Before the escape could be attempted, a few of the inmates would have to leave their cells and try to displace one the window bars, during a period when the guards would be performing duties in the main cell house. This was a risky undertaking, since they would have to leave their cells when noise levels allowed some degree of cover, also taking care not to be spotted by any of the custodial officers. During the early evening hours when the cellhouse inmates were herded into the dining room hall for dinner, two of the inmates left their cells to work on the window bars, while another went to act as a lookout, keeping an eye on the guard inside the gun gallery. The inmates manipulated a wrench to exert enough force against the bar, which snapped free from its foundation. Using putty and cement, they set the bar was back in its place to avoid raising suspicion. As the inmates worked, other prisoners around the cellhouse banded together to flush toilets and make various other subtle noises, in order to keep the guards from hearing the inmates working outside their cells in D Block. Once they were able to sneak back into their cells undetected, with the window bar prepared for easy removal, the inmates were ready to make their escape.
On the fog-laden morning of Friday the thirteenth at 3:00 a.m., the guard in D Block performed his customary counts of the inmates, thinking all of them to be asleep. At this hour there was only one guard on the cellhouse floor, and one in each gun-gallery. After the guard finished the count in D Block, he walked over to B Block and started his next round of counts. As soon as the path was clear, the escape accomplices bent out the lower bars of their cells, which they had been preparing for weeks, and made their way to the window. Karpis later wrote that Ty Martin was the first to climb through the window, and when his large shoulders became stuck, he hung helplessly attempting to squeeze through without making any noise. With Stamphill’s help he managed to painfully cram himself through the small opening and drop to the path eight feet below. After the five inmates had all made their way out of from the cellhouse, they stealthily hiked down to a small clearing at the water’s edge, and then started to gather wood, attempting to build a makeshift raft. The harsh waves pounded against the jagged rock forms as the men stripped down to their underwear, using clothing to tie the pieces of wood together.
By 3:30 a.m. the guard had started making another round, and he reached the disciplinary section at about 3:45. In a shocking discovery, he found one of the D-Block cells empty with the sheet stripped from the bed. He quickly ran to the administration phone and called the Armory, anxiously communicating the news of the escape. Minutes later, sirens and searchlights saturated the fog-shrouded island, and a quick phone call was placed to the Warden. Johnston quickly dressed himself and was met at the front door by Associate Warden Miller. Little information was available other than that the inmates had all been present during the 3:00 a.m. count. Captain Weinhold had been awoken, and he quickly reported to D Block. It was found that the five inmates, all of whom shared adjacent cells, had sawed through the bottom bars of each cell and were now missing. Meanwhile down by the water’s edge, as the sirens wailed in the distance, the inmates became separated and hurried to complete their improvised wooden rafts.
The fronts of Rufus McCain’s cell and Dale Stamphill’s cell following their escape.
D Block as it appeared following the 1939 escape. Note the spread bars on one of the cell fronts. Also note the extended cell front toward the rear of the cellblock. This was one of the early closed-front solitary confinement cells.
The area where the escapees entered the water, known today as Barker’s Beach.
The off-duty correctional staff poured into the Armory to get weapons, and then started to search the island in groups. The launch McDowell was sent out to begin searching the shorelines through the dense fog. It was well known among the staff that the inmates would try to take hostages in their desperation to attain freedom, and officers were sent to search every conceivable hiding spot around the living quarters, including the Warden’s basement. As the officers walked quietly along the roadway, one of them heard voices coming from a remote cove below, but was unable to see anything because of the fog. Finally, the road tower guard shined the powerful searchlight into the cove, and followed two figures running for the water. One officer observing from the roadway yelled at the inmates to halt, and fired several warning shots ahead of them. The two men hit the water, and the officers, now able to target the inmates, opened fire with a shower of machine gun and rifle bullets raining into the cove.
The first men to be captured were Young and McCain, who were stripped of their clothing, and stood chattering and cold from exposure. The two inmates were brought up to the visitor’s area of the administration building and given blankets until they could be escorted to the prison hospital. The cove proved to be too dangerous for the McDowell, so two officers took a small rowing boat into the shallow water, and pulled the wounded inmates Stamphill and Barker into the craft. Stamphill was lethargic and had suffered serious gunshot wounds to his lower extremities. He was hit twice, with one bullet through his left leg just above the knee, the wound bleeding profusely from a severed artery; and the second to his right leg near the ankle. When he was carried to the Alcatraz Hospital, he was in critical condition. Barker was pulled into the boat and was also found to be critically injured. He had suffered gunshot wounds to the head and thigh, and he had an obvious fracture in his left leg that most likely resulted from a stray bullet. Ty Martin was found standing almost completely naked, wearing only a pair of water soaked socks, bleeding from several cuts and bruises and nearly frozen from exposure. Warden Johnston later wrote that when Miller shined the light onto him, Ty started yelling, “I give up, I give up.” Martin was also taken to the hospital for an examination.
McCain and Young were found to be uninjured and both were immediately sent to solitary confinement in A Block. Martin was also treated and released back into solitary confinement. Barker was semi-conscious when he arrived at the hospital, and complained that he was in severe pain. Warden Johnston stated that they tried to get a formal statement from Barker His last words were documented in a formal report by Junior Officer George Hoag, who assisted in the Operation Room. Hoag wrote in his report and recorded Barker’s final words:
While in the hospital, after Stamphill and Barker were laying on the operating tables, at approximately 5:25 A.M. Barker started to roll and twist, you directed me to hold him from falling off the table, I stepped to table and held him, while doing so, Mr. Pepper, being on the opposite side of the inmate, Barker spoke to me, saying, "I'm crazy as hell, I should have never tried it.
In a memorandum to the Warden dated January 14, 1939, Dr. Romney Ritchey described Barker’s condition:
Re: Barker, Arthur, 268-AZ
This will inform you that the above captioned Inmate, who came to the Hospital yesterday morning with injuries mentioned in a previous memorandum, showed a gradual lost of strength during the day and died at 5:40 P.M. last night.