Henri Young | |
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| Born | Henri Theodore Young June 20, 1911 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Disappeared | 1972 (aged 60–61) Washington, U.S. |
| Died | after 1972 |
| Other names | Henri Theodore Young[1] |
| Criminal status | Parole escape |
| Criminal charge | manslaughter, bank robbery |
Henri Theodore Young (born June 20, 1911 – disappeared 1972) was an American convicted bank robber and murderer[2] who, while serving one of a series of prison terms, attempted to escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary with four other inmates in 1939. During the escape attempt, two inmates, Dale Stamphill and Arthur "Doc" Barker, were shot, the latter fatally. 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 1940, Young murdered McCain.
No apparent motive was ever disclosed for the murder. However, according to prisoner 325 Alvin Karpis, Young blamed McCain for the failure of the escape attempt. McCain couldn't swim and Barker refused to leave anyone behind so they began trying to hastily make a raft from driftwood. The dense fog cleared and the guards spotted them. Young's defense in the subsequent trial put the spotlight on Alcatraz and the penal system, leading to questions about how the prison was run. In 1948, Young was transferred to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri. Upon completion of his federal sentence, he was 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". He 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. Young is also the subject of the song "Behind the Eyes of Henri Young", featured on the album Dragonfly (2017), by Australian singer Kasey Chambers.
- ^ Wallechinsky, David; Wallace, Irving (1975-01-01). The People's Almanac. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-04186-7.
- ^ "Henri Young". www.alcatrazhistory.com. Retrieved 2019-12-13.