Book on Alcatraz

[Makoto_4]

This morning, the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed a book on the history of Alcatraz, titled "Alcatraz -- A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years", written by historian Michael Esslinger. The story of the 3 prisoners who escaped in 1962 and were never found is also mentioned in that book. That story was profiled in a 90-minute episode of UM. Here is an excerpt from the review below:

"He also recounts the story of Frank Lee Morris, who was convicted of his first crime at age 13 and later sent to Alcatraz after spending most of his early years in prison. In June 1962, Morris and two others crawled through a ventilator to the cell-house roof, leaving life-like dummies in their beds. The escapees had a makeshift raft and life preservers. Their bodies were never found. Esslinger makes no declarations about the success or failure of the escape attempt; he shows readers the documents and interviews, letting them draw their own conclusions.

"Allen West, an inmate who claimed to have masterminded the escape, but did not make it off the island, told the FBI that the master plan was to go by raft to Angel Island, rest up and then swim through Raccoon Straits to Marin County. There they would steal a car and burglarize a clothing store before heading off in separate directions.

"Days after the breakout, searchers found evidence in the waters off Angel Island: a makeshift oar made by the convicts, a rubber packet filled with an inmate's personal effects, and a deflated raft. Another raft made with old raincoats was found near a wharf at Point Richmond. A lifejacket saturated with bloodstains was found off Alcatraz Island. A second deflated lifejacket was found at the beach by Fort Cronkhite in Marin County."

(from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BG7U3QJ5E1.DTL)

-Makoto_4