A
bizarre attempt to escape was made by four prisoners from within the
walls. An ingenious fellow named Ethan McNabb had masterminded a
series of bank robberies in Southern California, principally in the
vicinity of San Diego. He posed as a sportsman and had a luxurious
motor driven yacht, complete with galley and bunks. It was capable of
taking care of several people comfortably for days at sea, and it was
seaworthy enough to cruise anywhere in the Pacific. McNabb and his
henchmen would rob a bank and then quietly set out to sea in his
yacht. They would cruise to Mexico and stay away for weeks until the
situation would quiet down. Then they would return and repeat the
hold up in another area. This went on for some time and finally they
were apprehended and were sent to prison. McNabb was serving time in
San Quentin. He became known as the Yacht Bandit.
He was an accomplished machinist, and had made a study of fire arms.
Some how, in the prison machine shop he was able to secretly
manufacture three guns without being detected. He also manufactured
shells for them with material that he was able to get through
underground channels.
On
Match 12, 1934, on a very foggy morning, McNabb and three other
prisoners named Bagley, Fredericks and Downs entered the Electrical
Shop of the prison where one guard was on duty. They overpowered Mr.
Miller, the guard, and in the struggle one of the guns was
discharged. The bullet hit a nearby prisoner in the neck and killed him.
The
four prisoners took a tall ladder and some wire, and McNabb took Mr.
Miller's uniform, bound and gagged him, and put the uniform on. The
four of them started toward the wall. They hailed the guard in box
no. 6 and said they were repair men and were there to repair the
electric wiring. The guard became suspicious because in the fog, he
was not able to identify the guard in the uniform. He ducked into the
box to phone the office, and McNabb fired at him. He missed and the
guard lay flat on the floor out of range of their guns.
With
their plan to go over the wall frustrated, the four ran to another
place in the yard. But the alarm was given and guards began pursuit.
The prisoners opened fire, but visibility was poor and no one was
hit. They then barricaded themselves behind a pile of coal in one
corner of the yard. After an exchange of gunfire, Fred Hogeboom, a
guard, decided that they were out of ammunition and with only a heavy
cane, said, "Come on. Let's go get them," to fellow guards.
He led the charge and they clubbed the fugitives into submission.
Thus the escape was foiled. Hogeboom showed great courage in charging
these men. One bullet could have taken his life. These men were
apprehended, and unfortunately for them, there was a dead man in the
machine shop. They were tried for murder and all four were convicted
and sentenced to death.
An
inspection of the three guns that had been made in the machine shop
were ingeniously made and showed that the men were skilled with firearms.
Author:
William J. Duffy, Jr.