Famous figures
HENRY YOUNG
Henry Young (his first name is also written “Henri”; this was apparently an alias). Although Henry Young was indeed an inmate at Alcatraz who was convicted in 1941 of involuntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of fellow inmate Rufus McCain, the events depicted in the motion picture are almost wholly fictional. In particular, the premise of the movie — that Young was a nonviolent inmate who was tortured on Alcatraz and was thereby driven to kill someone — is completely false. Murder in the First claims that Young was a teenage orphan who was sentenced to Alcatraz for stealing 5 from a grocery store in order to feed his starving sister, and that he "never harmed or attempted to harm anyone" before entering Alcatraz. James A. Johnston, the actual warden at Alcatraz and one of the most respected prison administrators of his generation, was warden at Folsom in 1912 and San Quentin from 1913 to 1924. Nor is there any validity to claims that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover selected Johnston to be warden at Alcatraz, that Hoover and the Alcatraz management intimidated prospective witnesses in Young's trial, that inmates were being driven insane at Alcatraz, and that 32 were removed from the island in straitjackets during a period of only a like 2 or 3 years leading up to Young's trial. The statements made by the prisoners so far called to my attention have already been investigated by the Department and found to be wholly unfounded.
ALVIN KARPIS
Karpis was born to Lithuanian immigrants in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was raised in Wichita, Kansas. He started in crime at about age 10 running around with gamblers, bootleggers, and pimps. In 1926, he was sentenced to 10 years at the State Industrial Reformatory in Hutchinson, Kansas, for an attempted burglary. He escaped with another inmate Lawrence De Vol and went on a year crime celebration interrupted briefly while he lived with his parents after De Vol was arrested. After moving to Kansas City, Missouri, he was caught stealing a car and sent back to the Reformatory.
Henry Young (his first name is also written “Henri”; this was apparently an alias). Although Henry Young was indeed an inmate at Alcatraz who was convicted in 1941 of involuntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of fellow inmate Rufus McCain, the events depicted in the motion picture are almost wholly fictional. In particular, the premise of the movie — that Young was a nonviolent inmate who was tortured on Alcatraz and was thereby driven to kill someone — is completely false. Murder in the First claims that Young was a teenage orphan who was sentenced to Alcatraz for stealing 5 from a grocery store in order to feed his starving sister, and that he "never harmed or attempted to harm anyone" before entering Alcatraz. James A. Johnston, the actual warden at Alcatraz and one of the most respected prison administrators of his generation, was warden at Folsom in 1912 and San Quentin from 1913 to 1924. Nor is there any validity to claims that FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover selected Johnston to be warden at Alcatraz, that Hoover and the Alcatraz management intimidated prospective witnesses in Young's trial, that inmates were being driven insane at Alcatraz, and that 32 were removed from the island in straitjackets during a period of only a like 2 or 3 years leading up to Young's trial. The statements made by the prisoners so far called to my attention have already been investigated by the Department and found to be wholly unfounded.
ALVIN KARPIS
Karpis was born to Lithuanian immigrants in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was raised in Wichita, Kansas. He started in crime at about age 10 running around with gamblers, bootleggers, and pimps. In 1926, he was sentenced to 10 years at the State Industrial Reformatory in Hutchinson, Kansas, for an attempted burglary. He escaped with another inmate Lawrence De Vol and went on a year crime celebration interrupted briefly while he lived with his parents after De Vol was arrested. After moving to Kansas City, Missouri, he was caught stealing a car and sent back to the Reformatory.