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
Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story is a 1980 American miniseries about Clarence Carnes, the youngest ever inmate of Alcatraz Prison. It screened over two nights on NBC. It was written and co-produced by Ernest Tidyman. Part one details the early life and imprisonment of Clarence Carnes, climaxing with the Battle of Alcatraz. Part two focuses on Carnes as a veteran prisoner, his friendship with Robert Stroud, and his involvement in the escape attempt of Frank Morris. The production was partly shot on location in Alcatraz. The "Los Angeles Times" called it "the prison story to