Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [170]
After they had bagged the cash, the couple were taken as hostages and transferred to the vehicle that had been stolen from James. The car eventually broke down and the four were forced to head into the mountains on foot. Police reports state that a young teenage farmer interceded and initiated a gun battle, thus allowing the two hostages a chance to escape. Shockley and Johnston were able to flee into the mountains and were not captured until ten days later when they were apprehended at a farm belonging to Shockley’s brother near Tom, Oklahoma. Shockley made a mad attempt to escape out the back door, but was quickly hunted down by the police. He later denied having any role in the robbery, but his accomplice Johnston readily admitted that both of them had been involved.
Shockley was committed to Leavenworth on May 16, 1938, where he was frequently reported as behaving violently toward the correctional staff. After his transfer to Alcatraz this pattern apparently continued, and he was often placed in segregation. Shockley would always be released back into the general prison population, but then he would quickly find himself in some type of mischief again, and be returned to isolation. Despite his low IQ, he occasionally devised some witty schemes. For example, in June of 1943 when Shockley was assigned to work in the kitchen detail, he stole six pounds of tenderloin steak from the freezer and managed to sneak it into the bakeshop and roast it. He wasn’t caught until after he had eaten a healthy portion. He was then sent back to solitary, placed on a restricted diet, and permanently removed from his work assignment in the kitchen. The correctional officers on Alcatraz dreaded Shockley’s outbreaks, and only one week prior to the 1946 escape attempt, he participated in a large-scale disturbance that reverberated through D Block.
On the evening of April 26th, Robert Stroud, better known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz,” started yelling at the top of his lungs that he was suffering from severe abdominal cramps and needed immediate medical attention. The D Block Correctional Officer made an attempt to see if Dr. Roucek, the official prison physician, was still on the island. After calling around and not being able to locate the doctor, the officer informed Stroud that he would have one of the MTA’s (Medical Technical Assistant) from the prison hospital come down and examine him. Stroud protested profusely, insisting that he wanted to see a “real” doctor, and bragging that he was smarter than any of the MTA’s. The correctional officer apparently had a difficult time getting the MTA to come down to D Block. After some time had passed, with Stroud becoming progressively more vocal, the rest of the inmates started to join in, insisting that a doctor be brought in to examine him immediately. After a wait of nearly two hours, the MTA finally made his way into Stroud’s cell, which was located on the top tier in the far corner. The MTA performed a quick and superficial exam, offered Stroud a few aspirin, and prescribed rest.
Stroud continued to complain into the evening that he had been misdiagnosed, and repeatedly demanded to see a doctor. By this time Dr. Roucek had returned and he came up to examine Stroud. After performing a thorough examination, he explained to Stroud that there were no pertinent findings, and that the trouble would probably pass by morning. Soon afterward Stroud again began yelling, stating that he would die unless someone got him medical help. The other D Block inmates started rallying on his behalf. Their rebellion implied that the prison administration was cruelly leaving