November 24, 2017 ▸ Places, True Crime

Episode 252: Alcatraz: Escapes, Ghosts, and Murder Most Foul

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On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we cover a fan-voted favorite topic, the Federal Penitentiary at Alcatraz. This small island off the coast of San Francisco has been everything from an ancient Native American burial ground to a US Army Citadel, and then from a US Army brig to the country’s first Supermax prison. This prison, due the incredibly hostile waters surrounding it and the sweeping currents (and yes, great white sharks) was thought to be a prison nobody could escape from. This may or may not be true.

As many as 36 prisoners tried to escape “The Rock” in its time as a prison. Several were shot, others confirmed drown, and many lost to the hostile seas. One escape attempt called the “Alcatraz Blastout” involved a two day shootout between prisoners and guards and was only quelled when the US Marines finally showed up. The most famous of the Alcatraz escape attempts, however, was in 1962 when Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin made a daring and ingenious escape attempt from the prison. Their caper was the stuff that we imagine whenever a film depicts a prison escape.

What did the use as tools to get out? Who was the mastermind behind the escape? Who got left behind and why? Did they survive the escape attempt? And what about the hauntings? What did the first warden hear when get gave tours, and why is Alcatraz considered one of the most haunted places in all of America? Listen, laugh, learn.