Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [119]
When I reached the incinerator and looked down through the bars over the concrete chute, I could see him lying on his back on the rocks just at the edge of the water. The Deputy Warden was in the Road Tower and instructed me to attempt to reach the body by going over the side of the cliff. I then went through the gate and down the lower road and dropped down from the retaining wall to the rocks of the cliff, and tried to go down the face of the cliff, but I was unable to proceed very far. I remained here until the trucks arrived with slings and ropes. Then I assisted Mr. Curry who went down on a rope and secured the body until the Launch "McDowell" arrived.
Sanford Bates, Federal Director of Prisons, was on Alcatraz at the time conducting an inspection of prison workshops, accompanied by Warden James A. Johnston. Following the inspection, the two were entering the office of the warden when the gunfire broke out. Johnston would then request that the escape siren be sounded for the first time ever on Alcatraz, and several guards were directed to report to the escape location. Dr. George Hess also responded after hearing of the injuries inflicted, and he pronounced Bowers dead before the body was secured with ropes and pulled into the launch.
During the initial examination, Hess reported that in his opinion, Bowers might have broken his neck in the fall. After the body was brought to the mainland and transferred to the coroner’s office, Dr. Hess was permitted to attend the autopsy performed by Dr. Sherman Leland. Although Bowers had fallen approximately seventy-five feet, his physical trauma was limited to two gunshot wounds. Hess recorded:
A bullet wound into the right posterior chest, just lateral to the scapula and penetrating the right lung. Upon opening the chest cavity it was found that the bullet had transversed the chest cavity and had emerged from the left chest just below the clavicle leaving a ragged wound about two inches in length. As the bullet emerged from the chest it fractured the second rib on the left side. There was also found a bullet wound of the right buttock and right thigh. These wounds were made by fragments of a bullet and no whole bullet was found. No other bones of the body were fractured.
Following Bowers’ death, tension increased between the correctional staff and the inmates of Alcatraz. During the investigation, Correctional Officer Chandler was reassigned to work in the Armory. There were several rumors going around that Bowers had been shot in cold blood. The San Francisco Examiner published former inmate Henry Larry’s account of the incident in a feature article entitled Inside Alcatraz, which described tales of abusive incarceration practices at Alcatraz. Larry alleged that Bowers had simply climbed the fence to feed a seagull, and suggested that Bowers’ disturbed mental condition was a result of the treatment he had received at Alcatraz. Other inmates later reported that Bowers had been ordered to clean the area, and he was only attempting to pick up papers that were lodged high up on the fence. These accounts were quickly dismissed, as the correctional staff confirmed that Bowers was “aggressively” attempting to “go over.” It was determined in the investigation that Chandler’s actions were fully justified. One report stated that any lesser response would have been deemed a breach of duty. Bowers was buried at the Mount Olive Cemetery in San Mateo, California
The San Francisco Examiner published former inmate Henry Larry’s account of the Bowers escape attempt in a feature article entitled Inside Alcatraz. Larry’s article was one of the first “inside stories” to surface in the press.
ESCAPE ATTEMPT #2
Date:
December 16, 1937
Inmates:
Theodore Cole
Ralph Roe
Location:
Mat Shop (Model Industries Building)
The second fateful escape attempt would end in the suspected death of two inmates in the icy waters of the turbulent bay. The headlines would read “ISLAND