Henri Young

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For those of a similar name, see Henry Young (disambiguation).
This article is about the criminal. For the American actor, see Aliens in the Attic.
Henri Young
Henri Young.jpg
Born(1911-06-20)June 20, 1911
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Disappeared1972 (aged 60–61)
Washington, U.S.
DiedUnknown
Other namesHenri Theodore Young[1]
Criminal statusParole escape
Criminal chargemanslaughter, bank robbery

Henri Theodore Young (born June 20, 1911 – disappeared 1972) was a convicted bank robber and murderer[2] who, while serving one of a series of prison terms, attempted a 1939 escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary with four other inmates. During the escape attempt two inmates were shot, and one died of his wounds. All survivors were quickly recaptured. Two of the men, Young and Rufus McCain, were sentenced to solitary confinement and served the terms at Alcatraz for a period of three years (until autumn of 1942). Eleven days after re-entering the Alcatraz general prison population in 1942, Young murdered fellow escapee McCain.

No apparent motive was ever disclosed for this crime. Young's defense put Alcatraz and the penal system on trial, leading to questions about how the prison was run. In 1948, Young was transferred from Alcatraz to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, Springfield, Missouri. Upon completion of his federal sentence, he was later transferred to Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla to begin a life sentence for a 1933 murder conviction.

After release from Walla Walla, Young "jumped parole" in 1972 and his whereabouts were reported as "unknown". Young was portrayed as a fictional character of the same name in the film Murder in the First (1995), in which he was played by actor Kevin Bacon. Henri Young is the subject of the song "Behind the Eyes of Henri Young", featured on the album Dragonfly (2017), by Australian singer Kasey Chambers.

Life[]

Young was born in Kansas City, Missouri on June 20, 1911.[3] Beginning a life of crime, he became a bank robber and was known for aggressively taking hostages.[4]

In 1933, Young was convicted of murder in Washington state.[4][5] After serving time in prisons in Washington and Montana for other crimes,[4] he was sent to the federal prison on Alcatraz Island. On the night of January 13, 1939, Young, with prisoners Rufus McCain, Arthur Barker, Dale Stamphill, and William Martin, attempted to escape. Martin, Young, and McCain surrendered, while Barker and Stamphill refused to surrender and were subsequently shot.[6] Barker eventually died from his injuries.[5][6]

At his trial for McCain's murder in 1942, Young and his attorney argued that the harsh system at Alcatraz had brutalized and dehumanized him. According to the San Francisco Examiner,

"Emphasis which [the defense] repeatedly laid on the fact that Young was in isolation or solitary confinement for more than three years—and that he drove his knife into McCain's abdomen just eleven days after release from such confinement, made it clear that the defense hopes to show not only that Young was 'punch drunk' but that the punches were administered by the Alcatraz 'system'."[7]

Describing conditions in solitary confinement, Young said:

Its size was approximately that of a regular cell-9 feet by 5 feet by about 7 feet high. I could just touch the ceiling by stretching out my arm ... You are stripped nude and pushed into the cell. Guards take your clothes and go over them minutely for what few grains of tobacco may have fallen into the cuffs or pockets. There is no soap. No tobacco. No toothbrush, The smell - well you can describe it only by the word 'stink.' It is like stepping into a sewer. It is nauseating. After they have searched your clothing, they throw it at you. For bedding, you get two blankets, around 5 in the evening. You have no shoes, no bed, no mattress-nothing but the four damp walls and two blankets. The walls are painted black. Once a day I got three slices of bread-no-that is an error. Some days I got four slices. I got one meal in five days, and nothing but bread in between. In the entire thirteen days I was there, I got two meals ... I have seen but one man get a bath in solitary confinement, in all the time that I have been there. That man had a bucket of cold water thrown over him.

— Young testifying as to his experiences in "The Hole" at Alcatraz during his 1941 trial.[8]

In 1954, Young was transferred to the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla to begin a life sentence for the 1933 murder conviction.[4] He was released from Washington State Penitentiary in 1972, at age 61. He "jumped parole and, according to Washington State authorities, his whereabouts are unknown."[4] No further records exist on Young.

Issues with film[]

The film Murder in the First (1995) has a number of inaccuracies compared to the facts of Young's life. It mistakenly presents Young as being arrested for stealing $5 in order to feed himself and his younger sister. It shows that he was tortured by officials after his escape attempt. It shows him killing McCain in the cafeteria immediately after his return to the general population, rather than later. It also showed that he was found dead in his prison cell in 1942, just before his appeal, with the word "victory" on the wall.[4]

As noted above, Young had a prior murder conviction before arriving at Alcatraz. He was transferred from Alcatraz to serve the remainder of that murder sentence later in life at a Washington state prison. He disappeared after jumping parole after being released in 1972 from Walla Walla.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975-01-01). The People's Almanac. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-04186-7.
  2. ^ "Henri Young". www.alcatrazhistory.com. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  3. ^ Alphabetical Index of Former Inmates of U.S. Penitentiary, Alcatraz, 1934–63. NARA Microfilm Publication 458. Records of the Bureau of Prisons, 1870–2009, Record Group 129. NARA, Pacific Regional Office, San Francisco, California.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Henri Young: Murder in the First and the U.S. Penitentiary Alcatraz". Alcatrazhistory.com. May 1, 1941. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015. "Statement of James V. Bennett, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons
  5. ^ a b "Alcatraz History, Page 3: Winds of Change". Alcatrazhistory.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  6. ^ a b "BOP: Alcatraz". Bop.gov. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  7. ^ Alvin D. Hyman (April 16, 1941). "Young On Trial In Alcatraz Killing: Psychological Defense Revealed; Young Lawyers Quiz Jurymen". San Francisco Examiner. p. 20. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  8. ^ Ward, David A.; Kassebaum, Gene G. (19 May 2009). Alcatraz: The Gangster Years. University of California Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-520-25607-1. Retrieved 8 September 2012.

External links[]

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