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.

Boarman was recommended for transfer to a more secure prison facility, and was sent to Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary on September 28, 1937. At Lewisburg he continued to assemble a record of conduct violations. The most significant of these was being found with an eight-inch dagger hidden in a magazine inside his cell. He apparently disclaimed ownership, stating that he was “just putting a handle on it.”  His reports were all unfavorable, with one stating: “This inmate is a reckless, very unstable psychopath who is not material for rehabilitation. He has been making a very poor institutional adjustment and has had several disciplinary infractions of a serious nature.”

He was finally released from Lewisburg on December 15, 1939, and was immediately provided with employment by the... C.A. Radio Company. After a series of layoffs and re-hires by... C.A., he again emerged into the crime scene. He was later quoted in a progress report as saying: “When I come out of Lewisburg, I intended to go straight. I got me a job and did go straight. I lost that job, and couldn’t find another one for hell. I tried to join the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps and didn’t get in, so I went and got me a gun and started robbin’.” His probationofficer also documented his own attempts to help Boarman enlist in the Army, but apparently the recruiters felt that his criminal conduct made him unacceptable for the armed forces.

The following report describes Boarman’s character in the eyes of the correctional system, and the reasons for his transfer to Alcatraz:

On August 12, 1940, at about 9:30 p.m., this defendant stole an automobile in Indianapolis after flourishing a gun on a salesman, which he drove to Lexington, Ky. He traded said gun for another and on the morning of August 15, returned to Indianapolis, and entered a branch of the Fletcher Trust Co., again flourishing a gun in the presence of bank employees and patrons, escaping with $12,812.00. He drove said stolen car to a point near Loogootee, Indiana, abandoned that car and stole another and hence drove it to Owensboro, Ky. After abandoning this car, he appeared at a motor sales agency and purchased a Buick car for which he paid $600 in cash, using a part of the funds stolen from the forgoing bank. In addition he purchased a rifle and an assortment of clothing and was subsequently arrested in a hotel room at Frankfort, Ky. $11,710 of the stolen funds were recovered. Defendant admitted numerous hold-ups, including filling stations, grocery stores and two ladies in a parking lot. He has previously been convicted as shown by attached... B.I. report.

Subject is apparently a confirmed offender and a vicious menace to society as indicated by the instant offense and the series of armed robberies which he committed prior to the instant bank robbery. He is a highly unstable and impulsive youth who is apparently quite proud of the fact that he committed the instant offense without the aid or advice of other persons. He is convinced, outwardly at least, that he is entirely capable of whipping the whole world and providing himself with funds even if it is necessary to resort to physical force and the aid of firearms.