The Alcatraz Escape: The Unbelievable True Story of the Great Prison Break

In this episode of the Compendium, we unravel the captivating tale of the Alcatraz Escape, one of the most famous prison escapes in history. Dive into the mysterious and daring plans that led to the legendary breakout from Alcatraz, the notorious island prison. We'll explore real Alcatraz escape stories, uncover secrets of the Rock, and discuss the lives of Frank Morris and his accomplices. This episode covers historical twists, and unsolved mysteries that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Step right up and immerse yourself in the greatest prison break tale ever told!

We give you the Compendium, but if you want more, then check out these great resources:

1. "Escape from Alcatraz" - by J. Campbell Bruce
2. “Alcatraz History” - Archive website
3. "Alcatraz: The Surprising History” -  by Patrick Auerbach 
4. “National Park Service: Alcatraz Island” - Official tourist site.
5. "Alcatraz: Search for the Truth" - Documentry
6. Photos of paper-mache heads -

And those Wax Museum Photos:

1. The world's worst wax museum - in pictures
2. Louis Tussauds (Great Yarmouth)

Connect with Us:

• 🌐 Our Website: TheCompendiumPodcast.com
• 💬 Connect: Send us a voice note
• 📸 Our Instagram: @theCompendiumPodcast

Support the show:

• 🍎 Review us on Apple Podcasts
• 🟢 Review us on Spotify
• ❤️ Get Early Access to Episodes on Patreon

Credits:

• Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
• Intro and Outro Music: Alice in dark Wonderland by Aleksey Chistilin
• All the Latest Things Intro: Clowns by Giulio Fazio

Chapters

• 0:00 Sneak peak
• 0:53 Welcome to The Compendium
• 1:36 Topic of the week
• 6:39 All the latest things
• 18:00 Topic of the week
• 1:10:07 Outro

Transcript

[00:00:00] Adam Cox: I think he put them in canvas bags which kind of stopped them from wiggling as much as it's a bit more restricted. But still the thought of even one snake just wiggling around in my pants.

[00:00:10] Um, rephrase that. The thought of just a few snakes wiggling around in my pants. I just think that'd be weird. I mean, even a few would be, a few's fine. Ten snakes. Ten 

[00:00:26] Kyle Risi: snakes! That's too much snake! 

[00:00:54] Adam Cox: Welcome to The Compendium, an assembly of fascinating and intriguing things. We're a weekly [00:01:00] variety podcast where each week we dive into stories pulled from darker corners of true crime, the annuls of your old unread history books, and the who's who of extraordinary people. We give you just enough information to stand your ground at any social gathering.

[00:01:15] I am your ringmaster for this episode, Adam Cox. 

[00:01:18] Kyle Risi: And I'm your Sideshow, Siamese twin for this week, I guess. Are you now? Well, I mean, famously, um, people always Compliment me on my two faces. 

[00:01:31] Adam Cox: Very two faced. Kyle two faced Reece. Yeah. In today's episode of The Compendium, we are diving into an assembly of unsinkable legends and island escapes.

[00:01:43] Kyle Risi: What? Unsinkable legends and island escapes? The only thing that comes to mind, if I'm honest, is Are we doing Alcatraz? 

[00:01:53] Adam Cox: We are doing Alcatraz. Oh 

[00:01:55] Kyle Risi: my god! The escape from Alcatraz! 

[00:01:57] Adam Cox: the great escape from Alcatraz. 

[00:01:59] Kyle Risi: Oh, it's gotta [00:02:00] be great, is it? 

[00:02:00] Adam Cox: it is pretty great. The mediocre 

[00:02:02] Kyle Risi: escape 

[00:02:02] Adam Cox: from Alcatraz. Yeah, we're not covering the mediocre ones.

[00:02:05]

[00:02:05] Kyle Risi: there have been many, 

[00:02:06] Adam Cox: but we're doing the great one today. We are, because we are covering one of the most infamous prison escapes in history, a tale that has been the subject of books, movies, and countless discussions. It's the 1962 escape, . To be specific. 

[00:02:20] Kyle Risi: As opposed to the 1974 escape.

[00:02:23] Adam Cox: Yeah, there's various ones. We'll touch on them. Is there 

[00:02:25] Kyle Risi: actually, is there? What? Is there actually various escape attempts? Yeah. Oh, okay. I just thought like, it was like the prison that nobody ever tried to escape. And these guys had the audacity to give it a shot. And they did it. 

[00:02:39] Adam Cox: They did. Well, these are the people that succeeded.

[00:02:41] Or did they? We'll get into that. Oh my god, okay. Let's do this. so yeah, it's the 1962 escape from Alcatraz, An event that turned a supposedly maximum security, inescapable prison into the backdrop for one of the most daring getaways ever attempted.

[00:02:56] Mmm. So, how much do you know about the [00:03:00] story? 

[00:03:00] Kyle Risi: Okay, so what I know is I just know a lot of words. Okay, so I know that there is an island. huh. I know that there's a bunch of guys. I know I'm getting Shawshank Redemption vibes. I wouldn't be surprised if they got a little bit of the inspiration based on, of course, this iconic daring escape.

[00:03:17] I know that they did dig a hole just like from Shawshank which they covered with some kind of poster. I'm sure you're going to debunk that later on. And I know that they escaped, but they don't know where they are. So they don't know if they died or whether or not they actually escaped.

[00:03:36] But of course. There's always a part of me that wants to root for the underdog and I want to believe that they did escape. 

[00:03:44] Adam Cox: Well, maybe today we'll find out if they did escape. So you got all the facts. You're gonna be spitting facts today. I have some facts. I mean, this is the Commendium. Some lightly researched facts.

[00:03:54] Kyle Risi: Did you see that comment that we got on the YouTube channel the other day from that woman who was like, I want to [00:04:00] like this podcast, but I just saw that one of the sources that you had listed was from a documentary on Netflix. where were their sources? And I was like, , the documentary was made by the guy who was in the boy band from Lance Bass himself.

[00:04:16] He produced it. And she was like, Oh, okay, then sorry about that. You just don't know these things. I'm like, for God's sake. And actually, . We don't provide sources. We provide a section. , if we give you the compendium, if you want more, then you can check out these great sources. That's not to say we read them!

[00:04:35] Adam Cox: Yeah, there's like a whole research team with these documentaries and things. Yeah, that's not us. It's just a lot of us. I'm like, 

[00:04:40] Kyle Risi: Keith, will you fact check this? And he just looks at me, he meows and that's it. It's done. I'm like, great. It's making the cut. 

[00:04:46] Adam Cox: Uh, are you done on your soapbox? Yeah, sorry. It is a bit more involved 

[00:04:50] Kyle Risi: than 

[00:04:50] Adam Cox: that. So yeah, so this, prison escape which , you actually quite rightly picked out some of the things that we're going to be touching on today.

[00:04:57] it's set in San Francisco, obviously where [00:05:00] Alcatraz is, and four prison inmates spent six months meticulously planning their escape from what was known at the time as the most secure prison in the world, Alcatraz. It was also nicknamed The Rock, because it was on a rock shaped island. Okay, not 

[00:05:15] Kyle Risi: because it's endorsed by The Rock, Dwayne Johnson.

[00:05:18] Adam Cox: No, I'm not sure he was around at the time. 

[00:05:20] Kyle Risi: Is he not? I guess 60s. 70s baby, right? 

[00:05:24] Adam Cox: yeah, he's gonna be young. So this prison break required the use of nail clippers, raincoats, a piano accordion, a vacuum cleaner, and some paper mache. 

[00:05:34] Kyle Risi: These are all unexpected items, and also items that I wonder, how the hell did they get into a prison?

[00:05:40] Nail clippers, big no. That's why everyone has toothbrushes for knives, right? 

[00:05:44] Adam Cox: I don't know, maybe Raincoats? 

[00:05:45] Kyle Risi: What's the raincoats for? Well, uh Piano strings? What are they doing? They're supposed to be in rehabilitation, not learning the sixth symphony of Beethoven. Thanks for watching! 

[00:05:55] Adam Cox: these, this is your checklist. If you need to escape, note these things down because they're going to come in handy. 

[00:05:59] Kyle Risi: These [00:06:00] are like The essentials. Everyone knows. Absolutely. If you escape from prison, you need a raincoat.

[00:06:03] And a vacuum cleaner. And a vacuum cleaner. Yep. I think that's for passing the time when you're not doing any work, right? hey, do you know there's Henry over there? He's giving me the weird look because he's got those little eyes on him, right? Painted on him. He's giving him the side eyes like, hey, you want a good time?

[00:06:17] Put that hoover in. Plug it in. go on, do it. And then you do. And then you just feel shame, and then your mum comes in, and it's all awkward. 

[00:06:25] Adam Cox: This is awkward. Anyway, so against all odds, these men, their plan worked. And so today, we're going to cover the story of the most famous and arguably the most successful prison escape ever.

[00:06:38] But of course, before we get into that, it's time for All The Latest Things!

[00:06:43] Kyle Risi:

[00:06:47] Step right up and welcome to this week's All The Latest Things where we unveil the fascinating, the extraordinary, and the downright loopy stories, strange facts, and intriguing tidbits from the past week. So [00:07:00] Adam, what have you discovered this week? 

[00:07:02] Adam Cox: I've got a bunch of animal news this week. 

[00:07:04] Kyle Risi: you love animal news. I do. 

[00:07:06] Hit me. 

[00:07:06] Adam Cox: So this week, I learned that sharks in Brazilian waters are getting really high off cocaine.

[00:07:14] Kyle Risi: Really? Because of all the smugglers trying to get the cocaine out of the country, they keep capsizing themselves? 

[00:07:19] Adam Cox: Not just that, it's in the wastewater, so people are obviously like, peeping and pooping out cocaine. Oh, 

[00:07:25] Kyle Risi: really? 

[00:07:25] Adam Cox: , uh, they've looked at 13 sharks, I think it is, and they discovered that the cocaine, amount in their bloodstream and in their muscles and fibres, It's like a hundred times more than they normally would be in sharks.

[00:07:39] Kyle Risi: How much cocaine are Brazilians snorting?

[00:07:42] Adam Cox: God damn it, 

[00:07:43] Kyle Risi: because that's the ocean! 

[00:07:45] Adam Cox: Apparently it can really damage their eyesight.

[00:07:47] And, yeah, these poor sharks are really high. Poor sharks? 

[00:07:50] Kyle Risi: I mean, plus siders are having a good time. 

[00:07:52] Adam Cox: You know. We think they are, but they could be becoming more aggressive, we don't know. I guess because they're like riled up. Ooh, they're like stepped out on whiskey.yeah, [00:08:00] these poor sharks. .

[00:08:00] My second bit of animal news is about sheep. Oh, another sheep story. In Greece, they've been getting high of cannabis. Well,they just stumbled across a cannabis farm or something. I think because some of the crops out there and the grazing areas are not that good this year, I think extreme weather conditions have probably, I don't know, impacted that.

[00:08:22] So these sheep have had to find some new food and they stumbled across this greenhouse which had this cannabis which was growing for medicinal purposes. Oh yeah, it's always medicinal, isn't it? And they started eating, about a hundred kilograms of this crop . And people started to observe some really strange behavior from the sheep because they're all high.

[00:08:41] Yeah, strange behavior because they're high. So they're a bit dopey, I guess. But , this is the bit that doesn't make sense to me. They said they could tell something was up because they were jumping higher than goats could jump. 

[00:08:53] I don't even know how high goats can jump.

[00:08:56] But sheep were jumping really high and they were like I didn't even know sheeps could jump. 

[00:08:59] Kyle Risi: That's what I thought. [00:09:00] they were like cows. Cows can't jump, can 

[00:09:02] Adam Cox: they? Yeah, they'll just be like, I don't know, they'll barely lift off the ground, I thought. 

[00:09:05] Kyle Risi: Actually, no, I'm thinking of elephants. Elephants can't jump, they say.

[00:09:08] I've seen a cow 

[00:09:08] Adam Cox: jump. 

[00:09:09] Kyle Risi: But that's crazy and that's what made them suspicious. Yeah. Not the munchies or anything like that. Or just spaced out. Yeah, exactly. 

[00:09:16] Adam Cox: They were just jumping much higher than normal. Yeah, so that's what's going on in Greece right now. And then my last bit of animal news comes from China.

[00:09:23] China. Mm hmm. A man has tried to smuggle, because I love a smuggle story. Up his butt. No, up his butt. Oh, damn, 

[00:09:30] Kyle Risi: you haven't delivered then. 

[00:09:32] Adam Cox: But he's tried to smuggle a hundred snakes in his trousers. Hundred and one. Oh.

[00:09:43] So tell me more. so they're not obviously like bioconstrictors or massive snakes, because I think that would probably be a bit obvious. But they're more like grass snakes , really quite small. And he's been trying to smuggle them in from Hong Kong into the Shenzhen area, which obviously there's a big issue with smuggling animals in China [00:10:00] anyway.

[00:10:00] And yeah, he got stopped. But how did he manage to have 100 odd snakes? They must mean small snakes, right? Small, but they're still gonna be wiggling around. Yeah, like in his pants or in his his like, pockets in his trousers. And I don't know, the security must have just likelooked at his legs and gone.

[00:10:15] That shouldn't be happening. 

[00:10:16] Kyle Risi: Yeah, that's the too much bumpiness going on there. 

[00:10:19] Adam Cox: A lot of wiggling. Yeah. Not just around the crotch area. It's like his bum, his knees. 

[00:10:23] Kyle Risi: Oh, so he had like a whole set of pants retrofitted 

[00:10:26] Adam Cox: Well, I don't know exactly where they were, but just look at the bags that they confiscated. There's several big bags. 

[00:10:32] Kyle Risi: He put all of those snakes on his person. That's crazy, Adam. Those are like. That's massive. Yeah, , and they are, they look dangerous snakes.

[00:10:41] They, or stripey. Yeah. It's the stripey ones you've got to watch out. It looks like he probably did like a Monica Geller where he wore like a fat suit or something. 

[00:10:49] Adam Cox: Possibly. I think he put them in canvas bags which kind of stopped them from wiggling as much as it's a bit more restricted. But still the thought of like even one snake just wiggling around in my pants.[00:11:00]

[00:11:00] Um, rephrase that. The thought of just a few snakes wiggling around in my pants. I just think that'd be weird. I mean, even a few would be, a few's fine. Ten snakes. Ten 

[00:11:15] Kyle Risi: snakes! That's too much snake! 

[00:11:19] Adam Cox: So yeah, that's my bunch of animal news 

[00:11:20] Kyle Risi: good. 

[00:11:21] So I was doing some research for our upcoming episode and I found out a bit of this rabbit hole down into kind of the celebrity gift box or kind of gift bag that people, celebs get awarded when they go to these big shows like the Oscars and stuff. did you know that by the way, they get given a gift bag?

[00:11:37] No. So they get given a gift bag and technically it's called everyone wins gift bag and they are typically handed out at events like the Oscars. And they are given to the top nominees of the night, the directors and things like that. And I was just floored by the value of these bags and the items they contain because they can go upwards of a hundred and eighty thousand [00:12:00] dollars each.

[00:12:01] Adam Cox: Wow, I have had a gift bag that's probably about a hundred pounds and I love a gift bag. Who doesn't 

[00:12:05] Kyle Risi: love a free thing, right? 

[00:12:06] Adam Cox: Yeah. So I had like alcohol, I had candles, I had all sorts of aftershave, but this sounds like a lot, like what's in these gift bags? 

[00:12:13] Kyle Risi: So they contain all sorts of things, like they'll contain notable thematic items for the night.

[00:12:18] For example, in the last Oscars, they had a Barbie pillow, they had Oppenheimer chocolates, but they also contain luxury items as well, like skincare products, tech. Tablets, phones and things like that. They'll also contain all expenses, paid five star holidays to the Swiss Alps or Israel, which will be like worth 50 grand and combined together, they can be worth upwards of $180,000.

[00:12:41] And of course, the purpose of these bags is marketing, right? Mm-Hmm. and brands will pay big bucks for their products to be in these bags, hoping that a celebrity will then endorse a product, take a photo of it, post on Instagram, be seen, using it inevitably that will hopefully boost sales for the marketing company.

[00:12:56] so there's typically a company that puts all these bags together, but it used to be [00:13:00] put together by the, Academy Awards themselves until the RIS started poking around because they were thinking that they were doing some dodgy things with taxes.

[00:13:08] Right. And they're trying to escape having to pay taxes and hiding and things like that. So they just handed it straight over to this other company. Now, there is an awkward cousin to the gift bag. An awkward cousin? What does that mean? There is something called the gifting suite, and instead of passively accepting a gift bag that someone's handed to you, celebrities have to walk into a room where these products are all just stacked on these shelves, and you can literally take them for free.

[00:13:32] And it's awkward because you're only there because you want free stuff. 

[00:13:34] Adam Cox: Do they have to, like, accidentally, pretend like , Oh, how do I get in here? What's this room? Yeah. Oh, well, whilst I'm here. Yeah, 

[00:13:39] Kyle Risi: exactly. Oh, what are these?

[00:13:40] But the idea is that they can take whatever they want and The people who are running these individual booths for these individual products have the right to take pictures of you looking at these products. And the thing is, these celebrities aren't glamorously looking at these products.

[00:13:56] Like you'll see like Meryl Streep with her glasses on the tip of her nose reading like [00:14:00] the label like really far from her face like mums do. Uh huh. Like where your mum's like in the supermarket kind of reading the back of a chip label or something. Or like you'll see Melina Kunis. Using one of those head massagers. And like, really slouched in a chair and someone's taking a picture of her using it. 

[00:14:15] And then These people will then use these pictures and be like, hey look, like Meryl Streep loves a product. But it's like the most unglamorous picture of her using it. They're not posing for these products. That's like 

[00:14:26] Adam Cox: candid shots. They're just 

[00:14:27] Kyle Risi: using them or they're just like browsing them, picking them up and then someone will snap a picture and be like, see she loves it!

[00:14:32] She loves our product!of course these things can get messy and often celebrities don't know that they've been papped. So for example, Jennifer Love Hewitt ended up suing Mars for using her image without permission because she was papped reading one of the product labels and then they used that same image of her on the actual main packaging of the product that they were selling.

[00:14:52] Really? That's sneaky. And the thing is though, it's not a great picture. She's got Like a double chin looking down on the product and then that's the picture they use because that's [00:15:00] the only picture they had but she was the biggest celebrity so they're like Just holding 

[00:15:03] Adam Cox: the object 

[00:15:03] Kyle Risi: that's it they did ask a couple questions etc but basically it just looked like a really shit QVC product Uh huh so Jennifer's lawyers file a lawsuit asking them to stop using her image with the double chin and Mars just refuses and so they go to court and their defense is that by attending and posing for photos, Jennifer had given implied consent and in the end the judge sides with Mars and they throw the lawsuit out completely.

[00:15:30] So there's a product out there with this horrendous picture of Jennifer Love Hewitt reading this product label and apparently she asked loads of questions about the product and she was really interested in it and that's a unique selling point. So it's they don't even say whether or not she bought the product she just asked loads of questions.

[00:15:47] So she 

[00:15:47] Adam Cox: goes into this room or whatever to pick up or look at these products. And by doing that, you're consenting to being associated with these products. Exactly. That's so sneaky. Is there any, T's and C's? I would want to see. Where's the small print? 

[00:15:58] Kyle Risi: I only imagine that they [00:16:00] must be wildly unpopular because, A, it's awkward.

[00:16:02] You've got to go in and it says, I want free stuff, which is not a good look for a celebrity. And then also they can abuse you. 

[00:16:07] Adam Cox: Yeah. poor Jennifer Love Hewitt. I want to know what product it is. I want to see if it's still out there. 

[00:16:12] Kyle Risi: There's some skincare products. I can find it somewhere else in the show notes, but I do have one other thing for you.

[00:16:17] So it's real quick. did you hear about that guy who left his job because, they were still paying him six years later No, so he was like a building supervisor for some spanish company in spain And like he was getting paid like 41 000 euros a year or something And then one day he decided to leave, supposedly it was all above board, he handed in his notice and he just left.

[00:16:40] And then the paperwork just forgot to get filed and they just kept paying him for six years. Of course he didn't say anything, he didn't contact them to say, Oh by the way, maybe you've made a mistake, you haven't processed this. And for six years, he continued to get paid. And he only got busted when, [00:17:00] when, when he got awarded 

[00:17:02] employee of the month. From that same company? Yes! How the hell did they come up with that? I guess maybe it was like, you know what, we haven't awarded Jose for a while, let's just give him a reward. And so they go to his desk and they're like, where the fuck's Jose? And then they check their system, they're like, has anyone seen Jose?

[00:17:18] We're still paying him. 

[00:17:19] Adam Cox: Yeah, he last came to work about May 10, 

[00:17:23] Kyle Risi: 2018. So apparently they then like obviously stopped all the payments. Ah, he gets fined like 30, 000 euros, but yeah, for six years. He gets 

[00:17:32] Adam Cox: fined 30, 000 euros, but he gets to keep 41, 000 

[00:17:36] Kyle Risi: six years, yeah. 

[00:17:37] Adam Cox: That's worth it. 

[00:17:38]

[00:17:38] Kyle Risi: Yes, it is. That's 

[00:17:39] Adam Cox: totally worth it.

[00:17:41] Kyle Risi: Yeah, so when I just read that, I just almost fell off my chair. Employee of the month. 

[00:17:46] Adam Cox: I feel like when they did that, when they found out, they're a bit like, we really should have picked up on this sooner. We probably shouldn't make a too big a deal. Can someone also check who else is left?

[00:17:56] Kyle Risi: roll call! Uh, so, yeah, that's all the latest [00:18:00] things.

[00:18:01] Adam Cox:

[00:18:02] Okay, I'm so ready for this. the Great Escape from Alcatraz. First things first, let's talk a little bit about the prison for those that might be less familiar.Alcatraz is an island located about one and a half to two miles off the coast of San Francisco. In 1775, Juan Manuel de Ayala, a Spanish naval officer, was chartering the Californian coast and he sailed into San Francisco Bay And one thing that stood out was this island in the middle of the bay, and upon visiting it, he thought it was covered in large northern gannets, which is a big seabird . So he called the island La Isla de la Alcatraces

[00:18:42] Kyle Risi: Which is what like trash? 

[00:18:44] Adam Cox: Well, no, uh, the Spanish word for Gannet is Alcatraz.

[00:18:46] Oh,

[00:18:47] Kyle Risi: The Isle of Gannets. 

[00:18:48] Adam Cox: Yeah, however, Juan was mistaken because the birds that he had seen were actually large pelicans. Oh, so the island could have been called La Isla de la Pelicanos. Okay, but it's not it's the island [00:19:00] of Gannets. 

[00:19:00] Kyle Risi: Can you imagine if you've never seen a pelican before and then all of a sudden you see a pelican and then you're like, What's up with its beak?

[00:19:06] Yeah, exactly. 

[00:19:07] Adam Cox: Why is it all saggy?so yeah, that's how it gets its name. And Alcatraz, originally designed as a naval defense fort, was repurposed in 1861 to house military offenders. And the French popularized the idea of island prisons in the 1800s. They thought it was a great way to enhance security from those pesky criminals.

[00:19:28] And they probably thought, no one's going to try and escape and swim away from this prison. But if you've got your mind set on something, that's not going to deter you. 

[00:19:35] Kyle Risi: Yeah, if you're a prisoner, then yeah, I'm going to be like, Hmm, what are my options? I want out. I can get attacked every night or I can swim across the bloody ocean.

[00:19:42] Wow, that 

[00:19:43] Adam Cox: was a 

[00:19:43] Kyle Risi: That was a bit aggressive, I'm sorry. 

[00:19:45] Adam Cox: So as I mentioned, it was a military fort in the 1800s, and it becomes a federal prison in 1934,right during the spike in crime in the US due to the Great Depression and Prohibition. And the idea was to create an ultimate deterrent, a place so [00:20:00] secure and so harsh that it would make people think twice before committing a crime.

[00:20:04] And so think of it as the Azakaban of America, which I think is where J. K. Rowling got her inspiration for that prison because it's this lone isolated prison that's in the middle of the sea. 

[00:20:13] Kyle Risi: I had no idea what you said there. I was like, what? You said Azkaban As Aban. Oh, 

[00:20:20] Adam Cox: How did I That's a Aban. As Aban.

[00:20:23] It's Azkaban. Oh. Is in No Ka As a kaban. 

[00:20:26] Kyle Risi: I thought you said something like a band or, I was like, what? What is that? J Rowling. . What has she done now? Okay. A, a Kaban. A 

[00:20:32] Adam Cox: a kaban as 

[00:20:33] Kyle Risi: a kaban. Am I saying 

[00:20:34] Adam Cox: it right? 

[00:20:34] Kyle Risi: No, it's Azkaban. 

[00:20:35] Adam Cox: Oh, okay. I'm sure it is. Azkaban. Yeah, you're right, I think it is. Now that I sound it out, Azkaban.

[00:20:40] Kyle Risi: It's like when you're reading Harry Potter books. I read them before the films came out, right? Yeah. Up until, like, obviously 

[00:20:47] Adam Cox: I know exactly what you're gonna say. 

[00:20:48] Kyle Risi: Yeah, and I just always thought Hermione's name was Hermoine. Yeah. 

[00:20:51] Adam Cox: I was not educated as a child. Hermoine. 

[00:20:55] Kyle Risi: Hermoine. And Azkaban is one of them.

[00:20:59] [00:21:00] Yeah. 

[00:21:00] Adam Cox: so yeah, that's possibly where that inspiration came from. And Alcatraz was often described as a prison for where the worst of the worst was sent. Notorious criminals like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly were among some of its most famous residents. 

[00:21:14] Kyle Risi: I thought, like, I'm surprised he's that long.

[00:21:17] Yeah. 

[00:21:17] Adam Cox: Who? Machine Gun Kelly. this was back in probably, when was he like committing crimes? I can't remember. Isn't Machine Gun Kelly like 20? I don't think so. 

[00:21:26] Kyle Risi: Is Machine Gun Kelly a young person living today or is he from the old times around about the prison of Alcatraz?

[00:21:39] Machine Gun Kelly refers to two different people. the original Machine Gun Kelly, whose real name was George Kelly Barnes was a notorious gangster from the early 20th century known for his criminal activities in Alcatraz. Him. On the other hand, the modern machine gun Kelly is a contemporary musician and actor whose real name is Colson [00:22:00] Baker.

[00:22:00] He is very much a young person living today. Very much a young person. Very much a young person. All right, rub it in. Okay, so sorry for the confusion. Carry on. Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone. Yes. Who knew? 

[00:22:11] Adam Cox: Yeah. so if you landed in a regular prison and didn't behave, then you would wind up in Alcatraz unless whatever you did.

[00:22:17] For a 

[00:22:17] Kyle Risi: spanking.

[00:22:17] Adam Cox: a bit more than that. Um, unless whatever you done was a really serious crime, in which case, like murder, then you'd go straight there. And conditions for inmates were pretty horrendous. Early on, inmates faced mental and physical torture, which was intended to break their spirits.

[00:22:32] And turn Alcatraz into a powerful deterrent against crime. And in the early years, prisoners weren't allowed to speak unless it was absolutely necessary. 

[00:22:41] Kyle Risi: What a silence! 

[00:22:42] Adam Cox: Yeah, anyone who spoke out would be beaten. And it was a place designed more for retribution than rehabilitation. What's retribution? Oh, like punishment.

[00:22:49] Oh, I see.so I think if you are a murderer, yeah, it shouldn't be a walk in the park. No. You're not supposed to go and have a nice little retreat. 

[00:22:57] Kyle Risi: No. 

[00:22:58] Adam Cox: One thing that separated [00:23:00] Alcatraz to other prisons at the time was that inmates were kept in one man cells. Two person cells and four person cells were often found in common federal prisons.

[00:23:09] So cells, block B and C were just roomy enough for most men to extend their arms and touch each wall. So that's really small. 

[00:23:17] Kyle Risi: I thought you were going to say to touch each other. 

[00:23:19] Adam Cox: Like holding hands through the bars. A little sneaky reach 

[00:23:20] Kyle Risi: around. No more reach arounds for anyone! single occupancy cells!

[00:23:24] Adam Cox: But yeah, just imagine yourself in a bed and you put your arms out to the side. That's pretty much the width. That is tiny. Yeah. And then imagine, put them above your head and extending. That's how long it is. I don't really 

[00:23:34] Kyle Risi: care about what's up here. It's more about what's to the side. So how long were they stuck in their cells for?

[00:23:39] Adam Cox: Pretty much all day. You'd be in there 24 hours a day. the only way you could get out was with good behavior. So you were confined in a very small space. 

[00:23:46] Kyle Risi: And there's no going outside and getting some exercise? 

[00:23:50] Adam Cox: Yes, you could, but it was something that you'd get for, like rewards for doing certain things.

[00:23:55] You wouldn't get that as a gift. Reach arounds. The guards. not reach arounds. Well, maybe for some, I don't [00:24:00] know. I wasn't there. 

[00:24:01] Kyle Risi: There's clearly not enough space to reach into a cell and do that, 

[00:24:04] Adam Cox: So the facilities were pretty basic. You had a bed, a toilet, a small sink, which had cold running water and no light a lot of the time.

[00:24:13] Inmates at other prisons spent most of their days out of their cells doing like mandatory work, educational classes, and recreational activities. But in Alcatraz inmates had to earn their way out of their cells, and the only things that they would get as a given were food, medical care, shelter, clothes, legal representation, letters to family, and religious services.

[00:24:33] Everything else was a privilege. 

[00:24:34] Kyle Risi: Okay, I don't know why I found that funny with the legal representation. yeah, they're allowed to. yeah, of course. I don't know why I found it funny. It's just, I'm juvenile. 

[00:24:42] Adam Cox: And if you misbehaved in Alcatraz, well, your toilet bucket might not be emptied, so you've got to sit in freezing cold cell with all your doo doo mounting up.

[00:24:50] Kyle Risi: Yeah, guys, I need this to be empty so I can make some wine. So much 

[00:24:53] Adam Cox: doo doo. Prisoners who were sent to isolation sometimes stayed there for like a year, [00:25:00] and having to endure complete darkness, unable to move freely, you could be stripped of all your clothes and blankets and left to shiver in the freezing cold.

[00:25:07] Kyle Risi: That's awful. 

[00:25:08] Adam Cox: So this place, not nice. 

[00:25:10] and when Al Capone, the great Scarface went to Alcatraz after being one of America's biggest crime gangsters of the 1920s and 30s, he was assigned to a typical nine by five foot cell. And unlike his previous stints in prison, he didn't receive any privileged treatment. He didn't have , home cooked meals, telephone privileges, or visits from his gang members. He wasn't allowed silk underwear, or custom tailored suits. I've been accustomed to silk underwear. And The snakes like it. Yeah, the thing is, I didn't know that Al Capone was kind of slutty. What do you mean?

[00:25:42] Well, silk underwear. that's a little, 

[00:25:45] Kyle Risi: some

[00:25:45] Men just like the feel of silk against 

[00:25:47] Adam Cox: their gonads. But yeah, Al Capone liked silk pants. 

[00:25:53] Kyle Risi: Hang on, I resent that. liking silk doesn't make you a slut. 

[00:25:57] Adam Cox: What are you 

[00:25:57] Kyle Risi: saying about women? 

[00:25:58] Adam Cox: I'm, I'm Mr. [00:26:00] Misogynist I'm not saying that, I just thought for a man wearing silk underwear.

[00:26:03] Makes it a bit slutty. maybe kinky. Just a little kinky. Okay. 

[00:26:07] Kyle Risi: The only thing that I think that it makes a man slutty are his shorts. If you're wearing shorts, short shorts, and you don't feel like an absolute slut, They're not short enough.

[00:26:18] That's right. That's true. 100%. 

[00:26:21] Adam Cox: So yeah, anyway, Al Capone, he didn't get the kind of treatment that he would get when he was in other prisons. He was assigned to the same kind of work as other inmates, sweeping corridors, mopping floors, doing washing and laundry.

[00:26:33] He was allowed to play the banjo for about 20 minutes a day. What, the banjo? It's, 

[00:26:38] Kyle Risi: it's, 

[00:26:38] Adam Cox: it's a great art. I know it 

[00:26:40] Kyle Risi: I'm just really in a dirty mindset. I mean, I just bought a banjo string. No, 

[00:26:44] Adam Cox: no. I mean,, 20 minutes a day? I doubt he had spent that long. , , if 

[00:26:49] Kyle Risi: you're in prison, that's all you've got to do.

[00:26:51] You've got to be plucking on that banjo string all day. Anyway, I'm sorry. That's the last dirty thing. 

[00:26:56] Adam Cox: And he was in an Alcatraz, band, But it was often believed that Alcatraz [00:27:00] drove him crazy before he died. Albeit, he did suffer from syphilis, which had gone untreated for years. Yeah, I think it's probably that, but by the time he arrived at Alcatraz, the disease was beyond any cure and he'd begun a descent into madness. Prison doctors attempted an experimental treatment that involved injecting Capone with malaria virus to raise his temperature and theoretically kill the syphilis. Sweated out. But it nearly killed him, as did a second attempt because the doctors were like, Oh, that didn't work.

[00:27:27] Let's just try one more time. 

[00:27:28] Kyle Risi: Oh God. And then that killed him. 

[00:27:30] Adam Cox: No, I think he did get released. and then he, yeah, wasn't in a good state and then he died. 

[00:27:34] Kyle Risi: Oh, okay. 

[00:27:35] Adam Cox: So the prison was, as I said, supposed to be inescapable and impenetrable using cutting edge security technology at the time.

[00:27:43] The prison featured armed guard towers with searchlights and machine guns. High fences topped with barbed wire and a gun gallery where guards could quickly respond to any disturbances. Inside the cell house was divided into secure cell blocks with heavy steel doors and solid walls. Regular headcounts and checks [00:28:00] ensured all inmates were accounted for and strict rules were in place to make sure that if anyone broke the rules they would, be punished.

[00:28:06] And of course one of its greatest features was the fact it was an island surrounded by freezing waters at about 10 degrees celsius. So if you happen to get out of your cell Over the wall, past the armed guards, you then had to swim one and a half to two miles to the closest point on mainland. And that would take you probably about 30 to 60 minutes.

[00:28:24] Yeah, depending on the current as well. Exactly, because that would be really strong. And so if you were a very capable swimmer, you probably could make it. But, Hypothermia would probably have set in after 30 minutes of swimming because the water was that cold 

[00:28:38] Kyle Risi: hmm 

[00:28:39] Adam Cox: Oh and great white sharks. Well, they sometimes visited the bay as well.

[00:28:43] Kyle Risi: Really? Oh, so you get eaten by a bloody shark 

[00:28:45] Adam Cox: Yeah, there weren't any instances of that, but they were around so It's just really hard to escape this place. 

[00:28:51] Kyle Risi: I mean, perfect place to build a prison. 

[00:28:53] Adam Cox: Yeah, exactly. But that didn't stop people from trying, because over the years there were 14 separate escape attempts [00:29:00] involving 36 inmates.

[00:29:01] Of these, most were recaptured, a few were shot and killed, and some drowned. So some escape attempts, we'll just quickly cover, were pretty violent. In 1938, three inmates working in the prison factory killed an officer with a hammer, broke through a window, climbed to the roof, and then an officer in a guard tower basically 

[00:29:17] open fired and killed him. Really well. In 1945, an inmate gradually assembled a full military uniform from stolen items And he hid under the dock, put on the uniform, and attempted to escape on a boat, like really like casually just sailing off.

[00:29:30] Oh, 

[00:29:30] Kyle Risi: he pretended he belonged. Yeah. 

[00:29:31] Adam Cox:

[00:29:31] Kyle Risi: I'm just delivering something. 

[00:29:33] Adam Cox: But officers are like, where's Fred? And then they're like, oh, there he is getting away. And he was captured. 

[00:29:37] unlucky. In 1946, six inmates overpowered an officer and stole his keys. they broke into a gun gallery and then got the weapons.

[00:29:45] But because the escape doors were locked, they couldn't get out. They didn't get any help from inmates. So basically there was this big shootout for two days where two officers and three inmates were killed. So these men were recaptured and were sentenced to death or like 99 [00:30:00] years in prison. 

[00:30:00] Kyle Risi: Shame about the death, but for the other inmates, that must have been like a treat.

[00:30:04] Like, oh, like something different is happening for a couple days, you know? 

[00:30:08] Adam Cox: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And last one before we get into the main story. One inmate spent months loosening a bar in a storage room window. He greased himself with lard to slip through and then protect himself from the cold water as he swam to mainland.

[00:30:21] Wow! He managed to get there, but he collapsed near the Golden Gate Bridge and was recaptured an hour later. 

[00:30:27] Kyle Risi: Ah, so that's smart, like covering yourself in lard. 

[00:30:29] Adam Cox: Yeah. So he managed to do quite well, but this is what I mean, like,it didn't matter if you managed to get to the other side, you were so worn out that you would get captured.

[00:30:38] Kyle Risi: Yeah, so the chances of you escaping are so low. 

[00:30:42] Adam Cox: Yes. But that brings us probably to our story, right? It does indeed, because the last men to try and escape were possibly some of the most cunning of all, and these men are who we're talking about today. Now by the time these men arrived at Alcatraz in the late 50s and early 60s, Alcatraz had relaxed its rules a little bit.

[00:30:58] Prisoners were now allowed to [00:31:00] engage in arts and crafts, play music. Pluck the 

[00:31:01] Kyle Risi: bango 

[00:31:02] Adam Cox: string. Yep, they can do that. they can talk to each other now, which is great. and they could listen to the radio and things like that, but it's still pretty strict overall. 

[00:31:09] Kyle Risi: Right. 

[00:31:10] Adam Cox: The prison hadn't been aging well because, the building was deteriorating.

[00:31:13] And it's surrounded by seawater, so things are starting to erode, like walls, vents, pipes, things like that. 

[00:31:19] Kyle Risi: Okay, so all of this sounds like foreshadowing. You've said they've relaxed the rules, so they have a radio. I bet that plays a part. They can do arts and crafts. they're allowed to talk to each other now.

[00:31:29] Mm hmm. Uh, the prison's in disrepair. Yeah. All these things sound like you are setting me up. 

[00:31:35] Adam Cox: It was really, um, expensive to maintain the prison, so it wasn't really perhaps looked after as well as it should have been. 

[00:31:40] Interesting. So the group of men we're gonna talk about consisted of four guys, who have all been transferred to Alcatraz, not because they were the worst of the worst, but because they had escaped from other prisons across the country. So first up is Frank Morris. He was orphaned at 11, 

[00:31:55] spent his youth in foster homes and he was first convicted of crime at [00:32:00] 13. He had a really high IQ and a history of offences including narcotics, grand larceny, car theft and armed robbery. 

[00:32:08] Kyle Risi: So a smart criminal. Yes. 

[00:32:10] Adam Cox: Yes. So remember him, Mr. Morris. I won't forget him. Smart and dangerous. Then you've got John and Clarence Anglin.

[00:32:17] Clarence. No one's called Clarence these days. 

[00:32:20] Kyle Risi: Well, there's that big Supreme Court judge in America. He's called Clarence. 

[00:32:23] Adam Cox: I don't know. But I don't see a little baby Clarence anymore. 

[00:32:26] Kyle Risi: No. It says Clarence house in where King Charles lives.

[00:32:29] Adam Cox: Yeah. Still not a child. 

[00:32:31] Kyle Risi: No. Okay. So

[00:32:33] Adam Cox: yeah, these brothers, they were inseparable. they were from a large family of seasonal farm workers in Georgia and Florida. They became skilled swimmers and started robbing banks in the early 50s. and they favored businesses that were closed to avoid harming anyone.

[00:32:46] So they're like the good criminals. yeah. And they'd use like toy guns to hold up a place. Respectful. Yeah. ,So they got a sentence of 35 years, and then finally we have Alan West. He had over 20 arrests by the time he was imprisoned for car theft in 1955.

[00:32:59] [00:33:00] Okay. So all four of them were now in their mid 30s and had attempted or successfully escaped previous prisons. And so to try and put a stop to it, they were sent to Alcatraz between 1957 and 1961. And ever since arriving at Alcatraz, these men were always on the lookout for opportunities to escape.

[00:33:17] And just because they were told Alcatraz was inescapable, that wasn't going to stop them. No. So from the moment they arrived, they observed the guard's habits, identified potential weak points in the prison, and conveniently, and I think perhaps a slight oversight, whoever was organising where they were going to sleep, they'd put these criminals all together in neighbouring cells.

[00:33:36] Kyle Risi: Reach arounds all around! 

[00:33:38] Adam Cox: And all four of them had known each other, or one way or another, from previous prisons. 

[00:33:42] Kyle Risi: Okay, so they're all connected. 

[00:33:43] Adam Cox: Yeah, so they're catching up and then they're like, great, do you want to get out of here? Yeah, me too. Mmm, okay. 

[00:33:48] Kyle Risi: Conversations happening because they can talk now 

[00:33:50] Adam Cox: they can talk and they're close to each other.

[00:33:52] Yeah, and they know how to escape 

[00:33:53] Kyle Risi: and they reach around

[00:33:55] Adam Cox: so frank was the first person to spot a potential vulnerability in [00:34:00] alcatraz During a chat with a fellow inmate He learned that there was a giant hole in the roof of his cell block pretty much common knowledge among the prisoners so not in his direct cell , but in the cellblock or whatever it was, it's in that area.

[00:34:13] Kyle Risi: Why is that significant? 

[00:34:14] Adam Cox: because there's a hole in the roof. So they're thinking,we can use that to get out. 

[00:34:18] Kyle Risi: Okay, interesting. 

[00:34:19] Adam Cox: But we just need to get to the hole in the roof. 

[00:34:20] Kyle Risi: I'm wondering like, because that sounds like it's all out in the open, it's in the cell block, or is it in his cell?

[00:34:25] Adam Cox: Not in his cell, but it's in the cell block. So if you get out of his cell, climb up to the roof, he can possibly get out. 

[00:34:31] Kyle Risi: So they have their escape route. 

[00:34:33] Adam Cox: Yes. And this was obviously a bit of an oversight by the prison, but they were like,no one's going to get up there. We don't need to fix it.

[00:34:40] It's fine. So all the prison had done, when there was this hole is they just, covered it with a vent and drilled it into place. It's like patched up essentially. I see. Now, Frank was no ordinary inmate. As I said, he was exceptionally intelligent with a high IQ and a vivid imagination.

[00:34:54] He was a meticulous planner, so he thought of every detail. So he wasn't going to be someone that just makes it up. As he goes [00:35:00] along, everything needs to be thought out and planned. And this is why most people say he was the mastermind behind the escape.

[00:35:06] Frank started thinking of ways he could escape using the hole that he had heard about. It seemed relatively straightforward enough. Get up to the roof and through that hole, jump over the fence and then just get across the water. Simple. Yeah. In theory, yeah. Yeah, just needed to do that without getting shot, drowning or dying of hypothermia.

[00:35:22] Kyle Risi: Yeah, or getting eaten by a shark. 

[00:35:24] Adam Cox: Yeah. And getting past the guards was no easy task. There was one guard for every three inmates. Wow. And there was about 250 prisoners, on average, at one time. So we're talking about 80 ish guards. 

[00:35:34] Kyle Risi: Yeah, that's it. you don't even get that in, like, school.

[00:35:37] No. There's like, one teacher for every 15 kids. 

[00:35:40] Adam Cox: Schools aren't prisons. Aren't they? Well, are they? Hahaha. But to compare this with other prisons, you might have,six prisoners to one guard. So it's quite different. 

[00:35:50] Kyle Risi: that's quite A high ratio. 

[00:35:52] Adam Cox: Yeah, but Alcatraz, even higher. And of course, the prisoners are under constant watch 24 hours a day.

[00:35:58] But fortunately at this time, there's no [00:36:00] security cameras in Alcatraz. 

[00:36:01] So Frank took his time, he mulled over every detail for quite a long period, working out what had to happen at precise times in order for his plan to work. He knew he couldn't do it alone, and he needed accomplices. And it just so happened the three people he knew, he could trust and recruit into his plan.

[00:36:16] He was careful to only share information on a need to know basis because he feared the other men, the other two brothers, for example, and Alan might blab to others, they might crack under interrogation, so he, just told them what they needed to know.

[00:36:29] Kyle Risi: And I bet he didn't tell them all the same things either. He told them different things. Maybe. Because you don't want them to talk then. Yeah. I guess they could talk and then they could piece all things together, but. 

[00:36:39] Adam Cox: Yeah, I don't know exactly what he said, but I think they say, he was quite, um, ambiguous about certain bits.

[00:36:45] So in the cells, as I mentioned, you got a bed, a toilet, and a sink. And on the back wall of the cell was typically an envelope sized ventilation grate. And one night, Frank started scratching out the wall around the edges of the grate in his cell, using just a nail clipper. That's where that [00:37:00] comes in.

[00:37:00] Okay. and if you're getting Shawshank Redemption vibes, that is because you were right. Really? Much like the prison in the movie, Alcatraz was old, it was decaying, and Frank figured out that if his team could scrape away at the salt damaged concrete around the edges of the grate and remove it, then they could start tunneling through the wall.

[00:37:19] And of course, this hole was really small, so they had to, like, squeeze through. And I guess they've 

[00:37:24] Kyle Risi: got to be in good shape, right? It's like Maggie de block not going to get through there.

[00:37:27] Adam Cox: Mmm, who's that? 

[00:37:29] Kyle Risi: She's like the Prime Minister of Belgium. 

[00:37:33] Adam Cox: I don't know that. You said that as if I should know that. Yeah, she's like a juicy lady. Okay. Yeah, she's not 

[00:37:39] Kyle Risi: getting through a grate. 

[00:37:40] Adam Cox: No, these guys I like a juicy lady. Okay, good. Good to know.

[00:37:46] So the idea was to dig around this, grate and then get through the wall and somehow find their way up to the roof.now the Shawshank Redemption is based on a novel by Stephen King, and there are some similarities when you look into this story. There is a [00:38:00] film called Escape from Alcatraz with Clint 

[00:38:02] eastward, which is based, on the book, which covers this whole story. So that's kinda, where Shawshank Redemption may or may not have got inspiration from. 

[00:38:10] Kyle Risi: I see. 

[00:38:11] Adam Cox: But no one's actually, or Stephen King has not directly said that, but 

[00:38:14] Kyle Risi: he's not gonna, is he? 

[00:38:15] Adam Cox: No, but you're kinda like, hmm, there's a lot of plot points And he's,

[00:38:17] Kyle Risi: he's allowed to do that, right?

[00:38:18] He needs inspiration. It's not like he's called it Escape from Alcatraz by Stephen King. No. It's called a Shawshank Redemption, which is a way better name. I think it's got Shank in there, it's got Shaw in there. It's got redemption in there. 

[00:38:30] Adam Cox: It's got all the things in there.so finding tools, I don't know if you've ever likescraped through a bit of concrete before, but it's not easy. 

[00:38:36] Kyle Risi: No, I've never done it. No. No, and 

[00:38:38] Adam Cox: I wouldn't want to. No,How long does it take him? quite a long time. So they managed to use, like, bits of old saw blades, spoons, nail clippers.

[00:38:46] They've been using these tools to tunnel through. Old saw blades were quite common at Alcatraz as the authorities put the prisoners to work making things like furniture. Mm hmm. And so they could easily steal that. And then they made a makeshift drill crafted from a vacuum cleaner motor [00:39:00] to chip away at the concrete.

[00:39:01] Kyle Risi: Okay, interesting. So just so I'm clear here, they're all in their own individual cells, and they're all individually carving around their own grates inside their cells. That's right, yeah. What is behind that wall though? 

[00:39:11] Adam Cox: Well, they don't really know for sure. Hopefully not another cell. 

[00:39:16] Kyle Risi: Oh my god, there's Maggie to block!

[00:39:18] Adam Cox: But I guess if they've lifted off the grate they can see, oh there's maybe like a corridor or somewhere else that he can probably see. 

[00:39:23] Kyle Risi: Okay. So they, this is a big gamble. They're all doing all this work and it could be for nothing. 

[00:39:27] see, when you said that they saw a hole in the ceilings in the block I thought maybe that gave them an indication that there was something behind the walls 

[00:39:34] Adam Cox: mmmm I don't know, I guess just rumours within the prison, like they know there's a hole up there.

[00:39:41] Huge risk, could go badly up. I think this guy, because he's quite smart, he would have found out that there's maybe certain corridors. I don't know, maybe he's got blueprints, who knows. Ooh. But as I mentioned, with the vacuum cleaner. If that's gonna be chipping away at night, that's gonna be really loud, isn't it?

[00:39:57] You can't disguise that noise. Shit, yeah. [00:40:00] So what do you think they do? 

[00:40:01] Kyle Risi: I don't know, I can't think of anything that's not dirty. They, I don't know, play some 

[00:40:06] Adam Cox: music? Aha, that's exactly it. Oh, okay, because they have radios. And they're allowed instruments, and they're allowed to practice these instruments at night.

[00:40:14] And so the prisoners would play in their cell, and one of the instruments was this kind of accordion, and so Frank would play the accordion during music hour, at night, and the noise was so loud that it masked the sound of whatever Alan and the other brothers were making when they're chipping through this wall.

[00:40:29] Kyle Risi: I see, okay. Clever. Very clever. 

[00:40:32] Adam Cox: But of course, once you've dug a hole in your wall, You gotta, 

[00:40:36] Kyle Risi: yeah, you gotta patch that thing up. 

[00:40:37] Adam Cox: Exactly, and they can only do this at night, and so the next day when there's a check, how do they cover that up? Mmm, okay.. , because they're now allowed an art class in prison, they get cardboard, bits of paper, and they use like, paint to match the wall colour, and because the walls are so like, worn anyway, they can disguise , around the crate.

[00:40:55] with this cardboard and stick it back over that hole. 

[00:40:59] Kyle Risi: Smart. Very 

[00:40:59] Adam Cox: [00:41:00] clever. So like a poster, but obviously they're not allowed posters. Yeah, there's no pin up on there. 

[00:41:03] So over time, they're able to break through the wall, and they access a utility corridor behind the cells. 

[00:41:10] Kyle Risi: So there's something behind 

[00:41:11] Adam Cox: Yeah. So they did know there was some corridor, but I guess they don't know exactly where it goes. Sure. Utility corridor. So they manage to get behind the wall and make their way climbing up pipes to an area that's ultimately going to be their exit point, the hole in the roof.

[00:41:22] I see. They also find a space close to this hole which would become their workshop, and this is where they would make the rest of the items that they needed to make their getaway. 

[00:41:31] Kyle Risi: But they're not going to be in their cell. 

[00:41:33] Adam Cox: huh. So they're going to need, I don't know, a decoy whilst they're up in their workshop.

[00:41:38] Because Is it Maggie 

[00:41:39] Kyle Risi: de block 

[00:41:41] Adam Cox: She does not feature whatsoever. She should feature in more podcast episodes. maybe. Maybe do an episode on her. Write it down. We'll get, we'll circle back. Okay, 

[00:41:50] Kyle Risi: so Right, they need a decoy, they can do our class now. So they're going to make something in our class.

[00:41:55] Adam Cox: Yeah, so because the guards are going to cells at night, what they need to [00:42:00] do is make it look like that someone, or there's something in the bed, is sleeping. Oh, just be quiet! Your 

[00:42:04] Kyle Risi: pillows in there. 

[00:42:05] Adam Cox: Yeah, but they need to show a head. Otherwise it's just gonna be a bunch of pillows. Okay. Art glass.

[00:42:08] And because of art glass, they're able to sculpt these heads out of, , soap toothpaste, concrete dust and toilet paper. So kind of like this paper mache mixture. And when you look at these fake heads that they make, they end up using like real hair from where people get their hair cut. They stick that on their hair.

[00:42:26] Kyle Risi: the prison barber. 

[00:42:26] Adam Cox: Yeah, from the barber shop. Shut up, . 

[00:42:29] Kyle Risi: So hang on. These all sound like very unglamorous materials that are not going to look like a human being. I don't think anyone's going to go, yeah, that's Frank.

[00:42:39] Adam Cox: Well, you're right, I guess it's dark, isn't it? Exactly that, because they're just peering into the cell at night and just checking that there is someone there, because they use pillows and towels to make the rest of the body under the duvet. Sure. They then just need, their head Sort of poking out of the covers to make it look realistic.

[00:42:56] And so I'm just going to show you a picture and we'll put some show notes in the [00:43:00] episode . 

[00:43:00] Kyle Risi: Wow!at first glance, if you were walking past that cell and you saw that head underneath those blankets, you'd be like, That's a human being. 

[00:43:09] Adam Cox: Yeah, and that's a lit up cell as well. So it wouldn't be like that at night, obviously. 

[00:43:13] Kyle Risi: Exactly. Yeah, and that's what they did with the grate. So that's like a cardboard lining for the grate that they can then just put that against the wall.

[00:43:20] Place over the hole. That's very clever. And that, that hole, Adam, It's tiny. 

[00:43:25] Adam Cox: Yeah. You need to, like, contort your shoulders and stuff like that. Can you imagine getting 

[00:43:30] Kyle Risi: stuck? 

[00:43:31] Adam Cox: Yeah. It just needs to be big enough for you to get out, doesn't it? 

[00:43:34] Kyle Risi: Yeah. And, like, there's no way you can make wine in that toilet. No way.

[00:43:40] Adam Cox: What's it called? Like, moonshine? 

[00:43:42] Kyle Risi: No, I think moonshine's something else. I think it's just called toilet wine. Prison wine. Hey, I mean, when you're in prison. 

[00:43:48] Adam Cox: Yeah. You gotta do what you gotta do. You gotta do what 

[00:43:49] Kyle Risi: you gotta do. 

[00:43:51] Adam Cox: Oh, and here's a close up of the head. 

[00:43:53] Kyle Risi: Oh, by the way, Is that the real head?

[00:43:56] Adam Cox: I think so, unless it's a replica. I think you can still see the heads in the [00:44:00] museum at Alcatraz. Okay. but this is what the head looks like, which again, up close, doesn't look great, but when it's tucked in between some covers Oh goodness, 

[00:44:08] Kyle Risi: but they really went to town with the sculpting, didn't they?

[00:44:10] Yeah. That's a big head. Big ol honk over nose. But, they got the good colour there on the skin, they even got some shading, contouring going on, you know. Yeah, some, some 

[00:44:18] Adam Cox: blusher. 

[00:44:19] Kyle Risi: Yeah, put some blusher on there, yeah. Lips are kinda painted nice. Big ears though, but yeah. 

[00:44:24] Adam Cox: So the thing is, they managed to make that out of toothpaste, concrete and toilet paper.

[00:44:27] You gotta go, you did a good job. 

[00:44:29] Kyle Risi: And do you know what? They were smart, because they only needed to do one side of the face. That's 

[00:44:34] Adam Cox: the other thing , they didn't paint the other side of the face, Because of course it's on the pillow. Yeah, it's not about perfecting. 

[00:44:40] Kyle Risi: Yeah, I guess 

[00:44:40] Adam Cox: so, just gotta, just serve a purpose, right?

[00:44:43] Kyle Risi: That is so incredible. 

[00:44:45] Adam Cox: Yeah, this guy is smart, Mr. Morris.

[00:44:48] The one thing that I think is a little bit weird, and I don't know if they're eyelashes, or whether it looks like the eye is sewn shut, but it's very creepy. 

[00:44:55] Kyle Risi: Yeah, it's but it's still a good job. 

[00:44:57] Adam Cox: Yeah,

[00:44:58] but one thing it does remind me of [00:45:00] is, And I don't think you ever went, but you might have seen some photos. there's a place in Great Yarmouth, which is , uh, the coastal town in the UK . , it's got these funfair rides, arcade machines. So typical kind of Coastal town that was popular in the 60s 70s or whatever and it used to have a waxworks museum Which was a bit like Madame Tussauds. However, didn't have the same level of budget.

[00:45:19] No, it was called Louis Tussauds house of wax And it achieved this like cult like status like if you're a kid That's where you'd always want to go and they had the likes of Posh and Becks there Kylie Minogue the royal family These waxworks are still the stuff of nightmares. Really?

[00:45:37] Because the faces look like they're melting 

[00:45:39] Kyle Risi: they always remind me of, like real bad taxidermy images that you see in the line. Yes, exactly like that. When they that does not look like a raccoon.

[00:45:47] Adam Cox: The only way they look convincing is if you stand probably about five meters away and then squint really hard In a room which has got the lights on the dimmest setting and maybe you're a bit blind 

[00:45:58] Kyle Risi: and then you go that looks just like David [00:46:00] Beckham.

[00:46:00] Kind of looks like Maggie de Kock Shut up! Let it go! I think I've even not said her name right. I think it's Maggie de block. Probably. I keep calling her cock and clock. 

[00:46:10] Adam Cox: It's not often that you forget the names. Right. Yeah. Okay. Sorry. I just want to show you a couple of photos and then we'll get back onto the main story.

[00:46:16] Okay. And again, we'll post these in the show notes.

[00:46:19] , so this is Elton John. 

[00:46:20] Kyle Risi: Oh, from the wax museum. Okay. Oh god, that looks like a demented Elton John. What? What was that? Let me scroll through some of these. So we got,

[00:46:30] oh my god, Elton John. He does not look like Elton John. He looks a bit like the guy from The Crankies. Oh yeah, he does. You're right. I think his name is John as well, isn't it? John from The Crankies. I don't know who they're meant to be. That looks like Christian Bale and oh, George Volta. These are terrible, Adam.

[00:46:49] These are so bad.

[00:46:51] I don't know who some of these people are, 

[00:46:52] Adam Cox: Johnny Depp looks like a woman. A handsome woman. 

[00:46:56] Kyle Risi: he looks like someone famous. [00:47:00] .

[00:46:57]

[00:47:00] so there's a picture of Sandra Bullock, a waxwork, and straight away my first thought was Sid from Ice Age. God, yeah.

[00:47:11] Sandra Bullock is beautiful, but that is Yeah, she's a beautiful woman ordinarily, but her eyes have drifted so far. 

[00:47:19] Adam Cox: Like I said, the faces look like they could be melting. And do these celebrities endorse these waxworks? I don't think so , but think museum is shut down now, but I think people had bought the waxworks before it shut down and for some decent prices as well.

[00:47:32] Kyle Risi: Wow. 

[00:47:33] Adam Cox: So people have got these in their homes somewhere. 

[00:47:35] Kyle Risi: thing is though, yeah, so they are so iconic now that people don't want to, make them better? They're better that they're worse? 

[00:47:42] Adam Cox: Yeah, , just remind me. So this is kind of what the dolls heads look like. 

[00:47:45] Kyle Risi: Okay, we've digressed.

[00:47:47] Adam Cox: So back to the main story. These prisoners have these paper mache heads, and they did the trick. They convinced the guards the men were asleep whilst they were busy in the roof making stuff for the rest of their plan. Because of course, getting out of the roof [00:48:00] over the wall was one thing, but how are you going to get across the water?

[00:48:02] They needed to swim across. in cold waters, in unpredictable currents. And they knew from past attempts that escapees had either drowned or got hypothermia. So they came up with a genius plan. They built an inflatable raft using raincoats. So the prisoners were allowed raincoats when they're in the yard working or whatever it is.

[00:48:21] And so they would just steal or hold some back at the end of the day. . And then what they do is they would cut them and then stitch them together. yeah, and that's how they were able to create a raft. 

[00:48:30] Kyle Risi: that going to stay afloat? 

[00:48:32]

[00:48:32] Adam Cox: they have about 50 raincoats, so it's quite substantial in terms of size, enough for them to all sit on.

[00:48:37]

[00:48:37] Kyle Risi: to fill that with air. 

[00:48:38] Adam Cox: they have to seal it first and so they use, the steam from a vent to then melt the rubber and like somehow stitch it together because I think they found out, in a magazine which one of them had in their cells how they could, do a makeshift life raft or somehow.

[00:48:53] Kyle Risi: I see. That's where they got the idea. So they are like getting these raincoats, they are joining them up after [00:49:00] steaming them, pressing them together, that sticks them. They make some kind of containerized thing, once they get to the end they blow it up maybe, and then they put some steam on it and then seal it shut and then the air's trapped in there.

[00:49:12] Adam Cox: Yeah, or they've created like a bung, I think. , well come on to how they managed to blow it up, but the thing is you can't take a giant inflatable out of the roof. I see, because it's a small 

[00:49:22] Kyle Risi: opening I'm assuming. 

[00:49:22] Adam Cox: Yeah, so they're gonna have to blow it up once they get close to they gotta make 

[00:49:26] Kyle Risi: a bung!

[00:49:27] Adam Cox: Yeah. 

[00:49:27] Kyle Risi: What's a bung? 

[00:49:29] Adam Cox: It's a little thing, a stopper. Okay, 

[00:49:31] Kyle Risi: that's what I thought..

[00:49:33] Adam Cox: They also, made life jackets because, you know, safety first. What, out of the raincoats as well? Out of the raincoats as well. 

[00:49:39] Kyle Risi: So clever.

[00:49:40] Adam Cox: So on June the 11th, 1962, the night eventually arrived when the rest of the group decided it was time to go. Perhaps it was a little earlier than they had planned, as you'll soon see, but the weather conditions that night were perfect because, there was like this mist or fog which helped maybe create To conceal them.

[00:49:56] Yeah, exactly. So they set up their dummy heads on their pillows, [00:50:00] they stuffed their beds, and then they crawled through their tunnels, placed the fake vents Back in position and headed to the roof except for poor Allen.

[00:50:09] Now there's mixed reports about what exactly happened. but he didn't make it out. So one report said he never left the cell up until this point he was focusing on making the life jackets in his cell. And so he was just gonna use the last night to break through the tiny bit left in the concrete and then get out.

[00:50:26] Kyle Risi: Oh, so he, probably didn't break through their concrete? 

[00:50:29] Adam Cox: , not completely, ' he was still focused on, getting the chores together. 

[00:50:32] Kyle Risi: He's this will be easy, but then, he got snagged on a bolt. Yeah. He's oh crap, how am I going to get through that bolt? Or did he chicken out?

[00:50:39] Adam Cox: Well, one, article did say that he got a bit nervous and decided he was going to stay behind so it's not exactly clear what happened he just didn't make it out when the other three made it out. 

[00:50:50] Kyle Risi: So am I right in saying then if he didn't get out is that the reason why we know the story?

[00:50:55] Adam Cox: He's the one that does a lot of the revealing about what went down, [00:51:00] yeah. But he also takes credit saying it was him that came up with all the ideas, but people are like, but you aren't the brainy one, Frank was the brainy one. And so people are a little bit dubious exactly what went down. Mmm, 

[00:51:11] Kyle Risi: I see, I see.

[00:51:12] I

[00:51:12] mean, I'd do the same. It was my idea. before we know, they're dead or they're somewhere else in the world. they're gonna come back. Put the record straight. But no, arrest them. 

[00:51:21] Adam Cox: Yeah. so yeah, he, he did his best to get out, but he couldn't make it.

[00:51:24] and so, The guys realize they're going to have to move on without him. And Alan, yeah, he'd messed things up for himself. He did manage to break out of his cell eventually and get to the roof, but it was about four hours later when he found the men had left him a spare life vest and a single paddle to help him get across the water.

[00:51:41] So he climbs up onto the roof, and bearing in mind he had heard no prison alarm going off, he assumes the men must have got off the island. He looks to make an escape, but the prison guards standing watch are not leaving him a clear path, so he just heads back to bed and waits for things to blow up in the morning.

[00:51:57] He just 

[00:51:57] Kyle Risi: goes back to bed! 

[00:51:59] Adam Cox: Yeah, because he can't get [00:52:00] out. 

[00:52:00] Kyle Risi: I would not sleep. 

[00:52:01] Adam Cox: I'd 

[00:52:02] Kyle Risi: be gutted. And then also I'd be like, damn, I almost got free. 

[00:52:05] Adam Cox: Yeah, poor Alan. 

[00:52:08] Kyle Risi: But what a bunch of great guys that they left him a paddle. . They left him a life jacket and a boat. 

[00:52:14] Adam Cox: No boat, but a life jacket and a paddle.

[00:52:16] So I guess he could use the paddle to propel himself through the water. They, tried to help him. 

[00:52:21] Kyle Risi: should have done your homework, not left it too late. 

[00:52:23] Adam Cox: Yeah, this is why most people think, the night that they chose to do it was perhaps, a bit spontaneous because of the weather conditions and Alan wasn't ready. 

[00:52:31] I see. The three other men, Frank, and the two brothers, John and Clarence, they were able to carry on without Alan, and so they carried their raft with them as they climbed 30 feet of pipes to reach the top of the ventilation shaft.they were able to loosen the rivets, holding the shaft in place, and when they finally busted it open, there was this big loud crash, which a lot of the inmates in the prison said that they heard, and even some guards actually reported hearing it, but because it was just , one loud bang, they were like, Oh, it's [00:53:00] fine.

[00:53:00] It's probably nothing. 

[00:53:00] Kyle Risi: Yeah, because they did this in Shawshank Redemption, didn't they? Where he had to bust his way through a pipe. But what he cleverly did is he timed him hitting the pipe with the rock. That's right, with the storm. With the storm. Yes. And the lightning going off. And then he would smash it.

[00:53:15] So interesting. Yeah. And there were no gannets flying around, were there? 

[00:53:20] Adam Cox: I don't know if they were still there. 

[00:53:22] Kyle Risi: Oh, because they weren't gannets anyway, they were pelicans. 

[00:53:24] Adam Cox: Yeah, their neighbours they're prisoners now, so they're probably like, we should probably move somewhere 

[00:53:27] Kyle Risi: else.

[00:53:28] Yeah, but try to tell the bird that. Try telling Milo and Nala that, downstairs, guys, you've got to leave. And then they'd be like, no, I live here. 

[00:53:37] Adam Cox: They're cockatiels, by the way. People are probably thinking, Who the hell is Milo and Lala? Have they got kids locked up in their house? 

[00:53:44] Kyle Risi: Exactly.

[00:53:44] Technically, they are locked up. Occasionally, you might hear like this screeching, like as if, as if someone has just died. You know, like for no, no reason. You'll just hear that in the background really faintly. Yeah, those are our cockatiels, [00:54:00] screaming. God, I hate them. 

[00:54:02] Adam Cox: They're being quiet today, so that's good.

[00:54:04] Kyle Risi: It's because they're covered up and we've had to give them a bath. They've had a nice little steam, so they're all like, cosy and comfy. inside their cage. 

[00:54:12] Adam Cox: Yeah, poor birds. So anyway, the three men, they're out of the prison, they're on the roof and they quietly walk 100 yards to the edge and they slide down 50 feet of pipes.

[00:54:22] They then climb to 12 barbed wire perimeter fences. 

[00:54:26] Kyle Risi: Ooh, 

[00:54:26] Adam Cox: with their bloody boats. Yeah, they've obviously got to try not to pierce the boat. Yeah. what helped that night, was obviously the fog, which they were able to manage to get past the watchtowers thanks to a bit of a blind spot. And as quietly as they could, they carried their raft, their life vests, 

[00:54:40] And homemade wooden oars to the edge of the island. They then re engineered the accordion they used to disguise the sound of the drilling at night as a pump to blow up the life raft. And, I assume the life vests, which again is really smart. And they clamber onto the raft and into the cold waters of the bay after about 10 p.

[00:54:58] m. that night, [00:55:00] which would give them roughly eight hours before they would get their wake up call in the morning, so enough time to get across the water and make their getaway. Wow. And that It's essentially all we truly ever will know about what happened to them, because from that point onwards, the men have never been seen again.

[00:55:18] Kyle Risi: Okay, 

[00:55:19] Adam Cox: interesting. So once guards had found the stuffed heads in Paper Mâché, obviously all hell breaks loose, the sirens are whirring away, it triggered an extensive ten day manhunt. In the first couple of days, a postcard was supposedly sent by the three men to the police saying, Ha ha, we made it. But no one could prove that the handwriting matched any of the three men.

[00:55:39] Kyle Risi: I'm assuming based on that, another thing that throws out into doubt would be that maybe they've told the public and the public are aware that there's escapees and they're probably wondering whether or not that postcard is maybe someone from the public. Yeah, something like that. I should have said it that way, a prank.

[00:55:55] Adam Cox: That was a long winded way of saying it. Yeah it was, 

[00:55:56] Kyle Risi: sorry. . And I guess like any [00:56:00] other feedback or any other indications that they get that they might be alive. Could also be pranks. 

[00:56:04] Adam Cox: Yeah, they have to I guess take every lead seriously but then you know there's probably a lot of leads and that's what happens because on June the 14th a coast guard found a paddle floating near Angel Island and another boat discovered a sealed waterproof pouch made from the same raincoat material The men had used for their life raft 

[00:56:22] Kyle Risi: waterproof pouch 

[00:56:23] Adam Cox: Yeah, because when they opened it up what they found was a wallet And then papers that identified John and Clarence, along with dozens of photos of their family and loved ones.

[00:56:34] And it also had a bunch of people's names and contact details, I guess on the outside, that they would look to contact. Okay, that tells me something major. what does it tell you? 

[00:56:43] Kyle Risi: if you've gone out of your way to create this little pouch for your most precious most essential items. You've put it into a water seal pouch, then you probably are going to have it on your body somewhere.

[00:56:56] Inside your trousers, inside your pockets, zipped, whatever. It's [00:57:00] secure. The fact that they found that floating, he must have drowned. 

[00:57:04] Adam Cox: there's two theories to that because you're absolutely right. It's their most prized possessions that they needed to keep dry. And they did keep dry. It was safe. 

[00:57:11] So the assumption is that if they'd lost this stuff, then they must have drowned. They would have kept hold of it otherwise, on June 21st. Remnants of the raft were found near the Golden Gate Bridge. Mm-Hmm. . And the following day, a prison boat picked up a deflated life jacket off Alcatraz Island and the stitches had come loose and there were bite marks around the stitches.

[00:57:32] So the assumption is that maybe one of the men were trying to hold the life vest together whilst swimming across, 

[00:57:39] Kyle Risi: Because of course you don't need the raft once you get to land. They stored the actual wallet and their personal belongings inside the raft, where they would be safe. Then, when they got to land, they then bit through the actual raft itself and unstitched the stitching so they could grab what they needed.

[00:57:57] Adam Cox: It was the life vest, but you could still probably hide it [00:58:00] in your life vests, yeah. Very good observation, , 

[00:58:04] Kyle Risi: but then they lost their wallet. 

[00:58:06] Adam Cox: Yeah. the FBI concluded that the men had likely drowned as their personal effects were found, but no human remains were discovered at the time.

[00:58:15] A month later, a Norwegian ship reported seeing a body 15 nautical miles from the Golden Gate Bridge, but that wasn't reported until October. San Francisco country coroner doubted it was one of the escapees, suggesting it was more like a recent. Suicide victim. So there's all these kind of red flags or false alarms about what's happened to them Yeah, but despite differing opinions from other Coroners the fbi maintained that while it was possible the men reached land their survival in the bay's conditions was highly improbable And according to the final fbi report no thefts of clothes or cars which the escapees had supposedly planned, were reported in the area.

[00:58:53] So Alan had probably revealed like the plan was, get to land, steal a car, drive off, but nothing was ever reported [00:59:00] stolen. 

[00:59:00] Kyle Risi: Okay, interesting.

[00:59:01] Adam Cox: But we have to consider just how smart Frank was up until this point because, man, he engineered this whole thing meticulously. So what if all this was a ruse to fake their own death? why would you need your personal papers if you were going to be on the run? why would you need your current identity that's 

[00:59:19] Kyle Risi: true, but weren't there pictures in there? 

[00:59:21] Adam Cox: There was pictures, but maybe that was a bit of a decoy , these guys have kept this information, these photos, these contact details, so secure that it was important to them. I see, I'm with you, yeah. , if they lost them, then they perhaps drowned, but actually they did it on purpose to suggest they had drowned and so no one would go looking for them.

[00:59:39] Kyle Risi: I mean, that is some A class thinking. 

[00:59:42] Adam Cox: That's like 4D chess. 

[00:59:44] Kyle Risi: It is, but I don't think that they're capable of that. 

[00:59:46] Adam Cox: Okay,we'll see. I think 

[00:59:48] Kyle Risi: , people would just do enough. In those desperate situations, when you're trying to escape, you're not trying to get ahead of anyone. You're just trying to escape.

[00:59:56] And I think you have to be really emotionally [01:00:00] mature, really super emotionally intelligent to really think long term. And I don't think they were really thinking that long term. If he was, and I'm not saying he wasn't, then that is incredible. Okay. But I just don't think that he was. 

[01:00:13] Adam Cox: Alright, I'll tell you a few more things that happened afterwards and we'll see if you 

[01:00:16] Kyle Risi: gonna poopy on my idea?

[01:00:17] Adam Cox: It's a fair enough idea. It's, you know, it's a long shot for that to happen, 

[01:00:21] Kyle Risi: Okay, 

[01:00:21] Adam Cox: a San Francisco police officer reported seeing an illegal boat near Alcatraz at 1am on June the 12th. So this was the early hours of the morning, 

[01:00:29]

[01:00:29] Kyle Risi: to pick him up! 

[01:00:30] Adam Cox: Possibly. This boat was seen heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge and under it. So this led to speculation that the prisoners had outside assistance and picked them up in the water. But this was dismissed by the FBI 

[01:00:42] Kyle Risi: But it also is the Bay of San Francisco and there are probably hundreds of boats coming and going. through there so how's that any different 

[01:00:51] Adam Cox: yeah exactly but again that's a good kind of decoy 

[01:00:54] Kyle Risi: was the boat acting suspiciously at all did it have it's like it's a little sonar thing off did it not have [01:01:00] lights on it it wasn't a 

[01:01:01] Adam Cox: legal boat that's all we know what's an illegal boat i guess it didn't have permission to be in those waters okay so something dodgy was going on whether it was their boat we don't know 

[01:01:10] Kyle Risi: okay interesting little tidbit there.

[01:01:13] Adam Cox: So even after the search was called off for the men, the FBI continued to get tip offs from people saying they believe that they've come across one of the escapees. It's hard to prove if any of this was true, obviously, but people could have been pulling a prank and others might have been trying to shoehorn their way into history by saying that, yeah, I saw one of the escapees.

[01:01:30] However, despite being fairly confident they didn't make it, the FBI still takes some of these allegations seriously and that's because another inmate managed to escape just six months later in December and make it across the water by attaching inflated surgical gloves.

[01:01:44] Made some armbands out of them and managed to get across. Oh 

[01:01:50] Kyle Risi: my god, that's so clever. So you just blew up a bunch 

[01:01:52] Adam Cox: of Yeah. 

[01:01:52] Kyle Risi: Uh, 

[01:01:53] Adam Cox: gloves. Exactly. Attach 

[01:01:54] Kyle Risi: them to him. 

[01:01:55] Adam Cox: So these guys. In art class. In art class. So these guys had built a raft, they had life [01:02:00] jackets, way more advanced. Yeah. And then this guy? Yeah.

[01:02:03] Armbands? With gloves? He gets a cross? So they're like, maybe they could have made it then. 

[01:02:08] Kyle Risi: Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. 

[01:02:10] Adam Cox: Yeah. 

[01:02:11] Kyle Risi: Maybe people overcomplicated everything. 

[01:02:13] Adam Cox: This poor guy though, he does get to the other side, but he's found by a group of teenagers, not in a good way, suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia, and he's taken back to prison.

[01:02:21] Oh no, what, back to Alcatraz? Yeah, And then just the next year the prison is shut down for good because it's basically in disrepair and they can't afford to keep it going anymore. Yeah, and people keep bloody escaping. Yeah, it's not actually that inescapable anymore.

[01:02:36] 17 years later, the FBI finally closes its case and they still think the men,probably didn't survive. They either drowned or they died from hypothermia. If they did make it, they, I don't know, they're dead. Spookily though, the relatives of the escapees would get postcards and gifts throughout the years.

[01:02:51] So whether these were strangers playing a hoax. Really? Yeah, they could have been strangers playing a hoax because, the police had a lot of hoax calls and things like that. Or whether [01:03:00] it was these three men trying to get a message to their loved ones. And they would usually be on birthdays, or Christmases, or Mother's Days.

[01:03:07] Kyle Risi: And, ooh, interesting, like days where, they're deeply personal to people. Exactly. 

[01:03:12] Adam Cox: And so they'd get, like, a postcard or something, and it would be signed from Joe and Jerry, which suggests that It could have been the brothers contacting their family. 

[01:03:20] Kyle Risi: I see. 

[01:03:21] Adam Cox: And their mother received flowers from an anonymous sender every Mother's Day for the rest of her life.

[01:03:27] Really? And that's pretty suspicious. 

[01:03:29] Kyle Risi: Do you think when she died, they showed up at the funeral dressed as like? Maggie and Joan. 

[01:03:35] Adam Cox: From who? 

[01:03:36] Kyle Risi: No, sorry, I don't know. I said Maggie. Well, you spoiled 

[01:03:39] Adam Cox: my next section. Because when the mother does die, two very tall, strange looking women, dressed in black, and heavy makeup, Oh!

[01:03:47] attempt the funeral. 

[01:03:50] Kyle Risi: It's like I've heard this story before. 

[01:03:53] Adam Cox: So they're actually dressed as women. If you're thinking of Death Becomes Her with Goldie Hawn [01:04:00] and Meryl Streep. Yeah. 

[01:04:01] Kyle Risi: Yeah. 

[01:04:01] Adam Cox: Yeah, it's that. 

[01:04:02] Kyle Risi: Okay, 

[01:04:03] Adam Cox: it's 

[01:04:03] Kyle Risi: not what I was thinking. 

[01:04:04] Adam Cox: But 

[01:04:05] Kyle Risi: yeah. 

[01:04:05] Adam Cox: Great, wow! So these shady looking women, or, men dressed as women, they didn't speak to anyone, and they left before the FBI could question them, as the FBI were still keeping tabs on the family for quite some time.

[01:04:16] Oh, 

[01:04:16] Kyle Risi: so the FBI just was like, Oh, mum's died. We suspect they're alive. We probably should 

[01:04:20] Adam Cox: keep tabs. 

[01:04:21] Kyle Risi: Oh, okay. And so people I should totally be an FBI agent. 

[01:04:25] Adam Cox: Totally. People believe this could have been John and Clarence, in clearly not that conspicuous of a disguise, paying their respects.

[01:04:34] And when their father died, two strangers in beards showed up to the funeral home and wept in front of the casket and then just walked out. So are these the brothers? Did they make it? I'd like to 

[01:04:45] Kyle Risi: think that it was them. 

[01:04:46] Adam Cox: Yeah, I think so. I, everyone loves like an underdog story and these aren't like the worst criminals.

[01:04:51] They only held up a bank with this toy gun. So it's actually okay. 

[01:04:55] Kyle Risi: That's true. That's true. And it was always when it was closed. 

[01:04:58] Adam Cox: Yeah. 

[01:04:59] Kyle Risi: Yeah. 

[01:04:59] Adam Cox: as for [01:05:00] Frank, he's the one that planned this thing, and people don't really know if he survived or not, there wasn't any ,instances of, him connecting with his family like the brothers did, or could have done, but he had the smarts, so , I think he probably would have survived if they survived.

[01:05:12] There's also a 2011 documentary, which reveals there were tracks found near to where the lifeboat was found, which conflicts with other reports. so the day after the escape, a 1955, blue Chevrolet was reported stolen , so there was a car that was stolen, Uhhuh , and there three men in this Chevrolet driving off.

[01:05:29] people think maybe that was them actually after all. 

[01:05:32] Kyle Risi: Okay, so they stole a car and that's what they used to get away with. 

[01:05:35] Adam Cox: There also are sightings, in Brazil. That's where Ronnie Biggs, one of the guys who committed the great train robbery in Britain fled to. Yeah. So it's the place to go to if you want to escape from the law, you go to Brazil.

[01:05:46] Kyle Risi: Do you know what, that's exactly where one of my ancestors went, so he was, just a real quick story because it's just amazing. So he was living in Cape town in like the, 40s or whatever it was. And they were out with a bunch of friends [01:06:00] and he'd gone to a fight and he ended up beating up this guy.

[01:06:04] So he then fled the scene and his brother, so like a relative of mine, then told him the next morning, Oh, that guy that you fought with yesterday or whatever the previous day, he actually died. It was a complete, joke. He was joking. he left South Africa and that's where he went.

[01:06:22] Well, 

[01:06:23] Adam Cox: the thing is, they didn't have an extradition order back then, I don't think. they couldn't, if you're in Brazil, you couldn't get, deported back to your country. I don't think that happened until, like, the 80s or something like that. Yeah. that's why people did that. 

[01:06:34] Kyle Risi: Yeah. 

[01:06:35] Adam Cox: It's crazy. I believe you've got criminals in your family.

[01:06:38] Oh, we've got all sorts, we've got all sorts. Actually, I can't believe it. We do have a bishop in our family as well. A bishop? Yeah, so there's worse than the criminal. 

[01:06:46] So people over time have come forward and said they had bumped into him and up until the mid 90s, there's been deathbed confessions.

[01:06:52] But then after that, it goes pretty quiet. No one's really heard of the guys since. 

[01:06:57] Kyle Risi: Tell me about these deathbed confessions though. 

[01:06:59] Adam Cox: [01:07:00] Um Well If you don't know it's fine. I don't. I think people have said like, oh yeah, I'm Frank. And then, oh, I'm the real 

[01:07:08] Kyle Risi: Frank. 

[01:07:08] Adam Cox: And then just died. Like, 

[01:07:10] Kyle Risi: I've got to tell you something.

[01:07:11] I am Frank. And like, wait, wait, wait, Frank who, Frank who?

[01:07:15] Adam Cox: And you didn't get to say it. Didn't get to say it. Never knew. But that wasn't until 2018 when it was revealed a mysterious letter had surfaced back in 2013 written by John Anglin, one of the brothers. And the letter was made public and said, My name is John Anglin.

[01:07:29] I escaped from Alcatraz in June 1962. Yes, we all made it that night, but barely. It claims that John and Clarence Anglin, along with Frank Morris, I'm getting chills! lived, I'm getting 

[01:07:39] Kyle Risi: chills! They 

[01:07:40] Adam Cox: lived until old age. Clarence died in 2008 and Morris died in 2005, and John offered to surrender in exchange for a promise of minimal jail time and medical attention, stating he was years old and suffering from cancer.

[01:07:54] Adam, 

[01:07:55] Kyle Risi: that's, 

[01:07:55] Adam Cox: that's real. That's real. Why would you do that? Yeah, exactly, why would you? Take me to prison. [01:08:00] Oh, and you know, I'm happy to serve a year. Just give me medical. Yeah. 

[01:08:03] Kyle Risi: Oh, that's a, that's a real sad commentary on the state of American healthcare, if it's not genuine. But I believe that. When you were saying it, I was like, this is it.

[01:08:13] Adam Cox: I, I feel like it is, 

[01:08:14] Kyle Risi: what happened? So did he get the medical attention that he needed? 

[01:08:18] Adam Cox: this letter wasn't disclosed until five years later, when it was given to a local TV station and the US Marshals, they submitted it to the FBI for forensic handwriting analysis, which returned inconclusive results.

[01:08:31] And that's pretty much it. They didn't do anything about it and yeah, no one responded. And so if that was indeed one of the brothers, he, yeah, he's probably dead from cancer now. As for Alan, he fully cooperated with the investigation. So he's a guy that obviously got left behind. he wasn't charged for his involvement, but when Alcatraz closed in 1963, because it was too expensive to maintain, he was transferred to another prison and he did get released, but he went back to prison for grand larceny.

[01:08:57] and in October 1972, while at another [01:09:00] prison, he fatally stabbed another inmate and then was served life imprisonment for murder. Ah, yeah, That'll do it. he then died of a severe infection at 49. had he escaped with the other men, he probably would have led a happier life.

[01:09:11] Mmm. And that is the story of The Great Escape from Alcatraz. 

[01:09:15] Kyle Risi: Wow, I had no idea it was so 

[01:09:18] Adam Cox: epic! I love this story. It was so good! Yeah. 

[01:09:21] Kyle Risi: God, the attention to detail with everything from the heads to like what they did with the great around kind of event and how they just managed to paint it all from art 

[01:09:31] Adam Cox: class.

[01:09:31] I know fake hair, everything. It's just, it's a real life story. And I just think these people, these prisoners, hopefully, beat all odds and they survived, I hope. 

[01:09:41] Kyle Risi: I think they did. Yeah. That letter at the end, he survived. 

[01:09:45] Adam Cox: I would love to visit Alcatraz now because it is a museum, I think, and you can go around, you can see the cells that Frank, John and Clarence lived in, and you even get to see their fake heads and the holes are all dug out, recreating what had happened.

[01:09:57] You can see like the little vent, you look through [01:10:00] it. She's not there. That's not even probably her name. 

[01:10:04] She's a brilliant politician, Adam. Poking through, looking through that vent. Smaggy. She's probably busy 

[01:10:10] Adam Cox: doing politics things.

[01:10:11] Kyle Risi: Yeah. In 

[01:10:12] Adam Cox: Belgium. 

[01:10:13] Kyle Risi: Yeah. To do with Alcatraz prison. 

[01:10:15] Adam Cox: Shall we run the outro? Yes, let's do 

[01:10:17] Kyle Risi: it. 

[01:10:18] Adam Cox: And that's it for another episode of The Compendium. If you enjoyed today's episode, please follow us on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us when you do. Next week's episode is available seven days early on our free access Patreon.

[01:10:30] And for more content, please Subscribe to our Certified Freaks tier for access to our entire exclusive posts, and sneak peeks. we'd love you to drop in for a chat. We release new episodes every Tuesday, until then, remember, even the most secure prisons can't contain the human spirit.

[01:10:46] All you need is a bunch of tools, an accordion, and some paper mache. 

[01:10:50] Kyle Risi: And Maggie the block.. No! See you 

[01:10:54] later. [01:11:00]