Alcatraz_ A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years - Michael Esslinger [161]
On April 4, 1939 a heated dispute broke out between Bernie and fellow inmate Joe Varsalonawhile they were working in the prison kitchen. In a violent fury, Bernie hit Varsalona, knocking him to the floor. One of the guards came up from the basement, and after trying unsuccessfully to break up the fight, he summoned other correctional officers. But before the other guards could intervene, Varsalona grabbed a butcher knife and inflicted several minor stab wounds on Coy. Bernie was admitted to the prison hospital for seven days and then released back into the general prison population. His first aborted escape attempt came in December of the same year, when it was suspected that Bernie was trying to cut through a steel window-guard in the bakeshop. His actions were quickly halted and as a punitive measure he was thrown into the strip cell and placed on a restricted diet.
Joe Varsalona
It wasn’t long before Bernie found himself back in the general prison population, quietly serving out his time. He soon became what could be considered a model inmate. Despite his limited education, Bernie was a passionate reader, and was thought to be very intelligent. He also found the opportunity to reengage his passion for art. In October of 1944, Warden Johnston wrote Coy a lengthy congratulatory letter regarding a few paintings of landscapes and wartime subjects that Coy had contributed for an exhibit in Washington D.C. at the Congress for the American Prison Association. Johnston remarked that Coy’s paintings were very popular and mentioned how pleased he was to have them representing Alcatraz.
Joseph Paul Cretzer
Joseph Paul Cretzer
Joseph Paul Cretzer had vowed that he would not concede victory to Alcatraz, and despite formidable odds, he declared that he would find a way to escape the island. Cretzer was born on April 17, 1911 to deaf-mute parents in Anaconda, Montana. He was the youngest of three boys and two girls, and constantly lived under the scrutiny of his older brothers. One prison report stated that all of the siblings had been in conflict with the law and held poor reputations within the communities in which they resided. His brothers George and Donald, with whom he had the closest ties, had also served long sentences in the Colorado State Penitentiary. In prison interviews, Cretzer described that he had enjoyed a friendly relationship with his father, but other reports alleged that his father led him into crime by encouraging him to perform “sneak thefts” and burglaries at a very young age. News clippings in his inmate file showed that his father, who was sixty years old at the time of the reports, was institutionalized at the Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo.
His parents separated when Joe was very young and the mother and children took up residence with his grandmother. His mother soon remarried, which caused family friction as Joseph had difficulty getting along with his new stepfather. His first bout with crime occurred when he was only fourteen years of age. His sister would later recount that Joe was first sent to a reformatory after stealing his grandfather’s pocket watch. His grandfather referred Joe to juvenile court and he was later also tried for stealing an automobile in Pueblo. It would be a tough time for Joe and his family as his mother would die the same year from acute asthma. Joe continued engaging in petty crimes until he was sixteen, finally resulting in the courts committing him to the Colorado State Reformatory at Golden, Colorado, from which he would make three escapes. When he was formally released, Cretzer made his way via freight train to San Francisco and took-up residence with his older sister.
Reports reveal that Joe attempted to hold honest employment during this period, making license plates at the Norton Manufacturing Company in Oakland for about five months and later working at the American Can