Latest news with #JohnAnglin
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The eerie photo that finally PROVES my uncles survived their notorious escape from Alcatraz
It's just a grainy ID photo of an elderly man - but for Ken Widner, the image proves his uncles really did pull off the greatest jailbreak in history. Widner, 65, says the photograph answers questions that have been lingering since brothers John and Clarence Anglin, alongside cellmate Frank Morris, busted out of Alcatraz in 1962.
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Here's the proof my uncles DID escape Alcatraz - and why Donald Trump should reconsider his plans to reopen it
A nephew of two Alcatraz robbers slammed Donald Trump for claiming no one has ever escaped the notorious California prison that he wants to reopen. David Widner, 58, of Leesburg, Georgia, is convinced his uncles John and Clarence Anglin – one of the prison's most notorious escape stories – made it off the island alive, despite the US president claiming the lock-up joint was inescapable. 'That would be a lie,' David, a safety manager, exclusively told 'There have been several escapes and more than one where they don't know what happened to them. 'So they can't say it was unescapable, because it was.' He says the FBI spent years questioning his family as agents investigated the theory they had fled to Mexico following the audacious 1962 jailbreak. 'If they really believed that my uncles didn't make it, they would have stopped looking for them,' he said. 'Still to this day, they have not stopped looking for them. So why would you be looking for someone you believe to be dead? It's still an open case, so why not close the case?' This week, Trump vowed to reopen Alcatraz as he continues to crack down on violent criminals and illegal migrants. John Anglin (left with a friend) made it to dry land with his brother Clarence and Frank Morris, his nephew is convinced. 'If they really believed that my uncles didn't make it, they would have stopped looking for them,' said David Widner. In a post shared to Truth Social on Sunday night, Trump said: 'The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.' Trump has directed the Bureau of Prisons to work alongside the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security to 'reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt' Alcatraz. He said the notorious facility, which once held famed gangster Al Capone, will 'house America's most ruthless and violent offenders.' The order comes as Trump has repeatedly clashed with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members and illegal migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Maximum security Alcatraz, which was shut down in 1963, will provide Trump a workaround to those court orders barring him from carrying out the mass deportation scheme. As the Republican gears up for this new venture, the question of whether the Anglin brothers and fellow inmate Frank Morris successfully escaped from Alcatraz still remains one of the biggest mysteries of the prison. The convicted bank robbers spent six months using spoons and forks to dig holes in the walls surrounding the air vents in their cells. On the night of the escape, they used painted papier-mâché heads topped with hair collected from the prison barber shop to fool the guards into thinking they were asleep in bed. They squeezed through the hole and made their way from the prison roof to the water's edge carrying a makeshift raft crafted from 50 pilfered cotton raincoats. The fugitives' bodies have never been found, but the FBI concluded in 1979 that all three must have drowned in the freezing, shark-infested waters surrounding the prison. David, however, says the FBI's announcement was part of an elaborate cover-up, designed to protect the Federal Penitentiary's fearsome reputation. A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts from Alcatraz in its 30-year history - making Trump's claims false. Out of those, 23 were caught alive, six were shot and killed, and two are known to have drowned attempting the 1.25-mile swim to shore through brutal currents. Five, including the Anglins, who were incarcerated there in 1957, and Morris, who had been an inmate there since 1960, are listed as 'missing and presumed drowned.' The story of the June 11, 1962 escape was later turned into the 1979 film starring Clint Eastwood called Escape From Alcatraz. Eastwood played bank robber Morris, who had an IQ of 133, putting him in the smartest two percent in the population. They were thought to have escaped to Mexico and later Brazil after leaving the prison. This photo was believed to be them, but David said he has since learned who those men actually are. David says his uncles were strong swimmers who would regularly bunk off school as kids to swim in the ocean off Tampa, Florida. He can still recall his mother, Marie – who was raised with her 13 siblings in the nearby town of Ruskin – being quizzed by the FBI when he was a small boy. But this week, when announcing his intention to reopen Alcatraz, Trump said: 'It represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order. Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate, right? 'But it's right now a museum, believe it or not. A lot of people go there. It housed the most violent criminals in the world and nobody ever escaped.' David believes Trump isn't 'aware of my uncles' story and I would love to talk to him about that.' 'I would love to tell him that to reopen that prison would be a huge cost and you would lose all of the history because all of the cells – including my uncles' – would no longer be available for people to see. 'In my opinion, it would be cheaper to build an underground prison if he wants to keep them out of the public eye. 'To me, preserving the history would make more sense than turning it back into a prison.' As for what he would tell the 47th president about his uncles is that they were stronger swimmers and 'water was the last deterrent.' 'They were a lot smarter than people gave them credit for and there's no doubt in my mind that they made it. It was not an inescapable prison,' he said. 'If you got out of that building, you have escaped Alcatraz.' In 1992, a drug smuggler called Fred Brizzi, now deceased, claimed to have flown the Anglin brothers to Mexico a short time after their escape. A photo later emerged that experts said showed the brothers standing next to a termite mound on a farm in Brazil. Another twist came when it was leaked in 2018 that US authorities had been sitting on a letter reportedly written by John Anglin five years earlier. The note was sent to police in San Francisco in 2013 and stated: 'My name is John Anglin. I escape [sic] from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother Clarence and Frank Morris. 'I'm 83 years old and in bad shape. I have cancer. 'Yes we all made it that night but barely! Frank passed away in October 2005. His grave is in Alexandria under another name. My brother died in 2011,' it read. The prison is now a museum, as Trump referenced. The order comes as Trump has repeatedly clashed with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members and illegal migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador David wrote a book about Alcatraz his uncle's escape 'If you announce on TV that I will be promised to first go to jail for no more than a year and get medical attention, I will write back to let you know exactly where I am. This is no joke this is for real and honest truth.' However, David doesn't believe his uncle is still alive. 'My mom is fixing to turn 90 so John would probably be 96. There are only two sisters left and all the brothers have passed away out of 14 kids, seven girls and seven boys,' he told 'So the chances of them still being alive at this age are very slim. My whole goal and mission was to get my mom to see her brother again but I don't think that will happen at this point. As for where he believes his relatives were hiding? He doesn't believe they ever left Mexico. 'For a long time, I thought they ended up in South America, in Brazil. With recent research, I now don't believe they ever left Mexico once they made it over there,' he said. 'They had an older brother that they confided in 100 percent and he was in touch with them for 25 years after the escape. He made regular trips to Mexico to see old friends and he was questioned about that by the FBI. 'I have a picture of Uncle John standing next to his car in the 1950s and once I scanned it and zoomed in, I saw the tag on the front of his car was a Mexican tag. So they had ties to Mexico long before they committed the robbery and went to Alcatraz. 'There were some leads in Brazil and Brizzi came to the family with his elaborate story about running into them at a bar in Rio. 'My mom recorded that conversation and when I first heard it my reaction was: "I know he is lying." I could just tell,' he said. Brizzi gave his mother some photographs that he claimed were 'taken while he was there, including two guys he had travelled down with.' 'He never said they were John and Clarence but we started looking at it and wondering whether it was them,' David told 'When the experts did their facial recognition and came back and said that it was highly likely to be them, then I really started believing it and I made myself believe it. However, he later found out that the men in the photograph were not John and Clarence, but he's not quite ready to reveal their true identities. 'I know who the two guys are and it's not them. I can't say who it is, that will be something that is coming out soon. One of them is still alive.'
Epoch Times
06-05-2025
- Epoch Times
All You Need to Know About Alcatraz
SAN FRANCISCO—Alcatraz, a 22-acre island 1.5 miles off the coast of San Francisco well-known for its time as a maximum-security prison, is now gaining international attention following a recent announcement by President Donald Trump. In a May 4 More Than 1 Million Tourists a Year Alcatraz, once known as 'The Rock,' is currently part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of more than 400 national park areas across the United States. Its legendary history between 1934 to 1963, when it Worst Inmates Imprisoned Alcatraz Alcatraz itself is an isolated place surrounded by cold ocean water, averaging between 50 degrees and 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and strong currents, making it dangerous and nearly impossible to escape. The Bureau of Prisons recorded 36 men who made 14 separate escape attempts from the island. Ultimately, all were caught or didn't survive, except five inmates who were classified as 'missing and presumed drowned.' No Proven Successful Escape From Alcatraz Three inmates, John Anglin, his brother Clarence, and Frank Morris, attempted to escape Alcatraz prison on June 12, 1962, with an ingenious plan, according to the FBI, which authorities figured out only by interrogating another inmate left behind. After 17 years' investigating, the FBI said 'no credible evidence emerged to suggest the men were still alive, either in the U.S. or overseas.' Alcatraz was permanently Repurposed as Recreation Area by Congress in 1972 The island was occupied by a Native American group for 19 months starting in 1969, before it was cleared out by federal marshals, and it became a recreation area established by Congress in 1972. Managed by the National Park Service, Alcatraz opened to the public the following year, and it has become one of the Park Service's most popular sites. Revenue and Jobs at Stake? Trump wrote in the social media post: 'REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! ... When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That's the way it's supposed to be.' Related Stories 5/4/2025 7/19/2024 In response, California Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener from San Francisco said in a Over $60 million in annual National Park & Service revenue is generated from Alcatraz Island visitor services. An exact number of employees could not be found after the reporter tried.
The Age
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Alcatraz was America's most notorious prison. Trump wants to reopen it
But such a move would likely be an expensive and challenging proposition. The prison was closed in 1963 due to crumbling infrastructure and the high costs of repairing and supplying the island facility – everything from fuel to food had to be brought by boat. Bringing the facility up to modern-day standards would require massive investments at a time when the Bureau of Prisons has been shuttering prisons for similar infrastructure issues. Despite its reputation, in the 29 years it was open – from 1934 to 1963 – 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes, according to the FBI. Nearly all were caught or didn't survive the freezing water and swift current. The fate of three particular inmates – John Anglin, his brother Clarence, and Frank Morris – is of some debate and was dramatised in the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood. The trio absconded in 1962, leaving behind handmade plaster heads with real hair in their beds to fool guards. 'For the 17 years we worked on the case, no credible evidence emerged to suggest the men were still alive, either in the U.S. or overseas,' the FBI said. Trump said he'd come up with the idea to reopen Alcatraz because of frustrations with 'radicalised judges' who have insisted those being deported receive due process. Alcatraz, he said, has long been a 'symbol of law and order. You know, it's got quite a history.' A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that the agency would 'comply with all Presidential Orders.' The spokesperson did not answer questions regarding the practicality and feasibility of reopening Alcatraz or the agency's role in the future of the former prison given the National Park Service's control of the island. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat whose district includes the island, questioned the feasibility of reopening the prison after so many years. 'It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President's proposal is not a serious one,' she wrote on X. California Democratic state Senator Scott Wiener criticised Trump, saying he wants to create a 'domestic gulag right in the middle of San Francisco Bay'. While Alcatraz is best known for its years as a federal prison, its history is much longer. President Millard Fillmore in 1850 declared the island for public purposes and it soon became a military site. Confederates were housed there during the Civil War. By the 1930s, the government decided it needed a place to hold the worst criminals, and Alcatraz became the choice for a prison. 'A remote site was sought, one that would prohibit constant communication with the outside world by those confined within its walls,' the park service said. Its remoteness, however, eventually made it impractical. 'The island had no source of fresh water,' according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, 'so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week.' The daily cost to house someone there in 1959 was triple that a federal prison in Atlanta, the government said. It was cheaper to build a new prison from scratch. A decade after it was closed as a prison, Alcatraz became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and was opened to the public in 1973. The park service says the island gets more than 1 million visitors a year who arrive by ferry. A ticket for an adult costs $47.95, and visitors can see the cells where prisoners were held. Rob Frank, 55, of Springfield, Missouri, said he toured Alcatraz about a decade ago. He said it's hard to imagine the millions of dollars that would be needed to reopen the prison. 'It didn't seem very humane to me,' Frank said. 'They had the cells stacked on top of each other. Small cells. Everything's concrete. It was kind of a dark place.' The island serves as a veritable time machine to a bygone era of corrections. The prison bureau already has 16 penitentiaries performing the same high-security functions as Alcatraz, including its maximum security facility in Florence, Colorado, and the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, which is home to the federal death chamber. Trump's order comes as he has been clashing with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, without due process. The president has also floated the legally dubious idea of sending some federal US prisoners to the Terrorism Confinement Centre, known as CECOT. Trump has also directed the opening of a detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 of what he has labelled the 'worst criminal aliens.' AP
Sydney Morning Herald
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Alcatraz was America's most notorious prison. Trump wants to reopen it
But such a move would likely be an expensive and challenging proposition. The prison was closed in 1963 due to crumbling infrastructure and the high costs of repairing and supplying the island facility – everything from fuel to food had to be brought by boat. Bringing the facility up to modern-day standards would require massive investments at a time when the Bureau of Prisons has been shuttering prisons for similar infrastructure issues. Despite its reputation, in the 29 years it was open – from 1934 to 1963 – 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes, according to the FBI. Nearly all were caught or didn't survive the freezing water and swift current. The fate of three particular inmates – John Anglin, his brother Clarence, and Frank Morris – is of some debate and was dramatised in the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastwood. The trio absconded in 1962, leaving behind handmade plaster heads with real hair in their beds to fool guards. 'For the 17 years we worked on the case, no credible evidence emerged to suggest the men were still alive, either in the U.S. or overseas,' the FBI said. Trump said he'd come up with the idea to reopen Alcatraz because of frustrations with 'radicalised judges' who have insisted those being deported receive due process. Alcatraz, he said, has long been a 'symbol of law and order. You know, it's got quite a history.' A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that the agency would 'comply with all Presidential Orders.' The spokesperson did not answer questions regarding the practicality and feasibility of reopening Alcatraz or the agency's role in the future of the former prison given the National Park Service's control of the island. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat whose district includes the island, questioned the feasibility of reopening the prison after so many years. 'It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President's proposal is not a serious one,' she wrote on X. California Democratic state Senator Scott Wiener criticised Trump, saying he wants to create a 'domestic gulag right in the middle of San Francisco Bay'. While Alcatraz is best known for its years as a federal prison, its history is much longer. President Millard Fillmore in 1850 declared the island for public purposes and it soon became a military site. Confederates were housed there during the Civil War. By the 1930s, the government decided it needed a place to hold the worst criminals, and Alcatraz became the choice for a prison. 'A remote site was sought, one that would prohibit constant communication with the outside world by those confined within its walls,' the park service said. Its remoteness, however, eventually made it impractical. 'The island had no source of fresh water,' according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, 'so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week.' The daily cost to house someone there in 1959 was triple that a federal prison in Atlanta, the government said. It was cheaper to build a new prison from scratch. A decade after it was closed as a prison, Alcatraz became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and was opened to the public in 1973. The park service says the island gets more than 1 million visitors a year who arrive by ferry. A ticket for an adult costs $47.95, and visitors can see the cells where prisoners were held. Rob Frank, 55, of Springfield, Missouri, said he toured Alcatraz about a decade ago. He said it's hard to imagine the millions of dollars that would be needed to reopen the prison. 'It didn't seem very humane to me,' Frank said. 'They had the cells stacked on top of each other. Small cells. Everything's concrete. It was kind of a dark place.' The island serves as a veritable time machine to a bygone era of corrections. The prison bureau already has 16 penitentiaries performing the same high-security functions as Alcatraz, including its maximum security facility in Florence, Colorado, and the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, which is home to the federal death chamber. Trump's order comes as he has been clashing with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, without due process. The president has also floated the legally dubious idea of sending some federal US prisoners to the Terrorism Confinement Centre, known as CECOT. Trump has also directed the opening of a detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 of what he has labelled the 'worst criminal aliens.' AP
