John Paul Scott
John Paul Scott | |
|---|---|
 John Paul Scott, Alcatraz prisoner #1403, 4/1/1959 | |
| Born | January 3, 1927 |
| Died | February 22, 1987 (aged 60) |
| Known for | The only known inmate to successfully escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary (recaptured) |
| Criminal status | Deceased in custody |
| Criminal charge | Bank robbery, possession of unregistered firearms |
| Penalty | 30 years in prison |
John Paul Scott (January 3, 1927[1] – February 22, 1987[2]) was an American criminal who is noted as the only escapee from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary known to have reached the San Francisco shore by swimming. He was recaptured almost immediately.
Biography
![[icon]](/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2015) |
Scott was born in Springfield, Kentucky. He was convicted of bank robbery and the possession of unregistered firearms in Lexington, Kentucky, and sentenced to thirty years in prison.[1][2]
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Alcatraz
Scott was sent to
water wings from stolen rubber gloves which they blew up. The escape was noticed at 5:47 a.m.[3] Parker had to give up after a short time because he had broken his ankle during the escape. He was recaptured twenty minutes after the escape was discovered, on the rock formation Little Alcatraz
, which lies 100 yards from Alcatraz Island.
Although the
exhaustion. Apparently he had been carried by the ebbing tide to this location, approximately 3 miles from Alcatraz. After recovering in the Letterman General Hospital
, he was immediately returned to Alcatraz.
It had seemed impossible to escape from
Clarence Anglin had escaped and disappeared half a year earlier, prison officials had said that they had likely drowned (although the FBI just listed them as missing). Scott's escape shook this line of reasoning. For the first time it was proved that a prisoner could escape (if only temporarily) by swimming.[7][8]
Later life
After the closing of
Oak Park Heights prison in Minnesota. He died in February 1987 in the Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee
, Florida.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Scott, J. Paul, United States Federal Prison Record". National Archives at San Francisco. 31 March 1959. Archived from the original on 2021-11-25. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
- ^ a b "Escapes from Alcatraz Gallery: Escape No. 14". SFgenealogy. Archived from the original on 2022-04-04. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
- ^ "Escapes from Alcatraz Archives". SFgenealogy. Archived from the original on 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
- ^ Klein, Christopher. "10 Things You May Not Know About Alcatraz". History in the Headlines. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ "Water Temperature Table of All Coastal Regions". National Centers for Environmental Information. Archived from the original on 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
- ^ "BookletChart Gulf of the Farallones NOAA Chart 18645" (PDF). NauticalCharts.NOAA.gov. NOAA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
Outbound tidal current is strongest about 4 hours after high water at the Golden Gate Bridge and attains a velocity in excess of 6 knots at times.
- ^ "Alcatraz Archive". SFgenealogy. Archived from the original on 2019-07-27. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
- ^ Howley, Elaine K. "The Art of the Escape". U.S. Masters Swimming. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
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