Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [216]
Johnson states that the officer Mr. Miller made his check call at 2:30 p.m. (Sept. 29, 1958) from the vicinity of the foghorn station. He says that he, Mr. Miller, and inmate Burgett proceeded directly from this station to the gate by the Associate Warden’s house and Mr. Kaeppel’s cottage. He said that he and Burgett had convinced Mr. Miller that they should go into this area to clean the roadway and drainage outlets. He claims that they had swept up and picked up considerable trash and they suggested to Mr. Miller that they carry the trash over the stone wall and dump the trash down the face of the cliff. He says that they also told Mr. Miller that it was part of their duty to keep the cactus trimmed alongside the pathway leading from the gate to the Beach facing Fisherman’s Wharf and that they suggested looking this over to see if it needed trimming.
As they were returning along the path toward the gate, Burgett was in the lead followed by Mr. Miller, with Johnson coming up the rear. Johnson says that a point some 20 feet from the gate they pulled a knife on Mr. Miller and taped his eyes and mouth. They tied his hands behind him and then the two of them guided Mr. Miller directly down the hillside towards the vicinity of the large wooden warning sign. They then went a short distance Northward where Mr. Miller was tied to a tree. Johnson states that the two of them then went westward toward the cement steps at the foot of the pathway leaving from the Associate Warden’s house. At this point they observed a boat approaching near to the island. They became alarmed and headed back toward the place where they had left Officer Miller. Johnson states that they then examined Mr. Miller’s bindings to make sure that he was suffering no ill effects and to be sure that he had not loosened the bindings.
Johnson claims that when they left Mr. Miller the second time that he and Burgett parted company. He repeatedly stated that he had not seen Burgett after parting with him after this point. He says that he continued on westward and finally removed a plastic bag from underneath his sweatshirt where he had been carrying it folded. He says he then inflated this bag to the best of his ability and fastened the opening securely. He says the bag was some 2 x 3 feet in size. Johnson claims that up to this point he had intended to hide out until dark but after inflating the bag he decided to try it immediately. When he stepped in to the water he states that, “the bag was torn from my hands and I lost not only the bag but just about everything I had including my dental plate.” He claims that at this time he gave up all hope of escaping, as he did not think it possible to escape by swimming or even floating in the cold water. Johnson also claims that inmate Burgett changed his mind several times; and one time he would argue that they should try to escape into the water as quickly as possible, at another time he would feel that they should wait until dark before getting off the island.
Johnson again and again emphasized the fact that they had picked this particular time for attempting to escape because of the change from daylight savings to standard time. He says that they had waited for this change in order that darkness would come sooner than under daylight saving time. He further admits that the timing at the change of job rotations were definitely to their advantage, inasmuch as the officers were not yet familiar with their new assignments. He steadily maintains that they had not waited for a dense fog but that the fog on the date of the escape was purely accidental so far as their planning was concerned.
When Miller failed to report in at the routine roll call, the other guards immediately launched a search. Within minutes, the piercing sound of the klaxon alarm resonated throughout the island, and radio bulletins went out to the patrol officers on mainland San Francisco. All of the guards were called to duty, and they began the extensive search. Walking in groups of