Inmate seeks transfer

Specifically, he wanted to be transferred to a woman's prison so that he could "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth."

He must have figured it didn't hurt to ask.

Miami News - Nov 10, 1971

Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 06, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Prisons, Gender, 1970s

Death by playing cards

Oct 20, 1930: Convict William Kogut, who was waiting execution on San Quentin's death row, somehow knew that it was possible to make a bomb out of playing cards. This was because, at the time, the red ink of cards contained nitrocellulose. So by scraping off enough of the red ink, Kogut was able to make a pipe bomb out of a hollow bedpost. He used this to kill himself, rather than letting himself be executed.

Modern playing cards no longer contain this explosive ingredient.

Somewhat confusingly, Snopes classifies his death as a "legend," even though their brief write-up seems to confirm that it happened exactly as described.

More info: theatrefx.com

Oroville Mercury Register - Oct 20, 1930

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 23, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Death, Suicide, Prisons, 1930s

Cockroach trained to carry cigarettes

1938: Prisoners in solitary confinement in Amarillo, Texas figured out how to get cigarettes by training a cockroach to carry them under the cell door.

Salt Lake Tribune - Mar 2, 1938

Klamath News - Apr 9, 1938

Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 17, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Prisons, Smoking and Tobacco, 1930s

Prisoners who escape a day before release

The recurring weird news theme of prisoners who escape from jail a day before they're set to be released. Usually the escape isn't anything too complicated. They're on a minimum-security work detail, from which they simply walk away. But still, why leave if all you have to do is wait a day and be legally free? Because if caught again, they're looking at years of new imprisonment.

Three examples below, though I'm sure there must be more. Worth noting: I didn't find any follow-up stories mentioning their capture. So maybe they all got away with that one extra day of freedom.

McComb Enterprise-Journal - Mar 11, 1990

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 08, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: Prisons

Mongolian Box Prison

Source of photo.



Source of drawing.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 04, 2018 - Comments (7)
Category: Crime, Death, Dictators, Tyrants and Other Harsh Rulers, Prisons, 1910s, Asia

Coed Prisons

I hadn't realized that federal and state governments had, for a while, experimented with coed prisons. From Prison Journal, 59(1), Spring/Summer 1979:



I'm having difficulty finding out if there still are any coed prisons in the US. I'm guessing there aren't.

Hattiesburg American - Aug 27, 1974

Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 18, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Prisons, 1970s

Pinky Bonded

Rachel Deckert was supposed to turn herself in at the Lewis County Jail on an outstanding misdemeanor warrant. She did. Problem was, she was pinky bonded to her girlfriend, and they couldn't separate. As a form of couples therapy the two had used epoxy to glue their pinky fingers together inside a copper pipe.

Said Detective Patty Finch, "They haven’t been able to feel their fingers for three days."

Not clear how the two will be unattached. Pinky amputation is a possibility.

More info: The Chronicle

Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 01, 2017 - Comments (11)
Category: Prisons, Couples

Romanian Jail Craze

No matter how bad you think things might be, at least you're not in a Romanian jail pounding rusty nails into your head.

For a related post, from way back in 2012, check out The Method of the Nail.

The Guardian - Aug 6, 1995

Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 08, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Prisons, 1990s

Inmate Escape Pod

1980: Fred Caddedu escaped from Millhaven penitentiary in Kingston, Ontario by concealing himself inside an "escape pod" made out of a hollowed-out stack of dirty food trays.

The food trays were loaded onto a truck and taken to the unguarded, off-site kitchen to be cleaned. Once there, Caddedu just walked away. He was caught and returned to prison several months later.

His escape pod later became an exhibit in the Correctional Service of Canada Museum.

Image source: Museopathy

The Ottawa Journal - July 14, 1980

Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 26, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Prisons, 1980s

Operation Sleep

In 1957, the Woodlake road camp prison in California began an experiment in convict rehabilitation. It was called "Operation Sleep." The idea was to use sleep learning to reform convicts. As the prisoners slept, they heard the soothing voice of a psychiatrist speaking the following script:


The script had been written by the County's Public Defender, John Locke, with help from a local Presbyterian minister, Rev. Glen Peters, and a hospital therapist, Robert C. Lally. They described Operation Sleep as "a type of brain-washing — but not the type used by the totalitarians."

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any data on whether the experiment actually had an effect of criminal behavior. The superintendent of the prison noted, "We have had excellent cooperation from the inmates. But of course, it is too early yet to tell what effect it will have. We won't know until after the men have been released and face the temptations of freedom again."

The picture at the top is from Newsweek (Dec 30, 1957), and shows one of the prisoners who participated in the experiment. The fact that he's sleeping with a dog seems a little strange. I guess the inmates got to keep pets in this prison.

Wilmington Morning News - Oct 11, 1957

Update: I found a news story from 1961 offering a 3-year update on Operation Sleep. I'm actually surprised that the prison kept the experiment going for that long. Public defender John Locke claimed that the experiment had been showing positive results, but said they needed to keep it going for another 3 years to be sure. From the Ottawa Citizen - Feb 21, 1961:

Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 26, 2016 - Comments (3)
Category: Prisons, Sleep and Dreams, 1950s