Audio Diaries

Stanley Ferguson: "My name is Stanley Ferguson, I was a guard in Alcatraz Island from 1933 to 1942. Today, I'm going to give you some insight into the more interesting tales of the prison's history. Over the decades, Alcatraz has seen more than its fair share of daring escape attempts. However, few were as audacious as the one undertaken by four inmates on New Years Eve, 1933. Thought to be the brainchild of an inmate by the name of Albert Arlington, the outrageous scheme was as unlikely as its mastermind."

Stanley Ferguson: "It is believed that Arlington, a.k.a The Weasel, somehow convinced three other inmates that he had devised a foolproof plan to escape the Rock. It was a plan that would see them literally taking to the skies in a makeshift aircraft of Arlington's own design."

Stanley Ferguson: "Just how The Weasel managed to convince these hardened criminals that such a plan was even possible remains a mystery to this day. What IS known, is that no such plane was ever built. Instead, the group's plans for freedom soon descended to bitter argument and infighting."

Stanley Ferguson: "With the plan falling apart, anger and frustration would ultimately lead to a brutal altercation between the misguided Arlington and his former co-conspirators."

Stanley Ferguson: "Armed only with makeshift weapons, Finn O'Leary, Sal DeLuca, and Billy Handsome, lured the unsuspecting Arlington to the roof, where they intended to exact a bloody, and final, revenge."

Stanley Ferguson: "And so it was here, beneath the dark and stormy winter skies, that the hapless Arlington met his grizzly end, bleeding to death on the cold concrete roof. For their participation in the murder, the three collaborators were sent to death by electric chair. Justice came swiftly, on the morning of January 19th, 1934, the execution order was carried out."