#Alvin Karpis

[pilgrim1975]

Lawrence James DeVol - One of the Depression's Most Wanted (and most vicious).

Lawrence ‘Larry the Chopper’ DeVol is less well-known than, say ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd or ‘Baby Face’ Nelson, but was no less violent or vicious. Absolutely cold-blooded and criminally-minded, DeVol murdered at least eleven people, probably more. Not content with the murders of at least five citizenss, he murdered at least six law enforcement officers in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. Any of…

[principiumindividuationis777]

[dean-boese-universe]

Episode 123 Welcome to Alcatraz Welcome to the Rock

[sewerfight]

Biggest diss I ever got was from a girl in theater who was obsessed with old timey crime, who said what was really sad about me is that I've clearly always wanted to be a Babyface Nelson, but I'm actually an Alvin karpis. you ever get a condemnation from someone so hard you walk out of there feeling like you'd paid for someone to do a tarot spread on everything that went wrong in your life and they did it for you for free

[whitepolaris]

Ghosts of Alcatraz

by Troy Taylor

San Francisco Bay's barren Alcatraz Island, long nickname The Rock, was originally a fort and then served as a military prison from 1859 to 1934. With the arrival of social upheaval and rampant crime in the 1920s and '30s, the federal government chose Alcatraz as the perfect site for an escape-proof prison that would strike fear into the hearts of criminals thanks to the isolated location and the swift currents surrounding the island.

From the time Alcatraz became a federal prison in 1934 under the stern and watchful eye of Warden James A. Johnston until it closed in 1963, its steel doors clanged shut on then 1,000 hardened convicts, criminals, and would-be escape artists.

From the start, the most incorrigible inmates from across the country were sent to The Rock. Each train that arrived in San Francisco to dispense prisoners seem to have a "celebrity" of sorts on board. Among the first inmates were Al Capone, perhaps the most famous gangster of all; Doc Baker, the last surviving member of Ma Baker Gang; George "Machine Gun" Kelly, the privileged son of a wealthy Memphis family who became one of the Prohibition period's most notorious gangsters; Floyd Hamilton, a gang member and driver for Bonnie and Clyde, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, a Canadian-born former Public Enemy No. 1 who arrested by J. Edgar Hoover himself; and Robert Stroud, the amateur ornithologist who would later become known as the Birdman of Alcatraz.

Noteworthy or not, the inmates found that Alcatraz was a place where they had but five rights-food, clothing, a private cell, a shower once a week, and access to a doctor. Their methodical daily routine never varied.

While the cells the prisoners lived in were barren at beast, they must have seemed like luxury hotel rooms compared to the punishment cells. In these, men were stripped of all but their basic rights to food-and even then, they barely survived. Confinement in the single Strip Cell was punishment for the most severe violations. In the Hole, the name for cells in the bottom tier of the main cellblock, the punishment usually included psychological torture, and sometimes physical torture as well. In D Block, inmates in cells above the Hole couldn't escape the screams of those imprisoned there. Prisoners who emerged from the Hole would often be senseless or sick and bound for the prison's hospital ward. Others never came out alive.

Even worse were the dungeons. A staircase in front of A Block led down to a large steel door, behind which were catacomb-like corridors and stone archways leading to the sealed-off gunports from the days when Alcatraz was a fort. In the dungeons off the corridor, the prisoners were chained to the walls, their screams unheard in the rest of the main cellblock. Food and sanitation in the dungeons were minimal, dignity nonexistent.

Early Ghost Activity

A number of guards who worked in Alcatraz between 1946 and 1963 experienced the strange and the unexplained. From the grounds of the prison to the caverns beneath the buildings, they heard people sobbing and moaning, smelled strange odors, discovered cold spots, and saw what they described as ghosts. Even families who lived on the island and the occasional guest claimed to have seen the ghostly forms of prisoners or phantom soldiers. The sound of what seemed to be gunshots mdae the guards think prisoners had escaped and obtained weapons.

A deserted laundry room would sometimes fill with the smell of smoke, though nothing was burning. The guards would be sent running from the room, only to return momentarily and find the air clear. Like the other mysterious happenings at Alcatraz, the phantom fires were never explained.

Even Warden Johnston, who had no time for those who believed in ghosts, once heard the unmistakable sound of a person sobbing in the dungeon as he led a group of guests on a tour. The sound was followed by an ice-cold wind felt by the entire group. Johnston could never arrive at an explanation for this weird occurrence.

During the twenty-nine years Alcatraz operated as a prison, there were at least fourteen escape attempts. Almost all the prisoners who tried to flee were either killed or recaptured, and only one is known to have made it ashore. The most traumatic and violent attempt, later dubbed the Battle of Alcatraz, took place over two days in May 1946.

What started as a well-planned breakout from the "escape-proof" prison turned into a disaster when the six inmates involved saw their plan fall apart. Realizing they couldn't succeed, they decided to fight it out. Before it was over, they had taken a number of guards hostage, killed three of them, and wounded several others; two of the guards were murdered in cold blood in cells 402 and 403 (later renamed C102 and C104). The failed escapees fared no better. Three of them climbed into a utility corridor to avoid the constant gunfire, only to die after being hit by bullets or shrapnel.

An escape attempt in 1962 was later documented by Hollywood in the film Escape from Alcatraz. Released in 1979, the movie was a big hit in the box office, but the prison had closed long before. Too expensive to renovate and properly secure, what could be called the world's most famous prison shut its doors for good in March 1963.

Mysteries of Cell 14D

In 1972, the federal government put Alcatraz Island under the purview of the National Park Service, and after opening to the public, it became one of the part service's most popular sites. While in the daylight hours the old prison teems with tour guides and visitors, at night it is filled with mystery. Many believe that the energy of those who served time on The Rock remains, making the Alcatraz complex one immense haunted house.

Night watchmen patrolling the main cell house, divided into A, B, C, and D blocks, say they've heard the sounds of what seems to be running coming from the upper tiers. Thinking an intruder has gained entry, the watchmen investigated the sounds but always found nothing.

One Park Service employee reported that on a rainy afternoon the sparse number of tourists allowed her some time off from guiding tours. She went for a walk in front of A Block and was just past the door leading down to the dungeons when she heard a loud scream from the bottom of the stairs. She ran away without looking to see if anyone where there.

Asked why she didn't report the incident, she replied, "The day before, everyone was ridiculing another worker who reported hearing men's voices coming from the hospital ward, and when he went to check the ward, it was empty. So I didn't dare mention what I heard."

Several guides and rangers felt something strange in one of the cells in the Hole: Cell 14D. "There's a feeling of sudden intensity that comes on when you spend more than a few minutes around that cell," one of them said.

Another guide described Cell 14D as "always cold. Sometimes it gets warm out here-so hot that you have to take your jacket off. The temperature inside the cell house can be in the seventies, and 14D is still cold."

The tour guides weren't the only ones to have strange experiences there. Several former guards at the prison have told of terrifying incidents that took place near the Hole, and in Cell 14D in particular.

During one guard's stint in the middle 1940s, an inmate was locked in 14D for some since forgotten infraction. According to the officer, the man began screaming within seconds of being locked in. He claimed that a creature with "glowing eyes" was locked in with him. Yet no one took the convict's cries of being "attacked" very seriously, probably because tales of ghostly presence wandering the nearby corridor were a continual inducement to practical jokes to the guards. The man's screaming continued into the night, until finally there was silence. The following day, guards inspected the cell and found the convict dead. A horrible expression was frozen on his face, and there were hand marks around his throat. An autopsy revealed that the strangulation couldn't have been self-inflicted. Some believed that the man might have been choked by one of the guards, who had been fed up with all the screaming, but no one ever confessed to the crime.

On the day following the tragedy, several guards who were performing a head count noticed that there were too many men in the lineup. Then, at the end of the line, they saw the face of the convict who had recently been strangled in the Hole. As they all looked on in stunned silence, the figure abruptly vanished.

Banjo Strains

A park service employee who worked at Alcatraz in the late 1970s had a weird experience in another of the main cellblock's chambers. He was down near the shower room when he heard something he couldn't explain.

"It was banjo music," he said. "The room was empty, but I definitely coming from there. Maybe back in the days when it was a fort or army stockade, there was some guy here who played that instrument."

What the employee didn't know was that during the most traumatic days of his life, Al Capone, rather rick going out to exercise yard with the other inmates, would sit in the shower room strumming on his banjo.

Perhaps this lonely and broken spirit still plucks at the strings of a spectral musical instrument that vanished decades ago. Even today, tour guides and rangers who walk the corridors of the prison alone occasionally building. Could Al Capone be its source? Or could it be another of the countless ghosts who continue to haunt Alcatraz year after year?

[myhauntedsalem]

Alcatraz

Stroud is not the only ghost that has been seen at Alcatraz over the years. Alcatraz first housed prisoners in the late 1850’s. These first inmates were military prisoners who were put to work building a new prison. The U.S. Army used the island until 1933 at which point the U.S. Government decided to use Alcatraz or The Rock as a maximum-security prison that could house the most incorrigible inmates.

When a prisoner was bought to The Rock they knew that life was not going to be easy. Alcatraz was structured to only provide food, clothing, shelter and medical care. All other basic needs had to be earned. Some of the incorrigibles that were sent to Alcatraz included famous criminals such as Al Capone, George “Machine-Gun” Kelly, Alvin Karpis and Arthur “Doc” Barker. Unlike other prisons the prisoners could not manipulate special privileges from the guards.

Alcatraz was known for its tough discipline. Any prisoner refusing to follow the rules risked being placed in the Strip Cell. This cell was located on the lower tier of Cell Block D. It was a steel cell, where inmates were stripped naked and given only water and bread. A mattress was placed on the floor at night and then removed every morning. The cell’s toilet was a hole in the cell floor also there was no sink in this cell. When prisoners where placed in the Strip Cell they had no contact with other inmates and their time was spent in pitch-darkness.

Other punishment cells located on D Block were known as holes, they were also located on the lower tier. In these cells prisoners were kept in isolation for nineteen days. They had a sink, toilet, one light bulb and a mattress that was removed in the morning.

Alcatraz was closed in 1963 because it was found that it would cost too much to repair the crumbling prison. In later years the Parks Service reopened parts of the island and prison for daily public tours. At this point rumors of torture began to emerge. It was felt that since Alcatraz was on an isolated island away from public view that the inmates were probably tortured and that their tortured and bitter spirits were now haunting the halls of the prison.

One area that is known to be haunted is the Utility Corridor. It is here that inmates Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard were plummeted with bullets during their attempt to escape. In 1976 a security guard making his nightly rounds reported hearing unexplained eerie clanging sounds coming from this corridor.

Another active area is Cell 14D this is one of the original hole cells. Both visitors and employees have reported feeling cold chills along with an intense presence in this cell. It was in this cell in the 1940’s that a prisoner who was locked in, screamed the whole night claiming there was a creature with glowing eyes trying to kill him. The next day the guards found this prisoner dead, he had apparently been strangled. Later that day several guards reported seeing this same inmate in line with others and then he just vanished.

[vavandeveresfan]

Going on the St. Paul Gangster Tour for my birthday!

I was trying to figure out what to do for my 62nd birthday next month (no way I’m that fuckin old), and I remembered this!  It’s perfect as research for a kids book I’m working on, which includes the gangsters that ran around free in the 20s and 30s in St. Paul, MN.

The St. Paul Gangster Tour:

“The Original and best Saint Paul Gangster Tour (2 hours by Bus in comfort) is the only tour that starts at the historic Castle Royal Gangsters nightclub, preserved today as the Wabasha Street Caves. The Tour reveals why Saint Paul was a center for bootlegging operations and criminal activities during the 1930's prohibition era. Tour route covers all the gangster sights in the entire 5 miles radius of St. Paul where the gangsters lived it up as they planned and executed some of the most notorious crimes ever perpetrated in the upper Midwest. Notorious gangsters included John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, "Machine Gun" Kelly, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, Fred Barker, Arthur "Doc" Barker, and Ma Barker. Your Guide will be a nefarious gangster hood or his moll, who will be informative and humorous. Tour will take you past the most infamous gangster hideouts and the famous nightclubs where many gangsters spent time socializing with the public. Explore with us the elusive sites of kidnappings, and gun battles associated with the 1930's gangsters.”

For  Prohibition, Jazz Age, and Gangster Era aficionados, here’s more about St. Paul’s gangsters haven:

[moonlightmurder]

Mugshots of Alvin Karpis, member of the Barker-Karpis gang and responsible for bank robberies, kidnapping, burglary, auto theft. Arrested in New Orleans on May 1, 1936 by Director Hoover and FBI agents.

According to Jim Quillen in his book Inside Alcatraz : My Time on the Rock, Alvin Karpis tried to impress others with his reputation as Public Enemy No. 1 but he became in time knows as “Creepy Karpis” for his strange behavior.

[saadteaa]

I love my daddi, my superhero 🦸‍♂️ 💖🥺🥰🥵😍

[ohiomysteries]

Ep. 145 - The Great Train Robbery

In 1935, a couple of Akron gangsters were convicted of the robbery of a mail truck in Warren after a mail pouch and some of the stolen booty was found floating in the nearby Portage Lakes. But after FBI Public Enemy No. 1 Alvin Karpis robbed a train in Garrettsville - the last great train robbery in America - authorities began to think they might have jailed the wrong men. 

www.ohiomysteries.com

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Music: Invincible (feat. MixedFeelings216), by Michael McFarland. Find more at https://michaelmcfarlandmusic.com

Audionautix- The Great Unknown

The Great Phospher- Daniel Birch

Check out this episode!

[myraelvira]

Charles Manson's Aspiring Music Career

Unbeknownst to me until a few months earlier this year, Charles Manson recorded music. He even recorded an album as produced by Henry Rollins, but that piece has never seen the light of day. Here are some videos of his songs though. I will make a bigger post later

Here is a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCR-tuSxFMvsZlKhEJxaxYjslWNDkYq5A Honestly, it was really interesting to hear his music, I was expecting it to be a lot worse. I haven't listened to every song of his, but from what I've listened to, it's not horrible. I have heard a lot worse. What is creepy though, is that these songs sound so happy, warm, and almost beautiful, and came from such a horrible person. Honestly, I wonder if he used music as a tactic to control the women that he gathered in his cult. I wouldn't doubt that he did.  

[originally posted on Oct. 4, 2019]

Charles Manson is household name that to this day, is hardly unknown. The leader of a cult that incited murder, hatred, and other crackpot conspiracies, he notoriously spent the rest of his life in prison, dying in 2017.

What many people may not have known about the 5’2” Manson, is that he had an interest in music, even recording a few albums. Charles’ interest in music started around the time he was incarcerated in McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington  state. While there, he was taught how to play guitar by Alvin Karpis, a bank robber.

In June of 1966, Charles was transferred to Terminal Island Prison, where he met Phil Kaufman. Kaufman was incarcerated for a felony conviction of smuggling marijuana. While the two were in Terminal Island together, they came to become friends. He reportedly found Charles “congenial” company, and would listen to him play his steel guitar. At one point in the prison, a guard taunted Manson that he would never get out, and allegedly, Charles looked up at the and said, “Out of where?”.

Apparently, Phil Kaufman found Charles Manson to be “very bad at guitar”, but at least good enough to potentially gain a contract as singer/songwriter. Before Manson was released, Kaufman gave him the name of “Gary Stromberg” at Universal. He advised Charles to wait a few months and get used to the free world again, work on his material, and bring the most polished songs to the table when seeing the producer. Kaufman also believed that Charles Manson was self obsessed. Later on when Kaufman was released, he lived with Charles and the family for some time, but later became estranged when Kaufman proved to not have interest in being a follower.

Months later, Manson went to see the producer Stromberg at Universal, with recommendation for Kaufman. Allegedly, Manson was “unfocused and amateurish”, which would result in a disappointing recording session.

Paroled in 1967, he moved to San Francisco,  and met Mary Brunner. He moved in with her, and eventually moved in 18 women into the apartment they were at. The two traveled around the state of California and various other parts of the US and Mexico with 8-9 other women before eventually landing in Los Angeles, thanks to Charles’ interest in having a career in music.

Manson had contacts to Universal Studios through his prison friend Phil Kaufman, and the family would go to parties with the rich and famous in Hollywood Hills.

Allegedly, Beach Boy Dennis Wilson picked up two hitchhiking family members Patricia Krenwinkel and Ella Jo Bailey and brought them back to his house for a few hours. When he returned home in the early hours of the morning, Charles Manson was at his driveway, and started kissing his feet after reassuring Wilson that he wouldn’t harm him. When they went inside his house, Wilson found 12 people in his house, mostly women.

Manson and members of the family would practically move in with Wilson, where he would sing and talk with Charles. Wilson paid for studio time for Manson to record songs, and introduced him to various businessmen, such as Gregg Jakobson. Jakobson was impressed with Charles’ philosophy and paid for him to record material also.

When Manson’s prison buddy, Phil Kaufman, was released, he lived with the family for some time, as stated before. Phil would continually urge Charles to record some of his songs, and in the summer of 1968 Manson recorded about ten or so songs at the Beach Boy’s Studio. The tapes are apparently unreleased to this day, though the Beach Boys took Manson’s song “Cease To Exist”, and released a version of their own called “Never Learn Not To Love”, only barely changing the lyrics from Manson’s.

Cease to Exist: https://youtu.be/D1MmHGoKq1Y Never Learn Not To Love: https://youtu.be/49bxJKLI5d8

  The Beach Boy song is credited to Dennis Wilson, who paid Manson in exchange of the credit of the song with cash and a motorcycle. When Manson heard that the lyrics were changed a little from the original version, he was apparently upset.

Among the people that Dennis Wilson introduced to Charles Manson was Terry Melcher, another music producer.

Melcher was apparently interested in recording some of Manson’s music for a period of time, and even recording film of his life at the Spahn Ranch with the family, and their “hippie commune experience”. Manson met Melcher at his house on Cielo drive.

Eventually, Charles did audition for Melcher, but he wasn’t signed. Melcher still wanted to record a movie of the commune, but that fell through at one point also, when Terry saw Manson get into a fight with drunk stuntman on the Ranch. After this, Wilson and Melcher severed tied with Manson, which of course angered him.

Terry Melcher moved out of his house on Cielo Drive, with the owner (Rudy Altobelli) leasing it to Sharon Tate and her husband Roman Polanski. Charles would still come to the house sometimes asking for Terry Melcher, even though he was told that Melcher moved. [Allegedly]

On August 8th and 9th, 1969, the Manson family committed the infamous murders of they are known for today. The site of the murders was Terry Melcher’s old house on Cielo Drive, where Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, and others were killed.  Apparently, some law enforcement thought that Manson and the family did not realize that Melcher moved out, but Tex Watson, Manson family member stated that they in fact knew. Allegedly, Manson knew that Melcher moved, because there was note left for him at his new place in Malibu. Susan Atkins, another Manson family member, stated that they chose the house because Terry Melcher told them things that he never came through on. Because of the events, Melcher went into hiding, and even had psychiatric treatment.

Once Charles Manson was arrested, he stated that he had his followers sent to the house to kill Terry Melcher and his girlfriend. When being held for his charges, Charles would call up his old friend Phil Kaufman usually five times a week (despite only 3 calls being allowed). Manson would tell Phil to “please put out my music”, and Kaufman recalled him being anxious about his music being heard.

On March 6th, 1970, Manson’s first album was released. It was pressed on vinyl through Awareness Records. The cover was a parody of a TIME magazine cover that featured Charles Manson. The album had Manson’s original song “Cease To Exist” on it, that had been previously bought and changed by the Beach Boys. Even though there were 2000 copies, only 300 sold.

In 1997, another album, The Family Jams, was released, but it didn’t feature any actual vocals of Manson. He was credited with having written all the songs, with most of the male vocals having been sung by Manson family member Clem Grogan. The songs were recorded in 1970, when all the family members were to get together to record music for Robert Hendrickson’s Manson Film. The album was recorded during the murder trials with the song "Get on Home" containing the eerie line referring to the killers carving x's into their foreheads.

"When you see the children with x's on their head, if you dare to look at them, soon you will be dead." 

In the 1980’s Henry Rollins produced an album of acoustic songs for Manson, which was titled ‘Completion’. It was supposed to be released on SST Records, but was canceled when there were death threats for working with Manson. Only 5 tests were pressed, and 2 remain in Rollins’ possession.

Charles Manson’s final album, One Mind, was released in 2005. It is comprised of poems, songs, speeches, from his jail cell, all done a personal tape recorder. It was re-relased in 2008 under a creative commons license, then re-released again in 2014 by Manson’s non profit organization, ATWA (Air, Trees, Water, Animals). POST SCRIPT NOTE: I have stated in the beginning of this post that Charles Manson was 5'2". A simple google search has stated that he was this height. As I have read more books about the family, it turns out that Manson was anywhere from 5'2" (as stated in Helter Skelter), to potentially even 5'6" (as stated in Manson a book by Jeff Guinn).

[Originally posted on Oct. 5 2019]

[SOURCES] wikipedia cielodrive.com

[twiststreet]

Alvin “Creepy” Karpis was one of only four men to be declared Public Enemy #1, by the FBI and the only one to be taken alive, by Herbert Hoover (who forgot to bring handcuffs?). He was in the same gang as Ma Barker. Later, while in prison, he would give music lessons to Charles Manson, of whom he later said “He has a pleasant voice and a pleasing personality.”  His wikipedia also has this phrase in it: “went on a year-long crime spree, interrupted briefly, while he lived with his parents.”  (Who among us, etc.) (X)

[allthingsghostie]

Alcatraz Island

HISTORY Alcatraz, also known as “The Rock” has a reputation for being one of the most “haunted” places in America. Some people even believe it is a possible porthole into a different dimension.

Native Americans found the island long before the prison was built and they strongly believed it was a dark and paranormal place. They believed it was plagued by evil spirits. The only people who would set foot on the island were those who were receiving punishment from their tribe. Some were sent to the island for a certain period of time, while others were banished for life.

Then in the 1850s, the first inmates, who were military prisoners, assisted in building the prison and the Army housed military prisoners there until 1933, when the government decided to make it a maximum-security prison. Only those who were considered the most dangerous criminals were sent to Alcatraz. This location was chosen because of the isolation of the island. People thought it would be impossible for a prisoner to break out. The prison was built to crush the spirits of the prisoners and to discipline them. The inmates were only given what they needed to survive; food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. The prison ran until 1963. Later, it was opened for public tours and soon after, people began to claim the feelings of the presence of those who had died there. Many thought it was a hoax to draw in crowds, but this wasn’t the first time hauntings had been reported in the prison.

Some famous prisoners who spent time in Alcatraz: Al Capone, “Machine-Gun” Kelly, Alvin Karpis, and Arthur “Doc” Barker.

PUNISHMENT AMONG PRISONERS Alcatraz is known for the way they’d punish their prisoners. They seemed very cruel and can be hard to read about, but these were the “most dangerous criminals in America.” Two of the most famous places of punishment were the Strip Cell and the Hole in the D-Block.

The Strip Cell: When prisoners would get out of hand, one place they’d be put as punishment was the Strip Cell. This cell is located in the D-Block. Prisoners would be completely isolated in the darkness, stripped of all clothing, and only provided with bread and water once a day. Their toilet was a hole in the cell and they did not have access to a sink for hand washing.

The Hole in the D-Block: Located in the D-Block, there were five ‘hole’ cells. In these cells, prisoners would stay for up to 19 days with no contact with others. They were provided with a toilet, sink, one light, and at night, a mattress.

Photos of strip cell and D-Block below:

AL CAPONE While spending his last years in Alcatraz, Al Capone learned to play the banjo. His favorite place to practice was in the shower room. To this day, people claim to hear him play. In fact, a park ranger who had never heard about Al Capone, reported that he heard music coming from the shower room.

MORE HAUNTINGS One area that is claimed to have a high level of spirit activity in the utility corridor where three inmates were shot and killed while trying to escape. In this area, while the prison was still running, a security guard also claimed to have heard clanging sounds coming from the corridor.

While visiting the ‘hole’' cells, many tourists and employees have reported feeling cold spots and a sort of ‘intensity’ coming from the cell, specifically the ‘hole’ cell 14D.

One certainly creepy encounter that has been reported many times in cell 14D is the claim of seeing glowing eyes. What makes it even creepier is that the first tourists who claimed to see this were not aware that a prisoner in the 1940s had died in that cell after calling out for help because there was “a creature with glowing eyes” trying to kill him. Is there really a creature lurking in the D-Block? Cell 14D below.

Security guards have also said that when doing head counts, they’d count more than the amount of people there. Many say they think that the ghosts of prisoners would be counted, then they’d disappear.

Another security guard said that one night he heard a woman sobbing inside one of the prison walls,  but at that time, there were no women in the building.

Cell blocks A and B are also known to have crying and moaning sweep through the cells.

While visiting Block C, someone claimed they encountered a prisoner named Butcher. Later, it was found in the old prison records that there was a prisoner who was murdered in Block C. He was a hit-man who went by the name Butcher.

Tour guide, Leon Thompson, knew an inmate named Johnny Haus who died in the prison. Thompson is sure he’s seen the spirit of Haus. He claims that Haus appeared as a dark figure to him as he was waiting for tourists. Thompson later said, “I don’t care what anybody says, That was Johnny Haus.”

One story that really stands out to me is when a British couple visiting Alcatraz took a picture of an empty visitation block through the window. When looking at the photo, they discovered something terrifying. There seemed to have been a woman staring back at them. This photo has been studied numerous times and nobody can find any evidence that it has been tampered with. Photo below.

While the prison was open, guards would often claim to have heard gunshots and screams. They’d hear them so vividly that the guards would cover the grounds, believing there had been an escape.

What are your thoughts? Are these spirits? If they are, where did they come from? Is it really an evil place like the Native Americans believed, or did the hauntings start after the deaths of inmates? Is it really possible that this place is a whole other dimension? After all, no other places on earth seem to draw in that many souls of the deceased.

I own no photos, all credit to the photographers.

[itisjohannahern]

ALCATRAZ

The name Alcatraz is derived from the Spanish "Alcatraces." In 1775, the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala was the first to sail into what is now known as San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz is usually defined as meaning "pelican" or "strange bird." By the late 1850s, the first military prisoners were being housed on the island. well-known criminals, such as Al Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first "Public Enemy #1"), and Arthur "Doc" Barker did time on Alcatraz, The average population was only about 260-275 (the prison never once reached its capacity of 336 - at any given time, Alcatraz held less than 1 percent of the total federal prison population). There was an overall attempt of 14 escapes from Alcatraz.  

https://www.bop.gov/about/history/alcatraz.jsp

[historyblog]

[1.16.1935] The FBI kills the Barker Gang, including Fred Barker and his mother Kate Barker , in a shootout

The Barker-Karpis Gang was one of the longest-lived criminal gangs during the Depression Era, spanning from 1931 to 1935. The gang was founded by Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis, and later joined by Fred's brother Arthur "Doc" Barker. Along with the three core members, the gang's network spanned up to 25 members at one point.

Although not as well known as their contemporaries the Dillinger Gang, or the Barrow Gang, the Barker-Karpis Gang was perhaps more ruthless, not only committing bank robberies, but also extending the activities into kidnapping.[1] It is best known for the myth that it was run by the Barker brothers' mother, Kate, usually referred to as "Ma Barker".

[myhauntedsalem]

Alcatraz

It was home to some of the most notorious gangsters of the prohibition era, the likes of George “Machine Gun” Kelley, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, and Al Capone have all spent time on “The Rock”, better known as Alcatraz. Everyone, from kidnappers, to murderers, have all called Alcatraz home at one point. Even though its been closed since 1963, some of the former inmates who died within the walls still remain.

A brief history of the famous West Coast prison: It was discovered in 1775, when Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala charted San Francisco Bay and named this tiny speck of land, La Isla de los Alcatraces, or translated in English, “Island of the Pelicans.” At this stage of age, it had little to offer, but that would soon change. The U.S. Army saw this island as an ideal location for a military base.

By 1853, they had built the military fortress with long range cannons, four 36,000 pound, 15 inch Rodman guns with the power to sink any invading ship which posed a threat to “The Rock.” But only one cannon was shot it its history…and missed its target. Decades later, Alcatraz would soon turn into what it’s now known as…

Because of it’s isolation from the rest of civilization, the island would soon be considered for a new role-a prison. 1861, Alcatraz got its first inmates from the Civil War and then the Spanish-American War in 1898. By 1912, construction started for a three story cell house, and by the 1920′s it was already full. Harsh conditions, severe diets that included the inmates being given only bread and water, wearing a twelve pound ball and chain on their ankle, and solitary confinement were enforced on those who violated the rules. Buckingham Palace? Not here. In its twenty-nine year history, there was thirty-six escape attempts. But twenty-three were caught, six were shot and killed, two men drowned in the icy cold waters of San Francisco Bay, and two of the other men caught were executed by gas chamber in San Quentin in California State Prison.

No wonder with all the blood, sweat, tears, broken bones, shattered minds, and twisted souls that were locked within the confines of one of America’s most famous prisons would be such a great home for some of the spirits of the damned that still lay condemned to this island. This prison does have a history of activity and we’re going to explore just some of these spirits who still call Alcatraz their domain.

Clanging sounds, cold spots, glowing eyes of fright, and terror in the night of been reported within the concrete walls. Uncontrollable sobbing, moaning, and banjo music (yes, you read correctly) have been also been reported. Here’s some interesting ghost stories that I’ve read over the years:

Al Capone’s Ghost:

Perhaps one most famous gangster of the 1920′s make or break, kill or be killed, prohibition era. Al Capone (1899-1947) served almost seven years in Alcatraz, but his memory lives on and strangely it’s through song. The sound of a banjo playing no less, and the reason some speculate it’s the ghost of Capone is because back when he was in the prison, he, along with other inmates, started a prison band that he played the banjo in. Now, decades later, the sound of a banjo can be heard playing within the prison walls.

Haunted Utility Room:

Inmates Bernard Coy, Marvin Hubbard, and Joseph Cretzer were killed in this room when guards opened fire on them with machine guns, killing them in this very room in 1946. Their presence, however, has been felt 60 plus years later. This is where an eerie clanging noise can be heard coming from inside the room. Once a guard would go in there, to see what the noises were, and would find no noises. He would then close the door and almost immediately the clanging noises would resume. Again he opened it, and was baffled that he could not find the sources for the sounds.

Cell 14D:

One of three of the solitary confinement cells in Alcatraz, but it could be better known as the layer of the beast. This is where some of the roughest, toughest, men of fear, would go in there just to cry for help. Guards would laugh it off, not take in account that the prisoner’s plead for help were legit as this block was notorious for claims of ghost activities. On one such occasion, the guards would wish that they had listened to the pleads of help.

In the mid-1940′s, a former guard of Alcatraz recalls locking an inmate in the hole, but seconds later he heard screaming coming from inside the cell. Again, taking it as just a prank to get out, they ignored him. The next day, after the screams finally withered to nothing, they opened the cell to find the inmate dead with a look of terror frozen in his face. The convict was yelling about a beast with yellow eyes that was locked in the cell with him.