In Dr. Roucek’s official report to Warden Johnston, he dictated the following after examining Coy’s corpse:
May 4, 1946
To: The Warden
Subject: Report of Death of Bernard Paul Coy, No. AZ-415.
Examination of the body of this inmate revealed the following: Body was cold and rigor mortis had set in. Pupils were fixed. Left arm was extended in a 15-degree angle; right arm was flexed at the elbow at approximately a 45-degree angle. He was wearing an Officers uniform coat marked Captain and underwear marked No. 415 with blue trousers marked No. 415.
Further examination revealed a small laceration of cheek over left maxilla and a large penetrating wound through left border of Sternal Mastoid muscle and apparently through upper border of Trapezius. Laceration of scalp approximately 2 cm to left and down from natural whorl of hair. There were no apparent wounds on the posterior side of body. There was bleeding from the nose. In the examination all clothing was cut from his body. This inmate was pronounced dead at 10:12 A.M. this date.
Examination was witnessed by the following Officers:
Medical Technical Assistant, Jesse A. Riser, USPHS
Lieutenant P.R. Bergen, Custodial Force
Senior Officer, John Delling, Custodial Force
Jr. Officer, D.H. Mowery, Custodial Force
Signed,
Louis G. Roucek, Surgeon
Chief Medical Officer
Bureau Director James V. Bennett arrived at the prison from Washington D.C. just in time to see the three deceased inmates sprawled on the cold cement prison floor. The bodies were covered, and had been prepared for transport back to the mainland. Ed Miller now switched his focus to the living ringleaders. A team of guards converged on the cells of Thompson, Carnes, and Shockley, and the inmates were marched one by one into separate isolation cells in A Block. The Alcatraz staff then assessed the aftermath of the battle. The wind whistled through the mortar holes in D Block. Correctional staff from the other prisons assisted in searching the cell of each inmate, and then placing them into lockdown. Jim Quillen would later write in his personal memoir, Alcatraz from the Inside:
The entire flat was covered with armed, nervous and tired guards. Each guard had been assigned an inmate to cover as he stepped from his cell. The guard assigned to cover me was a stranger, possibly from another institution. He was armed with a shotgun and was so nervous that I could see the gun trembling in his hands.
As the bodies of the three convicts were placed on the bow of the Warden Johnston, the press stood shoulder to shoulder at the gate of Van Ness Street Pier, snapping hundreds of photos as the boat approached. The bodies of the dead convicts were lifted and carried to the waiting ambulances. FBI officials then flocked to the island, and began an intensive investigation. A press conference was quickly held by U.S. Attorney Frank Hennessy in the San Francisco Federal Building, and he explained that the three survivors of the break would be charged with the murder of the two slain officers, as well as conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to escape. Later that evening Johnston and Bennett would hold the first ever press conference on Alcatraz, and would walk reporters through the prison explaining how the escape took place. Johnston escorted the all-male group of reporters and photographers through the prison as inmates chanted and shouted at them. He walked the group of visitors to the foot of the gun gallery and then over to the cells where Cretzer had fired upon the helpless guards, and where the blood stains were still fresh on the walls. The inmates yelled slurs, and several of the reporters wrote them into their features. In one case an inmate yelled “Oh Saltwater Johnston, tell them how you starve us in the dungeons.”
Bureau Director James V. Bennett arrived from Washington just in time to witness the three deceased inmates being pulled from the utility corridor.
The Warden Johnston pulling up to the Van Ness Street Pier, with the bodies of the three dead inmates clearly visible on the deck.
The lifeless bodies of the inmates were loaded into waiting ambulances at the pier.
Warden James Johnston and Bureau Director James Bennett examine the tools utilized by Bernard Coy to gain access to the Gun Gallery.
During the first press conference ever held inside Alcatraz, Warden Johnston shows members of the press where Coy made his entry into the Gallery.
Warden Johnston standing in front of cell #403, where Cretzer shot the helpless correctional officers in cold blood.
The Aftermath
On May 5, 1946 at 7:40 a.m., Medical Examiner Dr. Gus T. Kerhulas began his autopsy examinations of the three inmates, to determine their exact cause of death. He removedseveral bullet fragments from Coy’s brain, and ruled that his death had been instantaneous at the moment of projectile entry. Cretzer’s autopsy followed at 8:30 a.m. The doctor carefully examined his injuries, and described Cretzer’s post mortem condition in his autopsy report:
Coy’s lifeless body inside San Francisco Coroner’s office. The results of extreme dieting to reduce his body frame were evident during his post mortem examination.
Crezter during his post mortem exam.
APPEARANCE: The body is that of a well-developed, well-nourished, adult, young white male revealing evidence of head injury. In the center of the scalp in the mid-cranial vault there is a laceration of linear type with crusted margins, apparently of twenty-four hours duration. There is no evidence of fracture at this point. The wound is gaping. There is a wound of entrance at the left temporal region with a smooth margin, measuring approximately 1cm., and a wound of exit at the right temporal region with ragged wound margins, measuring approximately 1.5 cm in diameter and revealing evidence of fragmentation of bone with evidence of compound fracture at this point. The right temporal, frontal, and parietal bone in this area is likewise apparently shattered as on palpitation it reveals crepitation and abnormal mobility of the cranium on this side. In addition, there are abrasions on the anterior upper chest, hands, and left knee. There are no other abnormalities. Rigor mortis and post-mortis lividity are present.
HEAD: On reflecting the scalp back in the region of these wounds, there are hematomas present and the bony cranial vault is fractured at the wound entrances and exits with fractures of the left temporal and the right temporal, frontal, and parietal bones. On opening the cranial vault, the brain is found to be severely lacerated and penetrated through and through from the left temporal lobe to the right temporal lobe running across the base and also destroying the brain stem. On removing the brain, the pituitary fossa and sphenoid body is also seen to be involved in this fracture. There is no evidence of metallic objects present in the cranial vault.