at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary.

  The Birdman of Alcatraz

  The Life and Imprisonment of Robert Franklin Stroud

  Burt Lancaster portrayed Robert Stroud in the 1962 classic motion picture Birdman of Alcatraz.

  Robert Stroud was perhaps one of the most unique and interesting of all the prisoners in the annals of American penology. He remains a historical icon and his legend is woven into the fabric of Alcatraz and its colorful past. However, despite his worldwide fame and notoriety, the public never came to know the real Stroud. His soft image as a gentle bird doctor was the romanticized product of a Hollywood Motion Picture, which largely fictionalized his life story. The true face of Stroud was violent, intricate, mysterious and multi-layered. He was far more complex than the handsome and humbled character that actor Burt Lancaster portrayed in the film chronicling Stroud’s life. The movie blended gentle images of small frail canaries tangling their feet in Lancaster’s hair into a caring and tender portrait. His real life Alcatraz guardians failed to see or understand the Hollywood parallels. Many of the officers who guarded Stroud depicted him as a genius whose personality was “composed, manipulative, and calculated with vicious, predatory and murderous ideals.” By the time Stroud had arrived on Alcatraz in 1942, he was fifty-two years old and had already served thirty-three years in prison.

  Robert Franklin Stroud was born on January 28, 1890, in Seattle, Washington, to Elizabeth McCartney Schaefer and Benjamin Franklin Stroud. Elizabeth was much older than Benjamin and was a widow with two daughters from a previous turbulent marriage. Robert was the third of four children and he was born into an extremely quarrelsome and tense household. His father had apparently despised the very idea of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and some sources indicate that he beat his son frequently from a very young age. Stroud developed a deep-rooted hatred for his father which progressively grew worse as he transitioned into adulthood. His mother, however, had a special protective bond with her young son and favored him over her other children. The scenario was further complicated in 1898 with the birth of Marcus McCartney Stroud, Robert’s new baby brother. Robert’s father was pleased with the birth of Marcus. Benjamin Stroud had been steadily employed for some time and the family’s financial future was much brighter at the time of Marcus’s birth.

  At age eleven Robert contracted a serious case of typhoid fever and was confined to his bed for several months. Throughout his repeated bouts of retching illness, his mother always stayed by his bedside. Her loyalty further cemented the bond between them and this sealed their already close relationship.

  By the age of thirteen, Stroud had become a desperately troubled youth and left home without a penny to his name. Young Bob set out for the small fishing town of Anacortes, Washington, begging for food and money. He would later claim it was here that he first started having sexual relations with prostitutes and venturing into the red light districts. Bob also learned to ride the romanticized train rails and lived by evening campfires with hobos and other runaways. At sixteen Bob finally returned home and offered fabulous stories of his adventurous escapades to his worshiping younger brother Marcus. At this time, Bob attempted to put his life back on track by working at a series of menial jobs. But despite his best intentions, this would prove to be a barren attempt.

  In 1908, at eighteen years of age, Stroud drifted up to Juneau, Alaska, where he fell in love with saloon prostitute and cabaret dancer named Kitty O’Brien. Kitty was thirty-six, and she acted as a somewhat motherly figure to Stroud. One article derived from early Alaska oral histories described O’Brien as a “faded, wrinkled, blonde who was a wild-living drug addict, alcoholic and whore.” The Daily Record in January of 1909 wrote “Her face is badly marred with sores at the present.” She was known by locals for robbing drunks and disorderly conduct, but she had somehow developed a close bond with Stroud. The Record wrote, “They were both degenerates and criminally inclined.”

  When Robert developed a severe case of pneumonia, Kitty took care of him and helped nurse him back to health, but dark clouds were on the horizon.

  * * *

  Charlie F. Dahmer, was a 33-year old bartender at the Montana Saloon, a popular tavern where Kitty hustled. It was rumored that Dahmer was an ex-boyfriend who was still in love with her. Whatever their relationship may have been, it was to play a decisive role in the events that followed. Notes from Stroud’s Alcatraz admission file would later state that “Kitty was addicted to the use of dope” and it was suggested that young Robert might also have been addicted.

  The first crucial turning point in Stroud’s life came on January 18, 1909, when he murdered Dahmer. There are several narratives of the events surrounding the murder, but the official account given in the Alcatraz Warden’s Notebook stated the facts as follows:

  There are two stories connected with the killing, one of which is that this woman (Kitty O’Brien) did not come home one night; that when she returned to her crib in the morning she told Stroud that she had spent the night with one Charles F. Dahmer, a local bartender in a local saloon; that Dahmer abused her and only paid $2.00 whereas the usual and customary fee was ten dollars; that Stroud thereupon proceeded to a local hardware store, now extinct, and asked to buy a few shells for his pistol; that the proprietor of the store refused to sell him anything but a full box of shells; that he thereupon left and returned some time later in the afternoon, purchased a box of shells, went into the residence of Dahmer, fired five shots at him, three of which took effect in his body, proceeded to rob him of whatever money he had on his person and returned to this woman’s crib and gave her the money he had ta
ken from Dahmer. The other story is to the effect that he waited several days before committing the murder, but that the reason was the same in both stories. For this crime, Stroud was sentenced to 12 years in the USP, McNeil Island, Washington (rec’d at McNeil about 8-23-09).

  Stroud later claimed that Dahmer had beaten Kitty savagely, almost killing her. Furthermore, he alleged that Dahmer had stolen a gold locket that Stroud had given her as a special gift. He later described that when he had walked into her room she was almost dead and that when he had taken her into his arms, she begged: “Kill him Robert... please kill him...” Stroud maintained that he went to Dahmer’s small cottage demanding an answer as to why he had assaulted Kitty. Dahmer was resistant and Stroud asserted that Dahmer charged at him and that “it was either him or me.” Dahmer suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head and died instantly. After the killing, Stroud turned himself into the U.S. Marshal’s Office. He was subsequently tried and convicted of manslaughter. During his trial, the Daily Record reported that Stroud “appeared to glory in the notoriety that he obtained by the killing.” Since the crime had been committed on federal territory, Stroud was sent to McNeil Island, the U.S. Penitentiary located in Puget Sound, Washington. Kitty had also been indicted, but charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence.

  Robert Stroud in 1909, at eighteen years of age.

  Stroud arrived at McNeil on August 23, 1909 as inmate #1854-M and had to learn to live under the rigid prison regulations. The silent system was in full force and the prison rule resembled that of a tough military establishment. Prisoners moved about the penitentiary in drill formation and those who violated the rules were thrown into a dark and unsanitary solitary confinement cell, and fed only rations of stale bread and water. The prison was old and poorly ventilated and lacked any type of modern plumbing. At McNeil, Stroud worked in the prison laundry and quickly became known as a problematic inmate. His records indicate that he was violent and difficult to manage. There were ceaseless complaints of threats made against other inmates.