Alcatraz_ A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years - Michael Esslinger [87]
In the timeless classic Birdman of Alcatraz by Thomas E. Gaddis, Turner is described as a “club happy screw” that was in constant conflict with inmates. Turner and Stroud are said to have had a long history of problematic encounters. However, it should be noted that there is no documented proof that Stroud and Turner had any prior conflicts beyond those stated here. At age twenty-six, Stroud had committed his second murder and he was now destined to face the death penalty.
Stroud’s trial began in May of 1916, with Federal Judge John C. Pollack presiding. Stroud entered a plea of self-defense, in front of what would ultimately prove to be an unsympathetic jury. The trial lasted for only a few weeks. On May 22, 1916, Stroud was sentenced to death by hanging, to be carried out on July 21st, 1916. However, the judgment was successfully appealed. That appeal began what would be a series of trials and petitions to have his death sentence reduced to life imprisonment. Stroud’s mother Elizabeth hired two prominent attorneys and a skilled psychiatrist – but her attempts ultimately proved futile in the courtroom. On March 5, 1920, by order of Federal Judge James Lewis, Robert F. Stroud was sentenced to be executed on April 23, 1920. The hanging was to be performed at Leavenworth, and the prison began construction of his gallows.
Nevertheless, Elizabeth Stroud did not lose hope and launched large-scale campaigns to save her son’s life. She enlisted the help of women’s groups in letter-writing campaigns addressed to President Woodrow Wilson and the First Lady, hoping to secure an executive order commuting his sentence to penalty without death. Stroud’s mother was unrelenting and passionately lobbied the White House to review her son’s case. She would base her line of reasoning on the argument that her son suffered from mental illness and that this was a genetic trait that ran in her family. Stroud’s older sister had been institutionalized and his mother cited case histories in which other convicts had been granted leniency for mental disorders.
Her valiant efforts proved successful; only five days before he was scheduled to hang, Stroud was issued a commutation by the President of the United States. It read:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT KNOWN, THAT I, WOODROW WILSON, President of the United States of America, in consideration of the premises, drivers other good and sufficient reasons me thereunto moving, do hereby commute the sentence of Robert F. Stroud to imprisonment for life in a penitentiary to be designated by the Attorney General of the United States. Signed April 15, 1920, by President Wilson.
The commutation was a tough blow for prison officials. The official notebook of the Alcatraz Warden noted:
Rumors were that Stroud was to serve his life sentence in Solitary Confinement. There is no wording, phrases, or riders attached to indicate just how the subject is to serve while confined for the remainder of his life. Such detail was apparently left to the Attorney General or Warden of the Penitentiary.
With no specific direction from the courts or the President, Stroud would have to serve his time under the terms of his original sentence, which stated that he should remain in solitary confinement until his execution. The Warden issued a single statement to reporters that read: “Stroud is to be kept in the segregated ward during his sentence, which is for life. He will never be permitted to associate with other prisoners, and will be allowed the customary half hour each day for exercise...” It was a perfectly clear and concise message to the public – Stroud would pay his debt. But some recall that Bob Stroud actually embraced the idea of being kept out of the general prison population.
Stroud’s fragile family unit began to dissolve after the trial