Joseph Bowers
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Joseph Bowers | |
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San Francisco, California , U.S. | |
Other names | Joseph "Dutch" Bowers |
Known for | Being the first prisoner to attempt to escape from the Alcatraz prison. |
Joseph "Dutch" Bowers (December 13, 1896 – April 27, 1936) was the first man to attempt an escape from Alcatraz prison. He was born in Rohrbach, Austria. Bowers was arrested for robbery of mail with a firearm.[1]
Alcatraz
Bowers arrived at
On 27 April 1936,
As documented in "The Desperate Escape of Joseph Bowers" at AlcatrazHistory.com:
Joseph Bowers was by all accounts a desperado and loner, unable to come to terms with the conditions of Alcatraz. Imprisoned during the toughest and most strict era on Alcatraz, Bowers, serving a 25-year sentence for Postal Mail Robbery that netted a mere sixteen dollars and thirty eight cents. He held an expansive criminal record and as one report highlighted: 'If at large, he probably would engage again in criminal activities and constitute a serious menace to the public safety and society.' He had claimed, and it was also supported in belief by fellow inmates that his crimes had resulted from a lacking ability to support himself. He claimed that he was completely desperate and out of funds, hungry and mostly unable to afford food or proper lodging.[2]
The incident termed Bowers's "Desperate Escape" was variously deemed by
References
- ^ a b c NARA Microfilm Publication 458, Series: Alphabetical Index of Former Inmates of U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz, 1934–63. Pacific Regional Office, San Francisco: Records of the Bureau of Prisons, 1870–2009, Record Group 129, NARA.
- ^ a b "The Desperate Escape of Joseph Bowers". AlcatrazHistory.com. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ "Alcatraz: Greatest Prison Escapes: Crazed Postal Worker". investigation.discovery.com. Investigation Discovery Videos. 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-05-12.