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00:00:00Free bank robbers disappeared from Alcatraz prison.
00:00:06The greatest prison break in history became America's most notorious cold case.
00:00:11We've had zero, no leaks, zero leaks for 50 plus years.
00:00:18The escape from Alcatraz in 1962 forced the government into a merciless manhunt.
00:00:23The escape was a huge embarrassment. The FBI was relentless.
00:00:27And it put an unknown Florida family into the national spotlight.
00:00:31We couldn't do anything without the FBI showing up, asking questions.
00:00:35They bug every one of our phones.
00:00:38It was a terrible thing for our family.
00:00:40Until they ultimately went into self-imposed exile.
00:00:47But now the Anglin family is finally ready to share their secrets.
00:00:52We have some items that will prove that those boys were alive at least until 1975.
00:00:59It's almost kind of like getting a blessing.
00:01:01Go solve this mystery.
00:01:03Never seen anything like that before in my life.
00:01:06And possibly solve this infamous case.
00:01:09Director Harlow.
00:01:10They never believed that this would happen.
00:01:12People are going to be shocked at what they see.
00:01:27Washington D.C.
00:01:29Former United States Marshal Art Roderick receives a breathtaking phone call.
00:01:34The family of two of the three escaped prisoners in the 1962 Alcatraz escape is reaching out to the former marshal.
00:01:52And for the very first time offering their assistance with this legendary cold case.
00:01:57For the one time lead investigator of the Alcatraz escape.
00:02:01The surprise development is a shocking potential break in a half century old mystery.
00:02:06Law enforcement had been in touch with the family since the escape occurred in 1962.
00:02:13It has tried over the decades to get cooperation from it.
00:02:17It has never happened up to this point.
00:02:19We're finally ready to hear what we knew of the Alcatraz escape, the marshal service.
00:02:25We're ready to put this case to bed.
00:02:34When it opened in 1934, Alcatraz housed the most infamous high-risk criminals of its day.
00:02:40Doors open to Al Capone.
00:02:42That machine gun Kelly served the lifetime with no powers to wait in.
00:02:46And was the most feared penitentiary in America.
00:02:56Touted as inescapable by officials, Alcatraz captured the public's imagination.
00:03:04And as the years passed, the rock's mythology grew.
00:03:07But in 1962, the unthinkable happens.
00:03:17Brothers John and Clarence Anglin, along with Frank Morris, pull off an ingenious escape, disappearing into the night.
00:03:25The escape triggered the greatest manhunt in San Francisco's history.
00:03:38With each passing day, the national scrutiny grew, shaming J. Edgar Hoover and his Federal Bureau of Investigation.
00:03:44It was a big embarrassment for the FBI.
00:03:47That was Hoover's baby.
00:03:49And they did not want people to believe that they made it out of there.
00:03:54Ken and David Widener are the nephews of Alcatraz escapees, John and Clarence Anglin.
00:04:02When I was a kid growing up, we couldn't do anything without the FBI showing up, asking questions.
00:04:09As the feds insisted that the fugitive trio more than likely drowned in San Francisco's Bay,
00:04:16they were simultaneously pursuing their manhunt with reckless abandon.
00:04:20The FBI, they followed them.
00:04:23They bugged every one of our phones.
00:04:26They come into my grandmother's living room, demand that everybody stay where they're at until they answer all their questions.
00:04:33The FBI harassed the family so bad because they thought that, you know, somebody knew something.
00:04:41We don't trust the FBI and we do not trust the marshal services for that very reason.
00:04:46Now, five decades removed from the escape, and after poring over their family's prodigious archives,
00:04:54the brothers believe they have unearthed evidence that may answer the question of what happened to their uncles.
00:05:04To this day, it is widely believed that the three escapees made it out of the prison alive,
00:05:11but never made it out of the treacherous water.
00:05:13Well, we have some items that I think will prove to everyone that those boys were alive at least until 1975.
00:05:28We're not doing this for the fame. We're not doing this for the money.
00:05:32We're doing this to prove that they actually did get off that island.
00:05:35They actually did survive that crossing.
00:05:39It's very possible they're still alive today.
00:05:44To help pursue their evidence, the brothers have reached out to retired marshal Art Roderick,
00:05:50well known to the Anglin family, as a fair and balanced investigator.
00:05:53Art Roderick worked on this case for a long time.
00:05:59It consumed his life for 25 years, just like it consumed ours.
00:06:04We have information that I know he's going to find very interesting.
00:06:10And I think between the two of us, we can probably solve this case.
00:06:19The Widener brothers have asked Roderick to meet them in Ruskin, Florida,
00:06:23just south of Tampa, hometown of the Anglin brothers.
00:06:25This is the first actionable lead we've had in this entire case in 53 years, so we have to move on it.
00:06:35It's hard to believe we want to meet a retired marshal.
00:06:57You know, he's going to probably be freaking out a little bit to be out in the middle of nowhere.
00:07:03He's going to wonder what is really up.
00:07:07You know, I believe we've got an answer for that because I want him to see,
00:07:13you know, hey, this is the Anglin family cemetery.
00:07:16I mean, this is where all of them are buried at.
00:07:18It's a good place to start this journey at.
00:07:21It's right there in front of grandma and granddaddy's grave.
00:07:24It's almost kind of like getting the blessing, go solve this mystery.
00:07:28Yes.
00:07:33The mystery surrounds the whereabouts of their two fugitive uncles, John and Clarence,
00:07:41who, along with their older brother Alfred, robbed an Alabama bank in 1958 using a toy gun.
00:07:47After multiple escape attempts in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary and at Leavenworth,
00:07:54John and Clarence were sent to The Rock and requested to be housed near one another.
00:07:59But a strongly worded cautionary note from the associate warden at Leavenworth advised against such a situation.
00:08:05Yet the warden of Alcatraz, Paul Madigan dismissed the warning, believing that Alcatraz was inescapable and placed the brothers in neighboring cells.
00:08:16The primitive Baptist church and cemetery.
00:08:32The primitive Baptist church and cemetery.
00:08:37An interesting setting for the first meeting between the Anglin family and the United States government.
00:08:43This is it, right here.
00:08:46This is where we're going to be meeting you.
00:08:49Hard to believe this is where all the Anglins are buried.
00:09:02All but two.
00:09:03I know it would definitely be good for our mom and Aunt Merle.
00:09:11It would be, it would be closure for them.
00:09:14Why we didn't start this 25 years ago, it wasn't time.
00:09:18It's definitely time now.
00:09:20For my Aunt Merle and my mom, they will know before they pass away what really happened to their brothers.
00:09:28Yep, this is it. Grandma and granddaddy.
00:09:41Wow.
00:09:44I wish that what we're going to show the marshal, that we could show her.
00:09:49You sure we can trust this man?
00:09:53No, I'm not sure.
00:09:58Art?
00:10:00Gentlemen.
00:10:18David Wilder.
00:10:19Good to finally see you again.
00:10:20How you doing?
00:10:21Art, Ken Wilder, nice to meet you.
00:10:22Good to meet you.
00:10:23Good to meet you guys.
00:10:24Well, you know, we ask you to come out here because if you look around, this is where all of the Anglin family are buried.
00:10:32Our grandmother, our grandfather, we've got uncles buried here, we have aunts buried here.
00:10:37All of the Anglin families are buried here except for two people.
00:10:40We want to be able to bring them back to the cemetery and bury them here with their family.
00:10:47Well, I mean, a lot of people have different theories.
00:10:50My theory is they never got out of the water. I don't think they made it.
00:10:54We don't believe that.
00:10:55Yeah, we don't believe that for a minute.
00:10:57What do they have today to show me that my uncles did not make it across?
00:11:01What do they have? They have nothing.
00:11:04Take it from our perspective that we have never seen anything to say that they made it out of the water.
00:11:12We're working from that premise right there.
00:11:14Well, I'll tell you what, what we're fixed to show you might help us get our uncles back here where they're supposed to be.
00:11:26Yeah.
00:11:28We're about to give you a new lead.
00:11:31Okay.
00:11:33We'd like to show it to you.
00:11:34Lead the way.
00:11:35Let's go.
00:11:35We've got a couple of things that you might be interested in.
00:11:47What we have here is some Christmas cards from the boys.
00:11:50And as you can tell, every one of these cards has been marked and read as they left the prisons.
00:11:57That one.
00:11:58Okay, and that's their number there, right?
00:12:03That is their prison number.
00:12:04Exactly.
00:12:05Our family received Christmas cards starting in 1962.
00:12:10Mm-hmm.
00:12:11That just showed up in the mailbox, had not been through the post office.
00:12:16They're also signed by John and Clarence.
00:12:19Guess what?
00:12:21There's no markings.
00:12:22Well, they're saying these two came after, after the escape.
00:12:26Exactly.
00:12:37Ruskin, Florida.
00:12:39For the first time in 53 years, the family of Alcatraz escapees, John and Clarence Anglin,
00:12:45is sharing evidence with the United States government to try and find out what happened to the brothers
00:12:51after they escaped from the rock in 1962.
00:12:57We've got a couple of things that you might be interested in.
00:13:00What we have here is some Christmas cards from the boys that just showed up in the mailbox,
00:13:05had not been through the post office.
00:13:08And you're saying these two came after, after the escape, the post escape.
00:13:11Exactly.
00:13:12That's correct.
00:13:12Every year, no matter where they were, John and Clarence always sent Christmas cards.
00:13:19For three years after the escape, my grandmother and grandfather continued to get cards.
00:13:26Signed, John and Clarence.
00:13:28Well, yeah, the problem is it's hard to verify.
00:13:32These came after the escape in 1962.
00:13:37I mean, I know you're telling me this.
00:13:39Right.
00:13:40But, you know, you've got to show me something better than you just telling me that they showed
00:13:46up in the mailbox in 62, 63, and 64.
00:13:50Yeah.
00:13:51We actually do have something else.
00:13:52Okay.
00:13:53All right.
00:13:55So, I want to start off and I want to show you something.
00:14:001992, a friend of the family gave us this photograph.
00:14:02That's her comparison there.
00:14:16Does two men look familiar to you?
00:14:18Do you?
00:14:22I think that Art thought that he was probably wasting his time coming down to talk to us.
00:14:30But once I handed him that picture, I think a light bulb went off in his head.
00:14:35I got a photograph that might help jog your memory.
00:14:37So, he's saying those are your uncles right there.
00:14:40Look at that photograph there.
00:14:42Yeah.
00:14:42And look at that photograph there and you tell me.
00:14:46Are you surprised?
00:14:47Yeah, uh, uh, yes, I'm surprised.
00:14:54My mind's already flowing.
00:14:56I basically didn't even hear what they were saying to me after I saw that stuff.
00:15:00And I'm thinking immediately, what are we going to do here?
00:15:03For the lawman, the picture could prove revelatory.
00:15:07If it withstands forensic analysis, everything we've known about the 1962 escape would be turned on its head.
00:15:14They're always wanting to say these boys didn't make it, they drowned, they got washed out to sea.
00:15:24Well, this picture proves differently.
00:15:27This is what they've been looking for for a long time.
00:15:31I would like to take this stuff out to Northern California and meet with Mike Dyke, who's the active case agent.
00:15:37Oh, we know Mike Dyke, and we don't trust him.
00:15:41This material is not leaving our possession.
00:15:47Okay.
00:15:49So, we're going with you.
00:15:51Okay.
00:15:54Michael Dyke has been the lead investigator on the Alcatraz escape for the last 12 years, a case that remains open for the U.S. Marshals Service.
00:16:02Every case is open until we close it, by either arrest, or someone reaches the age of 99, or the court decides to dismiss the warrant.
00:16:13If we did find them, they would be still arrested because they still, believe it or not, owe time to the government.
00:16:20Dyke's single greatest lead in the Alcatraz case are bones that washed up in San Francisco Bay nine months after the escape.
00:16:27Statistical records show that two out of every three people who go missing in San Francisco Bay will eventually be found, which leads Dyke to a possible conclusion in his case.
00:16:39These bones were believed to possibly be one of the escapees, but never could be proven because of DNA evidence at the time.
00:16:46In 2010, Dyke tested family DNA from the third escapee, Frank Morris, against the washed-up bones, but his efforts proved inconclusive.
00:16:58About the same time I started working on DNA reference samples for the Morris family, I also contacted members of the Anglin family.
00:17:06I did have a face-to-face meeting with them in 2012, and they flat-out refused to provide a reference sample.
00:17:14No, you know, no in hell no.
00:17:18We told Marshal Dyke that we would be willing to do it only if we could do it on our terms, and he didn't like that.
00:17:27The Anglin family has had this long, drawn-out period of mistrust, mostly because of the way they feel that they were treated by the FBI at the time of the escape.
00:17:38The FBI was very aggressive in their investigation at the time because, you know, it was a very big deal.
00:17:44I've been very generous as far as not bothering them very much at all.
00:17:49I know he's trying to close this case, but he wants to close it on his terms.
00:17:55He wants to be the hero.
00:17:57Well, guess what? He's not going to be the guy that saved the day.
00:18:00He's not going to get anything unless we give it to him.
00:18:04Art, Ken, and David arrive in the Bay Area, minutes away from a meeting with Marshal Dyke.
00:18:19For the brothers, who've had years of run-ins with the Marshal, entering Dyke's office is like walking into enemy territory.
00:18:26And they have no idea how he will react to their new evidence.
00:18:31What do you think? What do you think is going to happen today?
00:18:38I'm a little apprehensive about this, I'm going to be honest with you.
00:18:41Because if he tries to grab what we have and cut us out of this, I'm not going to be very happy about it.
00:18:47He could legally do that, but I think the difference is you're cooperating with us now.
00:18:52So I think he's going to have a different tune when we sit down at this meeting.
00:18:58You know, my biggest fear is that he wants to close the case and him be the cowboy to save the day.
00:19:06How you doing, Art? How you doing?
00:19:07Good to see you, man.
00:19:08How you doing?
00:19:09Good to see you again.
00:19:09Good to see you again.
00:19:10David, good to see you.
00:19:11How you doing? Good to see you.
00:19:12Come on in the office over here.
00:19:16Mike, as you're very familiar with this case, it's 53 years old.
00:19:20The difference is now is that we have the cooperation of the family, which wasn't there before.
00:19:26I appreciate that. That's what I've been looking for.
00:19:28I recovered those bones about five years ago, and I've been just looking for any samples I can get to compare it to either Morris or the Anglin brothers.
00:19:36So I really appreciate any help you can give me on it.
00:19:39Well, we know you want the DNA.
00:19:43You've been trying to get it for two or three years now.
00:19:46We got something we want.
00:19:47We would like to have Alfred exhumed to find out how he died.
00:19:56Alfred is another key to what really happened to John and Clarence.
00:20:07Legendary escapees.
00:20:09Alfred and Clarence ended up serving concurrent state time in Alabama penitentiary.
00:20:30A little bit more than a year after the Alcatraz escape, Alfred tried an escape of his own.
00:20:37He and another inmate gathered some tools, hacksaw blades, and were able to saw at some bars and climbed out the window.
00:20:44And there was a high-voltage power line there.
00:20:47He accidentally hit the high-voltage line and electrocuted himself to death.
00:20:50That is the official cause of death.
00:20:54A coroner did do an inquiry, and they couldn't find any other evidence of death other than electrocution.
00:21:04It didn't happen the way they said it happened.
00:21:07We don't believe that.
00:21:09Uncle Robert went down, and he ID'd the body.
00:21:13And the funeral director told him this man had not been electrocuted.
00:21:18He had been beaten to death.
00:21:20My mom and dad was the last ones to see Alfred alive.
00:21:24When they visited him in Kilby Prison in 1963 at Christmas, he told them,
00:21:32I know where they're at.
00:21:34I'm coming up for parole.
00:21:36When I get out, I'm going to meet them.
00:21:39Eleven days later, he was dead.
00:21:43The shocking revelation from Alfred that he knew his brothers not only survived the water crossing at Alcatraz,
00:21:49but were living somewhere as free men,
00:21:52is the reason the Anglin family believes a vast government conspiracy has been forever at play.
00:21:59In the family's mind, they had that table bugged,
00:22:04and they knew that he knew where they were.
00:22:08And the family really believed that they beat him to death,
00:22:10trying to get him to tell them where their boys were.
00:22:13For David and Ken, there's only one way to resolve their family's longstanding questions.
00:22:20I'm proposing to them, if they dig Alfred up and find out how he really died,
00:22:28then they can have the DNA from Alfred.
00:22:30We can make arrangements to have Alfred exhumed and an autopsy done on him.
00:22:43And they can look and see if there's a cause of death other than electrocution.
00:22:47Sounds like a plan.
00:22:48The exhumation of Alfred Anglin, I think, solves two things.
00:22:52I mean, number one, we're going to get great DNA samples.
00:22:55The most actionable lead that the marshal service has right now
00:22:59is the bones that washed up on the beach back in 63.
00:23:03And up to this point, the family has not made available any DNA to be compared to the sample
00:23:09that they have from the bones that they discovered.
00:23:12Number two, if we do find some trauma to the body that looks like he was beaten to death,
00:23:18then obviously that's going to be big news.
00:23:20I mean, it's a homicide case.
00:23:21Might be 52 years old, but it's still a homicide case.
00:23:24Any connection to the Anglin family at all and any connection back to Alcatraz is going to be big news.
00:23:31With the deal in place, it's time for David and Ken to present their new evidence to the active marshal.
00:23:37Well, I'm sure that you've heard all the stories
00:23:40and you know that the family received some Christmas cards after the escape.
00:23:46I have heard that, and I'd love to see those if you have.
00:23:50Well, I would like to show you.
00:23:51Okay.
00:23:51They did not come in an envelope.
00:23:55They were placed in the mailbox.
00:23:58Do you think the handwriting looks similar?
00:24:04John's name is really close.
00:24:11And so is Clarence's name.
00:24:13But, you know, handwriting's a lot more than just looking at letters or spacing.
00:24:16There's pen pressure.
00:24:17There's a lot of different things involved with handwriting samples.
00:24:20But, uh, is there a way to prove that these came after the escape?
00:24:27That's what I would be really interested in finding out.
00:24:29So.
00:24:31Yeah, the only thing I figured was possibly looking at when the cards were made.
00:24:35Yeah.
00:24:35Well, we also have some other items.
00:24:40These items were given to the family in 1992 by a family friend that actually grew up with the brothers, John and Clarence.
00:24:53And in 1975, he took this photograph.
00:25:03I thought maybe you might be interested in that one.
00:25:05I thought maybe you might be interested in that one.
00:25:08Yes, I am.
00:25:11Inside the secure walls of San Francisco's federal building, the lead investigator on the Alcatraz escape case, U.S. Marshal Michael Dyke, has just seen something that may prove incredible.
00:25:32I thought maybe you might be interested in that one.
00:25:34I thought maybe you might be interested in that one.
00:25:36Yes, I am.
00:25:38Brothers David and Ken Widener are the nephews of two of the three Alcatraz escapees and are showing the Marshal family evidence that they say is their uncles, John and Clarence Anglin, alive years after the 1962 escape.
00:25:54You think you recognize them?
00:25:59Oh, they look like they could possibly be John and Clarence.
00:26:05In 1975.
00:26:08We put together another series of photographs that does some comparisons with their Alcatraz and some of the family photographs.
00:26:20And you can see in Clarence, you look at the hairline.
00:26:24The hairline is exactly the same to all of his photographs, including his mugshot and Alcatraz.
00:26:31You look at his jawline, exactly the same.
00:26:34There's a lot of similarities here.
00:26:36And that was 1975.
00:26:38And then who gave you the photo?
00:26:41The family friend, you said, gave you the photo, right?
00:26:43Yes.
00:26:44Now, when they sent you the photo, did they claim it was John and Clarence?
00:26:47Yes.
00:26:47They did claim that.
00:26:48Okay.
00:26:48And they say, where the photo was taken?
00:26:54Brazil.
00:26:54Brazil.
00:26:55Brazil?
00:26:55On their farm that they own.
00:26:57Okay.
00:26:58Which is very interesting because in the early 90s, I took a phone call from a male.
00:27:05It relayed basically that story to me.
00:27:07He saw them in Brazil?
00:27:09He saw them in Brazil on a farm.
00:27:11Okay.
00:27:11But at that point in time, it really wasn't actionable enough.
00:27:15Okay.
00:27:16But that phone call always stuck in my head all these years.
00:27:19Okay.
00:27:19I've had a lot of photos sent to me from various people everywhere.
00:27:23And I've never seen this photo, just so you know.
00:27:25Well, we actually have some other photographs.
00:27:26Do you?
00:27:27I'd love to see them.
00:27:28Anything you have is always helpful.
00:27:31How about a picture of their farm?
00:27:42Same color soil.
00:27:43Mm-hmm.
00:27:46And this does not look like American, like the electricity pole and everything does not look like American.
00:27:51The family friend you said gave you the photo.
00:27:53Obviously, you have his name.
00:27:55That is Fred Breezy.
00:27:59Fred Breezy.
00:28:00He was a family friend of the boys growing up.
00:28:05Fred Breezy grew up with the brothers.
00:28:10They actually lived on a river called the Alifi River.
00:28:14So as children, Fred and John and Clarence and Alfred, they all played together out in the water, swimming, cutting up.
00:28:24So he grew up with them.
00:28:25As Breezy and the Anglin boys grew into men, the family claims they all remained friends, even as the Anglins took to a life of crime, spending time in the federal penitentiary system.
00:28:44In 1992, 30 years after the Alcatraz escape, their childhood friend unexpectedly reached out to the Anglin family, asking for a meeting.
00:28:56And when he arrived at the family compound, Breezy shared a wild, sensational story with the entire Anglin clan.
00:29:06In 1975, he went down to Brazil, and he went to a bar right outside of Rio.
00:29:15He said he had just sat down, and all of a sudden, he said, an American came into the bar, and he went, my God, I know that man.
00:29:28And he said, the guy got up, walked to the bathroom, and he stopped him.
00:29:36And he said, John.
00:29:38Do you remember me?
00:29:40John turned around and looked at him and said, yeah, you look familiar.
00:29:44He said, I'm Fred, Fred Breezy.
00:29:46And he said, John went, oh, my God.
00:29:49And then he took a picture of them.
00:30:19I think that the boys wanted him to bring that picture back to the family.
00:30:26He was telling my mom and them, he said, I just want y'all to know.
00:30:30They wanted me to tell you, do not worry about them.
00:30:36I have no doubt Fred Breezy was telling the truth.
00:30:40And I have photographs to prove what he said.
00:30:45Breezy's tale is a bit much to take on face value.
00:30:48But testing the photos could verify its truth.
00:30:52What I like is, obviously, he grew up with them.
00:30:55So he played with them as a kid.
00:30:57There's a long connective history there.
00:31:01These photographs are promising, and I'd like to really look into this one some more.
00:31:05And is there a possibility I can get photocopies or photograph copies of each of these things?
00:31:09And that way I can also do my own research into it?
00:31:15We would like to do everything with an independent group.
00:31:18Okay, I understand.
00:31:18Just so that we can come back.
00:31:20And as this trust is being built between us.
00:31:25I understand.
00:31:26I'm not doing anything on my investigation to violate that at all.
00:31:30Everything I'm doing is up and up and up in the front.
00:31:33Well, what if I was to tell you that we've got something to back those photographs up?
00:31:37Okay, and anything you have would be wonderful.
00:31:46The whole situation of it is, nobody positively, absolutely knows they're alive, really, but me.
00:31:55And I sat and talked to them.
00:31:56When I asked them, I said, well, I said, how did you boys make the process?
00:32:01Neither one of them said anything, and I said, I don't know how you did it now.
00:32:04I said, I remember.
00:32:06Well, down here at the mouth of the Alphi, we'd go down there and take a rope and tie it around a rudder poke.
00:32:12And we'd wait for the boat to hold on up, and we'd hold on to this rope and body serve.
00:32:17You're the first one, he says, has ever thought of it.
00:32:20He said, that's the way we came from.
00:32:21Now, we need to have this cleaned up a little bit, but that's Fred Breezy.
00:32:30Okay.
00:32:31And it was recorded off of that tape recorder.
00:32:34That's my mom sitting right beside Breezy.
00:32:39Both Dyke and Roderick realize the magnitude of the recording.
00:32:44Not only does it provide more context for the incredible photographs,
00:32:48but Breezy's story on tape seems to state that the Alcatraz escapees
00:32:52neither swam nor paddled off the island, but were, in fact, somehow towed to freedom.
00:33:01Down here at the mouth of the Alphi, we'd go down there and take a rope and tie it around a rudder poke.
00:33:07And we'd wait for the poke to hold on up, and we'd hold on to this rope and body serve.
00:33:13That's the way we came from.
00:33:14This here is something that I know I want to look into a lot more.
00:33:23The new evidence the brothers have introduced are the first new leads since the escape.
00:33:28The Breezy story is pretty incredible about how he just all of a sudden bumped into them down in Rio de Janeiro.
00:33:35But what led some credence to the story is the evidence that were provided in the form of the photographs.
00:33:44From this point on, we're going to have to really dive into Breezy's background and his connection to the family members.
00:33:51Walking out of the office, David and Ken are certain of only one thing.
00:33:55Their uncle Alfred will soon be lifted from the ground, a development that will not only help move the Alcatraz case forward, but will also solve a conspiracy.
00:34:05The family insists was behind his death in 1964.
00:34:1051 years my grandfather wanted this done.
00:34:13He didn't have the ability to do it, and now the marshal services are offering to do it for us.
00:34:18And we're going to close that part of our case, which is really the family's case.
00:34:24The wheels in motion thanks to their evidence.
00:34:27The brothers figure there's only one place they need to visit in San Francisco.
00:34:31The former temporary home of their uncles.
00:34:35Alcatraz Island.
00:34:36John and Clarence Anglin were Alcatraz inmates 1476 and 1485, respectively.
00:34:58But who were these men, and how did they get off the rock?
00:35:01Much of the ingenuity of their feet is credited to the third escapee, Frank Morris, whose IQ was apparently measured at 133, a figure that placed him in the top 3% of the population.
00:35:19And while the escape and its planning was a collective effort that included Morris, the Anglin boys played a central role in helping craft the plan.
00:35:28That's one of the things that always makes me so mad.
00:35:30I hear all the stories about, oh, Frank Morris, you know, had a high IQ.
00:35:36He's the one who came up with this plan.
00:35:38And the Anglin brothers, they were dumb farm hicks with a third grade education.
00:35:43They didn't know what they were doing.
00:35:46And I don't believe that for a moment.
00:35:48Growing up, Mom said they could make anything out of nothing.
00:35:53They were the MacGyvers of the 1950s.
00:35:56Over the course of 15 months, the Anglins tapped into their resourcefulness, creatively assembling the assets they would need to escape Alcatraz undetected.
00:36:09We've read in the files that 52 raincoats were missing.
00:36:17We know that Clarence knew how to stitch.
00:36:20They made not only a boat out of it, but they also made life preservers.
00:36:25They took up painting.
00:36:28They actually painted portraits of their girlfriends.
00:36:32Well, the only reason they did that, they needed flesh-colored paint to put on those dummy heads.
00:36:38Clarence took a job in the barbershop.
00:36:43He knew he needed hair.
00:36:46So he took hair and dropped it as he was cutting it, and it would fall down in his cuffs of his pants.
00:36:52And he walked it back to his cell.
00:36:56They do all that under the noses of the guards?
00:36:59I mean, what else can you say about them?
00:37:01They were highly intelligent men.
00:37:03By June 11, 1962, with the holes in their cells cut and covered, and a plan in place, it was only a matter of hours before the men made their break.
00:37:19What happened to them when they hit the water has been debated and theorized for half a century.
00:37:27With speculation on the escape continuing to this day.
00:37:33Michael Eslinger is currently working on a book about the escaped Anglins.
00:37:39He's joining their nephews, Ken and David, and former lead Alcatraz investigator Art Roderick, for a trip to The Rock.
00:37:47As the ferry inches closer to Alcatraz Island, the weight of their current odyssey descends upon the brothers.
00:38:05And what their infamous uncles must have been thinking in 1960, as they prepare to be locked away in the harshest prison known to man.
00:38:14I want the world to know that when they go out to Alcatraz, and they walk around and they see the mugshots, they hear about the robbery, and they hear the stories about how they got out.
00:38:29I want them to know that these were more than criminals.
00:38:37They weren't murderers.
00:38:38You know, they robbed a bank with a toy gun.
00:38:41But what got them sent to Alcatraz is, hey, we can't keep these boys anywhere.
00:38:46Let's put them in Alcatraz.
00:38:47We can keep them there.
00:38:48These were not totally bad people.
00:38:54They were human beings.
00:38:56They had a family.
00:38:57They had a mom and dad who loved them.
00:39:00They had brothers and sisters who cared about them.
00:39:06These were my uncles.
00:39:07And this is where they first made their first entry.
00:39:30This is it.
00:39:31Wow.
00:39:31This was their first stop in sight.
00:39:34Wow.
00:39:34Wow.
00:39:37And here we are.
00:39:46Wow.
00:39:48It always blows me away.
00:39:51It always blows me away.
00:39:53That's right.
00:40:07Well, this is where our whole life started with all the harassment, everything.
00:40:26Yeah, this is where all of our lives got turned upside down.
00:40:29I mean, they left and our, you know, it affected all of us.
00:40:33Here it is.
00:40:34This is Clarence's sale.
00:40:36Wow.
00:40:38They left right through that hole.
00:40:44Unbelievable.
00:40:47Just couldn't nothing hold them.
00:40:48I just cannot believe they were actually in there.
00:41:02You know, their beds were side by side.
00:41:09Just a concrete wall separating them.
00:41:12I bet it was good to be close to family.
00:41:17Yeah, that was probably the only way they kept their sanity.
00:41:21But, you know, it didn't end here.
00:41:28No.
00:41:29No.
00:41:30I do not believe it ended here.
00:41:32It might have began here, but it didn't end here.
00:41:35At approximately 9.30 p.m. on June 11th, 1962, just after the guards called for lights out.
00:41:5415 months of meticulous preparation was finally put to the test.
00:41:59The three cons inched out of the backs of their cells through tiny holes that they had spent months cutting and concealing.
00:42:09Made their way up the ventilator shaft and out onto the roof of the cell block.
00:42:15What they did next turned them into legends.
00:42:19David and Ken Widener are the nephews of two men who used to call these cells home.
00:42:33Alcatraz escapees John and Clarence Anglin.
00:42:38The brothers are shadowing the footsteps of their uncles as part of a fresh investigation into the escape.
00:42:44And the trip is rekindling a host of emotional childhood memories.
00:42:50I remember my mom telling me the story.
00:42:56I was just a small kid.
00:43:00A baby, actually.
00:43:01And she said she heard it on the news.
00:43:04The school froze right here at the bar.
00:43:06That there had been an escape at the Alcatraz prison.
00:43:09She said she knew right then who it was.
00:43:12It appears to be the first successful escape in the history of the maximum security prison.
00:43:17And from that moment on, everything changed.
00:43:20I mean, it was in our blood from the very beginning.
00:43:23As kids, we would hear our parents, you know, when they'd get together, you know, they would talk.
00:43:31And a lot of times when the kids would come around, they'd stop talking.
00:43:35And we know that they knew more than they were telling.
00:43:40Coming from that background, it did make you want to go dick.
00:43:44It made you want to look past what some of the stories were and say, well, what caused that story to occur?
00:43:52The brothers mined the family archive and found these photos, two men in Brazil in 1975, whom they believe are John and Clarence Anglin.
00:44:05To try and find out what happened to their uncles, they've teamed up with former U.S. Marshal Art Broderick and historian Michael Esslinger.
00:44:13You know, once they get out from the ventilator on top of the roof, they slowly started making their way across the top of the hospital to this side.
00:44:22One by one, they come down, which is a large smokestack.
00:44:25It's no longer here.
00:44:27And they make their way down.
00:44:30So there's soot all over it.
00:44:32It's real dirty.
00:44:33You can actually see in a lot of the FBI photographs, sneaker prints leading away from the smokestack.
00:44:40They make their way out onto the officer's catwalk for the rent yard.
00:44:49Go down into the vegetation here and then walk right in front of the water tower.
00:45:00And made their way down this location here.
00:45:02It's amazing that right over here, this is what some of the FBI photos show.
00:45:06So the Bureau found footprints evidence that they came exactly this route.
00:45:10They did.
00:45:11Oh, my gosh.
00:45:13Well, your adrenaline would be pumping at this point because you're so close.
00:45:17I mean, when you think about it, all the planning that went into getting to this point in the escape, you know, here they were.
00:45:22They were carrying their raft, their life preserver.
00:45:24They had their paddles, their packs, the concertina to, you know, inflate everything.
00:45:29I mean, it's, it's really amazing.
00:45:32Wow.
00:45:33You could taste freedom from here.
00:45:34You could.
00:45:44Everybody knows how they got to the water.
00:45:46I want to know the details around how they got from that water all the way to land.
00:45:51The main thing about Alcatraz, why everybody thought it was inescapable, was the water barrier.
00:45:59I mean, you're on an island.
00:46:01Tides, cold water, swift currents.
00:46:04So that even if you got to the edge of the island, you would never make it to the mainland.
00:46:12Them boys did not spend over a year planning this to get to the water and say, what do we do now?
00:46:20They knew all along what they were going to do.
00:46:23They had it planned out to a T.
00:46:27With no definitive proof that the brothers lived or died, the truth remains elusive.
00:46:33And the possibilities have been hotly debated since 1962.
00:46:40The widely held assumption is that the men put a raft into the water and paddled into the abyss.
00:46:46But a re-examination of past interviews and documents, combined with the evidence the family has unearthed, has generated a shocking new theory.
00:46:56Basically, what the theory is, is that rather than just get to the water's edge of the raft and then go out towards the Golden Gate, they actually went around the perimeter of the island.
00:47:05There's an FBI document that indicates that when they were searching the island, they had actually brought bloodhounds on the island.
00:47:14And what they stated was, was that the bloodhounds actually made it to the cave, and that's where they lost the scent.
00:47:20The only true caves on Alcatraz were actually on the west side of the island, near the incinerator.
00:47:28Working their way around the island allowed the escapees to avoid the only active guard tower on Alcatraz, on the east side of the island.
00:47:37But even if the men made this full circle and landed at the prison's boat dock, the question still begs, how did they cross the bay?
00:47:46The answer may lie hidden within the maze of information collected by the authorities in the days following the escape.
00:47:54FBI records state that 120 feet of electrical cord, that was stored near the boat dock, was reported missing.
00:48:04A ferry would shuttle prison guards to and from the island.
00:48:07The last departure that night was at 1210 AM.
00:48:13When the feds studied the contents of each escapee's cell the morning after the escape, they found some telling evidence.
00:48:19On Frank Morris' desk were three magazines.
00:48:24One, a copy of Popular Mechanics, showing how to build a homemade raft.
00:48:28Another, a Sports Illustrated article, detailing how a boat enters and exits a slip.
00:48:34And how to tie and untie the boat from a dock.
00:48:37And the final magazine, left open by the inmate.
00:48:40A Miller High Life advertisement, showing a couple on a beach kicking back with a few beers.
00:48:45When deciphered from the maze of evidence, these facts, the electrical cord, the ferry schedule, and the magazines, reveal an intricate roadmap for the escapees once they make it to the boat dock.
00:49:00The theory is, is that they came up right up under the dock here, where the actual prison launch was sitting.
00:49:11And then they went underwater, tied the electrical cord to the cowling up by the rudder, and then fed this cord all the way around the dock.
00:49:18So that way, when the prison launch was coming out of the slip, they would actually be able to position the raft to where it would actually be towed right out as the boat took off towards the mainland.
00:49:28The escapees could have known exactly when to be at the boat dock for their departure, used the instructions in the magazines, and tied the stolen electrical cord to the guard boat for their tow.
00:49:42So they didn't swim. They didn't paddle. There was three boats leaving that island that night, and they caught a ride from one of them.
00:49:52The theory continues that as the guard boat left the Alcatraz shoreline, the fugitive somehow untied the cord and paddled to a nearby getaway boat.
00:50:05Remarkably, there is a witness to this theory.
00:50:08A young San Francisco beat cop named Robert Checke told the FBI and the Oakland Tribune that he was smoking a cigarette at St. Francis Yacht Club after his shift when he looked out towards Alcatraz and saw something suspicious a couple hundred yards away in the water.
00:50:27Between him and Alcatraz Island, Checke noticed a pristine white boat in the bay with no fishing poles sitting idle for 20 to 30 minutes before making its way towards the Golden Gate Bridge.
00:50:42In the frantic manhunt that followed the escape, the FBI dismissed his account out of hand.
00:50:48But if what he saw was tied to the prison break, it would mean that the escapees had received help from the outside.
00:50:57I really believe that this is a game changer. It actually would bring them right to the very location that Officer Checke was in.
00:51:04You know, before it seemed so random and there was no possible way that they could have got to that area.
00:51:09But now when you put all of this together and you connect the dots, it actually would put them right in the same area that he witnessed that boat out on the bay that night.
00:51:17This makes more sense than anything I've ever heard before.
00:51:20If you take portions of what we got from Breezy, the alternative theory, the missing extension cord, that all kind of fits.
00:51:28And I think the clincher is Officer Checke seeing the boat out there.
00:51:32And I've always looked at that newspaper view and thought, wow, this is very compelling.
00:51:37I actually think it changes all of the theories and makes it plausible.
00:51:41It makes it actually one of the most reasonable ways to get off the island, in my opinion.
00:51:45But who would agree to provide such help?
00:51:52And who could the escapees truly trust to keep their plan close to the vest?
00:51:57Not only during the 15 months of planning, but for years after, as fugitives from the law.
00:52:03Roderick believes Anglin family friend Fred Breezy may have the answer.
00:52:12The whole situation of it is, nobody positively, absolutely knows they're alive, really, but me.
00:52:20And I sat and talked to them.
00:52:22I asked them, I said, well, I said, how did you boys make the process?
00:52:26Neither one of them said anything, and I said, I know how you did it now.
00:52:30Well, down here at the mouth of the alibi, we'd go down there and take a rope and tie it around a rudder post.
00:52:37And we'd wait for the boat to hold on up, and we'd hold on to this rope and body, sir.
00:52:43You're the first one, he says, has ever thought of it.
00:52:46That's the way we came from.
00:53:00The search for the truth in the 1962 Alcatraz escape case is unfolding.
00:53:07A plausible new theory on how the escapees made their way to freedom has just been explored,
00:53:13and is supported by evidence that was presented by the family of the escaped Anglins.
00:53:18Now, the nephews of John and Clarence are on their way back to Central Florida to follow an important, if painful, lead.
00:53:28Exhuming another of their uncles, Alfred Anglin, whose corpse holds details that could solve the mysteries of the rock.
00:53:35The only way that we're going to get to the bottom of this is to dig him up and find out what really happened to him.
00:53:42It's going to be tough, you know, but I'm going to do it because, yes, we do have something to prove.
00:53:49As the brothers make their way to the family plot in rural Ruskin, Art Roderick touches ground in Washington.
00:54:00The former lead investigator on the Alcatraz case is back in D.C., walking into a meeting with longtime cop Michael Streed,
00:54:08now one of the country's preeminent facial imaging experts.
00:54:12I've got some photographs I'd like to show you. I'm hoping you can help me out on this.
00:54:17This picture of two individuals taken probably sometime in the mid-1970s.
00:54:28This picture is supposedly of John and Clarence Anglin.
00:54:32John being on your right, Clarence being on your left.
00:54:36Here is a mugshot of John from 1960, and then Clarence.
00:54:44I also have some family photos in digital format that I can provide you.
00:54:49All right.
00:54:50This is probably the absolute best lead in this case since 1962.
00:54:58If you can come up with something where you see some similarity in there, you with your investigative background would say,
00:55:08I would continue to investigate this particular lead, that's what I'm looking for.
00:55:12Okay.
00:55:13So typically what we do is if there were, they weren't wearing the glasses and stuff,
00:55:17you had to measure your peopleary distance and, you know, measure chin to mouth and do all the morphological measurements and such.
00:55:23In this case, you don't have that, so it's more relying on a surface feature.
00:55:28What I'm going to have to do is scan them into the computer, take a look and start doing some detailed analysis.
00:55:33Okay.
00:55:34Very good.
00:55:35Back in Florida, a convoy is on the move, thanks to a deal the Widener brothers have struck with the U.S. Marshals Service.
00:55:47If the government helps to exhume their uncle, Alfred, and conducts an autopsy to once and for all determine his cause of death,
00:55:56the family will offer up a sample of Alfred's bone for forensic analysis.
00:56:06We are fixing to go do something that's, this is amazing, going to be incredible.
00:56:11It is amazing.
00:56:12David and Ken's mother, Marie, along with their aunt, Merle, are the younger sisters of John, Clarence, and Alfred.
00:56:22Been a long time coming.
00:56:24Well, they have.
00:56:26You know, I asked my mom, is she prepared for Alfred coming out of the ground?
00:56:31And she is.
00:56:33Her and Merle, my Aunt Merle, they've both been waiting a long time for somebody to prove what they already know.
00:56:43In 1958, Alfred Anglin, along with his soon-to-be infamous brothers John and Clarence, robbed a bank in Columbia, Alabama.
00:56:52The bank heist put each of the brothers behind bars.
00:56:56John and Clarence would eventually be sent to Alcatraz, while Alfred ultimately stayed in Alabama.
00:57:02He ends up at Kilby Prison in September of 1963.
00:57:08When he arrives, he's actually already eligible for parole.
00:57:12So all he's got to do is just, you know, a couple more years and he's going to get out of prison.
00:57:15But in January of 64, after John and Clarence had already pulled off their mysterious escape from The Rock, Kilby Prison notified the Anglin family that Alfred had attempted a brazen escape of his own and died in the process.
00:57:30Alfred, we are fixing to find the truth about you, honey.
00:57:40We've always thought that they killed you.
00:57:43That's right.
00:57:44And now we're about to find out.
00:57:46Yes.
00:57:48Amen.
00:57:49Amen.
00:57:51There's no way Uncle Alfred only had a few days left to come up for a parole hearing.
00:57:57There's no way he tried to escape.
00:58:02Never make me believe that.
00:58:06Sorry.
00:58:09For the past 51 years, the Anglin clan has maintained that Alfred was beaten to death by prison authorities.
00:58:17After getting wind that his brothers made it safely off Alcatraz Island, the alleged beating, they believe, was due to refusing to share what he knew with Kilby officials.
00:58:28I know that they made it.
00:58:31And I know that he knew they made it.
00:58:34And that's the reason why he was killed.
00:58:38If the results come back that Alfred has broken bones, then Alabama is going to have to answer to what really happened to Alfred.
00:58:47How did he get broken bones when y'all claim he was electrocuted?
00:58:51The official autopsy gives the marshals something they've long sought, a DNA sample from the Anglin family, to match up against the bones that washed ashore in San Francisco Bay nine months after the escape.
00:59:05Well, I want y'all to know it's been a long time coming.
00:59:12Yeah, it has, David.
00:59:1351 years.
00:59:14It has.
00:59:1551 years to solve this puzzle.
00:59:16It has.
00:59:1751 years to solve this puzzle.
00:59:18And we are about to find out.
00:59:25Ready?
00:59:26Roger.
00:59:27As Alfred's coffin is raised, Roderick makes his way to official marshals' headquarters.
00:59:28where he is learning mountainous and the江vars' self in the city.
00:59:33»
00:59:42He's03.
00:59:45Let me see what my favorite Creek is to do in the city here in the city.
00:59:47He just saw his own room.
00:59:49As Alfred's coffin is raised, Roderick makes his way to official marshals' headquarters where he is learning money as ailer.
00:59:51As Alfred's coffin is raised, Roderick makes his way to official marshals' headquarters.
00:59:56headquarters, where he is learning more about the Anglin family friend who claims to have
01:00:00taken pictures of Alcatraz inmates John and Clarence Anglin in Brazil in 1975, 13 years
01:00:07after their escape.
01:00:13Hey, how are you doing?
01:00:14Henry, how are you?
01:00:15Good to see you.
01:00:16Chief Inspector Henry G. Berth is well aware of one of the agency's most notorious cold
01:00:21cases.
01:00:22It seems like a pivotal person in this particular escape case is an individual by the name
01:00:28of Fred Breezy.
01:00:30Breezy.
01:00:31I don't know how it's spelt.
01:00:32Okay.
01:00:33The greatest thing I've got is just a picture of the individual, and that was probably taken
01:00:39around 1992.
01:00:41Now, he grew up with the Anglin brothers, all of them, and apparently he actually ran into
01:00:47them in the mid-70s down in Brazil.
01:00:49Oh, really?
01:00:50Yes, and I was hoping, possibly, you could query the system and do a run on them and
01:00:56see what we got in the database on them.
01:01:01I see you.
01:01:01I see you moving.
01:01:02It's moving.
01:01:03Yes!
01:01:04It's moving.
01:01:05Here he comes.
01:01:06Oh!
01:01:07Wow.
01:01:08There he is.
01:01:11Started right here.
01:01:13Yep.
01:01:14Started right here.
01:01:15Yeah.
01:01:16Been wanting to do this since you're 11 years old.
01:01:18Wow.
01:01:19Yeah.
01:01:20He said, Mom, I want to do this, but I don't know where to start.
01:01:24Well, here we are.
01:01:25Here we are.
01:01:32I believe this is what Alfred wanted.
01:01:35He doesn't have a voice today.
01:01:37We're his voice.
01:01:38We just know that you and Mama would not leave this earth.
01:01:44Not Noah.
01:01:44Not Noah.
01:01:45Not Noah.
01:01:45The brother of Alcatraz escapees, John and Clarence Anglin, is exhumed from the earth
01:02:08after 51 years underground.
01:02:12His dramatic resurrection and transport to the autopsy room is the result of an agreement
01:02:17the Anglin family has made with the U.S. Marshal Service.
01:02:20Help solve a family conspiracy theory related to Alfred's death by conducting an official autopsy
01:02:28on his corpse.
01:02:30And in exchange, the Anglins will provide a DNA sample from his remains to test against
01:02:36bones that washed up in San Francisco Bay nine months after the 1962 escape.
01:02:41I'm ready for some justice and some closure to this situation, and we are ready to learn
01:02:49the truth about what happened to my brother, Alfred.
01:02:55They're opening the head.
01:02:56Okay, okay.
01:02:58You know, it was really tense for me because there was some doubt that he might not even
01:03:03be in the casket, you know, or was he going to be in good enough shape to do anything with?
01:03:10You know, you're going to need it down here a little bit, too.
01:03:17Oh, yeah.
01:03:19Oof.
01:03:20I was totally shocked, and I believe everybody else there was totally shocked at what they
01:03:27saw.
01:03:28What I saw is imprinted in my head.
01:03:30I seen who I know was my uncle, Alfred.
01:03:33Alfred Ray Anglin.
01:03:41Alfred Ray Anglin, brother to the Alcatraz escapees, well-preserved after half a century
01:03:47underground.
01:03:48Because he's in that good of a shape, we should be able to get the answer whether
01:03:52or not, he was murdered.
01:03:54Yeah.
01:03:54And we can also use the DNA to prove those bones are not any of the Anglins.
01:03:59Yeah.
01:04:00We're actually going to solve two different things here.
01:04:02We're one way or the other.
01:04:03He's going to be the answer to two questions.
01:04:10I did some digging, you know, Fred Breezy, and I came up with a potential lead for you.
01:04:14His criminal history dates back to 1946 and involves a wide gamut of things, but primarily
01:04:20narcotics and weapons offenses.
01:04:23In the mid-1970s, Fred Breezy was part of a smuggling ring, moving marijuana, cocaine,
01:04:30and hashish from South America and the Caribbean into Central Florida.
01:04:35In October of 76, with a plane laden full of drugs, Breezy and his companion were forced
01:04:41to crash-land their prop plane in waters just outside of Ruskin, where they engaged in a
01:04:46shootout with local fishermen and were arrested for possession of $750,000 worth of drugs.
01:04:54Breezy was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
01:05:00But it was many years before his criminal exploits began that ties Fred Breezy to the Alcatraz case,
01:05:06when he grew up in Ruskin, just down the street from the 14 siblings of the Anglin clan.
01:05:14Yeah, he's got really quite an extensive record here.
01:05:17This is great stuff.
01:05:19I appreciate it, buddy.
01:05:20Do me a favor.
01:05:20Keep me in the loop.
01:05:21The preliminary information the active marshal provided is enough to pique the interest of Roderick.
01:05:27Fred Breezy was indeed a childhood friend of the Anglin brothers, had an extensive rap sheet,
01:05:32and, incredibly, was running drugs into central Florida from somewhere in the Americas,
01:05:39even possibly from Brazil.
01:05:42The Breezy story I find very interesting.
01:05:45What I find interesting about that, he was a pilot, and I think he was probably concerned
01:05:51about what would happen if he openly said he was involved in this escape.
01:05:55My thought is, he more than likely assisted them in the escape.
01:06:00If those two individuals are in Brazil, then more than likely he helped them get there.
01:06:08With the new information on Breezy, Roderick heads to Reagan National for the flight to central Florida,
01:06:15and the very likely possibility that tomorrow's autopsy of an Anglin brother
01:06:19may finally solve the mystery of the 1962 Alcatraz escape.
01:06:24Laying on a gurney at a funeral home in Hillsborough County, Florida,
01:06:40is the corpse of Alfred Anglin.
01:06:44He's the brother to Alcatraz escapees John and Clarence Anglin,
01:06:48and he and the secrets he carries have just been unearthed
01:06:51after more than half a century underground.
01:06:53Official Alabama prison records state Alfred was electrocuted to death
01:06:59upon attempting an escape from Kilby Prison in 1964.
01:07:04But the Anglin family has long suspected a government cover-up,
01:07:09believing Alfred was murdered by prison guards
01:07:11for refusing to share inside information he had
01:07:15about his brother's escape from Alcatraz.
01:07:17Having Alfred exhumed takes care of the issue that the family has that Alfred was beat to death
01:07:24that related to the brothers' escape, but also it gives us a clean DNA sample for us.
01:07:29Art Roderick is a retired United States Marshal and has just arrived at the autopsy room from Washington.
01:07:36He's acting as a liaison between the marshals and the family of the escaped Anglin brothers who have struck a
01:07:42once unthinkable agreement.
01:07:44The marshals will perform an autopsy on the corpse of Alfred Anglin to definitively determine his cause of death.
01:07:51And in return, the Anglins are providing a DNA sample from Alfred's bone to be tested against
01:07:58against the DNA of bones that washed ashore in San Francisco Bay nine months after the escape.
01:08:06Exhuming Alfred, I mean, that is so big.
01:08:10I mean, that's everything.
01:08:11You know, if we're able to test the DNA and figure out that, you know,
01:08:14those bones belong to one of the brothers,
01:08:16we saw one of the greatest mysteries from the 20th century.
01:08:20For the Anglin family, who believed the men made it across the water,
01:08:25learning the truth about Alfred and being able to share that story with the world
01:08:29is one of the main reasons to finally work with the authorities.
01:08:34I guarantee you, you could ask anyone today and no one would know anything about Alfred Anglin.
01:08:40And so to me, when we reached out to Art, it was not only a way to say,
01:08:46we know where they're at and we're going to help you find them,
01:08:50but it was also a way to give a voice to another brother that everybody simply forgot.
01:09:01Despite his time underground, Alfred's coffin was almost perfectly sealed,
01:09:07preserving the body better than anyone had expected.
01:09:10Dan Schultz is a noted pathologist and medical examiner
01:09:20and has been in practice for over 30 years.
01:09:23His first step before doing anything else to the corpse
01:09:26is to order a full-body X-ray,
01:09:29which will be used to determine if the family's suspicions of foul play are justified.
01:09:33Wow. Nice. Wow.
01:09:46Fifty-one years.
01:09:47Amazing, isn't it?
01:09:47Isn't that amazing?
01:09:48The family gets hung up on the inconsistencies
01:09:51as to whether there was an autopsy or not.
01:09:54But the real evidence is going to be, what does the body look like?
01:09:57Does the body look like it went through electrocution
01:10:00or did it go through a beating?
01:10:02That's the bottom line.
01:10:03So we're going to just cut up the middle
01:10:05and just take a look at what it looks like there.
01:10:08With the X-rays complete,
01:10:09pathologist Dan Schultz can begin his autopsy
01:10:12and the extraction of bone for DNA sampling.
01:10:16So you are going to hold the bone down fixed,
01:10:20and I'm going to cut a segment.
01:10:21This is mid-shaft in the femur.
01:10:23In order to collect DNA, we took two samples.
01:10:25We took one sample about 7 centimeters long from each femur,
01:10:30which is the best media for good identification,
01:10:32and that's packaged up and will be sent to a laboratory.
01:10:38The lab results will have far-reaching consequences.
01:10:41If the DNA samples are a match,
01:10:43it would mean that one of the Anglin brothers died
01:10:46in the frigid waters after escaping from the rock.
01:10:49And the photo that the family believes
01:10:52is John and Clarence Anglin in Brazil in 1975
01:10:56is a complete fraud.
01:11:00But if the DNA doesn't match,
01:11:02the only remaining lead in this 53-year-old case
01:11:05is that photo.
01:11:06At the end of the day,
01:11:10we can come up with every theory in the world,
01:11:12but right now,
01:11:13there's nothing other than this photograph
01:11:15to show that they made it out.
01:11:19Roderick makes his way back to Washington, D.C.
01:11:22and heads straight for Michael Street.
01:11:24The facial imaging expert is in the middle
01:11:27of a detailed analysis of the photo,
01:11:30allegedly from Brazil,
01:11:31to determine whether the two men in the picture
01:11:33from 1975
01:11:34could be Alcatraz escapees
01:11:37John and Clarence Anglin.
01:11:40I think everybody who does
01:11:41some sort of forensic analysis
01:11:42doesn't want to be wrong.
01:11:44And I don't think in a case like this
01:11:46that you can be wrong
01:11:47because it's not a positive ID science.
01:11:49But I think the enormity of it for me
01:11:51was not wasting people's time,
01:11:54not getting the family's hopes up
01:11:55or getting law enforcement hopes up
01:11:57that they would still be there
01:11:58because they would have to provide
01:11:59a tremendous amount of resources
01:12:01to reopening the case.
01:12:03So I took the photos that you provided
01:12:06and I went in and scanned them in the computer.
01:12:08And so what we'd like to do
01:12:10is we want to compare them together.
01:12:12And the first thing on both pictures,
01:12:14but especially on this one,
01:12:16is the forehead.
01:12:18The height and the shape of the forehead
01:12:19as well as the frontal bone there.
01:12:22If you look near the arrow there,
01:12:23that depression in both,
01:12:25that's bone structure.
01:12:26The forehead just blows me away
01:12:28how similar the forehead is.
01:12:29Well, you can see the brow.
01:12:31That sharp downward turn in the brow
01:12:34is what does it for me.
01:12:36If you look at the ear outline as well,
01:12:39and we'll go ahead
01:12:40and show you the ear overlay.
01:12:42Let's see how it matches up
01:12:43to the tracing and the ear.
01:12:45Wow.
01:12:45Look at that.
01:12:47It fits.
01:12:49Let's just go ahead and...
01:12:50It does.
01:12:51And if you just toggle in and toggle off,
01:12:55that opening matches.
01:12:58It's evident.
01:12:59You can't discount it.
01:13:00I mean, it really is.
01:13:01Like, he's wearing the mask.
01:13:03To me, that matches up.
01:13:06The nose, the hairline, the jawline.
01:13:11I'm listening to every word you say,
01:13:14but my mind is going 100 miles an hour here
01:13:17trying to figure out
01:13:18what we do next.
01:13:22I just never expected this.
01:13:25As a former detective
01:13:26and, you know, as a forensic artist,
01:13:29but mostly as a detective,
01:13:30my gut instinct as a police officer
01:13:31would be to round up the posse.
01:13:35I can't believe this.
01:13:37For over 50 years,
01:13:48the mysteries surrounding the Alcatraz escape
01:13:50have both confounded authorities
01:13:52and mesmerized the public.
01:13:54Three fugitives,
01:13:56brothers John and Clarence Anglin,
01:13:58along with Frank Morris,
01:13:59escaped from the rock,
01:14:01stepped into frigid waters,
01:14:02and, having never been found,
01:14:04secured a mythical place
01:14:06in American history.
01:14:08The main reason why Alcatraz Island
01:14:10still captivates everyone
01:14:11is because these three individuals
01:14:13did the unimaginable.
01:14:15It was really the great escape.
01:14:19Art Roderick is a retired
01:14:21United States Marshal
01:14:22and for the past few months
01:14:24has been working with the family
01:14:25of the escaped Anglin brothers
01:14:27to pursue fresh leads in the case
01:14:29thanks to shocking new evidence
01:14:31introduced by the family members themselves.
01:14:34Nobody positively,
01:14:36absolutely knows they're alive,
01:14:38really, but me.
01:14:40In his possession,
01:14:42Roderick now holds the final results
01:14:44of all aspects
01:14:45of their current investigation.
01:14:48And he's in Leesburg, Georgia,
01:14:50to deliver the news in person.
01:14:52What I'm getting ready
01:14:53to tell the family
01:14:54about what we found
01:14:56and the evidence that they gave me
01:14:57is going to move the needle
01:14:58on this case.
01:14:59For the Anglin family,
01:15:04the potentially historic news
01:15:06the lawman is about to share
01:15:08is less about American history
01:15:10and more about their own
01:15:11personal history.
01:15:14Finding out what happened
01:15:16to three beloved family members.
01:15:18You know, it's more than
01:15:20a TV show for us.
01:15:21This is personal.
01:15:24This is real life for us.
01:15:26I mean, we live this
01:15:27every single day.
01:15:31Ard!
01:15:32How you doing?
01:15:34How's it going?
01:15:35Good, good.
01:15:36How are you?
01:15:36Good to see you.
01:15:37Good to see you.
01:15:37How you doing, buddy?
01:15:38Good to see you.
01:15:40Well, we got a lot of stuff
01:15:41to go over.
01:15:43I think we should probably
01:15:45get to it.
01:15:45I'm ready for you.
01:15:46I'm ready.
01:15:47Okay.
01:15:47Absolutely ready.
01:15:48Let's go.
01:15:49We've been waiting a long time.
01:15:50Oh, I know.
01:15:51My nerves were going crazy.
01:15:54I knew that we were
01:15:55going to prove something.
01:15:57I wasn't sure exactly
01:15:58what it was.
01:16:00But I knew that it was
01:16:01going to be big.
01:16:03Well, first, I'm Marie,
01:16:05Ken, and David.
01:16:06I want to thank you all
01:16:07for inviting me along
01:16:08on this journey.
01:16:10Having said that,
01:16:10you provided quite a bit
01:16:12of information.
01:16:13Let's start with the first
01:16:15thing you gave me,
01:16:16which was the Christmas cards.
01:16:17It was very difficult
01:16:19to confirm what year
01:16:22those cards were made.
01:16:24And as far as being able
01:16:25to confirm that it's
01:16:27actual evidence that
01:16:28they made it out,
01:16:29the Christmas cards
01:16:30really don't provide
01:16:31that type of information.
01:16:33Okay?
01:16:34That was strike one for me.
01:16:36I was like, okay.
01:16:37You know, now he's bringing
01:16:40out the results for Alfred.
01:16:42The second item is near
01:16:46and dear to your family.
01:16:47And it's concerns
01:16:49Alfred's death.
01:16:50Right.
01:16:51Okay?
01:16:52Allowing us to exhume
01:16:53Alfred's body.
01:16:54Obviously, that served
01:16:56a dual purpose.
01:16:56Number one, you as the family
01:16:58wanted to find out
01:16:59if there was any evidence
01:17:01as to how he passed away.
01:17:03From the Marshal Service
01:17:04perspective, you know,
01:17:05we wanted to get a DNA sample
01:17:07to compare it to the remains
01:17:08that were found
01:17:09in San Francisco Bay.
01:17:10We were actually able
01:17:12to do both those things.
01:17:15The medical examiner
01:17:17provided us a report.
01:17:19Basically, what he did
01:17:20is he did a regular
01:17:21autopsy there.
01:17:22Okay?
01:17:23But they also did
01:17:25a head-to-foot x-ray.
01:17:29And I've got copies
01:17:31of this here.
01:17:32And so this is exactly
01:17:34what they did
01:17:36to determine, you know,
01:17:39if there could be
01:17:39any possible trauma
01:17:41to the bones.
01:17:48And the bottom line is
01:17:51when he did the complete
01:17:52medical examination,
01:17:55they could find no trauma
01:17:56to any of the bones.
01:17:58That was strike two for me.
01:18:02I was like, man, you know,
01:18:04it was just a downer,
01:18:05another downer.
01:18:07When you look at
01:18:08all the evidence
01:18:09around Alfred's death,
01:18:11it makes no sense
01:18:13whatsoever.
01:18:15Yes, it was definitely
01:18:16one of the things
01:18:18we needed to know.
01:18:20Right.
01:18:20Yeah, we really appreciate
01:18:22you doing this.
01:18:23No, it, you know,
01:18:25we're doing this together.
01:18:26Obviously, we wouldn't be
01:18:27at this point
01:18:27without your help.
01:18:28And that's the key thing
01:18:30to this case right now.
01:18:31I think we all want
01:18:32a resolution
01:18:33one way or the other.
01:18:35Christmas cards
01:18:36come back as a strike.
01:18:38The autopsy come back
01:18:39on Alfred, you know,
01:18:40that there was no
01:18:41blunt force trauma.
01:18:43Strike two.
01:18:44This DNA,
01:18:45we really needed
01:18:47to be right.
01:18:49This could not be
01:18:50strike three for us.
01:18:52We were able to take
01:18:53two seven millimeter
01:18:55samples from Alfred's
01:18:57femur bone,
01:18:58which the Marshal
01:18:59Service requested
01:18:59to be able to compare
01:19:01Alfred's DNA profile
01:19:03with a profile
01:19:04that was of the remains
01:19:05that were found
01:19:06in San Francisco Bay.
01:19:07We then sent it off
01:19:09to a forensic anthropologist
01:19:11and they were able
01:19:13to actually come up
01:19:14with a comparison
01:19:15between Alfred's DNA
01:19:18and the DNA
01:19:19that was located
01:19:20in San Francisco Bay.
01:19:21Unrelated.
01:19:31I knew it.
01:19:32What in his bones?
01:19:34I knew it.
01:19:35I knew it.
01:19:36Awesome.
01:19:36I knew it wasn't there.
01:19:37He had no doubt.
01:19:39That was not them.
01:19:40It's not even close.
01:19:41Not even close.
01:19:42I think it's like
01:19:439,200 to one,
01:19:46so it's way out there.
01:19:48I knew it.
01:19:49That's exactly
01:19:49what I wanted to hear.
01:19:50I knew it.
01:19:51That was big for me.
01:19:55This proved
01:19:56it is not them.
01:19:58100% proof.
01:20:00Well, I'm not done yet.
01:20:02As you recall,
01:20:03when you shared
01:20:04this information
01:20:05with me initially,
01:20:06I was pretty excited
01:20:08about this last piece
01:20:09of information.
01:20:10This is the picture
01:20:10of who you believe
01:20:11are John and Clarence Anglin.
01:20:13I told you,
01:20:14I think at that point,
01:20:14exactly what I was going to do.
01:20:16We went to a very well-known
01:20:18forensic artist,
01:20:20and he gave me
01:20:21his initial impression
01:20:23and then did a full-blown,
01:20:25actually walked me
01:20:26through the whole process
01:20:27of how he was able
01:20:29to do the comparison,
01:20:31and his conclusion
01:20:32was actually pretty simple.
01:20:35He said that it's highly likely
01:20:37that the two individuals
01:20:40in that 1975 photograph
01:20:43are John and Clarence Anglin.
01:20:45I told you.
01:20:46I knew it.
01:20:46I knew it.
01:20:47I knew it.
01:20:48I told you.
01:20:49Boy, you just gave me chills.
01:20:50I knew it was him.
01:20:51I knew it.
01:20:52I told you.
01:20:53Now, again,
01:20:54they're never going
01:20:54to give you 100%.
01:20:56Right.
01:20:56But I asked him.
01:20:57Hey, that's close enough
01:20:58for me, buddy.
01:21:00That's close enough for me.
01:21:01I asked him the question,
01:21:03if this was you
01:21:04and you were in my place
01:21:05as an investigator,
01:21:06what would you do?
01:21:07And he basically said,
01:21:09I would round up the posse.
01:21:11Oh, my God.
01:21:12Man.
01:21:12Good to admit.
01:21:14I knew in my heart
01:21:16that it was them.
01:21:17I wanted science
01:21:19to kind of back it up.
01:21:20This is a new chapter
01:21:22that's about to be written.
01:21:23And we're going to be
01:21:25part of that chapter.
01:21:26I can't wait
01:21:27till the world hears this.
01:21:29So now that you have that
01:21:30from the guy
01:21:31who looked at these photographs,
01:21:32what do you believe?
01:21:34Well, I'm changing my mind
01:21:37based on the photograph,
01:21:40which I think I told you
01:21:41that the photograph to me
01:21:43was the most convincing thing.
01:21:45Obviously, this is
01:21:48a complete game changer
01:21:49in this case.
01:21:51Okay.
01:21:51Yes.
01:21:53Obviously, the DNA coupled.
01:21:57Sorry.
01:21:58No, that's fine.
01:21:59I'm still in the floor.
01:22:00Listen, I was
01:22:01bowled over myself,
01:22:02so have at it.
01:22:04The family does feel vindicated
01:22:08about everything
01:22:10that we found,
01:22:11mainly because we now
01:22:13can prove to the world
01:22:16that those boys
01:22:18did not drown
01:22:19in that water.
01:22:22And that photo
01:22:23is actually
01:22:25the only piece of evidence
01:22:27that proves
01:22:28that they made it.
01:22:29I'm very lucky
01:22:47to be sitting here now
01:22:48and in this very short
01:22:50period of time
01:22:50have brought this case
01:22:52to this point
01:22:53where I truly believe
01:22:55we're going to close it.
01:22:56Director Harlow,
01:23:21Art, good to see you.
01:23:22Good to see you, sir.
01:23:22Good to see you, sir.