Henri Young

Henri Theodore Young was a convicted bank robber and murderer 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 surviving were quickly recaptured. Two of the men, Young and Rufus McCain, received sentences of solitary confinement and served them at Alcatraz for a period of three years. Eleven days after re-entering the Alcatraz general prison population, Young murdered fellow escapee McCain. No apparent motive was ever disclosed. 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. He was later transferred to Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla upon completion of his federal sentence to begin a life sentence for the 1933 murder conviction.