The letter supposedly written by John Anglin also revealed the man’s current location “Living in Southern California now.” It is almost impossible to believe that a fugitive from the law and participant in one of the greatest prison breaks of all time, was currently living only a few hours from San Francisco.
The man who wrote the letter was extremely ill and desperate for some help, even if that meant jail time, but was the letter writer really John Anglin? The letter ended with a highly unusual deal offered to the authorities. Would they be willing to agree to these unbelievable terms?
John Anglin’s Confession
The letter begins: “My name is John Anglin. I escaped from Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother Clarence and Frank Morris. I’m 83 years old and in bad shape. I have cancer. Yes, we all made it that night, but barely!” Anglin continues: “Frank passed away in October 2008. His grave is in Argentina under another name.
My brother died in 2011.” But where was Anglin now, and why was he suddenly reaching out? The letter reveals everything. Was there perhaps another letter that the police were unaware of, or was this letter the final clue the police were ever going to get their hands on?
Where was He?
The letter, written supposedly by John Anglin, goes on to reveal where he has been in the many years since he “escaped” Alcatraz prison. The letter continues with, “This is the real and honest truth. I could tell you that for seven years of living in Minot, North Dakota and a year in Fargo, North Dakota until 2003”.
The letter was unreadable in parts, but a special BBC report interpreted the contents and found that Anglin had lived in Seattle “for most of my years after the Escape.” But it was the next revelation the letter contained that was truly unbelievable!
The Real Deal?
These are the terms set in the letter: “If you announce on TV that I will be promised to first go to jail for no more than a year and get medical attention, I will write back to let you know exactly where I am. This is no joke…”
But before the deal was even considered, the letter itself had to be investigated to see if any other information about its authenticity and origin could be discovered. An intensive analysis was done of every aspect of the letter in an attempt to unlock its secrets. The police knew it had something priceless in their hands.
Authenticity
The US Marshals handed the letter over to the FBI, who then tested the paper extensively. They checked for trace DNA evidence, dusted for fingerprints, and ran handwriting analysis using the three escapees' writing samples from when they were locked up. But did they find anything?
San Francisco’s local CBS affiliate, KPIX, published the letter and reported on the investigation. According to them, “the FBI’s results were inconclusive.” A security expert on the channel gave the following perplexing quote as to the letter’s authenticity, saying the FBI’s conclusion: “means yes, and it means no, so this leaves everything in limbo.”