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and after several months of lying low, devised a plan to rob a bank in Kansas City. Because they knew in advance that alarm mechanisms were wired to the bank doors, Morris, Martin, and a third accomplice named Earl Branci decided to cut a hole through the rear wall to minimize the risk of detection. After gaining access, Morris torched through the rear of two vaults, and removed $6,165 in coins, weighing a total of 1,200 pounds. The three men retreated to the home of a woman living in Baton Rouge, where they were harbored for several weeks. Soon after, all of them were apprehended by the FBI. Morris earned a Federal prison term of fourteen years, and he would eventually find his way to Alcatraz.

While serving his Federal term in Atlanta, Morris once more attempted to escape. On September 20, 1959 at 8:30 p.m., prison officer Paul Legg heard a loud crash and ran to see what had happened. He later would report that Morris had run toward him, attempting to conceal his identity, and had subsequently tried to sneak back into his cell without being noticed. Morris was reported, and was sentenced to punitive segregation in addition to forfeiting privileges. In 1960, Federal officials decided that Morris’s pattern of escape attempts, termed as “shotgun freedom” (although his escapes had never involved the use of a shotgun), would end at the Rock. On January 20, 1960, Morris disembarked from the prison launch and became inmate #AZ-1441. However, Frank’s long history of escape attempts would not end at Alcatraz – on the contrary, he was to go down in the annals of the island prison as one of its most daring escape artists ever.

John and Clarence Anglin

John W. Anglin. These mug shot photos illustrate the passage of approximately only two years, but his physical characteristics show significant changes. Note the handwritten entry on the Associate Warden’s Record from Leavenworth, stating that Anglin was not to be celled with his brother Clarence. At Alcatraz, they shared neighboring cells in B Block.

Clarence Anglin

Frank’s accomplices were equally well acquainted with life amid the dark world of organized crime. Brothers John and Clarence Anglin were also serving sentences at Alcatraz for bank robbery. They came from a large Florida family of fourteen children, and had been convicted along with their brother Alfred. On January 17, 1958, the brothers cased the Bank of Columbia in Alabama, and had made off with nearly $20,000 in cash. Five days later they were apprehended by FBI agents while hiding out in a small two-bedroom apartment in Hamilton, Ohio.

All three brothers served sentences at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, where they first became acquainted with Morris. On April 11, 1958, Clarence Anglin was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary to be separated from his brothers, though John was soon transferred there as well. Then on October 8, 1960, John was caught assisting Clarence in an escape attempt at Leavenworth. John Anglin was working in the prison bakery, and the escape would involve cutting the top out of one breadbox and the bottom out of another, which provided ample room for Clarence to stand inside when they were stacked one on top of the other. After the breadboxes were stacked and Clarence was safely hidden within, John pushed them into the kitchen elevator – but a prison officer noticed that something was amiss, and halted the escape. Both brothers were subsequently transferred to Alcatraz. John was relocated on October 22, 1960, and Clarence followed on January 16, 1961, their transfer records stating the reason for the move as: “to ensure safer custody.”

John Anglin, now inmate #AZ-1476, was assigned to cell #158 while Clarence, as inmate #AZ-1485, moved into #152. Warden Olin Blackwell had shown some leniency in allowing the brothers to reside in adjacent cells. This privilege also entitled them to sit together during meal periods. Meanwhile Frank Morris, who had been assigned to cell #138 on the same ground-level tier, was already considering the odds of making an escape from the island, and