 | Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud Prison File The “Birdman of Alcatraz” was never allowed to keep birds there; he bred his canaries at Leavenworth. Burt Lancaster and the “Birdman” movie made Robert Stroud famous, but the mythology it created couldn’t be more removed from the real man and his life. Stroud was a killer who stood trial three times for murder. One day in 1916 Stroud rose from his seat in the lunchroom, walked over to guard Andrew Turner and plunged a knife into his heart in front of everyone in the room. |
 | Oberlin Carter Prison File Oberlin Carter was a West Point graduate and Captain in the Army Corp of Engineers. He was court-martialed for defrauding the U.S. Government of nearly two million dollars (nearly fifty million today) while he was the harbor engineer in charge at Savannah, Ga. His fall from grace made national news, and Carter spent the rest of his life trying to clear his name. |
 | Roy Tyler Prison File Tyler was one of one hundred fifty Buffalo Soldiers who in 1917 marched to Houston to confront police after a rumor spread that one of their men had been shot and killed by white officers. The resulting “Houston Riot” left fifteen civilians and four soldiers dead. Fourteen of the rioters were executed but Tyler escaped with a twenty year sentence at Leavenworth for “Mutiny and Assault to Murder.” Tyler was a gifted athlete who played in the Negro Leagues upon being paroled in 1924. In 1929 Tyler was sent to prison again after he was convicted of robbery. |
