Alcatraz_ A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years - Michael Esslinger [203]
The C-Block utility corridor where inmates Coy, Hubbard, and Cretzer made their final stand. All three inmates where eventually found dead inside this area.
At 8:40 a.m., the Associate Warden and several other officers including Bergen and Mowery stood on ready to enter in the C Block utility corridor. Officer Mowery opened the door, shining his powerful searchlight and yelling a warning, but his call was met only with silence, and a harsh stench from the raw sewage still dripping from the severed piping. The guards entered into the dark and eerie silence, and slowly advanced through the flooded passageway, shining their bright flashlights. The first inmate they came across was Coy, who lay nearest the door with his eyes open and glazed over. His body was stiffened with rigor mortis, and the rifle was at his side, loaded and ready to fire. He was wearing Weinhold’s jacket, and still had rounds of ammunition in his pocket. Cretzer was found next to Coy, also stiffened by hours of death, wearing a guard’s uniform and ammunition belt. Hubbard was found at the end of the corridor, still flexible and warm. The bodies were pulled out of the dark passage and examined by Dr. Roucek. He carefully assessed the wounds on each, articulating every detail to his assistant Jesse Riser.
In Dr. Roucek’s official report to Warden Johnston, he dictated the following after examining Coy’s corpse:
May 4, 1946
To: The Warden
Subject: Report of Death of Bernard Paul Coy, No. AZ-415.
Examination of the body of this inmate revealed the following: Body was cold and rigor mortis had set in. Pupils were fixed. Left arm was extended in a 15-degree angle; right arm was flexed at the elbow at approximately a 45-degree angle. He was wearing an Officers uniform coat marked Captain and underwear marked No. 415 with blue trousers marked No. 415.
Further examination revealed a small laceration of cheek over left maxilla and a large penetrating wound through left border of Sternal Mastoid muscle and apparently through upper border of Trapezius. Laceration of scalp approximately 2 cm to left and down from natural whorl of hair. There were no apparent wounds on the posterior side of body. There was bleeding from the nose. In the examination all clothing was cut from his body. This inmate was pronounced dead at 10:12 A.M. this date.
Examination was witnessed by the following Officers:
Medical Technical Assistant, Jesse A. Riser, USPHS
Lieutenant P.R. Bergen, Custodial Force
Senior Officer, John Delling, Custodial Force
Jr. Officer, D.H. Mowery, Custodial Force
Signed,
Louis G. Roucek, Surgeon
Chief Medical Officer
Bureau Director James V. Bennett arrived at the prison from Washington D.C. just in time to see the three deceased inmates sprawled on the cold cement prison floor. The bodies were covered, and had been prepared for transport back to the mainland. Ed Miller now switched his focus to the living ringleaders. A team of guards converged on the cells of Thompson, Carnes, and Shockley, and the inmates were marched one by one into separate isolation cells in A Block. The Alcatraz staff then assessed the aftermath of the battle. The wind whistled through the mortar holes in D Block. Correctional staff from the other prisons assisted in searching the cell of each inmate, and then placing them into lockdown. Jim Quillen would later write in his personal memoir, Alcatraz from the Inside:
The entire flat was covered with armed, nervous and tired guards. Each guard had been assigned an inmate to cover as he stepped from his cell. The guard assigned to cover me was a stranger, possibly from another institution. He was armed with a shotgun and was so nervous that I could see the gun trembling in his hands.
As the bodies of the three convicts were placed on the bow of the Warden Johnston, the press stood shoulder to shoulder at the gate of Van Ness Street Pier,