Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years Part 19

A: Out of the laundry.

Q: Did you have any money on you?

A: No, sir.

Q: Did anyone give you money?

A: No, sir.

Q: Did you use any boxes?

A: There was a couple of packing cases that I used to climb over the first fence.

Q: What did you use on the second fence?

A: I climbed up the wire by the gate.

Q: When you got over the fences where did you go?

A: Down the steps to the bank.

Q: Did you try the water?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: What was the reason you didn't go in?

A: I hurt my back and figured I couldn't make it.

Q: How did you hurt your back?

A: I fell off the fence.

Q: How long did you plan the escape?

A: Two or three days previous.

Q: Do you wish to say anything for yourself?

A: No, sir.

Mr. Miller: After question you, Walters, I recommend that you forfeit 3100 days Statutory Good Time.

Walter was immediately brought to D Block and placed into the strip-cell, where he remained until August 28, 1943, when he was placed in segregation. He would again be placed in an isolation cell in May of 1944, after officers found a six-inch hacksaw blade hidden beneath the linoleum flooring of his D-Block cell (#23). He would ultimately remain in segregation until May 10, 1945, and then as surprising as it may seem, he was released back into the general population and given a work a.s.signment back in the prison laundry.

Despite his years in segregation, little had changed in Walters' att.i.tude toward the administration. He continued to receive write-ups, which described him as making threats against officers, claiming that they made too much noise when opening the cells of the kitchen workers in the early morning. He also was reported for being intoxicated on homemade brew. In what could probably be considered one of the more unusual write-ups for possession of contraband on Alcatraz, Walters was also sent to isolation for having a toy rubber duck hidden in his cell in April of 1949.

Walter was released from Alcatraz and returned to Leavenworth on August 23, 1952. His admission record at Leavenworth certainly offered a profile of an inmate who had failed to make a positive adjustment on the Rock. It read: At Alcatraz, he was reported for fighting, refusing to work, insolence, possession of a contraband knife, a.s.saulting another inmate with a knife, attempting to smuggle food form the dining room, wasting food, attempting to escape, creating a disturbance and using profanity, fighting and having part of a band saw in his cell, refusing to do work directed, inciting a riot, interfering with the count and intoxication.

At Leavenworth Walters would be a.s.signed to the Shoe Factory, and he was said to make an excellent adjustment following his transfer. He was paroled and returned to Dallas in 1958, and then he married only a year after his release. He found a job working in a small bakery and for a short period his life seemed normal. It wasn't anything remotely like what he had experienced sitting in solitary cell at Alcatraz. But in spite of his recently won freedom and his new wife, he continued to struggle with his past. He would eventually revert back to his old familiar life as an outlaw.

Walter's final brush with the law would occur on October 13, 1971. At about 10:00 a.m., he and an unidentified female pa.s.senger were pulled over on a routine traffic stop in Euless, Texas. As Texas Ranger Bill Harvell approached the pa.s.senger side of the vehicle, Walters drew a pistol. Harvell was able to retreat to the rear of the vehicle, when Walters punched the accelerator to flee the scene. Harvell opened fire on the 1962 Plymouth Valiant with his service revolver, emptying the entire chamber. Harvell then returned to his patrol car and gave chase, while summoning other law enforcement officers on the radio.

Walters sped through a residential district, stopping only briefly to release his female pa.s.senger. Carrying his pistol and a sawed-off shotgun, he then took off on foot into a remote pasture. An intensive manhunt ensued and Walters stayed ahead of the police for a short time. At daybreak, Hoyt Houston of Bedford, Texas, entered his garage to find Walters sleeping there in a small fishing boat. Walters ordered the man into his house at gunpoint and took his family hostage. Hoyt had two young daughters and one had been able to escape through her bedroom window to run and get help.

When the police arrived at the Houstons' home, Walters aimed his shotgun at the family and demanded that the police drop their weapons. He then forced his hostages into the family's 1969 Mercury and directed Mrs. Houston to drive while he kept his loaded shotgun aimed at the head of her husband, who was sitting in the pa.s.senger seat. After a slow and careful pursuit, the police were able to force the vehicle to stop on a bridge just outside of Grapevine, Texas. A police car had been positioned at the end of the small overpa.s.s, creating a roadblock. While police attempted to negotiate the safe release of the Houston family, a Texas Ranger named Tom Arnold took aim at Walters through the target scope of his 30-06 rifle. During a brief moment when approaching officers distracted Walters, Tom Arnold fired a fatal shot at Walters' head. As the window shattered, Arnold dropped his rifle and aimed his pistol steadily at the slumped figure, then fired several more rounds into Walters' body. None of the Houston family members were injured in the hail of gunfire. Ironically, Walters died only 300 feet from where Bonnie and Clyde had slain two police officers on April 1, 1934.

ESCAPE ATTEMPT #9.

Date:

July 31, 1945

Inmates:

John Giles

Location:

Dock Area

John Knight Giles John Giles was described by Warden Johnston as a deep and quiet gentleman with a lone wolf personality and someone who was difficult to figure out. While his attempted escape is not remembered as the most famous, it certainly was known in the circles of Alcatraz as one of the most ingenious escapes ever attempted at the Rock. John Knight Giles was born in Elgin, Tennessee on February 16, 1895 to a local engineer, as the youngest of three boys. His father had migrated south from New York and his mother was from Georgia, and the couple apparently separated frequently throughout their marriage. It is doc.u.mented that John's mother suffered from mental illness and was admitted to mental inst.i.tutions several times during his childhood. John attended high school in Everett, Washington, and for unknown reasons he decided to quit school at age fifteen. He took a job as a Surveyor's a.s.sistant in the U.S. Reclamation Service near British Columbia, where he worked for almost four years.

Giles first brush with the world of crime came in 1915, when he was given a five to ten year sentence for robbery and was incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. It would appear that officials were lenient with Giles and he was issued a pardon in 1918, probably to allow him to enter the U.S. Army for the First World War. He failed to enlist and only months after his release he committed another robbery. In November of 1918 Giles planned what he thought would be an easy burglary, targeting an interstate bridge tender in the state of Oregon. He robbed the tender at gunpoint and then attempted a getaway. He was swiftly apprehended by Deputy Sheriff Frank W. Twombley, and during the arrest, the officer was killed. An all-points bulletin was issued on Giles, and he was quickly taken into custody.

Giles was convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison at the State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon. He was considered a quiet inmate, and he took to writing short fictional stories. Records show that he was somewhat successful in selling his work, and wrote for a variety of pulp magazines. After serving several years, Giles would boast to officials that he had helped to prevent riots and other uprisings by acting as a leader among the inmates. In November of 1934, after sixteen uneventful years, Giles managed to escape from the State Penitentiary. He was later identified in connection with a theft in Redding California, but managed to elude officials for over a year, always keeping one step ahead of them. However Giles would soon partic.i.p.ate in a crime that would finally seal his fate.

In May of 1935, Giles and six accomplices made the ill-fated decision to rob the Denver and Rio Grande Mail Train in Salt Lake City. Reports show that the gang jumped onto the train, forcing the engineer to halt the locomotive and a few of the men then climbed into the cabin and held the engineer at gunpoint. They made their way back to the locked mail car and attempted to break a window to gain access without success. The gang fired randomly into the car through its windows, then threw in a large bottle of ammonia, attempting to force out the mail clerks with the pungent fumes. Their plan failed, as one of the mail clerks who was armed with a gun returned fire and forced the gang to retreat to an awaiting truck. Law officers quickly apprehended four of the men, along with Giles. Giles was sentenced to an additional twenty-eight years for the Federal crime of attempted mail robbery.

Giles arrived at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary on June 17, 1935. Because of his escape record and the length of his sentence, he was transferred to Alcatraz on August 28, 1935. Giles seemed to adapt well to the routines at Alcatraz, though he was described in a 1943 progress report as follows: "he mixes little with other inmates and pretty well keeps to himself, being considered by some as odd." Nevertheless, he was highly regarded by the correctional staff, and was generally considered to be friendly. Giles mother, who was now in her late 70's, had moved to Los Angeles where one of his brothers was now residing so that she could be closer to her two sons. But Giles refused all visits from his mother, stating to the Warden that he didn't want her to see him in prison. He seldom wrote to his family, and appeared to be leading a very quiet existence. His 1943 progress report states that Giles had been working as janitor at the dock and he was noted as an obedient and good worker, performing his job quietly and "without friction to others." What officials failed to realize was that despite his calm disposition, Giles had been plotting a very elaborate escape plan for nearly a full decade.

Over the years, Giles had devised a system of monitoring the laundry deliveries made by an Army vessel dispatched from Fort McDowell, which was located across the bay on Angel Island. When the laundry arrived, the bales would be dumped onto a panning table and searched for contraband before being sent down to the Industries. Giles would carefully wait for a safe opportunity, and then, out of sight of both correctional officers and other inmates, he would conceal a garment or other potentially useful item in his jacket, and later hide it in a canvas bag under the dock. The dock security procedures were extremely tight, but there were frequent counts and searches of the inmates before they were allowed to return to the cellhouse. When the Army launch departed, Giles was always permitted to walk to the ramp area and sweep up, which provided the perfect opportunity to pull out his hidden bag and secrete his newly acquired items. Opportunities to lift items were scarce, and the process was tedious. It would take nearly ten years before he acquired all of the materials needed for his attempt.

On the morning of July 31, 1945, Giles was prepared for his escape, now having pieced together a complete Technical Sergeant's uniform. At 10:10 a.m. the Army vessel General Frank M. c.o.xe pulled up next to the Alcatraz dock, parallel to a descending ramp. The soldiers exited onto the wharf and they were quickly counted, and then permitted to begin off-loading the laundry. Giles moved down the ramp and swiftly slipped on his improvised uniform. The uniform looked as though it fit Giles well, but it had a tousled and wrinkled appearance. Armed with only a flashlight, Giles boarded the vessel through a freight hatchway located just below deck. It is believed that Giles found his way to the boat's lavatory and waited until the c.o.xe departed before venturing back out into a secluded area of the boat. Sergeant-at-Arms Corporal Paul Lorinz later stated that he was tipped off by deckhand Jerry Van Soest that a soldier was wandering below deck. Lorinz investigated and found Giles standing alone in a secluded area, and he asked him "Where are you going Sergeant?" Lorinz noted that Giles failed to look at him directly and responded by stating he was heading to "Fort McDowell." When questioned further by Lorinz, Giles stated that he was a line repairman who was checking cables. He then pulled out a notebook and acted as though his was making notes. Lorinz made his way back up to the deck and reported that a soldier was...o...b..ard who had failed to present a pa.s.s.

John Giles would devise one of the most clever escape plans ever conceived at Alcatraz. Over the course of several years, he worked to collect and a.s.semble a full Army uniform out of the Army laundry that was delivered to the dock area. This photo was taken immediately following his capture back on Alcatraz.

Army vessel General Frank M. c.o.xe. The open hatch door shows where Giles made his entry onto the vessel.

Back at Alcatraz, Giles' absence had already been detected after he missed the routine departure count. a.s.sociate Warden E.J. Miller was contacted, and he and Phil Bergen quickly summoned the prison launch to rendezvous with the Army vessel, which was heading toward Angel Island. Warden Johnston was already on the phone making arrangements to have Giles apprehended once the c.o.xe arrived at Fort McDowell. Giles was completely unaware that his short taste of freedom had ended before it even began. As the c.o.xe arrived at Angel Island, Lieutenant Gordon L. Kilgore approached him asking to see his pa.s.ses. As Giles disembarked from the launch, Miller and Bergen approached him and without any struggle, they handcuffed him and took him aboard the Warden Johnston to head back to the island. "You really felt kind of sorry for him once you saw the look on his face" Captain of the Guards Phil Bergen would later recall ..."He really should have won some sort of an award with that uniform."

Giles was immediately returned to the island and was placed directly into the solitary strip cell. The FBI investigated the escape and put together an inventory of the items that had been found in Giles's possession.

Warden James A. Johnston United States Penitentiary Alcatraz Island San Francisco, California Re: John Knight Giles Dear Warden Johnston: Pursuant to your request the following to your request the following personal effects which were found in the possession of the above captioned subject at the time of his apprehension at Angel Island on July 31, 1945 are being listed below: One set of prison underwear.

One pair of prison socks.

One pair of brown prison shoes.

One regulation Army tie.

One pair of regulation U.S. Army pants labeled Kane Manufacturing Company, 1/19/43.

One Khaki Army overseas cap, red bordered #K-9699.

One regulation Army shirt bearing laundry mark #P2587.

One U.S. Army field jacket, size 38 L, bearing no identification marks, with Technical Sergeant's chevrons on sleeve.

One white pouch containing small comb.

One navy blue pouch containing two flashlight bulbs, one Texaco touring map of San Francisco and the Bay Area, one State Auto a.s.sociation map of Marin County, one small taped ball containing odd change.

One navy blue pouch containing shoulder patch U.S. Army, Pacific Coast Frontier Defense Sector.

One navy blue pouch containing two gla.s.s cases, one case containing subject's silver rimmed gla.s.ses, the other containing a white powder believed to be stomach powder.

One handkerchief, brown striped border.

One small memo book approximately three by five inches, contents blank.

One small piece of white cloth.

One U.S. Army official dog tag in the name GEORGE F. TODD, #38409746 T43.

One enlisted man's temporary pa.s.s issued in the name of TODD dated 0730 July 31 to 0730 August 2, '45 "to visit Bay Area". The above described tag and pa.s.s were used by subject in an ineffectual attempt to elude detection at Fort McDowell.

One white cloth pouch containing U.S. Army dog tag in the name of ARTHUR L. WADE #34506347 T43, Army dog tag in the name of ERNEST D. BENNETT, #33573388, one broken tube Barbasol shaving cream containing $1.38 in change.

One Pall Mall cigarette package containing seven a.s.sorted shoulder patches, U.S. Army, two chevrons U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, one new U.S. Army Air Corps shoulder patch wrapped in tissue paper.

Four undated enlisted men's temporary pa.s.ses in the name of A.L. WADE, Staff Sergeant, #34506347, Hq. Btry. A 256 AAA, granting permission to visit Bay Area.

Six blank enlisted men's pa.s.ses.

Three blank temporary pa.s.ses bearing the stamped signature of WILLIAM B. BURCH.

One fountain pen, gold colored.

One gray flashlight marked "USM" containing two Every-Ready batteries marked for use before June, 1944.

One small cardboard box containing blank furlough paper form #31, War Department,... G.O.

One metal Bayer Aspirin box containing sixty cents in a.s.sorted change and several strands of what appears to be human hair.

One small Colgate toothpaste tube painted green containing a brown substance believed to be glue.

One seed envelope containing unidentified white powder.

One Army tie.

One pair regulation Army socks.

One traced insignia of Pacific Coast Frontier Defense Sector.

One small cardboard box containing two wooden objects both carved in the shape of a "U" approximately one inch in length, covered with waxlike substance.

One small tin box containing piece of broken mirror.

One small medicine bottle containing ink.

One small cardboard box containing razor, fourteen cents in change, one pen point and three taped b.a.l.l.s containing change.

One Dennison label box containing unidentified white powder, and five safety pins.

One small wooden cylinder (pencil lead holder) containing three wooden matches each tightly wrapped with small needle and tan thread.