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- Alcatraz 1962
- Episode 8
Alcatraz 1962: Spoons. Dummies. Open Water.Episode 81:19
The Heads Made with Human Hair
The escapees bypass the corridor's locked doors by climbing upward while grotesque handmade faces guard their beds.
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Transcript
In 1962, three inmates created fake human heads from cardboard and human hair.
On June 11th, 1962, Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers vanished from their cells.
Alcatraz was a 22-acre rock, 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay.
Alcatraz's daily prison routine was highly structured and monotonous.
The escape plan used homemade drills to enlarge ventilation holes behind the cell walls.
False wall segments concealed the work, while enlarged vent holes opened behind three cells.
Behind the cells, a utility corridor ended at locked steel doors on both sides.
A locked door can turn patience into a weapon. The three men climbed utility pipes to reach the top of the cellblock.
Allen West remained in his cell when the escape was discovered.
The escapees bent the iron bars blocking an air vent and reached the cellblock roof.
At the northern end of the cellhouse, they climbed down a drainpipe.
Their escape raft was made from prison-issued raincoats, also fashioned into crude life vests.
The alarm was not raised until the following morning.
On the morning of June 12th, 1962, guards discovered dummy faces in the three men's bunks.
Where it leaves off
At morning count, guards looked into the three bunks and discovered that the faces on the pillows were dummies.
Sources
- Collections - Alcatraz Island (U.S. National Park Service)nps.govsecondary
- BOP: Alcatrazbop.govsecondary
- Today in History - California: State Resource Guide - Research Guides at Library of Congressguides.loc.govsecondary
- Letter Allegedly Written By 1962 Alcatraz Island Escapee Surfaces - CBS San Franciscocbsnews.comsecondary
- Alcatraz Escape FBI Filespaperlessarchives.comsecondary
- 'It was the cleverest escape in the prison's 30 years': The men who broke out of Alcatraz with a spoonbbc.comsecondary
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