Subsequent to the capture of inmate Johnson #864, he was interviewed by the Warden and Associate Warden. This interview took place at least an hour after Johnson had been brought to the Administration Building form the Beach. Part of the interview was conducted with both the Warden and Associate Warden, and part of it while the Warden was out of the room.
Johnson states that the officer Mr. Miller made his check call at 2:30 p.m. (Sept. 29, 1958) from the vicinity of the foghorn station. He says that he, Mr. Miller, and inmate Burgett proceeded directly from this station to the gate by the Associate Warden’s house and Mr. Kaeppel’s cottage. He said that he and Burgett had convinced Mr. Miller that they should go into this area to clean the roadway and drainage outlets. He claims that they had swept up and picked up considerable trash and they suggested to Mr. Miller that they carry the trash over the stone wall and dump the trash down the face of the cliff. He says that they also told Mr. Miller that it was part of their duty to keep the cactus trimmed alongside the pathway leading from the gate to the Beach facing Fisherman’s Wharf and that they suggested looking this over to see if it needed trimming.
As they were returning along the path toward the gate, Burgett was in the lead followed by Mr. Miller, with Johnson coming up the rear. Johnson says that a point some 20 feet from the gate they pulled a knife on Mr. Miller and taped his eyes and mouth. They tied his hands behind him and then the two of them guided Mr. Miller directly down the hillside towards the vicinity of the large wooden warning sign. They then went a short distance Northward where Mr. Miller was tied to a tree. Johnson states that the two of them then went westward toward the cement steps at the foot of the pathway leaving from the Associate Warden’s house. At this point they observed a boat approaching near to the island. They became alarmed and headed back toward the place where they had left Officer Miller. Johnson states that they then examined Mr. Miller’s bindings to make sure that he was suffering no ill effects and to be sure that he had not loosened the bindings.
Johnson claims that when they left Mr. Miller the second time that he and Burgett parted company. He repeatedly stated that he had not seen Burgett after parting with him after this point. He says that he continued on westward and finally removed a plastic bag from underneath his sweatshirt where he had been carrying it folded. He says he then inflated this bag to the best of his ability and fastened the opening securely. He says the bag was some 2 x 3 feet in size. Johnson claims that up to this point he had intended to hide out until dark but after inflating the bag he decided to try it immediately. When he stepped in to the water he states that, “the bag was torn from my hands and I lost not only the bag but just about everything I had including my dental plate.” He claims that at this time he gave up all hope of escaping, as he did not think it possible to escape by swimming or even floating in the cold water. Johnson also claims that inmate Burgett changed his mind several times; and one time he would argue that they should try to escape into the water as quickly as possible, at another time he would feel that they should wait until dark before getting off the island.
Johnson again and again emphasized the fact that they had picked this particular time for attempting to escape because of the change from daylight savings to standard time. He says that they had waited for this change in order that darkness would come sooner than under daylight saving time. He further admits that the timing at the change of job rotations were definitely to their advantage, inasmuch as the officers were not yet familiar with their new assignments. He steadily maintains that they had not waited for a dense fog but that the fog on the date of the escape was purely accidental so far as their planning was concerned.
When Miller failed to report in at the routine roll call, the other guards immediately launched a search. Within minutes, the piercing sound of the klaxon alarm resonated throughout the island, and radio bulletins went out to the patrol officers on mainland San Francisco. All of the guards were called to duty, and they began the extensive search. Walking in groups of two with one unarmed lead-man and the other carrying a .45 pistol, they were finally able to locate Miller after nearly an hour of searching. Miller was found tied to a tree, unharmed.
A Coast Guard cutter was dispatched to aid in the search, which was hampered by the dense fog. At approximately 5:00 p.m. the Coast Guard managed to locate Johnson, who was standing waist-deep in the fifty-degree water, shivering. They drew their rifles on him, and waited until guards on shore were able to apprehend him. Johnson didn’t resist.
In a letter to Burgett’s father on October 9, 1958, Warden Madigan wrote that at approximately 3:15 p.m., a member of the staff had heard cries for help, but could not locate where the sound was coming from. A massive search effort was initiated to locate Burgett. It was speculated that he had drowned, as there was a three-knot ebb tide that day, which would have made it impossible for him to swim. Several days later, divers were brought in to search the kelp beds in hopes that they would locate Burgett’s body.
On October 12 thAlcatraz Guard Lyndon Cropper reported to his assigned post in the road tower, and noticed a body floating a few hundred feet from the eastern end of the island. A Coast Guard patrol boat was dispatched to retrieve the body. In his official report on the incident, Warden Madigan described how the body of Aaron Burgett was identified:
On Sunday, October 12, 1958, at approximately 09:30 A.M., J.B. Latimer, Associate Warden, and I reached Pier No. 45 ½ in the Fisherman’s Wharf area, San Francisco, California. There were two Police Officers, Harbor Patrol Officers, and about five members of the Coast Guard present.
I saw a wire net litter-basket stretcher covered with a blanket and a right and left show protruding. The stretcher was in the rear section of a small boat. I climbed down a ladder into the boat and partially uncovered a body, which was resting on the stretcher with the front side up. The face was beyond recognition because of the missing flesh and the damaged condition probably due to decomposition and sea life. The putrid odor of decaying flesh was evident. All of the hair was missing from the top of the head, but there was sandy colored hair around the sides and back of the head. Most of the fingers appeared to be in good condition; however, the skin was hanging from some of the fingers and it is probable that the end joints of two fingers were missing. The skin on the inner sides of both thumbs were in good condition. I placed the fingerprint card from Burgett’s institutional file beside the right thumb and determined that the two were identical. The ridge counts to the core were identical. Several ending ridges below a line extending from the left to right deltas were identical. All bifurcations, islands, and other characteristics were identical.
The actual fingerprint card used to identify Burgett’s body.
A khaki cotton belt commonly worn by prisoners at Alcatraz was around the abdomen, but not passed through the belt loops of the trousers, with the number “991” in large numbers on a white cloth which was sewn on the belt. The body was clothed in a heavy “T” under shirt, white cotton shorts, two pairs prison trousers, a heavy khaki undershirt with the legs through the sleeves and the bottom pinned around the waist, three pairs of socks, and brown low-cut work shoes. A broken piece of ply-wood was secured to the bottom of the left shoe by means of electricians tape and a copper wire. A cotton bag similar to those carried by inmates to carry dominoes to the exercise yard was fastened to the belt which was buckled in the rear of the body. The bag contained two smooth stones, the larger of which was about two inches in diameter, a roll of black electricians tape about 2 1/ 2inches in diameter, about ½ cup sand, approximately 10 feet of cord and show laces, and a piece of wire about 10 inches long. The large stenciled numbers, “991” appeared on the belt, undershirt, underwear, and one pair of trousers. The stenciled number, “814” was on the outer pair of trousers. A stainless steel knife was removed by one of the morgue officers and retained by me. This knife was enclosed in plastic, initialed, and submitted to the Warden. The teeth appeared to be in good condition. The body was then covered with a blanket and removed to by uniformed City Morgue Officers to the City Morgue, 650 Merchant Street, San Francisco, California.