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By Root 789 0

Egan and Moyle, begged Cretzer to let them go, pleading that they didn’t deserve to be locked up with the guards. In what may have been his only act of kindness, Cretzer nodded and told them to go back to their cells. Both scurried out, looking for any open cell in which to take cover. Hubbard and Cretzer thoroughly searched the other officers, sometimes jabbing them with the barrel of the pistol. Thompson and Coy took a box of keys from the cellhouse officer’s desk, and tried every key in hope of finding a duplicate disguised with a dummy number. Both inmates went key-by-key, forcefully inserting them into the yard door lock tumbler, hoping to find a match.

Correctional Officers Ed Stucker and Emil Rychner.

Joe Fisher

Officer Ed Stucker was assigned to the cellhouse basement, to supervise inmate barbers Joe Fisherand William Bartlett, as well as the activities in the clothing room and the shower area. Stucker carried the reputation of a by-the-book guard who generally engaged in very little small talk with the inmates. There were eighteen other inmates under his supervision and some of them were getting haircuts, while others were on work detail sorting clothing. Two inmates asked if they could be released back to the main floor after getting their haircuts, as they had been promised time in the recreation yard if they finished early. Stucker agreed, and the two ascended the stairs that led up to the base of the West End Gun Gallery, at the juncture of Times Square and Michigan Avenue. When the inmates reached the top of the stairs, they looked around through the large-link steel caging that enclosed the stairwell, but couldn’t locate Miller or any other officer. After calling out and brashly tapping the steel mesh access door, the two inmates descended and asked Stucker if he could get someone to come and let them out, as no one had responded to their calls.

Stucker was puzzled that the inmates couldn’t get the attention of any officer. If Miller was busy, then Burch would usually hear the tapping from the gallery and summon an officer. Stucker instructed the inmates to remain in the basement, and went up to see if he could catch Miller’s attention. Once he reached the top, he looked through the steel grating and was shocked to see a few inmates standing around unsupervised. Stucker swiftly secured the padlock, which was generally used as an added security measure, and headed back downstairs. At the bottom of the stairwell he pulled the receiver from the only phone that he could access in the basement, and dialed the Armory (Note: Stucker in an FBI interview, indicated that he had seen Cretzer with a pistol and reported this information to the Armory. Although not verifiable, for the sake of accuracy, his testimony should be considered as an equal account). As soon as Fish picked up, Stucker explained that he thought there was something seriously wrong in the cellhouse. Fish immediately hung up and started ringing the West Gallery and dining area. After dialing several phones in the west cellhouse with no response, Fish immediately contacted Lieutenant of the Watch Joseph Simpson, who was in the Administration Office doing paperwork. Fish explained that there seemed to be a problem in the cellhouse, and that he could not reach any of the officers at their posts.

Simpson quickly summoned Records Officer Carl W. Sundstrom and Bob Baker, the mail officer who spent most of his time reading and censoring inmate mail. The three men quickly entered the Armory and inquired whether Fish had received any updates from the floor or gallery officers, but still no one had picked up the cellhouse phones. Fish now suspected the worst and started communicating to the others that he felt it was not safe to enter the cellhouse. All three officers ignored his advice and prepared to make entry. Simpson and the three others navigated their way through the sallyport gates and carrying only wooden billy clubs, entered the cellhouse heading straight down Broadway toward the Dining Hall.

Officer Bob Baker

Unfortunately, they