John Knight Giles (February 16, 1895February 8, 1979) was an inmate at

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

prison, most well known for an escape attempt in 1945. He was originally sentenced to the United States Penitentiary on May 11, 1935, for attempted robbery of the

Denver and Rio Grande Western The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from De ...

mail train; he had previously been serving a life sentence in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

for

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

before escaping. Giles began serving his federal sentence for the attempted train robbery at

McNeil Island McNeil Island is an island in the northwest United States in south Puget Sound, located southwest of Tacoma, Washington. With a land area of , it lies just north of Anderson Island; Fox Island is to the north, across Carr Inlet, and to the ...

on June 17, 1935, but due to his escape record and the length of his sentence, was transferred to

Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

on August 28, 1935.

Escape attempt

On July 31, 1945, at 10:40 a.m., the Army ferry pulled into the

Alcatraz Wharf Alcatraz Wharf is located on the southeast side of Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay, California, US. Classified as building number 33 of the Alcatraz Island National Historic Landmark, its historic name variants were "Alcatraz Dock" and "Alcat ...

. Giles, wearing an Army Technical Sergeant's uniform that he had been able to steal while working in the laundry that was contracted to clean army uniforms, jumped aboard the boat through a freight hatchway below deck. As the boat pulled away, a count of the soldiers on board indicated one extra, and at the same time, a count of the Alcatraz dock workers indicated one missing convict. Assistant Warden E.J. Miller was notified, and he followed the Army boat in a small speedboat until it reached Fort McDowell on Angel Island. Alcatraz officials called ahead to Fort McDowell, instructing them to keep everyone on the boat. The boat captain took this to mean nobody was to disembark without a pass. Giles showed his pass and was allowed to exit the boat. (According to Alcatraz Warden Johnston, it should have been called a successful escape, but the Bureau of Prisons and the Attorney General classified it as an attempted escape.) While on board, Giles was unaware that he was being followed. He talked to fellow passengers and told them he was a "lineman working on the cable".

Capture, aftermath, and death

After Giles left the boat, he was questioned by Lieutenant Gordon L. Kilgore, the Fort McDowell officer of the day. Kilgore had noticed that Giles' uniform appeared incorrect. After inspecting the pass and realizing it was a bad forgery, Giles was detained and eventually turned over to Assistant Warden Miller. By 11 a.m., he was headed back to Alcatraz.Alcatraz Archive
/ref> The story of Giles' capture and his attempted escape were profiled on the radio program ''

Gang Busters ''Gang Busters'' is an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957. Histo ...

'' in 1945. He died in 1979 in California.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giles, John K. 1895 births 1979 deaths American escapees American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Escapees from United States federal government detention Inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary People convicted of murder by Oregon Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Oregon

Escape attempt

Capture, aftermath, and death

See also

Sources