Donald Trump’s plan to reopen Alcatraz prison to house ‘America’s most ruthless and violent offenders’, has revitalised interest in the famous high-security prison. Located just over a mile off the coast of San Francisco, the prison known as “the rock” became home to many of the country’s most notorious criminals.
The fortress became known as a symbol of American law and order, its position making it virtually impossible to escape from. In the 29 years it was open, 36 men attempted to escape in 14 different attempts, with American authorities claiming that all were caught or died in the strong ocean currents that surround it. But just who were the famous inmates in America’s most notorious penitentiaries?
Perhaps the most famous former inmate was Chicago gangster Al Capone, the prohibition-era mobster who has inspired countless portrayals in popular culture and is perhaps the most well-known American 19th Century villains.
Known as “scarface” owing to a visible injury down the length of his left cheek, the gangster ruled the Chicago underworld and was believed to be responsible for the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in which seven rivals were brutally slain.
However, the crime boss was not imprisoned for his violent crimes but for tax evasion, with the FBI believing that his erroneous and incorrect tax returns were their best route to securing a conviction.
Another gangster to have fallen foul of tax authorities was Mickey Cohen, the Los Angeles mobster who became prevalent in the early Las Vegas gambling scene.
Cohen had risen to prominence as a professional boxer and was suspected of murdering several gangsters in disputes over cards and owed money.
The New York native served in jails across the country but while serving in Alcatraz, he became the first and only person to be bailed out after a bond was signed by the US Chief Justice.
Three less famous inmates with a famous story, Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers, John and Clarence, who disappeared whilst attempting an escape, sparking decades of speculation and conspiracy.
The trio were never found after their escape in 1962. The trio had made paper-mâché heads which they placed in their beds to fool unsuspecting guards, before using ventilation ducts to sneak out to a waiting improvised raft.
There have been numerous sightings of the trio in the years since, but none have been able to be substantiated.
Authorities continue to classify the trio as “missing presumed dead”.
