Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [220]
John and Clarence Anglin
John W. Anglin. These mug shot photos illustrate the passage of approximately only two years, but his physical characteristics show significant changes. Note the handwritten entry on the Associate Warden’s Record from Leavenworth, stating that Anglin was not to be celled with his brother Clarence. At Alcatraz, they shared neighboring cells in B Block.
Clarence Anglin
Frank’s accomplices were equally well acquainted with life amid the dark world of organized crime. Brothers John and Clarence Anglin were also serving sentences at Alcatraz for bank robbery. They came from a large Florida family of fourteen children, and had been convicted along with their brother Alfred. On January 17, 1958, the brothers cased the Bank of Columbia in Alabama, and had made off with nearly $20,000 in cash. Five days later they were apprehended by FBI agents while hiding out in a small two-bedroom apartment in Hamilton, Ohio.
All three brothers served sentences at the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, where they first became acquainted with Morris. On April 11, 1958, Clarence Anglin was sent to Leavenworth Penitentiary to be separated from his brothers, though John was soon transferred there as well. Then on October 8, 1960, John was caught assisting Clarence in an escape attempt at Leavenworth. John Anglin was working in the prison bakery, and the escape would involve cutting the top out of one breadbox and the bottom out of another, which provided ample room for Clarence to stand inside when they were stacked one on top of the other. After the breadboxes were stacked and Clarence was safely hidden within, John pushed them into the kitchen elevator – but a prison officer noticed that something was amiss, and halted the escape. Both brothers were subsequently transferred to Alcatraz. John was relocated on October 22, 1960, and Clarence followed on January 16, 1961, their transfer records stating the reason for the move as: “to ensure safer custody.”
John Anglin, now inmate #AZ-1476, was assigned to cell #158 while Clarence, as inmate #AZ-1485, moved into #152. Warden Olin Blackwell had shown some leniency in allowing the brothers to reside in adjacent cells. This privilege also entitled them to sit together during meal periods. Meanwhile Frank Morris, who had been assigned to cell #138 on the same ground-level tier, was already considering the odds of making an escape from the island, and had begun his formative planning.
Allen Clayton West
Allen Clayton West would later claim (and it is believed by many historians) to have masterminded the escape.
Convict Allen Clayton West, a native of New York, was also brought into the scheme – though he later claimed that he had been the one to design the plan that resulted in the successful escape. Some have strongly disputed his claim, since Morris had previously masterminded similar types of escapes, and pertinent reading materials on fabricating the apparatus used in the escape had been found in his cell. The style of this escape was also reminiscent of Morris’ earlier bank heists.
West resided in cell #140 on the same tier as Morris and the Anglins, and regardless of who had actually masterminded the scheme, he proved to be the perfect accomplice. West carried a reputation as an arrogant criminal. He was serving out his second term at Alcatraz for a relatively unglamorous crime, interstate transportation of stolen vehicles. West also had a history of failed and aggressive escape attempts. In one such attempt at a Florida prison, West had held a gun to the Associate Warden’s head, demanded his car keys and