Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [147]
Subject is apparently a confirmed offender and a vicious menace to society as indicated by the instant offense and the series of armed robberies which he committed prior to the instant bank robbery. He is a highly unstable and impulsive youth who is apparently quite proud of the fact that he committed the instant offense without the aid or advice of other persons. He is convinced, outwardly at least, that he is entirely capable of whipping the whole world and providing himself with funds even if it is necessary to resort to physical force and the aid of firearms.
Another report in his central file offered details of his violent tendencies:
Deputy Taff states that while crossing a bridge or large culvert on Highway #71, two miles north of Plat City, this prisoner suddenly tried to wreck the car by raising both feet and kicking against the back of the driver’s seat throwing the guard, who was driving at the time, against the steering wheel. The guard happened to be a man of large stature, and while thrown against the steering wheel he did not lose absolute control of the car although the incident did cause the car to leave the highway. Boarman likewise made an attempt to get the deputy’s revolver but was unsuccessful.
In view of this subjects traits in the instant offense if vicious nature, his previous institutional adjustments during confinement in the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, and the Federal Prison at Lewisburg, his present indifferent attitude and the indication that his future adjustment in confinement here or elsewhere is very definitely problematical. It is believed advisable that he be CONSIDERED FOR TRANSFER TO THE FEDERAL PRISON AT ALCATRAZ ISLAND, CALIFORNIA.
Harold M. Brest
Harold M. Brest was another inmate who would serve two separate terms at Alcatraz, under two separate register numbers.
Harold Martin Brest would be one of the few select inmates to be committed to Alcatraz twice during their lifetime. Born on January 2, 1913, Harold was the third in a family of six children, and he was reared in what was considered a good home environment in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Brest and his family suffered the loss of his mother when he was only seven years of age. His father was a skilled laborer, and struggled to raise his children in a “congenial atmosphere.” Early prison reports reflect an angry tempered individual with little restraint in his dealings with fellow inmates and correctional staff. Brest was originally sentenced in June of 1939 to serve two twenty-five-year sentences, one five-year sentence, and a life sentence for kidnapping and bank robbery.
A telegram authorizing Brest’s transfer to Alcatraz.
Brest’s criminal history is fully described in his Alcatraz inmate file:
At the age of 15, the subject first became a delinquent serving a 5-day jail term for trespassing. The following year he served a 10-day jail sentence, and in 1932 he received a one-year probation term in his hometown for larceny of auto. Again in 1933 he went to the State Prison, at Pittsburgh, PA., to serve a three to six year term for blackmail. The Parole Director of this institution advises this man while incarcerated there received a disciplinary report for being implicated with another inmate in an attack on an officer and suspected of degeneracy, and was held six months over the minimum sentence. He was paroled in 1936, and in January of 1937, less than a year later, he was sentenced to a term of life and 55 years concurrently for Kidnapping, Bank Robbery, and Dyer Act, and committed to Leavenworth Penitentiary, later being transferred to Alcatraz in March of 1937.
The circumstances of this crime are revolting and are outlined in detail in the Deputy Warden’s abstract of admission summary prepared at