Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years Part 14

ESCAPE ATTEMPT #2.

Date:

December 16, 1937.

Inmates:

Theodore Cole.

Ralph Roe.

Location:.

Mat Shop (Model Industries Building).

The second fateful escape attempt would end in the suspected death of two inmates in the icy waters of the turbulent bay. The headlines would read "ISLAND LEGEND SHATTERED," as the name "Alcatraz" had until then been synonymous with the word "escape-proof." Fellow inmates Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe had been long-term a.s.sociates at McAlester and Leavenworth prisons, both had established escape records, and each was known in their own right as a Houdini of escape. Their crafty escape plan would give them the opportunity to sneak beyond the view of a correctional officer, and then slip past the barbwire fences and into the chilly waters of the fog-laden bay, never to be seen again.

Theodore Cole.

Theodore Cole.

Theodore Cole was a violent killer who had escaped a death sentence through "sentimental pressure." Born April 6, 1912 in Pittsburg, Kansas, Cole began his life of violent crime in his early teens. He was the youngest in a family of one brother and two sisters and grew up primarily in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father died when he was only two years of age and his mother eventually remarried in July of 1925. It is doc.u.mented that his mother and his new stepfather were both strict disciplinarians. His family moved about frequently as his stepfather, a paving contractor, strived to maintain steady employment.

In February of 1927, at only fourteen years of age, Cole robbed a gas station using a handgun. Cole's criminal record would grow over the coming years to include a variety of burglaries, one of which would involve the non-fatal shooting of a police officer in Hot Springs, Arkansas. At seventeen, Cole robbed the Dr. Pepper Bottling Works in Tulsa, and this crime resulted in another conviction for armed robbery. His parents spent everything they had to defend their son, but their efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful. Cole was p.r.o.ne to intensely violent and unpredictable outbursts and District Judge Saul Yager sentenced him to die in the electric chair stating, "The boy is a potential killer and deserves such a sentence." Cole had been sentenced to death without having committed murder and this initiated nationwide sentimental protests led by various women groups and civil rights organizations. The groups were successful in getting his sentence reduced from life to fifteen years, but it was a barren victory.

In November of 1933, while imprisoned at McAlester Penitentiary in Oklahoma, Cole attempted to escape and was critically wounded but survived and it only emboldened his violent tendencies. Only a few months after his failed attempt, Cole murdered his cellmate William Pritchard, using a homemade knife to stab him twenty-seven times. Amazingly, Cole was able to convince the jury that Pritchard had attempted to kill him, and therefore that he had acted in self-defense. On November 30, 1934 Cole managed to escape the Oklahoma prison by concealing himself in a laundry bag which was loaded onto a truck and driven into town. On the afternoon of December 5th, Cole secured a pistol and approached a forty-eight year old gentleman named James A. Rutherford, pleading that he was stranded and needed a ride into the next town. Rutherford obliged, and as they drove away, Cole drew his pistol and took him hostage. He forced Rutherford to drive him to Illinois, where he released him. Cole then stole another vehicle and traveled south, committing a few small robberies along the way for quick cash. Finally, on January 6, 1935 in Dallas, Texas, Cole was captured and extradited back to Oklahoma. This time the court showed less leniency, stating "He is moronic, vicious, and a killer" and Cole was sentenced to fifty-years in prison.

Throughout his trial, Cole continued his efforts to escape from the Oklahoma County Jail, where he was incarcerated during the proceedings. He succeeded in sawing through several bars of his cell using a razor, and he continually boasted that he would eventually break out. He was considered such a high escape risk that a sensitive ribbon microphone was installed to monitor any unusual sounds emerging from his cell. On May 20 1935, Cole was transferred to Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas, where he renewed a longstanding friends.h.i.+p with Ralph Roe, a fellow inmate he had known at McAlester.

Ralph Roe.

Ralph Roe.

Ralph Roe was born on February 5, 1906 in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, and like Theodore Cole, he had endured a troubled childhood. Roe's mother died of tuberculosis when he was only nine, and he later lost his two sisters to the same disease. At fourteen, Roe quit school and ran away to California. It was in Los Angeles that Roe was convicted of his first robbery in April of 1923, and this would be only the beginning of his lengthy criminal record. In July he was sent to the Preston Reformatory in Ione, California, but he escaped and trekked onward to Little Arkansas. Roe would then go on to commit a string of robberies throughout the west. His robberies became ever more violent, and one resulted in a gun battle which left accomplice Wilbur Underhill wounded and bleeding to death, hiding in the back of a furniture store.

Then on September 10, 1934 Roe and his accomplice Jack Lloyd robbed and took hostages at the Farmers National Bank in Sulphur, Oklahoma. This Federal crime would earn him a ninety-nine-year sentence and a recommendation for transfer to Alcatraz. Like Cole, Roe had also previously attempted to escape from McAlester. He had gotten another inmate to nail him into a utility crate, but he quickly started to suffocate inside of it, and thus was forced to abandon his plan. Both Cole and Roe were transferred via the same train from Leavenworth to the Rock.

Ralph Roe's conduct report at Alcatraz.

Alcatraz.

The two inmates maintained a close friends.h.i.+p at Alcatraz, both taking paying jobs and working side-by-side in the Mat Shop. The Mat Shop was a facility where prison workers transformed used car tires into rubber mats for the Navy, and it was located on the bottom floor of the Model Shop Building at the northernmost tip of the island. The area was recognizable by the piles of discarded tires that were pitched down from the industry building, littering the waterline.

Roe and Cole had spent several weeks in preparation for their escape, studying the habits of the correctional staff, and working to identify potential loopholes in the security system. Using a stolen hacksaw blade, they were able to saw their way through the steel sash window grill, packing the saw gaps with grease and shoe polish to avoid detection. On the morning of Thursday, December 16, 1937, dense fog forced the docking of almost all the small vessels in the area. The forceful currents leading out past the Golden Gate Bridge and toward the Pacific Ocean were fluctuating between seven to nine knots, creating what were considered death-trap conditions for anyone willing to try their fate in the perilous waters. The two inmates were likely not aware of how dangerous the currents and foggy conditions could prove to be. It was speculated that they might have seen the spell of bad weather as an opportunity to escape under cover of dense fog.

At about 12:50 p.m., the inmates returned to the Industries Building from the mess hall after lunch, and underwent a count by Junior Officer Joe Steere, who found all inmates present and accounted for. Steere was alternating his patrol between the Blacksmith and Mat Shops, and he left the Mat area unattended while performing his routine watch. Steere returned to the Mat Shop for the 1:30 p.m. count, but inmates Cole and Roe were not at their a.s.signed work detail. He hurriedly searched the shop and immediately noticed the punched-out panes of gla.s.s and bent-out steel grilling. Officer Steere ran to the phone and sounded the escape sirens, in what was known among the custodial staff as a "22-Alarm."

The pathway to the waterline, showing where Roe and Cole entered the freezing Bay waters.

San Francisco Police Chief William Quinn is seen here handing out photos of Roe and Cole to street officers.

A tide chart showing the forecast ebb tide conditions for December 16, 1937.

It is speculated that Roe and Cole bent out the sawed bars using a heavy wrench, punched out two panes of gla.s.s, and climbed through the window, dropping down to the ground below. They swiftly ran to a locked gate that led down to the waterline. It is also believed that in preparation for the escape, the two inmates had constructed floats from lightweight metal five-gallon fuel canisters with specially made handles, and they carried these makes.h.i.+ft floats with them. Using the wrench, the inmates quickly unfastened the bolts of a chain-link gate, and then laid the gate over the five rows of sharp barbwire, thus making a protected pathway down to the water's edge.

In his book On the Rock, former Public Enemy Number One Alvin Karpis stated that the winter of 1937 started off with severe rains and flooding along the Sacramento River. Large pieces of debris floated down the River toward the Pacific Ocean, and the fragmented wreckage ranged from large sections of barns to dead livestock carca.s.ses. The currents were so fierce that the debris could often clearly be seen floating swiftly past the island from the Industries Building windows. Another inmate, "Blackie" Audett, wrote in his 1954 memoir Rap Sheet that he was able to watch the two inmates as they made their entry into the bay and began their swim. He noted that he saw Roe come up out of the water several yards off the island, appearing to be struggling desperately, and attempting to stay afloat in the rough waters. Audett recalled that Roe came up and then drifted into the dense fog, never to be seen again.

Despite the dangerous fog, Warden Johnston dispatched the launch, which started a circular search pattern around the island, but found no signs of any debris from the inmates' improvised floats. The officers in the towers searched with binoculars, but were hardly able to see much of the surrounding waters because of the thick fog. a.s.sociate Warden E.J. Miller described his actions following the escape in a December 18th, 1937 memo to Warden Johnston. He wrote in part: We searched the area in the back of the Model Building and found where the lock on the gate where we throw the old tires through had been broke with a Stillson Wrench and the wrench was laying beside the gate also. Made a complete search of the area without finding any additional clues or signs of the men, no footprints, no clothing. The caves were searched with lights and the big cave was flooded with tear gas and in the evening with sickening gas and had men stationed to see if there was any movement or anyone came out, without result. We combed the Island thoroughly, entered all residences, inspected every nook and cranny, all along the sh.o.r.eline, in the rocks, the emergency dock, the regular dock, beneath the docks, the sewers, all shrubbery, covering every inch of the island.

For several weeks after the escape there were reports that people had seen the escapees, and with the FBI leading the investigation, every lead was followed up but with no success in locating the two men. It was believed that both men had unquestionably met their death on that foggy afternoon, but the FBI kept the investigation open, and continued their vigorous search.

Champion open-water swimmer Lisa Johnson later stated that she felt it was impossible for the men to have survived the swim during such a strong ebb tide, even using float devices. She stated that the fog alone would have caused serious disorientation because no fixed landmark references could be seen and that they would not have been able to swim on any direct route toward land. She further stated: "They were probably unable to swim back to Alcatraz once they realized that they were in grave danger. Even with my experience and conditioning, I would never have put one toe in that turbulent water." Roe also had a debilitating factor that could have contributed to his supposed demise. It is doc.u.mented in a Leavenworth report that he had a slight deformity of his right tibia, due to a serious fracture that he had sustained from a gunshot wound during his last escape attempt. It was noted that the cold weather sometimes caused "aching pains" in his leg, but this was not further substantiated, and no medical records show any complaints of leg pain while at Alcatraz.

For nearly twelve weeks following the escape, Johnston continued a policy that every corpse found floating in the bay would be investigated by the Alcatraz launch McDowell, to help identify the body in case it proved to be one of the escapees. It was later officially concluded that the two inmates had drowned in the bay. Johnston wrote in his 1949 memoir: I believe when that when they jumped into the bay they jumped to their death. There wasn't any boat there to meet them and the impenetrable curtain of fog that hampered the visibility of the guards, also made it impossible for them to see anything and they just floundered until they were no longer able to keep up and then sank to the bottom of a bay that seldom gives up its victims.

The press continued to cover the escape with great interest. Johnston worked to defend the integrity of the island's security, and was harshly critical in his response to any comments that might lead the public to believe that the prisoners had successfully escaped. On February 18, 1938, the a.s.sociated Press ran an article claiming that the Bureau of Prisons was "chagrined and embarra.s.sed" over the escape attempt by Roe and Cole. The article suggested further that the security at Alcatraz was not up to "required standards" and Bureau Director Bennett subsequently asked the House Appropriations Subcommittee to increase the inst.i.tution's budget from $305,600 to $309,535 for the 1939 fiscal year. The additional funding was approved and it allowed for an additional captain and two junior officers to man additional fixed sentry posts.

The San Francisco Chronicle would later run several reports of various sightings of the escapees, and all leads were rigorously investigated, with no fruitful results. Nonetheless, the articles kept alive the idea that such a discovery was possible, since both inmates remained listed as unaccounted for. In an article published following the date of the escape, the closing statement read simply: With long years of prison ahead of them, Ralph Roe, Muskogee, Okla., robber and Theodore Cole, Cus.h.i.+ng, Okla., kidnapper, defied science, the natural hazards and the guns of guards, escaped and shattered a national byword, the legend of "escape proof" Alcatraz.

ESCAPE ATTEMPT #3.

Date:.

May 23, 1938.

Inmates:.

Thomas Robert Limerick.

James Lucas.

Rufus Franklin.

Location:.

Model Industries Building.

The third escape attempt at Alcatraz would forever stand as one of the most vicious and violent ever seen on The Rock. It would result in the tragic murder of a well-liked senior correctional officer, and the death of an Alcatraz inmate. The plan was uncomplicated and essentially required no more than a few simple tools. These circ.u.mstances, combined with the desperation of the convicts, created a deadly formula for tragedy.

Thomas Robert Limerick.

Thomas Limerick.

Thomas Robert Limerick was born in Council Bluff, Iowa on January 7, 1902. It was recorded that he lived in a harmonious family environment until his father's death, when Robert was only fifteen years old. His father worked as a farm equipment mechanic, and the family enjoyed a comfortable middle-cla.s.s lifestyle until his untimely death. Thomas was the oldest of one brother and three sisters, and the family quickly fell into extreme poverty living in a "tar-paper shack" in a poverty-stricken farming community. Thomas was forced to leave school, and took a job as a laborer in a self-sacrificing attempt to help support his stricken family. The circ.u.mstances of his father's death are sketchy, but Thomas would later a.s.sert that his father had been "murdered" by the police, and that because "nothing was done about it" he had decided that he would "even the score" himself.

At the age of nineteen, Limerick found himself convicted of grand larceny and sentenced to serve five years at the Iowa State Reformatory. Records also show that Limerick had difficultly adjusting to the conditions of his confinement. Immediately upon his release he again found his way into more trouble when he traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska, violating his parole and stealing an automobile. He served seven years in the Nebraska State Penitentiary, after which was sent back to Iowa to serve additional time for his parole violation.

Following his release on June 20, 1934, Limerick continued to be implicated in various crimes throughout the state. He was retained for questioning in Sidney, Iowa for the suspected burglary of a railroad boxcar, but no charges were filed. A string of robberies followed, and officials were starting to close in on Limerick as the culprit. Then at thirty-two years of age, Limerick met Catherine Cross and they married in September of 1934. The couple had been married for less than two months when Limerick would permanently seal his fate.

On November 7, 1934, using a sawed-off shotgun and a pistol, Limerick and an accomplice "forcibly, violently, and feloniously" robbed the First National Bank in Dell Rapids, South Dakota. They were able to secure $4,812.51 in cash, and $6,900 in stocks and bond certificates. Limerick and his accomplice took three bank employees hostage at gunpoint, and fled. By 1935, Limerick was known as the "No. 1 bank robber of the Northwest." He was captured that year and sentenced to life in prison. Limerick arrived at Leavenworth Penitentiary as inmate 47036-L on June 4, 1935, and was transferred to Alcatraz in October of the same year as AZ-263.

James C. Lucas.

James "Tex" Lucas.

Another accomplice in the escape would be twenty-six-year-old career criminal James "Tex" C. Lucas, who was serving out a thirty-year sentence for bank robbery, in addition to sentences for attempted murder in Texas and an escape while incarcerated in Huntsville. His prison record featured a series of violent outbreaks. In June of 1936, Lucas attempted to stab Al Capone with a single scissor blade while Capone was working in the clothing room. Without warning, Lucas pulled the concealed shear from a handkerchief and started jabbing at Capone, managing to inflict several minor stab wounds. He would later claim that Capone had threatened to have him "snuffed." Capone denied the allegation, stating that Lucas had earlier demanded money, which he had refused to give. As a result of the stabbing, Lucas had all of his "good time" earnings revoked and was sent to serve time in solitary confinement.

Rufus "Whitey" Franklin.

A mug shot series of Rufus Franklin. Rufus was a violent criminal who spent nearly his entire adult life behind bars.

The third accomplice, Rufus "Whitey" Franklin, was born on January 15, 1916 in Kilby Alabama, and began his career in crime when he stole an automobile at only thirteen years of age. He was born into a large family of ten siblings as the middle child. At age sixteen Rufus was arrested for carrying a pistol, and only one year later he was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder. When he was allowed a temporary parole to attend the funeral of his mother, he and an accomplice named John Austin Cooper held up a bank in Cedar Bluff, Alabama, taking $558.65 in cash. Because of his long criminal record, the nature of his offenses, and what was doc.u.mented as "an a.s.saultive and vicious demeanor," he was sent to Alcatraz in August of 1936, and there he was registered as inmate AZ-335.

The Escape.

Senior Officer Royal C. Cline was brutally murdered by Thomas Limerick during the escape attempt. In his final moment of bravery Cline refused to aid the escapees, and subsequently was killed.

The Model Shop Tower, where Officer Harold St.i.tes was attacked by the would-be escapees. St.i.tes opened fire on the inmates, fatally wounding Limerick.