Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary prisoners would frequently report acts of brutality and inhumane conditions which severely tested their sanity. Ed Wutke was the first prisoner to commit suicide in Alcatraz. Rufe Persful chopped off his fingers after grabbing an axe from the firetruck, begging another inmate to do the same to his other hand. One writer described Alcatraz as "the great garbage can of San Francisco Bay, into which every federal prison dumped its most rotten apples." In 1939, the new U.S. Attorney General Frank Murphy attacked the penitentiary, saying "The whole institution is conductive to psychology that builds up a sinister ambitious attitude
Bothrops alcatraz Bothrops alcatraz Bothrops alcatraz is a venomous pitviper species found only on the Alcatrazes Islands off the coast of southeastern Brazil. No subspecies are currently recognized. Grows to a maximum size of 46.2/50.5 cm for males/females. Its small size and relatively large eyes are considered paedomorphic (juvenile) characteristics. Until 15,000 thousand years ago, only common "Bothrops" lived by the island, which was at that time still connected to the continent due to the receded sea waters. When the sea rose back again (with the end of the last glacial period) and the mountain returned to its archipelago status, the "Bothrops"