ESCAPES FROM ALCATRAZ

ESCAPE NO. 5
21 May 1941, Wednesday

Lloyd H. Barkdoll Name: Lloyd H. Barkdoll

Inmate #: 423-AZ
Crime: bank robbery in Oregon
Sentence: life
Notes: Bureau of Prisons: "died of illness at Alcatraz 3/7/50."

Joseph Paul Cretzer Name: Joseph Paul Cretzer

Age: 28
Inmate #: 548-AZ
Crime: bank robbery, escape, and murder of a U.S. Marshal during an escape attempt in Tacoma, Washington (along with Arnold Kyle, his brother-in-law)
Sentence: life
Notes: escaped from McNeil Island prison and recaptured, transferred in August 1940. Died in the May 1946 Battle of Alcatraz.

Arnold Thomas Kyle Name: Arnold Thomas Kyle

Age: 27
Inmate #: 547-AZ
Crime: bank robbery, escape, and murder of a U.S. Marshal during an escape attempt in Tacoma, Washington (along with Joseph Cretzer, his brother-in-law)
Sentence: life
Notes: escaped from McNeil Island prison and recaptured. Bureau of Prisons: "transferred from Alcatraz (no date available), released from USP McNeil Island, WA (no date available). He is dead."

Sam R. Shockley Name: Sam R. Shockley

Age: 31
Inmate #: 462-AZ
Crime: bank robbery and kidnaping in Oklahoma
Sentence: life
Notes: transferred from Leavenworth in May 1938. He was convicted of murdering correctional officer William Miller during the May 1946 Battle of Alcatraz and was executed in the gas chamber at the California State Prison San Quentin on 3 December 1948.

Shortly after lunch, Clyne E. Stoops, guard, was lured into the mat shop on the pretense a machine was not working. The convicts overpowered him, bounded his hands and feet with twine, and gagged him. They also overpowered and tied up Lionel Johnston, a work area yard officer. They moved the other convicts there into another room. They began to attempt to open the window by prying off the encasement with a piece of pipe.

A half hour later, C.J. Manning, superintendent of industries, entered the room on a routine inspection tour. They overpowered him and bounded him, but didn't gag him. They went back to working on the window, and eventually brought over a motorized grinding stone to work on the bars.

Finally, Captain Madigan entered the shop, and once again, they overpowered him. Captain Madigan told the convicts that he was due to call in and if he didn't the alarm would be sounded. The convicts realized that they weren't going to make it. So they freed Captain Madigan and surrendered.

The entire incident lasted two hours.


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