Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [214]
After his release in 1949, Johnson and an accomplice committed an armed robbery in a Memphis bank, making off with $43,662 in cash. They made their getaway in a stolen car and were later apprehended in Florida, in February of the same year. While awaiting extradition at the Dade County Jail, the two convicts were able to escape with the help of Johnson’s girlfriend, Billie Hayes, and they committed four other robberies before being apprehended again in April. FBI documents show that Johnson resisted arrest and fired upon FBI agents during his capture. Johnson had been listed by the FBI as Public Enemy Number Two, and was believed to have committed numerous armed robberies across the United States. On July 13, 1949 he was sentenced to serve forty years in a Federal Penitentiary.
Johnson arrived at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta on August 10, 1949, and then was transferred to Leavenworth on November 19, 1949. In view of his long sentence and high risk of escape, he was recommended for transfer to Alcatraz. His recommendation read: “He has escaped on several occasions and is considered a serious escape risk at this time. He has committed a number of armed robberies, is considered a vicious gunman who thinks nothing of the lives of others and will stop at nothing less than murder to meet his goal.” He would arrive at Alcatraz on March 22, 1950, as inmate AZ-864.
Aaron Walter Burgett
Aaron Walter Burgett
Aaron Burgett was born on October 24, 1929, in Potts Camp, Missouri. His mother had died of an illness when he was only three years old and his father worked to support the family as a Railway Section Hand, and later as a cotton picker. Burgett’s inmate record would indicate that his father had had trouble caring for the young Aaron during his childhood. Burgett’s nickname “Wig” was given to him by his father because of his long blond curls. The death of Aaron’s mother weighed heavily on the family and his father was only a minimal presence in the home as he attempted to maintain employment in order to support his ten children. At only sixteen years of age Aaron dropped out of school to work on the family’s small farm, but this would prove to be only a brief interlude. On April 20, 1945, the young Burgett was arrested for breaking into a candy truck and sentenced to serve two years at the State Training School in Booneville, Missouri. After serving out nearly a full year, Burgett and another accomplice successfully escaped from the minimum-security institution. In close succession, he would be captured, released, and then arrested again for other burglary-related crimes.
On April 4, 1948, Burgett was committed to the State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri, after being charged with “stealing chickens in the night time and breaking escape from the county jail.” But despite his early problems, he did experience some good luck as well. In February of 1951, after his release from prison, Burgett met a young girl named Mary Francis Cauley at a party. The couple courted for several months and then married in Piggott, Arkansas, on August 25, 1951. By Burgett’s account, this would be the best year of his life – but trouble was not far away. Burgett was unable to hold a steady job and this began to create friction between him and his wife, who was now pregnant. He fell back into a life of crime and by 1952, Burgett had established himself as a career felon.
Burgett and his accomplices Earl Wilhelm and John Oliver would go on a spree of over thirty armed robberies in the St. Louis area, some of which turned seriously violent. Generally they robbed their victims by having them lie on the floor while they emptied cash registers and removed personal jewelry. On some occasions, the victims would be struck with the guns. Burgett’s robbery targets ranged from post offices to beer taverns,