In January, 1909, 18-year-old Robert Stroud had recently moved to Juneau, AK, with his 36-year-old girlfriend (according to some accounts, they were pimp and prostitute), Kitty O'Brien. While he was out the evening of the 19th to get some fish for their dinner, an old friend of his, F.K. "Charlie" Von Dahmer, took advantage of Kitty and beat her severely. Stroud grabbed a gun and went to confront Von Dahmer. After a brief struggle, Von Dahmer was dead. Stroud turned himself in and was eventually sentenced to twelve years in McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington State, where his temper got him into more trouble. His sentence was extended by six months after he stabbed a fellow inmate.
Following a transfer to Leavenworth in Kansas, Stroud killed a guard, Andrew Turner, on March 26, 1916 (one year before he was to be released on parole) when his brother was refused a visit. He was sentenced to hang for the crime, but narrowly escaped death after his mother appealed to President Woodrow Wilson. During his stay at Leavenworth, Stroud found some injured sparrows in the prison yard. After caring for them, he began his lifelong study of birds, eventually publishing numerous articles and two books on the subject. His care for birds brought him much fame and some money for his mother (J. Edgar Hoover even purchased one of Stroud's birds), but much irritation for the prison (just imagine the filth). The prison first curtailed his privileges and tried to get rid of his birds altogether, but Stroud had learned his way around the system and wrote numerous letters to others about his "ill" treatment.
In December of 1942, he was transferred to Alcatraz, which was one of the strictest prisons in the U.S. Despite his famous moniker, Stroud was not allowed to keep birds during his time there. Instead, he wrote two books on the prison system. Stroud gained worldwide fame (and his nickname) after the publication of Thomas Gaddis' Birdman of Alcatraz in 1955, followed by the movie adaptation, starring Burt Lancaster, in 1962.
READ MORE: The Crime Library
IN PRINT: Birdman of Alcatraz: The Story of Robert Stroud
ON FILM: Birdman of Alcatraz
IN PRINT: Diseases of Canaries (by Robert Stroud)
When one mentions the Great Escape Artists, Harry Houdini & Robert Stroud immediately jump to mind. But one has to look no further than fine artist, Marc Breed, for his daring escape the that impregnable fortress of 1880's-built Jackson Prison [Michigan]. This truly belongs' on this unique short-list. The papier-mâché mummy used to fool the guards, remains on display in the Wardens Office yet today.
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