Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [204]
Bureau Director James V. Bennett arrived from Washington just in time to witness the three deceased inmates being pulled from the utility corridor.
The Warden Johnston pulling up to the Van Ness Street Pier, with the bodies of the three dead inmates clearly visible on the deck.
The lifeless bodies of the inmates were loaded into waiting ambulances at the pier.
Warden James Johnston and Bureau Director James Bennett examine the tools utilized by Bernard Coy to gain access to the Gun Gallery.
During the first press conference ever held inside Alcatraz, Warden Johnston shows members of the press where Coy made his entry into the Gallery.
Warden Johnston standing in front of cell #403, where Cretzer shot the helpless correctional officers in cold blood.
The Aftermath
On May 5, 1946 at 7:40 a.m., Medical Examiner Dr. Gus T. Kerhulas began his autopsy examinations of the three inmates, to determine their exact cause of death. He removedseveral bullet fragments from Coy’s brain, and ruled that his death had been instantaneous at the moment of projectile entry. Cretzer’s autopsy followed at 8:30 a.m. The doctor carefully examined his injuries, and described Cretzer’s post mortem condition in his autopsy report:
Coy’s lifeless body inside San Francisco Coroner’s office. The results of extreme dieting to reduce his body frame were evident during his post mortem examination.
Crezter during his post mortem exam.
APPEARANCE: The body is that of a well-developed, well-nourished, adult, young white male revealing evidence of head injury. In the center of the scalp in the mid-cranial vault there is a laceration of linear type with crusted margins, apparently of twenty-four hours duration. There is no evidence of fracture at this point. The wound is gaping. There is a wound of entrance at the left temporal region with a smooth margin, measuring approximately 1cm., and a wound of exit at the right temporal region with ragged wound margins, measuring approximately 1.5 cm in diameter and revealing evidence of fragmentation of bone with evidence of compound fracture at this point. The right temporal, frontal, and parietal bone in this area is likewise apparently shattered as on palpitation it reveals crepitation and abnormal mobility of the cranium on this side. In addition, there are abrasions on the anterior upper chest, hands, and left knee. There are no other abnormalities. Rigor mortis and post-mortis lividity are present.
HEAD: On reflecting the scalp back in the region of these wounds, there are hematomas present and the bony cranial vault is fractured at the wound entrances and exits with fractures of the left temporal and the right temporal, frontal, and parietal bones. On opening the cranial vault, the brain is found to be severely lacerated and penetrated through and through from the left temporal lobe to the right temporal lobe running across the base and also destroying the brain stem. On removing the brain, the pituitary fossa and sphenoid body is also seen to be involved in this fracture. There is no evidence of metallic objects present in the cranial vault.
DIAGNOSIS: Gunshot wound with fracture of skull and laceration of brain.
Hubbard’s injuries were also found to have afforded him a quick death. It was confirmed that Hubbard had died hours after Coy and Cretzer, but it was somewhat puzzling that there were no firearms within his reach when he was found, and he was armed with only the butcher knife that he had carried with him from the kitchen. Investigators were bewildered to find that he appeared to have waited out his death. Like the others, Hubbard had taken two fatal bullet wounds to the head. Medical Examiner Kerhulas allowed reporters to view the deceased convicts and to photograph them. The sound of camera shutters flickering and blinding flashes of light saturated the room, which smelled of formaldehyde.
Medical Examiner Dr. Gus T. Kerhulas invited the press to photograph