They had worked at it about half an hour when Manning, who wasn’t expected, entered the shop on a routine inspection tour. They had a lookout posted. When Manning entered one grabbed him on each side and one from behind, and they hustled him into the room with Stoops, binding him but not gagging him.
Then they went back to the window. By this time they had pried off part of the casement. They dragged over a small motor driven emery stone and began grinding away at one of the toolproof bars.
One of the convicts remained posted at the door as a guard, and when Officer Johnston entered he was hustled in with the other officers. So far as I can gather they at no time used any weapons on the officers, just overpowering them by surprise and strength of numbers. Barkdoll is a big, husky man and took the lead.
Finally Captain Madigan entered the shop. They overpowered him too. But Captain Manning pointed out to them that it was time for the officers to ring in to the administration building, and that an alarm would be sounded if the officers failed to ring in. They were about ready to give up anyway. They had to cut through at least and probably three of the bars before they could drop down to the outside and they hadn’t even cut through one.
So they freed Madigan. He phoned the administration building, and by the time we got there he was leading them away.
In a later report, Barkdoll was commended for protecting the officers from being assaulted. It rea...“It was reported that during the escape attempt, when Cretzer, Kyle, and subject tied up the officers and threatened them with hammers and other weapons, Barkdoll kept the others from injuring the officers and protecting them from assault.” All four men were immediately sent to solitary confinement. Shockley would serve the remainder of his time at Alcatraz in the segregation unit, until the 1946 escape attempt.
After he had been integrated back into the general prison population, Barkdoll would earn the designation of a model inmate. His progress reports reflect unanimous praise for his leadership abilities promoting positive conduct. The correctional staff characterized him as cheerful, friendly, and cooperative, with a pleasing personality and all the qualities of a natural leader. On March 12, 1945 he was assigned to the kitchen detail, and was later promoted to work in the Officer’s Dining Room. He would also be credited with starting an inmate orchestra. When other inmates participated in a culinary strike in October of 1948, Barkdoll stayed on the job, helping wherever he could. He was clearly liked and respected by prison officials, who provided him with monetary rewards even though he worked in a non-compensated industry assignment. On March 7, 1950, Barkdoll developed severe chest pains while walking in the recreation yard. He was taken to the hospital and shortly thereafter suffered a fatal heart attack. Under the direction of his wife, Barkdoll’s body was sent to Schroeder Mortuary in Coquille Oregon for burial.
Although the escape attempt of 1941 had proved unsuccessful, it was destined to become a prelude to a later prison tragedy...
A photograph of Arnold Kyle, taken in 1963. The effects of decades spent in prison are plainly evident.
ESCAPE ATTEMPT #6
Date:
September 15, 1941
Inmates:
John Richard Bayless
Location:
Powerhouse
A series of mug shots of John Richard Bayless, spanning fifty years. The progression of images illustrates the effects of nearly a lifetime spent in prison. Bayless was one of the few inmates to be released from Alcatraz only to return following another crime conviction.
John Bayless was one of a small select group of inmates who were sent to Alcatraz twice, under two completely separate convictions. He was born on May 16, 1915 into a middle-class family in Wichita, Kansas. His father was steadily employed as a railroad worker and his mother was described and an affectionate and devoted homemaker. Like many boys of the age, he became a Boy Scout, developed an avid interest in science and attended church every Sunday. It wasn’t until he turned sixteen that his life started to change course. While he was still in high school, his parents decided to divorce and this was apparently a very traumatic experience for Bayless. He was sent to live with his grandmother in Willow Springs, Missouri, and after graduating high school in 1933, he decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy.
In the Navy Bayless was trained as an aircraft mechanic on the Aircraft Carrier USS Saratoga, based out of Long Beach, California. But despite his naval training and a promising future in aviation, he detested military life. On July 28, 1935, Bayless wrote a bad check for a payment on a 1931 Ford Roadster, deserted the Navy and drove back home to Missouri. The car was immediately reported stolen and Bayless was soon arrested after being caught trying to forge his grandmother’s signature on another check. He was convicted of forgery and on December 16, 1935, and was sentenced to serve two years at the U.S. Southwestern Reformatory, in El Reno, Oklahoma.
Within only a few months of his release, Bayless met and married an attractive young girl named Gwendolyn, and the two quickly moved into a furnished apartment. However, his wife soon grew suspicious that her new husband didn’t work, yet somehow always seemed to have money. He would leave with friends for long periods during the day and return without volunteering any information about his activities. He finally told his young bride excitedly that he had inherited money and that they would receive the entire sum the following month. She too was excited, and was now starting to adjust into her new life.
On October 29, 1937 the couple decided to drive to Wichita, Kansas with John’s seventeen-year-old friend Orville Sims and his wife Orletta, so that Gwendolyn could visit her mother. When John tired during the drive, Orville took over the wheel, and began driving erratically. Orville lost control and the car rolled over numerous times before plunging violently into a ditch. John and Gwendolyn, who were riding in the backseat, found themselves pinned underneath the wreckage. They were finally able to free themselves and hurried to the nearest hospital. Gwendolyn had suffered serious injuries including a fractured vertebra in her neck and a broken femur in her right leg. John walked away with only a minor back injury and a few stitches in his left hand. Gwendolyn would need to remain in the hospital for several weeks, so Bayless decided to rent a car and head back home to get some money.
A local newspaper, The Wichita Eagle, ran a story on the accident and this helped to alert law enforcement officials to the location of Bayless and his partner in crime. After meeting with Gwendolyn, police decided to raid the Bayless apartment, where they found bank diagrams and other items that linked John to a series of crimes. At the same time that agents were raiding the apartment, Sims and Bayless were in Mansfield, Missouri, casing a bank. Dressed in dark blue overalls, each with a watch chain dangling from his pocket, the men drew guns on two female employees at the downtown Merchants Bank. They locked the two women in the bank vault, and made off with all of the cash from their tills.