Top 10 Infamous Inmates at Alcatraz.!
These criminals were the worst of the worst! For this list, we’ll be looking at the most notorious criminals to have been imprisoned inside Alcatraz, based on their reputations and crimes. Our countdown includes Mickey Cohen, Whitey Bulger, Al Capone, and more! Have you ever visited the historic prison? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!
10. Roy Gardner
Known as the "King of the Escape Artists," Roy Gardner was a notorious bank robber and train robber. He attempted several daring escapes from other prisons before being transferred to Alcatraz, where his escape attempts were finally thwarted.
9. Arthur "Doc" Barker
A member of the infamous Barker-Karpis gang, Arthur "Doc" Barker was involved in numerous robberies and kidnappings. His criminal activities led to a life sentence at Alcatraz, where he attempted an escape in 1939 but was ultimately shot and killed.
8. George "Machine Gun" Kelly
One of the most notorious gangsters of the 1930s, George Kelly Barnes, better known as "Machine Gun" Kelly, was known for his involvement in bootlegging, kidnapping, and bank robbery. He was sent to Alcatraz in 1934 and remained there until his transfer in 1951.
7. Robert Stroud ("The Birdman of Alcatraz")
Robert Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz," was initially convicted of murder. Although he was not allowed to keep birds during his time at Alcatraz, Stroud became famous for his extensive knowledge of ornithology and his written works on bird diseases.
6. James "Whitey" Bulger
Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger was known for his violent reign over the Winter Hill Gang. After being implicated in numerous murders and criminal activities, Bulger spent time in Alcatraz during the 1950s before becoming one of America's most wanted fugitives.
5. Mickey Cohen
A notorious figure in organized crime, Mickey Cohen was a key player in the Los Angeles underworld. His involvement in various illegal activities, including gambling and racketeering, led to his imprisonment at Alcatraz in the 1960s.
10. Roy Gardner
Known as the "King of the Escape Artists," Roy Gardner was a notorious bank robber and train robber. He attempted several daring escapes from other prisons before being transferred to Alcatraz, where his escape attempts were finally thwarted.
9. Arthur "Doc" Barker
A member of the infamous Barker-Karpis gang, Arthur "Doc" Barker was involved in numerous robberies and kidnappings. His criminal activities led to a life sentence at Alcatraz, where he attempted an escape in 1939 but was ultimately shot and killed.
8. George "Machine Gun" Kelly
One of the most notorious gangsters of the 1930s, George Kelly Barnes, better known as "Machine Gun" Kelly, was known for his involvement in bootlegging, kidnapping, and bank robbery. He was sent to Alcatraz in 1934 and remained there until his transfer in 1951.
7. Robert Stroud ("The Birdman of Alcatraz")
Robert Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz," was initially convicted of murder. Although he was not allowed to keep birds during his time at Alcatraz, Stroud became famous for his extensive knowledge of ornithology and his written works on bird diseases.
6. James "Whitey" Bulger
Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger was known for his violent reign over the Winter Hill Gang. After being implicated in numerous murders and criminal activities, Bulger spent time in Alcatraz during the 1950s before becoming one of America's most wanted fugitives.
5. Mickey Cohen
A notorious figure in organized crime, Mickey Cohen was a key player in the Los Angeles underworld. His involvement in various illegal activities, including gambling and racketeering, led to his imprisonment at Alcatraz in the 1960s.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The bold experiment had begun.
00:02The question now was, could Alcatraz impose its will on 200 of the nation's toughest criminals?
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Infamous Inmates at Alcatraz.
00:15Mine was a high-profile case, and they knew from their experience that the FBI had put pressure on me.
00:24For this list, we're looking at the most notorious criminals to have been imprisoned inside Alcatraz,
00:28based on their reputations and crimes.
00:31Have you ever visited this historic prison?
00:33What did you think? Let us know in the comments below.
00:36Number 10. Henry Young.
00:38Alcatraz was known for being a tough and inescapable prison, and Henry Young was even tougher.
00:44So tough, in fact, that Alcatraz couldn't contain him.
00:47Young was sent to Alcatraz in the 1930s after committing homicide.
00:51He and four others attempted to escape on January 13th, 1939,
00:56and one of the escapees died in the attempt.
00:59Alcatraz was the scene last night of a dramatic escape attempt.
01:02Four desperate prisoners were apprehended on the rocky beach below the prison.
01:06Everybody else was captured, and Young spent the next three years in solitary confinement.
01:11Just 11 days after leaving solitary, Young killed his accomplice Rufus McCain.
01:16Come on, Mr. Young, why did you kill Rufus McCain?
01:20Come on, come on, you just talked, don't do this again.
01:22Alcatraz was investigated not only for the escape,
01:26but also for Young's treatment in isolation and the subsequent killing.
01:30He was eventually transferred, and when he was released in 1972,
01:34Young completely disappeared.
01:36Action. I won. Reaction. You can't ever take that away from me.
01:45His eventual fate is unknown.
01:49Having appeared in countless pieces of pop culture, including L.A. Noire and Bugsy,
01:54Mickey Cohen is easily one of the most famous gangsters in American history.
01:57Hi Mickey, you better show me some respect.
02:00Respect? I think you got it backward, Mr. Cohen.
02:03If I may be so bold as to correct you,
02:04unless of course your idea of showing a man respect is to rob his place of business.
02:08Known by some as the King of Los Angeles,
02:10Cohen was eventually nailed for tax evasion and sent to Alcatraz in July of 1961.
02:16However, he didn't spend long inside the prison.
02:19Unlike his last prison stint, Mickey was treated as just another inmate.
02:24No special treatment, no extra towels.
02:27He became the first and only person to be bailed out,
02:30which occurred just three months later in October.
02:33He returned to the prison in May of 1962,
02:36but it finally closed for good less than one year later.
02:39Cohen was sent to Atlanta and lived another 13 years before dying in 1976 at the age of 62.
02:46Our channel 11 cameras were at Cohen's funeral service in 1976.
02:50They captured images of his casket being carried from a white hearse
02:54to his above-ground grave at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City.
02:59A famous bank robber that traversed the American West,
03:02Roy Gardner is believed to have stolen more than $350,000 throughout the 1920s.
03:08For context, this is the equivalent of about $5 million today.
03:13Gardner was also an infamous prison escapee and became known as the King of the Escape Artists.
03:19Gardner was eventually captured during a train robbery and arrived at Alcatraz in 1934.
03:25He reportedly planned an escape with another inmate named Ralph Rowe,
03:29but he was released in 1938 before the plan could be executed.
03:33Gardner subsequently wrote a popular autobiography called Hellcatraz
03:37and actually worked on a tour boat that visited the prison.
03:40On January 10, 1940, Gardner took his own life inside a hotel by inhaling poisonous fumes.
03:51On the night of June 11, 1962, three men escaped from Alcatraz, never to be seen again.
03:57Brothers Clarence and John Anglin and ringleader Frank Morris.
04:08You looking at something?
04:11Morris had previously escaped from Louisiana State Penitentiary
04:14while incarcerated for bank robbery,
04:15but was recaptured and sent to the supposedly inescapable Alcatraz.
04:20After months of planning,
04:22Morris and the Anglin brothers made a break for it using many elaborate means,
04:25including papier-mâché decoy heads, the ventilation ducts, and an improvised raft.
04:37While they were successful in escaping the island itself,
04:40their ultimate fate remains unknown.
04:43The FBI believes they drowned,
04:45while others, including the Mythbusters,
04:47find it plausible that they reached the mainland and disappeared.
04:50So I think it's entirely possible that they made it.
04:54Again, I think the most damning evidence that they didn't
04:56is the fact that no one's heard from them since.
05:00Born in New York in 1917,
05:03Morton Sobel worked as an electrical engineer during World War II.
05:07During his time with General Electric,
05:09Sobel fed information to the Soviets and acted as a mole on their behalf.
05:14J. Edgar Hoover called his espionage the crime of the century,
05:18and Sobel was convicted in 1951 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
05:23He was convicted of espionage along with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
05:27The Rosenbergs were sent to Sing Sing's electric chair
05:29for selling atomic bomb secrets to the Russians.
05:32Sobel was given 30 years at The Rock.
05:34He was sent to Alcatraz,
05:36which is where he spent the next 12 years of his life.
05:39When Alcatraz closed in 1963,
05:41Sobel was transferred to Lewisburg Penitentiary in Pennsylvania.
05:45He was eventually released from prison in 1969
05:48and lived almost another 50 years.
05:51He died in 2018 at the age of 101.
05:57Real name George Barnes,
05:59This bootlegger, thief and kidnapper earned the moniker Machine Gun Kelly
06:03thanks to his signature use of a Thompson submachine gun.
06:06In July of 1933,
06:08Kelly kidnapped an oil tycoon named Charles F. Urschel
06:12and received a $200,000 ransom.
06:14This is a little under $5 million today.
06:17Kelly was caught the following September
06:19and this became the first major case that was solved by the FBI.
06:23That night, from his home in the exclusive residential district,
06:26Charles F. Urschel,
06:27millionaire oil man of Oklahoma City was abducted.
06:30Kelly was sent to Alcatraz
06:32and wasn't taken seriously by the other inmates.
06:34Not only was he a model and obedient prisoner,
06:37but his outlandish stories were comically exaggerated.
06:54Kelly left Alcatraz in 1951
06:57and was transferred to United States Penitentiary Leavenworth,
07:00which is where he died on his 59th birthday.
07:06You may have heard the term public enemy number one.
07:09Alvin Karpis was just one of four criminals
07:12to have been given the official title by the FBI
07:14alongside John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Babyface Nelson.
07:18Karpis was the leader of the Barker-Karpis gang,
07:21a depression-era outfit that took part in robberies and kidnappings.
07:33Karpis was the only public enemy number one to have been taken alive,
07:36which occurred on May 2nd, 1936.
07:40J. Edgar Hoover personally saw to the arrest
07:42and because no one had handcuffs,
07:44his wrists were bound with an agent's tie.
07:47Karpis was inside Alcatraz for most of its existence
07:50and has the distinction of being its longest serving prisoner.
08:04One of the most famous crime bosses in American history,
08:07Whitey Bulger found himself on the FBI's most wanted list
08:11and was charged with a slew of crimes,
08:13including racketeering and 19 counts of homicide.
08:21In the 70s and 80s, one step, two steps ahead of the police
08:24and then in the 90s to learn the truth
08:27about his eventual implication in 19 murders
08:30was really kind of a terrifying story.
08:32But all this occurred after his time in Alcatraz.
08:36Back in the 50s, Bulger was a street criminal
08:38who found himself caught up in hijackings and robberies.
08:41In 1956, Bulger was sent to United States Penitentiary, Atlanta
08:45and was subjected to MKUltra experiments in exchange for a reduced sentence.
08:50A stint in a federal pen where Bulger volunteered
08:53for an LSD experiment in return for an early release.
08:57Bulger was transferred to Alcatraz following his horrible time at Atlanta
09:01and he spent three years inside the famous prison.
09:04He later spoke fondly of his time at Alcatraz.
09:07Bulger did time in Alcatraz, America's future most wanted fugitive
09:11housed in America's most notorious prison.
09:14We guess so.
09:15It would be a vacation after MKUltra.
09:21Robert Stroud, the so-called Birdman of Alcatraz
09:24is actually the subject of a popular misconception.
09:27Stroud spent most of his life behind bars, having been imprisoned at 19
09:31and dying in the system at 73.
09:34After killing a few people, including a prison guard, Stroud was sent to Leavenworth
09:38and it was here that he discovered a love of birds.
09:47In fact, he later became a revered ornithologist
09:50and his first book, Diseases of Canaries, was smuggled out of prison.
09:54Stroud was eventually transferred to Alcatraz in December of 1942
09:58and stayed there until 1959.
10:12Yet despite his famous moniker as the Birdman of Alcatraz,
10:15Stroud was never allowed to keep birds at Alcatraz
10:19and he focused his attention there on law.
10:34Before we unveil our top pick, here are some dishonorable mentions.
10:45This Harlem crime boss was arrested over 40 times.
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11:07The gangster who needs no introduction,
11:10Al Capone ruled Chicago with an iron fist until he was imprisoned at 33.
11:15Despite the numerous crimes that Capone was involved in,
11:18he was finally pegged for tax evasion in 1931
11:21and spent the last of his healthy years behind bars.
11:24Capone was transferred to Alcatraz in 1934
11:27and his time here was marked by difficulties.
11:40Capone was stabbed by another inmate in 1936
11:43and less than two years later,
11:44he was officially diagnosed with neurosyphilis.
11:47His mental faculties rapidly deteriorated
11:50and he was released from the prison system in 1939.
12:02Despite being one of the first American patients treated with penicillin,
12:06Capone's health further deteriorated and he died at 48 in 1947.
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