When news of the bank robbery was broadcast over police radios, the agents headed to Sim’s residence, where they found both men asleep. On awaking, Bayless made a comment that would be entered into his arrest report: “Lucky you caught me asleep copper, or I’d have blasted you.” In early 1938, several FBI agents and United States Marshals, all armed, escorted the young men to the courtroom. Bayless and Sims stood before Judge Albert L. Reeves in the Federal Court of Kansas City, pleading guilty to two Federal Grand Jury indictments for robbery of an FDIC bank using force, violence and deadly weapons. They were sentenced to serve twenty years for the first count, and twenty-five years for the second. Bayless would arrive at Leavenworth on February 1, 1938, and he was transferred to Alcatraz on November 29, 1938, as inmate #AZ-466.
The official transfer order for John Bayless to be sent to Alcatraz in 1936.
At Alcatraz, Bayless was considered a low-maintenance inmate who rarely sought trouble. He was a loner, and spent most of his time during recreation periods by himself. On September 15, 1941, Bayless was assigned to the garbage detail, which was generally considered a choice assignment by the inmates. This work detail permitted Bayless to collect garbage and debris from all over the island, under limited supervision. On this day at the end of his shift, Bayless made a spontaneous decision to escape under a dense layer of fog. Just before the inmates were rounded up for the final count and rallied back to the main cellhouse, Bayless slipped away and dropped to the rocky shore near the powerhouse. But by the time he had made it to the water’s edge, the guard staff noticed him missing from his work detail and immediately notified the Control Center. The piercing sound of the klaxon siren rang out over the island.
Bayless removed his shirt, shoes, and socks, then immersed himself in the water until he was chest-deep. He would later state that once he was in the ice-cold water, he had trouble staying afloat, and quickly realized that he would be unable to make the swim across the Bay. Wilkinson, one of the officers assigned to the same detail, quickly spotted Bayless in the water. The prisoner didn’t resist capture, and after being shackled, he was marched directly into D Block. When Bayless was brought to trial in San Francisco on January 28, 1943, he again demonstrated his desperation by breaking free and making a dash from the U.S. Marshals while they were inside the courthouse. He was immediately tackled, and was sent back to isolation on Alcatraz. In April of 1943 he was convicted of attempted escape, and was sentenced to serve an additional thirty years.
A memo from the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, describing the escape attempt by Bayless.
A Telegram describing Bayless’ attempt to escape from a full courtroom in San Francisco. Ironically, he made a second break for freedom during his trial for the first escape attempt.
Bayless would serve his time quietly in segregation, and would eventually earn a transfer back to Leavenworth in November of 1950. He was awarded a conditional parole release on August 19, 1951, and landed himself back in jail on February 26, 1952, after committing another bank robbery. This time he was convicted and sentenced to serve thirty-five years. One year to the day after his release, he arrived for his second term at Alcatraz on August 19, 1952, as inmate #AZ-966.
Bayless would be among the last inmates to depart Alcatraz when it finally closed on March 21, 1963. He was sent back to McNeil Island and would not serve his time idly; once more he would find himself involved in a violent and desperate prison break. On November 8, 1965, Bayless and fellow inmate Dennis Hubbard concealed themselves behind another prisoner as he passed through an electric sentry gate into a minimum-security dormitory. Using a hand-fashioned knife, they overpowered a guard and bound and tied him using duct tape. They escaped through a non-barred window and under the cover of heavy rain, scaled the perimeter fences and disappeared into the landscape.
The duo found a vacant house that belonged to the prison’s physician, who was away on a hunting expedition. They remained inside the house undetected for five days, until the physician returned home. When prison officials came for them, they offered no resistance, and Bayless again stood trial for escape. He was sentenced to another forty-five years, and would again be paroled for good time served on August 20, 1973. But just one month later he was back in prison at Leavenworth for attempted bank robbery. Bayless was re-paroled to a community treatment center in Long Beach California, and died on July 30, 1981. He had finally returned to the city in which he had committed his first crime.
ESCAPE ATTEMPT #7
Date:
April 13, 1943
Inmates:
James A. Boarman
Fred Hunter
Harold Brest
Floyd G. Hamilton
Location:
Old Mat Shop
On the cold morning of April 13, 1943, a densely strewn layer of fog lay over the prison fortress. The escape attempt that was about to unfold would involve four inmates who were assigned to the old Mat Shop, employed in manufacturing cement blocks that were used to weigh down heavy submarine nets during the war. The inmates had each acquired smuggled military uniforms from the prison laundry and had stuffed them in specially made float canisters, which were smaller but nearly identical to those used during the escape of Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe in December of 1937. The four hollow one-gallon fuel containers offered perfect concealment and water protection for their clothing and a seemingly perfect float device with which to swim quietly across the bay. Their plan would also incorporate some of the more successful aspects of the 1941 escape attempt employed by Cretzer, Barkdoll, Shockley and Kyle, which ultimately ended in failure.
James A. Boarman
James A. Boarman
James Arnold Boarman, a small time bank robber from Indianapolis was only twenty-four years old at the time of this ill-fated escape attempt. Born on November 3, 1919 in Whalen, Kentucky, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. His father, who had supported the family as a carpenter, died of an accidental drowning when James was only seven-years-old. His mother, relocated the family to Indiana where they would all share residence in a small apartment. Boarman attended St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Indianapolis and dropped-out to work as a gardener at age fourteen. His mother would later state that James always had brought his earnings home and never complained about the family’s financial troubles. Despite their hardships and their dependence on welfare support, his family was close and all worked together to help and support each other.
Boarman’s bouts with crime first began when he was still very young. In May of 1936 he stole his first automobile and after being arrested and placed on probation, he stole two other cars and headed for California with two accomplices. His mother pleaded his case in court, stating that she had been hospitalized due to illness and that he had lacked proper supervision when he needed it most. The court proved unsympathetic to her pleas and on January 30, 1937, Boarman was sentenced to three years in the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma.
Boarman and four other inmates plotted an escape from El Reno, and carried out their plan on September 9, 1937. A special progress report chronicled the events:
After arrest, he was taken to jail in Golden, Colorado, and while there involved in several fights. Also, in a scheme to effect his escape hid under a table in the jail and tried to jump a turn-key. While an inmate at El Reno, connived with four other inmates to escape from the institution. This was frustrated, but subject admitted his participation in the scheme, which was to climb a fence, seize the physician upon his arrival at the parking area, drive away in his car and hold him as hostage.