October 28: North Dakota Connections to Alcatraz

The federal jail on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay held a number of notorious convicts all through its 29 years of operation, even a handful of prisoners with connections to North Dakota.

Forrest Vacation, Earl Phipps and Joseph White had been sentenced in 1936 for a financial institution theft in Maddock, North Dakota. The robbers held the financial institution’s three employees at gunpoint, shut them into the vault, and made off with $4,800 {dollars}. The three males had been sentenced to federal jail phrases starting from 20 to 30 years; Vacation and Phipps went to Alcatraz.

13 years after that offense, on this date in 1949, Carl Bistram was sentenced to 30 years in federal jail for kidnapping a Mandan police officer. On the time of the kidnapping, he, his brother and one other man had been on the run from Minneapolis after killing a police officer throughout an tried housebreaking. Bistram’s group freed the kidnapped officer after evading the authorities and reaching Nebraska. The Bismarck Tribune referred to as the seek for the criminals “probably the most intensive manhunt within the current historical past of North Dakota.” Bistram’s group went on to kidnap different folks in Nebraska, stealing their automobiles and hiding out at a farm. Bistram was ultimately captured in Kansas. He, too, was imprisoned at Alcatraz, then later at Stillwater jail in Minnesota.

Richard Peter Wagner was a fugitive linked to burglaries in a number of states. He had served time in Alcatraz and was later launched from San Quentin Penitentiary in California earlier than he and one other man stole about $1,500 in choices from First Lutheran Church in Fargo in 1955. In 1960, Wagner made the FBI’s High 10 Most Needed Checklist after escaping federal jail. He was arrested two days after making the record.

The Alcatraz jail closed in 1963. The Nationwide Park Service operates the location immediately as a museum.

Dakota Datebook by Jack Dura

Sources:

• The Bismarck Tribune. 1936, December 5. Web page 10: Extorter by lewd photos shall be sentenced Tuesday
• Fort Value Star-Telegram. 1941, Could 27. Web page 9: Court docket guidelines on federal prisoner hearings
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1949, June 6. Pages 1, 3: Kidnaped cop freed
• Quad-Metropolis Instances. 1949, June 8. Web page 2: Gunmen caught in Kansas to face costs
• Star Tribune. 1949, July 20. Web page 7: Bistram admits two burglaries
• The Winona Every day Information. 1949, October 26. Web page 12: 3 St. Paul males to be sentenced in kidnaping
• The Winona Republican-Herald. 1949, October 28. Web page 7: 3 St. Paul liquor retailer burglars given jail phrases
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1955, July 18. Web page 8: Minneapolis males admit housebreaking of Fargo church
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1955, July 20. Web page 15: Pair plead responsible to Fargo housebreaking
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1955, August 4. Web page 6: 2 church robbers sentenced to pen
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1956, February 15. Web page 10: Kidnaper of Mandan cop to face ‘49 homicide cost
• Star Tribune. 1956, February 15. Web page 1: Suspect in ‘49 Richfield killing to face court docket
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1956, March 19. Web page 16: Senn kidnaper loses his plea
• The Minneapolis Star. 1956, December 4. Web page 20: Kidnaper asks launch from jail
• Star Tribune. 1956, December 7. Web page 24: Scott seeks custody in 1949 homicide
• Minneapolis Morning Tribune. 1957, August 24. Pages 1, 5: Convict asks loss of life cost be dismissed
• The Minneapolis Star. 1957, October 25. Web page 13: Homicide cost stands for Richfield kidnaper
• The Los Angeles Instances. 1959, March 2. Web page 44: He was comfortable to go to Alcatraz – as a dentist
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1959, March 25. Web page 11: third Bistram bid for liberty fails
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1960, February 9. Web page 15: One other Bistram plea turned down
• Lead Every day Name. 1960, June 23. Web page 5: Trombonist is placed on most needed record
• The Business Enchantment. 1960, June 26. Web page 10: Burglar caught on fishing journey
• The Every day Advertiser. 1960, June 28. Web page 11: Richard Peter Wagner added to FBI ‘10 most needed’ record
• Star Tribune. 1966, August 10. Web page 25: Suspect in loss of life of officer will get day in court docket
• The Bismarck Tribune. 1966, August 18. Web page 10: Man who kidnapped state patrolman admits homicide rap
• nps.gov/alca/index.htm
• archives.gov/san-francisco/finding-aids/alcatraz-alpha
• Dura, J. 2022, August 31. Dakota Datebook: August 31: Maddock financial institution theft. Retrieved from: information.prairiepublic.org/podcast/dakota-datebook/2022-08-31/august-31-maddock-bank-robbery