Morbid - Episode 260: The Eastern State Penitentiary

Episode Date: August 31, 2021

Ash promised you something haunted this week after Alaina’s three part deep dive into the Hillside Stranglers and boy did she pick a doozy. The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia is supposedly one of America’s most haunted buildings. It has a fascinating, yet macabre history and it housed some of the world's most notorious criminals. We’ll get into all that history, talk about some of the most known prisoners and then dive into the most haunted cell blocks that remain standing today! Book used for research: The Eastern State Penitentiary by Francis X. Dolan (https://www.amazon.com/Eastern-State-Penitentiary-Francis-Dolan-ebook/dp/B009A6IMM8) As always, thank you to our sponsors: BetterHelp: Check out online therapy with betterhelp.com/Morbid and be on your way to a little more ease. Monday.com: Visit monday.com/podcast for your free two-week trial. Simplisafe:  You can save 20% on your SimpliSafe security system AND get your first month free when you sign up for Interactive Monitoring service by visiting SIMPLISAFE.com/morbid to customize your system and start protecting your home and family. Everlane:  Go to everlane.com/MORBID and sign up for 10% off your first order plus free shipping. Norton Lifelock: Save 25%  or more off your first year of Norton three sixty with LifeLock at Norton.com/MORBID See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Hey, weirdos, I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is morbid. Yeah, it is. We're here. We made it through the hillside Strangler trilogy. Just barely. Yeah, we just skated by it at the end of that, but I am so glad to not be a part of that world anymore.

So glad. But can I quickly congratulate you because Alina's episode on the Hillside Stranglers made it into the top five of all, like, shows. Thank you. You're welcome. It felt, it felt very nice. And thank you to everybody who listened because you guys got it there. So you rocked.

That's like a big deal. It was pretty rad. It was pretty awesome. All that research and all that like, you know, torturing my mind for weeks. Yeah. I was like, all right. There it is.

That was so much fun. Thank you. Thank you. But yeah, that was like a gnarly one. I'm glad you guys really liked it. It was like very interesting to dive into. Yeah, I feel like I've never heard it told, the way that you told it, and like, thank you.

I feel like there was like so many things that were like glossed over and other times when I've read about it. And then you were saying so many things that I was just like, what? Like, excuse me? Yeah. That's how I felt while researching it,

because I was putting things down and I was like, I don't, I never read this. And it was those books were amazing. I'm telling you, like true crime books are like, where it's up. You got to dig into those hidden gems and that's where you find the real stuff. You know what?

They're the ones that are like at the trials. They're the ones who, they go to the extra mile, they get those police reports and stuff. Like they talk to these people Like these are investigative journalists that are bad ass. I like them. I like them a lot Books in general are just like really good guys. I just like books. I like to read. I like books I'm actually trying to like read more for leisure instead of yeah Lash

Papuses. I know Instead of like just reading terrible brutal things all the time. I know. I got like What's the book called so many people suggested it? It's like the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I think. Oh, yeah You mentioned that. Yeah, I'd been on my coffee table for quite some time. You're gonna get to it. Get to open it. You're gonna get to it. I have faith. Yeah. I read another book last week and What was it? Well, it was about the case that I'm going to tell you about today. Oh, and we're going to get a little haunted with it today? Yeah, like a little haunted.

It's so funny because I feel like sometimes you look into something and I was saying this to you this morning, but right now I'm talking to the listeners. Okay. You guys. You guys are right there. I'll just go on my phone, forget it. I'm not even here. I'm checking out. No, but you'll see America's most haunted place. And then you'll like

dive really deep into the whole haunting of it all, and there's only four things that are haunted. That happens so often. You'll get a recommendation and you're like, oh, and right. Usually they are good, huh? So it makes it worth it. Yeah, but it's like you're expecting like, just like, you're expecting your cup to flow with over. I'm expecting my wazoo to be filled with honks. Exactly, okay? Yep, you know. But you know, the wazoo is pretty honked up in here.

We're gonna be talking about the Eastern State Penitentiary today. This, I'm excited about. It's really interesting and I went like crazy deep into like the history of everything because you just have to. With this, yeah, you've done. To understand why it's haunted, you have to understand the whole history of it.

Of course you do. So for this one, this episode right here, I read this book called The Eastern State Penitentiary. Oh, all right. Promptly, yeah. Promptly named, properly named by Francis X Dolan. Oh, Francis, get it. Oh, all right. Promptly, yeah. Promptly named, properly named, by Francis X Dolan. Oh, Francis, get it. He sounds very fancy.

I like that his middle name is X. Yeah, I love that. I like initial. We love a middle initial as X. X. It's saucy, it's mysterious. I like it. It just feels old tiny.

Like it feels very like, feels a little bit, yes, it does. It feels a little villainous, which I love. It does, but he wasn't a villain. He wrote this book. It's like really awesome and you know, I'm like five so I do love wooden books, have lots of pictures But like especially for something like this like I want to see it while reading about it

Because you try to picture it in your mind, but you're like, I don't know what the fuck that looks like Yeah, you got a goo. I didn't grow up in like 1887. So yeah, I mean, I did, but, you know, you did. So, well, without further ado, you should, we'll get into it, but you should definitely read that book and look at the pictures because they're fucking awesome. Look at those pictures, guys. There's so many of them. It had like great reviews on Amazon, and I was like, well, purchase. But the penitentiary itself was supposed to be a solution for harsh prison conditions. I hate harsh prison conditions. It's so hard.

Harsh prison conditions that inmates had been suffering while they were in some of Philadelphia's other prisons. So in 1787, this man, he was a doctor, and his name was Dr. Benjamin Rush. He founded the Philadelphia Society for alleviating the miseries of public prisons. I felt like I think you should maybe condense that. Right?

I don't know. I mean, like, yeah, like it tells the story. It does. But sometimes you want a little intrigue with the name. You want to go like, what's this about? What if he's just the Philadelphia Society for public prisons? Yeah, he'd just be that.

He just gives, he doesn't bury the lead. He puts it right out there. He, well, in his mission was an important one. Yeah. Because this group was the first prison reform group in the entire world. Oh, just that. The entire world.

The entire globe. Now, they argued that we could go about reform in a much more humane way, and they had some interesting ideas up their sleeves. So in 1821, the Pennsylvania legislator, I can't talk at all, Pennsylvania legislature finally decided to listen to what these people were saying and they approved funding for the world's first true penitentiary. Okay. So it would later become known as the Stern State Penitentiary. Oh I know that. Yeah yeah that's why we're here today.

So Pennsylvania got 12 acres of land and $800,000 to complete the project and at the time it was one of the most expensive projects in the entire world. Yeah 800,000 like 800,000 crazy is a lot today. Exactly. I'd actually But back then it must be wild amount of money probably like over millions. Oh, for sure. Yeah, because it's already like close to a million today Probably like over millions. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Because it's already like close to a million today. Yeah. But there was a contest held to see which architect out

of four architects would come up with the best design for the prison, which I was like, that's fun. That's fun. Just like who's going to design the best prison? That is fun. It's like in like fifth grade when you're like who's going to design the classroom. Yes.

Except it's a prison. For prison. But the winner ended up being a man named John Habeland. His blueprint laid out a building in the shape of a wagon wheel with one central building in the middle and seven blocks. That would be cell blocks that just kind of jetted out from the center.

Basically, if you can't picture it, just think of how a five-year-old draws the sun. Yeah, there you go. Now, the goal was for the prison to house 250 inmates. Oh, just 250. And guessing that didn't pan out didn't really pee out out. But in John's original blueprint, that would have worked because it would have made 256 cells so you'd have six left over. Awesome. We love that. But you guessed it, the inmates kept coming and coming over the years, and eventually the prison had to undergo multiple editions.

Oh, no. That's always when things fall apart. Yeah, things just really went downhill quickly. But construction before any of the Guest downhill started in 1822, and by the time the penitentiary was completed, it was 1836. Oh, wow. And blocks 4 through 7 had to become two story blocks instead of single story blocks, like one through three.

Oh, okay. Because there was just so many inmates at that point, they were like, shit, we need to do, like, double floors now. So instead of like adding on wagon spokes, they just added stories. Okay. Exactly. And that was only blocks 4 through 7. So one through 3 were like the single stories and then 4 through 7 had two stories. Okay. Exactly. And that was only blocks four through seven. So one through three were like the single stories,

and then four through seven had two stories. Okay. But the building was intentionally built on a hill, two miles outside of the city in this town called Francisville. And they did this on purpose, so that people would be able to see it. And so it would serve as a concern reminder, like you don't wanna end up there.

Yeah, it's kind of just like looming over everybody. Literally. But still far enough away. And it was built in like a very almost like European like castle-esque kind of way. And it was like at that point, it wasn't even modern anymore. Yeah, it's like gothiccy.

It's very gothiccy. So it was kind of like, oh, like that's like old tiny and like things in the old time days are scary. Yeah. You know what I mean?, things in the old-time days are scary. You know what I mean? What things in the old-time days? Yeah. They sure are scary. They are, but you know what I mean?

No, I think that noteworth statement has been said. Things in the old-time days are scary. Like European places in the old days, just chop your head right off right there. Old-time days architecture is really scary. It is. It's like daunting. Almeness is fun, it's huge.

But also fun fact, it was built on land that used to be used as a cherry orchard, which is just like so happy. I was just, that's so pleasant. So pleasant, and then present. That is just like penitentiary. Penitentiary, overtaking the orchard. But it took 14 years to complete the original blueprint because things kept having to change

with the increasing number of inmates. And when it was done, there were 30-foot walls around the building, a three-story administrative building inside the prison where the warden's office was. There was an intake facility, a laundry mat kind of thing, a kitchen, a hospital, and a place for the warden and his family to live on site. Oh. Which I don't know how common that is, but like, I don't really know if I would want my bay and my kids like living up in a prison.

Yeah, I don't know if I'd be psyched about it. I don't know if I'd be like super stoked on that. But actually, later in the prison's history, one deputy warden's grandson was born there in 1912. Wow. The deputy warden's grandson, Henry Enkler, was born there. In the prison? Imagine later being like, yeah, I was born in a penitentiary, but like, I was the warden's son.

Yes. Like, that's wild. And like, on his- Like, tell that it's like parties and you're like, excuse me what? That's your two truths in a light right there Like that's your that's your way around 100% but on his birth certificate. They just wrote like ESP instead of like eastern state pen and text

He was born in a I don't know if you've ever been there. It's very it's very beautiful to worry about it I don't think that's very common by the way. Yeah I was trying to look at like if that was a thing no, but I don't see like tons very common, by the way. Yeah, I don't think so. I'm trying to look at, like, if that was a thing. No. But I don't see, like, tons of, I guess it did happen, but yeah, that's weird. Well, especially now, it would be, like, I mean, yeah, now I don't think it's really, but.

But it would have been, like, a huge safety concern you would think. I would think so. I'm also just, like, wow, born there. It's wild. Usually the wardens aren't, like, you know, the favorite person of the prisoner. No.

So, like, I would be nervous about that. I don't, like, hide your kids, hide your wife. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be dead for that. Leave them in the penitentiary. No. But you know, what do you do? Yeah, they did it. They did the damn thing.

Old timey scary stuff. Hey there, fellow podcast listener. It's Elena. And Ash. And we're taking you back to the days before streaming services. Whoa. You know, when you would come home from high school

and it was only a few hours until that TV show, everyone was watching was about to come on. Well, in 1999, that show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In our podcast with Wondery, the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we take it back to 1999. So get out your knee high boots and paste that poster of Angel on the wall.

It's time to enter the Buffyverse. Some of you avid morbid listeners already know what we've gotten store. Hey, my nose. Join us as we sway our way through Buffy's drama, action and romance, episode by episode. Slicey, follow the rewatcher, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. Darn, ee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e- the biggest controversies in US history, presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud.

In our newest series, we look at the Kids for Cash scandal, a story about corruption inside America's system of juvenile justice. In Northeastern Pennsylvania, residents had begun noticing an alarming trend. Children were being sent away to jail in high numbers, and often for committing only minor offenses. The FBI began looking at two local judges, and when the full picture emerged, it made national headlines. The judges were earning a fortune, carrying out a brazen criminal scheme, one that would shatter the lives of countless children, and force a heated debate about punishment, an America's criminal justice system.

Follow American scandal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon music or Wonder App. Yeah, old timey days are scary. The Eastern State Penitentiary was the first and pretty much last of its kind. The system that they were like going to use in the prison was referred to as the Pennsylvania system or the separate system. And it was supposed to quote unquote, bring out the inner light of inmates. I love the vibe of that.

It started off like really great. Like I feel like they really were trying. They had an idea. They had an idea and they ran with it and then they started sprinting and then they tripped and then they fell down a hill and then on the way there was like this underground B-hive so they started getting stung,

but the B-hive was actually a waspive and then they died. And then a meteor hit. Yeah. Yeah, it's a crash. It's probably what that happens. It is. But the way that the whole thing worked was that

it was gonna be silent at all times in the prison. No humming, no singing, no talking. Okay. Silent. Each of the inmates was to stay in their cell for 24 hours a day other than the two times they were let into their own personal yard for exercise that would last only 30 minutes each time. Okay. So they were out of their cell for an hour a day. Wow. Now everyone had a cell neighbor so it would have been impossible to have everyone exercising at different times throughout the day.

And for that reason, anytime a prisoner left their cell for exercise, or if there was like another circumstance where they needed to go out of their cell, the guard would put a hood over their head. Yes. Now they tried to play it off like this was a good thing. They were like, it's so that when you're finally rehabilitated, no one will have seen you in prison, so no one will have known that you even went to prison.

Which it's like, when you see the logic, you throw it out like that and you're like, oh yeah, total, like good for you guys. And then it's like, wait a second. But that's gonna get real weird. And like, some sadistic mother's quicker is gonna be like, I don't know if that's, but, I don't know. And then the other thing was it was like helpful

for the guards that worked at the prison because if there's a hood over your head, you're not seeing where you're going ever so you don't know the prison layout and you're never gonna be able to escape anyways. Yeah, it's a little bit of an incapacitation kind of thing. And the other thing was no talking to other inmates. So you're not gonna meet anybody

and like come up with a plan to get out of there or come up with a plan to do any further bad shit when you're out. Wow. So you know, you can kind of see like what they were going for. They were going hard. They were going hard.

They were going ham. They were going big. Ham sandwich, all the toppings. They definitely were. But anyway, back to the exercise. Once you were finished with your exercise, the guards would check the grounds and make sure you didn't leave anything behind

and then the next person would be brought out. So inmates were fed three times a day. Three times a day. So this place. I should send you the link of the Kindle Cloud Reader thing because you can look at all the pictures in the book. All the pictures in the book.

So good. But inmates were fed three times a day. And actually, they were fed really well. There weren't any front doors on the cells though that led out to the hallway where the guards were. Instead there were just little slots that the guards would pass the food through. Okay. Yeah. So they were allowed to eat three times a day. They mostly ate meat and vegetables like they had hearty meals. They apparently could have as many potatoes as they wanted. Yeah. it was gonna slow you right down.

Yeah, don't have to worry about anybody being a child in there. I know I love potato. I was probably a little bit surprised to find it. And I also just think potatoes are just like all over the place. So yeah. Although the prison at the time had endured plumbing and heating,

which was like insane, because the actual president didn't even have that at that time. Like he was still like tossing his pee out the window. Oh, the only light that they had was through skylights. Wow. So remember, if you lived in one through three, like yeah, you probably got a decent amount of light on a sunny day, but if you lived in block four

or seven, think of that. And you were on the first floor, you were pretty much screwed because there were someone living upstairs and your light source would be coming from their cell. They were the ones with the skylight and then you had like some way that your light- You had like the residual light

that just kinda like leaked under. Exactly. Wow. Now, even though this is all sounding really bonkers, the goal was to reform these prisoners and send them out into the world as better people. Like that's really what they were going for. So they were trying to do.

It's what they were really trying to do. Prisoners were actually taught different trades in their cells, like cobbling, weaving, canning. They also learned to give each other haircuts, which I was like, so then did you take the hoods off for that? I was just talking. I was like, did we do pull? Do we cut a hole in the top and just give everyone bull cuts?

It just said that they got to give each other haircuts. All right. And when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the pen- when the Maybe everyone bull cut. It just said that they got to give each other haircuts. All right. When the penitentiary first opened, there was a barber shop in each cell block, and your hair was supposed to be kept neat and short. So I think it was just like kind of, your hair needs to be kept neat. So we'll look over that little small thing.

Yeah. So they were trained to give haircuts to each other. And obviously they had to be under close watch by the guards and the razors that they used were signed out each time, so no one would get away with stealing one. Because I was just going to ask, like, exactly how that process went. That's like, sign them out. Was this, like, organized?

Through it's everyone's just, Yes. Razering, willy-nilly on each other. No, it sounds like it was a pretty organized thing. Yes, that is organized. Because eventually, even the guards would get their hair cut by the inmates, too. That's, that's a trust. That's a bold move.

That's a trust fall with a razor involved. Yeah, but you know, that's like a trust surgery. It's also important to note, and I'm pretty sure I say it later, but when the penitentiary first opened, there was just really like thieves. I was going to say, petty crimes, like it wasn't like murderers. Hardened like, risk. Criminaries. And eventually it would got there, but like when it first was there, it was literally

like pig steams. When they were getting like straight razor haircuts from the prisoners, it wasn't like, it was a down to 16 people. It was like, no, no, I stole a pic. Yeah, exactly. But eventually we get to the part where things are not going so hunky-dory.

Like it's not like, let's vibe while you cut my hair and take your hood off, stay a while. Uh-oh. If you talked when you weren't supposed to, or if you hummed a little jaunty tune or even if you just stepped a toe out of lime, there were allegedly different punishments that you would suffer allegedly. Allegedly?

Allegedly. They started with like limiting exercise so you wouldn't get your fresh air for the day. Mean, but all right. Like rude. Okay. Yeah. Taking away extra food privileges so like you get like four potatoes inside a five. I mean to me right, like rude. Okay, yeah. Taking away extra food privileges so like you get like four potatoes inside a five.

I mean, to me that's a rudder. That's terrible. But sure. But eventually the punishment's got worse and worse. And you can imagine the guards are starting to like feel this power. There's a power struggle. They're like putting hoods over people's heads.

So it's like, yeah, that was never gonna last. It's just a dicks dicks. It's just a dicks dicks dicks. It's just a dicks dicks dicks. It's just a dicks dicks dicks. Yeah, that was never gonna be a thing that just stayed the way it was stayed copacetic the power shift was gonna happen here exactly So there were cells that were specifically used for punishment and they were called dark cells They were in block four on the ground level if you were sent to one you would walk into a room that was painted entirely black and

sent to one, you would walk into a room that was painted entirely black and the skylight was covered. So even, like, remember, you don't even get a lot of light anyways in those blocks, but whatever light you were gonna get was now shut off. So you were in a completely dark room. And that can really fuck with you. Oh, yeah, like, sensory deprivation. Yeah, because it's complete sensory deprivation. Like, it will fuck your eyes up, your mind will start to like, Oh man. It's sad. When you look at like Damian Eccles, I was literally just like fucked up forever.

That's why he has to wear those sunglasses. Yes, because he was like never saw sunlight. They kept him in solitary for like, literally near time. Yeah, it's fucked. These people were kept in solitary for anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month, which even that is like, that can have irreversible damage.

You imagine a month? No, a month just in the dark, man. No. And things got worse and worse. And now there were rumors of the Iron Gag. So the Iron Gag, I'm gonna get you back for all those medieval torture episodes. Bring it. It was a metal brace that a guard would put into an inmate's mouth.

Some say that they attached it to the tongue. So there were chains that came from the brace and the mouth that would be chained to cuffs around your wrists, which were often behind your back. And the more and more you struggled to get out of it, the tighter the brace got around your tongue. Ooh, and a lot of times your tongue would rip open. Or you would just die from your injuries because you could rip your whole tongue out. Yeah, or like, infection. Or like, a show gun and stuff.

Or infection, exactly. A lot of people died. And in 1835, there was an investigation into the death of an inmate who supposedly died because of the Iron Gag, but the prison officials were eventually exonerated. Oh boy, now we're getting to it. Now we're getting to it. And if that wasn't bad enough for you, let's talk about ice baths and exposure to the elements.

Let's do it. I'm not sure which is worse. This one or the Iron Gag. It's like, I feel like they're both equally fucked up on different wavelengths. Yes, exactly. So in this form of punishment, a prisoner would be forced into an ice bath or they would just lay their wild guard just poured buckets of freezing cold water on them.

And then they would be brought outside into the like winter conditions totally naked and you would be left there until I started to form on different parts of your body. That's literally Elizabeth Boutry. Yes, and it literally did that. That's all I could think about while I was saying it.

In 1831, an inmate named Seneca Plymly was one inmate who suffered from this form of the ice bath punishment, and he actually was released from the prison not too long after his ordeal with that punishment. And he was considered incurably insane. Wow. I mean, that will just change your entire set. That'll break you into two. Oh, yeah.

And think you're already in solitary confinement and you're not talking to anybody else and you have to wear a hood on your head when you leave. And then all of a sudden they're throwing you in ice baths and sticking you outside. It's like, of course, he was incurably insane at that point. That is so torturous. So torturous.

Now moving on to the mad chair. The mad chair was another form of punishment. Was it angry? It was when you were angry. Oh, okay. So, or like you would not really, you would like go mad on the chair. So you would be strapped to a chair called the mad chair. So tightly that you would not really, you would like go mad in the chair. So you would be strapped to a chair, called the Mount chair, so tightly that you would

lose blood circulation over the course of a day or two. And some people say that there's instances where people's limbs actually needed to be amputated once they were free because the circulation you cut off circulation at that point. For days at a time, I mean, think about when you accidentally wrap something too tightly around your finger, cut off circulation, that punch. And you're like, huh, get it off. Or even when you sit on your feet for too long or something like that, this is you were strapped to a chair and oftentimes they would gag you.

Oh my God. It was just absolutely terrible. The final form of punishment was the use of a straight jacket. They would just put you in the straight jacket, gag you and leave you in a cell for a few days. And honestly, that alone to me, the idea of being in a straight jacket not being able to move a part of my body,

like for days and days that I, like they're saying days, but I'm sure it was like weeks and months at a time. Oh, my God. Like it's, it just makes me want to be like, so messed up. Now, this really famous fellow one time visited the prison. I don't know if you've heard of him.

His name is Charles Dickens. Oh, no. No, I haven't heard of him. Did he do anything like special? Yeah, a couple. No no no. No, just like a couple stories. Is he just like a nobody writer?

Yeah, pretty much. You know, I think it was a pen name. It's like a blogger. He's blogger. He had a tumbler. Yeah. Well,. You know, I think it was a pen name. It's like a blogger. He's blogger Yeah, he had a tumbler. Yeah, well Charles Dickens that big deal guy. He visited the Eastern State Penitentiary in 1842 and he actually was allowed to talk to some of the inmates and he was so depressed by the entire visit And he saw that the prison was not doing things right like no matter what their goal was to begin with He was like what's happening here is fucked And he hated the idea of the whole solitary confinement thing. And actually in his book, American notes, he wrote quote, the system here

is rigid, strict, and hopeless solitary confinement. I believe it in its effects to be cruel and wrong. I hold this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be a measurably worse than any torture of the body. Ooh. So he's like the solitary in and of itself was like somehow even worse than like the thing he was going through. The mental stuff. Just all of it packed together.

I can't. How do you get through that? Yeah. I just can't even imagine. So clearly when conditions are that terrible for the inmates, there are bound to be some escape attempts at the very least. And the Eastern State Penitentiary had its fair share of attempted and one completed escape.

Ooh. Oh. Oh. Now the first prisoner to try to escape was William Hamilton. He had been arrested and sent to the Penitentiary in 1831 for the very serious crime of pig theft. Oh my God.

Poor Hamilton. Like, you're sent to this place because you stole a pig. No wonder you're trying to get out seriously. For some reason, the warden wanted William to be his personal waiter. And William obviously didn't have much of a choice in the matter. And as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility.

But if you flip that around, your great responsibility also gives you great power. It sure does. That's exactly how William felt. And one day, after a year of being in prison for stealing a fucking pig, he was presented with an opportunity. He was like waiting for the warden. And for some reason, he was left alone. There was no guard in the room.

So he decided it was time for his sweet escape. He got out onto the roof and lowered himself down to the front of the building and just disappeared into the night. Successful escape. Good. Just disappear. But he again didn't make it. He did not make it. He started stealing pigs again and immediately was sent right back to the person. Now I can't. Now I don't feel bad. It's like dude come on. Come on. Just stop stealing the pigs Don't stay like wait a while get your own Tell each other big. I don't know. Yeah, just raise your own pig paint something and pick someone will pay you and got a pig I don't know yeah, just find a wild boar train it to your own the exact same thing you did to get in there in the first place Don't do that. No, so he ended up in there again.

And he actually was able to escape again in 1837. And he got out successfully. But then again, went back to the pig life. The pig life. Come on. So it was like clear that he was going to escape. He escaped and come back and, you know, whatever. Man, he just pigs.

I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. How dare you. back and, you know, whatever. Man, he just picks. I was rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. We were all rooting for you, William. How dare you. How dare you steal, babe. So it was easy to blame the prison guards for the escapes because their entire job was to make sure that no one gets out. Yeah, and especially this dude, it's like he's already done it once.

Yeah, maybe keep on closer eye on him. Oh, the amount of people that actually made multiple escape attempts from this place, like, I was like, what was going on here? No one have a running list of people who have already escaped. Like you guys, you guys good? Keep your eyeballs on these ones. Right. So you want to blame the guards, like I said, because it's their whole job.

But in the 19th century, the guards at the Eastern State Peta Century were working 12 hour shifts for six days a week. So they were totally out of it. Yeah, just totally. Chuffed out. There was a ton of tension between the prisoners and the guards for obvious reasons. And in 1884, Eastern State saw what

is believed to be its first guard murder. Oh, Michael Doran was making his rounds one night. When an inmate, Joseph Taylor, came up behind him and started bludgeoning him with a metal bar. Oh. He bludgeoned him to death. And then once he was finished, he just turned around, walked back to his cell and got into bed to go to sleep. Oh, okay. Yeah. And that's where our first haunting comes from because now people in that cell block. It is. People in that self-lock will hear him walking around and can hear metal clinging.

Oh, and the key's jingling is something. Oh, he's spooky. So that was the first guard murder on record. Yeah. By 1877, there was already the need for more self-locks. Now remember, we have seven self-locks already. Yeah. They've already added more.

They've already added more. They've already added more. There's already more stories like this is getting wild. Now the warden of the prison at that point was Michael Cassidy. And he was actually a really good warden. At that point in time things kind of got looser. He lifted the rules a little bit. And he really believed that if you treated these people like humans, then maybe they would act like humans when you release them back into society.

Yeah. You could actually rehabilitate them to rein society instead of just like pouring ice over their faces and strapping them to chairs. He was like maybe we should try a different approach. It doesn't seem to be working. No. And actually he was the longest serving warden in the prison's history. Wow. He worked as a warden from 1881 until 1900. Wow. But he was the one who designed the new cell blocks. Cell blocks eight through 11 were a lot bigger than the cells in the other blocks, but that was because they didn't have the personal exercise yards.

OK. Now, in the 1880s, cell block three was converted into a hospital that was equipped with an X-ray room, an operating room, and eventually separate rooms for inmates suffering from tuberculosis. Damn. Yeah, it's weird because they had all the tools

to do these really awesome things and they did, but then there's just such a dark side to it. Because it's humans. Exactly. We can't do anything. We just turn everything into like dark shit. We fuck it all up. Yeah, we're giving all the tools and we just, right, to get to a dirty place. Because every time I'm like, dark shit. We fuck it all up. Yeah, we've given all the tools, and we just,

Right. So you get to a dirty place. Because every time I'm like, Oh, okay, it's turning around. And then I'll fucking, it's not. No, it's not. But the inmates with tuberculosis were put in these special rooms, and the rooms had big openings in the back,

and they were covered with like a metal grate fence, but it was like fresh air on the other side, so air was coming in and out of the room. So then you weren't like having like lingering and stenous and fucking bacteria and just everybody breathing the same germs. It's a really good idea for the time. Yeah, air circulation.

Who'da thought, whoa. Now in 1911, cell block 12 was completed and it was the first block that was three stories high now. Damn. And instead of a skylight, each cell just had a tiny window. And the ceilings in these cells were not arched. All the other ones were arched. Oh, okay.

Because it was like the like graphic style. Cell block 12 was when things really started changing architecturally in a big way. But aside from architectural changes, Eastern State was about to make a big structural change. By the early 1900s, most of the individual confinement had faded because of overcrowding reasons. They were like, we have no way of just making

these cells personal cells. Like we have to put people together. That's when things go down. That is. So there were rooms in the prison, but it's also like when things go up because these rooms in the prison were now being used for group classrooms and workshops

where everybody's working together and they're actually like learning skills together. So like, yeah, that makes sense. They're earning wages and everything. In the classrooms, they could work toward getting a high school diploma. And eventually they would even build baseball fields and basketball courts for them to use.

Stay on. Down the line, they eventually formed their own teams and basketball courts for them to use. Stan? Down the line, they eventually formed their own teams and played games against each other. Huh. That's so, I never heard about that happening. Like Twilight, but make it prison. Exactly like Twilight. Just the exact same thing. But since people weren't really eating in their cells anymore, and that was going to become

a problem anyway, you're going to get bugs and shit. Oh, yeah. So, they officially made a dining hall that was opened in January of 1924. And like on holidays and stuff, they would let them put a tablecloth on the dining hall tables. Make it fancy. And they would decorate and everything. But it was built where some of the exercise yards used to stand. But there wasn't a ton of room in the dining hall because the way it was built, it was really narrow. And by that point, the prison was like really suffering the overcrowding issues.

Oh, that stresses me out just thinking about it. I know. It's just like, I feel like it's like so yucky in the claustrophobic. But it made it difficult for the guards to monitor the prisons of the dining hall, for sure, which is scary. And that's a scary fact because by 1928, most of the prisoners, excuse me, 1,753 inmates at this time. Now remember, like, God, this was 250 to begin. It was supposed to hold 250 prisoners.

And now, by 1928, we have 1,753 inmates. And I told you this was gonna come back of those inmates, a ton of them, like a majority of them, we're serving time for murder at this point. Oh boy. So we've got like murderers, we've got rapists, we have armed robbers, like we've got big dogs up in there. Yeah, it's snow-longer just pig thiefs.

And actually, this was a men and women's prison for a long time. Oh wow. The women were kept away from the men, and eventually, in the 1920s, they were sent to a different prison. So by 1920s, there was no women in there. Yeah. But they figured out ways to write letters

to each other and stuff like that. Oh my God. In the last woman prisoner that was in the prison at the time, she was in there for poisoning her husband to death. Oh damn! Yeah, so crazy. But yeah, so we're getting real, we're getting real with it here. I mean, it's more than 250.

Yeah, just like a few more. It's like more. It's a lot greater. How many jelly beans are in the jelly in the jar? I don't know, more than 250. But now that the entire prison wasn't gonna be used as solitary confinement, there was a need for specific rooms that would be used for that purpose, because they still would need solitary confinement

as punishment, I guess. Yeah, yeah, obviously. Not really, yeah. So cell block 13, which was built sometime between 1911 and 1926, that became solitary. Okay. So there were 10 blocks, excuse me, 10 cells in block 13 that were like crazy close to each other.

Each room was only four feet by eight feet and the ceilings were only eight feet tall. Oh, like that is so claustrophobic right now. That's the size of like an area rug in your living room. Yes. Like maybe even smaller to be honest with you. Wow. Yeah. And there was only one hole in the rooms

that you could like breathe. But if the guards wanted to fuck with you, there were radiators in these rooms, and they would turn the radiators up to high. So you literally like couldn't breathe in there. Oh my God. Yeah. And also there was just an iron bed where you would sleep.

There was no mattress or anything. It was just an iron bed that was attached to the wall. Oh, that's very stressful. Yes. And like no source of light whatsoever. I don't like this at all. Again. Now, depending on what a prisoner did to end up there,

they could be there again up to a month. Now, later down the line in 1953, the prison was undergoing one of its many state investigations. And they were told that these cells were inhumane and that they needed to be destroyed. So eventually in 1959, once the final cell block, block 15 was finished, nine of the 10 solitary cells back in cell block 13 were destroyed, but they kept one of them. I'm like, the state said to you, destroy them all. They said you gotta get rid of those.

Get rid of your solitary confinement. And they were like, no, no. And stumped their feet. By that point, so again, we were supposed to have 250 inmates in here, and there was seven cell blocks. Now we have 15 cell blocks. That's more than double. That cell blocks. That's more. That's more than double.

That is like, that's insane. And by that point, the entire vision that John Havillent had of like the whole like the Spokes wheel, it was gone. The prison grounds looked like the set of fucking labyrinth. Yeah, I was gonna say, you can't keep that wagon wheel for that long. Hago was looking at the dark. There you go. I love these. You're welcome. Love it.

Yes, speaking right to me. I know, really. I got. They go, I love these. You're welcome. Love it. Yes, speaking right to me. I know, right? I got a feeling. I know my audience. Now when Cell Block 14 was being built, they put special hidden cells underground. And Cell Block 14 was actually designed by a prisoner who had gone to Harvard. Wow. And then he just decided to like, just start a criminal life, and he ended up in prison.

He was like, I'm going to help you out. But he was like, let me design this place for you. And they were like sure. They were like, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, And on top of that, they had prisoners build this cell block. Yeah. So cell block 14 was built by prisoners. Wow. Yeah. And it's pretty haunting when you hear what's underneath cell block 14. Oh, no.

The cell block was finished in 1924 in the midst of all the overcrowding issues. The Roar in 20s. And that's when they came up with the idea for clawndike cells. Uh-oh. No, those aren't Canadian. That doesn't sound like a tasty treat. Nope. Not a clond- what would you do for not being in this cell?

Probably anything. Anything. I'd cut off my arm. The clondike cells were specifically built for punishment and they were underground. They were literally like the size of like a tomb. They're like an uble-et. An uble-et, yes.

And prisoners would be held there for weeks at a time. Under ground. In an ubleot. And ubleot, yes. And prisoners would be held there for weeks at a time, underground. And an ubleot. Yeah. So those ones were also discovered during a state investigation, and the prison was barred from ever using them again. But I do have a feeling that they probably

continue to use them because the prison continued to lie about a lot of things that they said they weren't doing. Yeah, I mean, you don't just like build an ubleot and then stop using it. Yeah, no, you don't do it. You build the uble yet for a reason and you use the resources, so you gotta put those people underground.

Yeah, you don't just stop using it because someone told you to. You're like, no, I built that uble yet. I'm gonna use my uble yet. So place your put people to forget about them. It is, and that's what they did. Huggle TM. Huggle, probably.

There you go. But what? Yeah. I just don't understand how this place wasn't shut down because they underwent many investigations, not only into the circumstances and the surroundings of these people, but also the financial things.

They were like lying about how much money they were spending. They were like, at one point, it's pretty standard. Oh yeah, of course it is. And I think it's just one of those things where they do these investigations to save face. And to be like, did it? Checkmark, we did it. We found a couple things. Yeah, like, it's, they did their due diligence, but they don't have to listen. They have to listen to a point. Yeah, exactly. But they don't really care. No, no, no. They're just like, all right, we're gonna keep our rouble yet The others are so nanny nanny booboo get out of here

Boo Boo to our rouble yet, but cell block 14 became one of the most crowded blocks in the entire prison Even when it had 112 cells Wow 112 cells and it is still like crowded Imagine a loud that would be how smelly. How smelly, dark, and fucking you'd be sick all the time. You would see the air. Literally. You could chew the air, I bet. Don't chew the air. Don't do it, but you could. You'd never chew the air.

I've never chewed the air. Don't do that to the air. Now fast forward all the way to 1937, they add another terrifying structure to the prison of this time they do it in the front. Back in medieval times this thing that they added to the front of the prison was called a barbican. A barbican? A barbican? It sounds awesome, but I bet it's not. It's, I mean, it's really not that bad.

But to be fair, the structure was necessary because it was there to heighten the security of the prison because things inside were just getting increasingly more violent, getting wily in there. It was getting wild. There was already a prison riot at one point because of low wages, because they obviously weren't paying them what they were supposed to be.

There was like fire set at multiple points. Like people were like stabbing each other. Yeah. People are getting a little antsy. People are getting a little wild. Well antsy in there. But the barbigan in the addition of a metal door ultimately cost $25,000.

For sure. Because before the metal door was installed there was just a big wooden door. Yeah. Like, I mean. In Beauty and the Beast like Gaston's Common he's gonna knock that thing down with a statue. Let's go. You gotta look at like the three little pigs in the big bad wolf. Yeah, buff and I puff and I'm like, well, you're fucking a door down. I just lighted on like, oh, there was fires. They probably were afraid that they were gonna light the door on fire.

And had invented fire by this point. So yeah, long time ago, and they were apparently lighting them in the prison. They were lighting fire in the prison. Like, say, don't. Someone tell me how. But the metal door was able to be electronically opened from a control center in the wardens quarters, which I was like, wow, in 1937, I know. Technology. Whoa, baby.

Now, perhaps one of the events that prompted the Barbican and the new metal door was the escape of one Leo Callahan. So let's get into some of the people that are being housed here. Now what is the Barbican? It's basically just like a building in front of the prison so that you would have to go through there. Oh, okay.

That's where you would like, if you were able to meet with your family, that's where you would meet them. So that it wasn't like, you're in the middle of the room. So it sounded a lot scarier than it was. Yeah, it sounds way scarier than it was. It was just like a visit room. Yeah, it was just like an addition where you like you would in the middle of the bird. So it sounded a lot scarier than it was. Yeah, it sounds way scarier than it was. It was just like a visit room.

Yeah, it was just like an addition where you like you would be like checked in and like stuff like that. And I think eventually they moved to the wardens quarters there. So it was like safer. Yeah. And like the office and stuff, that makes sense. You know, but Leo Callahan, he was sent

to the Eastern State Penitentiary in 1920 for assault and battery with intent to kill. Oh, just that. That little thing. Now, by July of 1923, he had seen enough of the inside walls and he decided that he was gonna test the theory that this prison was inescapable

because we all heard that about the Titanic. Okay, I wanted to make that joke and I'm really mad that you stole it. Sorry, it's okay. That's just saying. That's literally exactly what I thought of. It's the true, whenever somebody says, it's like unbreachable and sinkable,

unbreakable, unescapable. It's the opposite of those things. It feels like a jinx. And Leo was like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And his middle fingers. Now, he was friendly with another prisoner called George Brown. George Brown before he was in the penitentiary

was actually a carpenter. And he was the one who designed the 30-foot ladder that he, Leo, and four other inmates would use to escape. Now, George had designed the ladder so that it would be easily concealed. And when I first read that, I was like, how do you conceal a 30-foot ladder in a tiny, tiny cell? Yeah, that's, honestly, that's magic.

That's a task. That's literal magic. That's a task at hand. It's really not. We have a wizard, Harry. It's really not when you think about it. Because really, he just needed to make sure that it came in smaller pieces.

Yeah. So the pieces of the ladder were broken down into six, five-foot segments. And when the time came to escape, it worked. That's still pretty impressive. I mean, yeah, because like, are you just like taping it together? Like six, five foot segments, like no one's paying attention to you just putting this together.

But in those are pretty big pieces behind. Yeah, five foot is me. That's bigger than the six of me. That's bigger than the solitary cells. Yeah, like one side of them at least. Like, could you hide six of me in a cell? If I tried, it would be hard though. Yeah, you're kind of loud. Yeah, you one side of them at least. Like, could you hide six of me in a cell? If I tried. It would be hard though. Yeah, you're kind of loud.

Yeah, you're noticeable. But ladders aren't, I guess. And I don't really think anybody was looking. Apparently not. But so yeah, they were able to use it. And they got out of there. They used a ladder. They just put them together and they said,

let's climb over this wall. They overpowered one guard and they made their way to the east wall and climbed over with the help of George's invention. And apparently the east wall was like the easiest wall to escape from. Yeah, I know. A lot of the escapes took place there. Yeah, I mean, every east wall.

Yeah, I mean, the sunrise is in the east and that's where I escape from. Of course. But I've been by everyone knows that, obviously. Now, every single member of Leo's team was found at some point or another and brought back to prison. One of them was even found in Honolulu, Hawaii. Oh, damn. I don't know how they found it, but they did.

Wow. Back to the Eastern State, you go. Oh, what a bummer. You're just like vibing in Hawaii in the quick vacation. Fucking the warden is like, hey, hey, my bad. My guy. Oh, man.

I would suck. I would hate that. But the only one who was never found was Leo, making him the only prisoner in Eastern state penitentiaries history to successfully escape. Leo, where are you? Dead. Where were you?

Vibing. Isn't that crazy? You know, out of that, many inmates, he's the only one who has never found the impressive. Yeah. And that was an impressive escape. I was in you feel so bad for George. It's like he's the mastermind of this ladder. And Leo was just like using him. Yeah. Were you even real friends? Were you even his friend? Like you couldn't house him too. Did you even text him on his birthday? Did you even send him an edible arrangement in the prison on Valentine's Day?

Did you even write on his Facebook wall? Did you probably not help him with his MySpace layout? No, you didn't. No, you didn't. You were real friends. Yeah, fake cast friends. That's so nice. But yeah, throughout the years, there would be more escape attempts.

Actually, over 100 people would try and fail at some point to escape. Wow. Now, there is one more big escape attempt that we can get into here. But first, I have to introduce to you the three key players. We got William Francis Sutton. He was actually featured on our crime countdown, Daring Prison Break's episode. I knew that sounded familiar. Yeah, and this whole thing might sound a little familiar, but like, whoa, baby.

They, uh, excuse me, William, Francis Sutton, he got to the Eastern State Penitentiary in 1934. He's one of the world's most famous bank robbers, and some people say that when he was asked about why he robbed banks, he said, well, that's where the money is. But he said he never said that. But like, that would be awesome.

Also, he's not wrong. Hello. That's correct. He's like, because there would be awesome. Also, he's not wrong. Hello. That's correct. He's like, because there's money there. Like, that's where the money is. The next question. Anything else?

Shall I go on? He was referred to as the gentleman bandit and the actor. The former, because he was pretty nice to all the people during the robberies. He was just like, can I have that money, please? I have to have it. I have to have it. I have to have it. I have to have it in the ladder because he would wear all kinds of different disguises while he was

robbing people. Sometimes he would be dressed as like a delivery person and sometimes he'd be dressed as like a straight-up police officer. All right. Now fun fact later in life, a lot of his convictions were overturned on like super minor technicalities. Wow. So he died on the outside in the 80s. Oh, jeez. And he died in Florida. I think he like retired in Florida.

Wow. Funny. Now, Frederick Tnuto worked as a hitman for the mob, and he was known as the Angel of Death. Oh, what a nickname. The Angel of Death. I feel like a lot of people have that nickname though. But like, when you're probably like the mob in that's your nickname?

That's true. You go into prison with that nickname? Yeah, you're not to be fucked with. Yes. Now, he got to the Eastern State Penitentiary in 1938 after he was convicted of murder the previous year. Moida! Moida, Spencer Henry would say.

And finally, we have Clarence Clindance, who many believe is the mastermind behind this huge escape plan. Now Clarence before he was in prison was a stone mason and a plasterer. He ended up in prison on charges of forgery, bribery, and larceny. Oh, just that. Yeah, just that. But needless to say, he would get a building and apparently dismantling too. He was in cell number 68 at Eastern State. And allegedly, before it was his cell, it was like a storage facility in the prison, and he convinced the guards and the warden

that he'd cleaned it up and it could be his cell. Now, I think it was like originally supposed to be only his cell, but he did end up having a roommate. But instead of cleaning up the cell, he got to work figuring out how to build a tunnel out of the cell that he and 11 of his out how to build a tunnel out of the cell that he and 11 of his buddies would use to escape.

Who could have seen that coming? Not me, and he's like, I'll clean this up. They're like, you're so nice. Oh my gosh, thank you, Claren. It's so sweet of you. We'll get rid of that roomie of yours, but I don't worry. You'll get your own space. He's like, I want my own space.

I know it's really overcrowded in here, but I'm important and I'll think. I have a lot of thoughts. I need to be alone. Yeah, sorry, get away from me. Now it was a long process, but he was able to hide what he was doing by one, making a plastic mold of his own face that he would leave in his bed for when the guards would check. That blows my mind.

He made a plastic mold of his own face. That kind of commitment. He was about to appear on face-off. He sure was. Are you kidding me? And then number two, he was about to appear on Face Off. He sure was. Like, are you kidding me? And then number two, he created this panel in the wall that could easily just be put back and you could put like a trash can in front of it

so it wouldn't look like anything was up in there. Man, smart guy. He's a smart guy. There you go. That's a callback. Now, it took some time, but by April 3rd, 1945, Clarence, Frederick, William, and nine of their friends entered the tunnel and climbed out the other end outside. Now, the tunnel was 15 feet down, 97 feet out, and there were electrical lights hung up throughout the entire thing, as well as fans along the way so that they wouldn't get hot in there.

Like, wow. This motherfucker was a mastermind. This is like Shawshank. It literally is. Straight up Shawshank. Straight up. Wow. Now, there were some points where all of them had to be completely underwater.

There were other points where the tunnel was only 18 inches wide. Oh, my God. I wouldn't fit. No. And I can't do it. Eventually, though, they made it out. Well, Clarence, the mastermind behind all of this, he landed himself back in the slammer pretty soon.

After just a few hours, the police found him two blocks away from the prison. Come on, Clarence. Like, you couldn't have just ran, like, ran. You go through all of that. And then you're two blocks away. I would just be, I would be like, forest gumping it. I would never stop.

And like, hours later, how are you only two blocks away. I would just be, I would be like forest gumping it. I would never stop. And like hours later. How are you only two blocks away? That's the thing, what were you doing? Why are you lolligagging, sir? It's just hanging out. I think it was. Take it in the sights. What are you doing?

I think the fresh air, I guess. Watching falling stars. What's happening? What's happening? Bitting on the air you've been chewing on for the past few years. Stop. Ridiculous.

I can't. Wow. William Sutton was the first one that the police found, and he later tried to pretend that he was the mastermind behind this whole entire thing. He wrote a book about it. He was like, it was me. And it's like, it was me, and it's like you got caught, though.

I was literally just going to say then why were you caught first if you're such a master? But I'm not the flex you think it is. Sir, weird flex, not okay. Another guy named James Grace, he was one of the 12 who escaped. He just showed back at Eastern State by himself because he was just like, you know,

this life of being on the run is not for me. And like, oh my God, he was hungry. Oh, that's like sad. That's like sad in a way. It's like sad. I don't know what he did to be in there so I don't wanna give him too much like pat. That's the thing. It's okay. But, but like it is

It is very strange when you like that that will happen. Yeah, but they like come back Yeah, like yeah, it's like Charlie Ninson. He was like I want to be in jail forever. Yeah, and they were like no No, sorry. No, I mean you really can't be it but I have to yeah, you know life on the running for everyone No now finally Fred Rick Fredric Tannuto was found with one of the other escapees. He was found with James Bocci, Van Zant, and they were the last two escapees to be found. It took the police two months to find them.

So they had something going on. Yeah, and in that time, the Bocci guy created the game of Bocci ball. He did, correct, you know? So without him, yeah, we'd never have Batchee. I lied, that's not true. No, do you want to know what he was called Batchee? Why?

Because he had a history of fucking crimes up. They literally called him Batchee for that reason. That's what we said. Like a Batchee, oh yeah. Oh Batchee over here. Why would you try to escape with Batchee? Oh my God, what a nickname. No, he, he and Tannuto had actually try to escape with Bocchi? Oh my God, what a nickname. No, it's awesome. He and Tnuto had actually attempted to escape together

just three years before the big tunnel escape and they were found the next day. So this was their second escape attempt. Apt nickname, I say. Apt nickname. Once everyone was recovered from the great tunnel escape a year later in 1946, Frederick, Tnuto, William Sutton and Clarence,

Clindance, got transferred to Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia because this prison, no one had ever escaped from. And they were like, well, that's where they have to be. Yeah. That was until Clarence, Willie, Frederick, and this man named David Aiken, who was another friend who was involved

in the tunnel escape. They tried escaping from this prison. Now, while police were looking for them, William Sutton actually made his way to number one on the FBI's most wanted list. But he eventually was turned in by this barber named Arnold Schuster. Wow.

Now Arnold Schuster turned up dead, having been shot to death only two blocks away from his home. Oh, I wonder if it's connected. Well, a lot of people think that Frederick Tannuto was responsible because he was never found and never heard from again. So he successfully escaped that prison. Damn.

Isn't that crazy? That's wild. I think all he needed to do was ditch Bocchi for a successful escape. I mean, come on. Why are you hanging on needed to do was ditch Bocchi for a successful escape. I mean, come on, like, why are you hanging on to the guy nicknamed Bocchi? It's like, I'd be like, you're on your own Bocchi. I'd be like, you gotta do this on your own.

Is third time really a charm or did you just need to get rid of Bocchi all along? Don't even, the first time. What's your nickname Bocchi? Bocchi, why? What do you like the game? No, it's because I fuck everything up that I do. All right, you go that way.

I'm gonna go this way. We'll meet in the other, like I'd be like, all right, we'll meet again. I picture like Larry and Mo and the other one, just like fucking mortgaged a one person. Yeah, correct. Yeah, I just feel like, you know what? If we're meant to meet again, we will, Batch.

But you know what? You're on your own. Batchie had his own talents, okay? Did he? He ended up writing a poem about the great tunnel prison escape or the prison tunnel escape. And he entitled it, Leaky Pen. If I could get some bongos, please.

Did his pen leak during this, like, did he botch writing a poem? No, no, no, Leaky Pen, like, Leaky Pen, attention. Oh my god, I was like, I really hope that that would be a very nice and that he titled the poem. I know nothing to do with the poem. Because his name is Bautchi, so it makes sense. I've got to fuck it up. Well, here's this poem for you. It's deeper.

12 of the boys in the Eastern state pen were serving their time with no end. When out of nowhere, they appeared a whole, which Cliny had dug out just like a mole. I love the rhyme scheme there. It's just like such talent. I love it. Whole and mole and pen.

Just like a mole. And I love that he's like, it appeared out of nowhere because Cliny dug it. Whole and mole and pen. Just like a mole. And I love that he's like, it appeared out of nowhere because Clini dug it. It's like, well, that it didn't appear out of nowhere. It just appeared after he dug it. Yeah, I mean, it was. Now, just a little fun fact on the tunnel. In 2006, archaeologists revealed that it was still intact.

What? The prison officials had said that they blocked up both friends and filled the tunnel with ash. I don't know if they had a fever dream about that or something, but they did not. But they did not do that. Because in 2006, they literally found evidence of the fans, they saw remnants of the lights.

Oh my God. The panels and stuff. Are there photos of this? Because I'm dying to see this one. I'm gonna have to look because I didn't see if there was photos of that. I don't look at that. Now, some other noteworthy inmates

at the Eastern State Penitentiary include Al Capone and a black lab named PEP. Stop. Sentenced for Moida. For Moida? I'll get into that, but Al Capone first. Al Capone stepped on the Eastern State soil in 1929. He was there because he had been carrying

a concealed weapon in a movie theater. That's what landed Al Capone in prison. Wow. The Eastern State Pension. All right. Now some people think that he actually arranged to spend time at the Eastern State Pension so that he could avoid the St. Valentine's Day massacre

in Chicago. Oh wow. That was where like a ton of mobbots was like got hit. That's interesting. He later said that he was actually haunted by the ghost of mobbots, James Clark, while he was in Eastern state penitentiary.

Really? He was the one who had ordered the hit on James. Mobbots is are just haunting their own, you know? Well, they were rivaled. Yeah, so it's like, keep it in the family. Yeah, you're right. Well, he wasn't even a rat though. But it would make a lot of sense

if Al had arranged to be in prison because his room was rumored to be like super luxurious for the prison. Of course, he's Al Capone. Al Capone, I found this quote describing it that said quote, the whole room was effused in the glow of a desk lamp which stood on a polished desk on the one-scrim walls of the penile chamber, hung tasteful,

I said penile, penile, chamber. I took a super ring and I was trying to keep an ass. I said penile. Hold on. That penile, penile chamber. I'm sorry to keep an ass. I said, P-Nile. Hold on. That P-Nile, Trace Nile Chamber. I'm sorry. Wow. On the one-scrim walls of the Penal Chamber,

how tasteful paintings and the strains of a waltz were being emitted by a powerful cabinet radio receiver of handsome design and the fine finish. Wow. It's like, I'm sorry, were you at the fucking Hilton in? Is this the Ritz L? Is this the Ritz Colton, my guy? That I'm sorry, were you at the fucking Hilton Inn? Is this the Ritz L? What is this? The Ritz Colton, my guy?

That I do have pictures of, you should look it up right now. Oh, it's funny. Oh, look at that. They don't have pictures of what it actually looks like at the time, but they recreated the room. There's a fucking armchair in there. There's a rug. There's literally a writer's desk.

It's like, I would live there. I would live there. Oh, yeah. Right? Oh, that's a cool room. It's a vibe and a half. It's like I I would live there. I would live there. Oh yeah. Right? Oh, that's a cool room. It's a vibe and a half. It is. Now while I was there, he was said to have bought new uniforms for the baseball teams and just like listen to Walt's music on the radio. There you go. You just vibed. You just vibed. And in the Eastern state penitentiary, just vibed.

But then on March 17th, 1930, his time was served. So people heard that he was being like, he was going to be leaving the prison at this certain time of the day. It was like the afternoon. So they gathered outside the eastern state waiting to catch a glimpse of fucking alcapone. But what they didn't know was that he had made a deal with the warden. The warden let Al leave early that morning and transfer to another prison so that he would be able to leave from that one and at the same time, and he would avoid all the attention and potential enemies hiding in the crowd. Oh yeah. Because at that point, the same Valentine's Day massacre had occurred and people

were like fucking pissed and knew that he had something to do with it. Oh yeah, and they're looking for them. So they were like, I'm gonna shoot you, basically. Yeah, I'm gonna shoot you Al Capone I'm gonna shoot you all, Capone. I'm gonna shoot you all, Capone, you know? But yeah, so he didn't have to leave there. Wow, he left another prison. And fun facts. A lot.

He actually had his tonsils taken out in the operating room inside of the prison. Wow. Yeah, if you follow me on Twitter, your questions are now answered. Look at that. I've heard that's really hard as an adult. Yeah.

So how good recovery as an adult, it's easier when you're a child. I could imagine. Do you even need tonsils? No. What's the point of a tonsil? To take them out. Okay.

To become inflamed. Do you have tonsils? I do. I have my tonsils. Yeah, I never got mine taken out. Neither. Doesn't matter. Did you?

Hey. You listening. Did you? Do you have tonsils? Cool. Okay. All right, nice. Yeah. Did you enjoy the the grape flavored Jello? Yeah, I got the chicken out. I don't know. I was really supposed to back. No, there was also a black lab that did time apparently. Yeah, I gotta know about this. All right, so his name was PEP. He did pose for an actual mug shot. Please google it at this very moment. I'm literally driving a car

Please car pull over first. But he was said to have been in prison for murder. He was the dog of Governor Gifford Pinchow, I believe is I say it. And allegedly, he killed the governor's wife's cat. I don't know what to say. So the whole thing, I've been rendered speechless. The whole thing was definitely like a publicity stunt. Oh my God. And blacklobs are my favorite dogs. She's thing was definitely like a publicity stunt. Oh my God.

Jesus, and Black Labs are my favorite dogs. She's so cute. He's so cute. And he's beautiful. He's gorgeous. The whole thing was just a publicity stunt, like something to write about in the fucking newspaper because apparently nothing was happening that day.

Oh, poor pep, though. I mean, well, so he gets his reputation smeared for the sake of their, smeared reputation. It's got a freaking mug shot Durin does make in fun of them, but He was basically sent there to boost in mate morale and like cheer them up But he actually didn't even end up hanging out with the inmates. He ended up doing rounds with the guards Yeah, he was just like I'm here. I'm murdered cat. Yeah, I think about what I'll do to you right exactly

Yeah, it wasn't the only animal in Eastern State. There was another dog there that was one of the guard's dogs and her name was Lady. You can look her up to. Oh, Lady. She was a beagle, actually. Oh. And actually, according to Charles Dickens, one of the inmates had a bunny in his cell when he visited.

And others were said to have kept cats and birds. This reminds me of the Green Mile. So. When he's got his little mouse. I was gonna say it at the end, but Eastern State Penitentiary is actually one of the prisons that the Green Mile is inspired by. Oh, that's it, because it's so funny,

because this whole time I've been like, wow, that's all I keep thinking of. So if you look at pictures, the floors are painted green. Oh, that's crazy. Yeah, it was like one of the main ones that inspired the Green Mile. Stephen King.

Stephen King, it's my dude. It's my dude. It's my dude. I love you. Right, that's awesome. Now I think the last important event to talk about before we get into the haunting of it all is the riot that took place on January 8th, 1961.

Yes. It was not the first riot like we know, but it was the biggest riot in the prison's history. So this inmate named John Clouzenberg. He's walking back to his cell with this brand spankin' new guard. And he's just shooting the shit, they're vibin'. He's like, how was work? He's like, oh, you know, it was good.

I cleaned the food up. Like, yeah, how you like your job is a prison guard. This is so funny. Do you wanna like, I just gotta stop by my friend's cell. Can you just let him off for like one quick sec? Like we just got chat about something. Dude, this is the oldest trick in the book. Literally, the oldest trick in the book.

Just gotta stop by house real quick. This motherfucker opened up the, like this guy's friend's cell and then the two of them like overpowered him on the feed because they're like inmates. Yes. And like they're probably on there for like some shady shit. And eventually, 800 prisoners ended up being freed from their cells and just started trashing the fucking prison.

That is so scary. 800 prisoners. Angry criminals that have been cooped up and have been like wronged. Like they were being like a beast and shit. So they were lighting rooms like the record room on fire. They literally lighted the record room on fire. Oh my God.

They were stealing from the pharmacy. They cut the phone lines at one point. There was like multiple, but they cut some of them. They were stabbing guards and like beating them up and then stealing their uniforms and putting them on. So like that it's like who the fuck is who? It got so bad that the city police, the state troopers and the prison warden himself

had to mastermind like an operation in the middle of the entire riot to like figure out how to take back power. How do you even excuse me? It was the deputy warden. So they came up with this thing middle of the entire riot to figure out how to take back power. Yeah. How do you even excuse me? It was the deputy warden. So they came up with this thing called Operation Prison Breakout. And eventually they were able to regain control of the prison. But for a little while, guards were locked back up in cells with prisoners because the

prisoners had stolen their uniforms so that nobody knew who was who. So they had to like lock everybody in cells together until they figured out who was prisoner and who was guard. What? Yes. Wow. Insane. So Joseph Briarly was working as deputy warden that day and he was credited as being the mastermind behind Operation Prison Breakouts. And he helped regain control of the prison. That's impressive that they were able to regain it at all. Seriously, later on, he was able to become warden. But not before the district attorney announced that the prison was a danger to everyone in the city nearby.

Yeah. They're like, now they're like, yeah, that's bad. Get the fuck out of here and move to the country. Now the goal of the entire riot was just another escape attempt. Some of the prisoners had come up with the idea so that everyone would be distracted while they headed down to the garage on site and stole a truck to leave.

However, when they got down there to the garage, the city police had already arrived and they were able, like the police were able to get them to do their things. But terrifyingly enough, the prisoners at that point were armed with meat cleavers. Oh! Like, I don't know how these police got control of them

when they're fucking wielding meat cleavers. What? Nuts. I can't even picture this. Meat cleavers. That's horrible. Actually, crazy. None of the prisoners were killed during this riot.

Wow. One of them, however, was left with a fractured skull You can find a picture of him in the book And his family was like called to the prison to like say goodbye to him He was given last rights and then he like miraculously survived. Damn crazy, right? So finally after 10 more years, so that happened in 1961 and then in 1971 The prison was officially closed. I think it's about time.

It's definitely like past time. All of the remaining inmates were moved to the state correctional institution at greater ferd, I believe is how you say it. And for a long time, people had different ideas about what they should do with the building. And then some people suggested that they should build condos there.

They were like, let's destroy and like build condos over it. Who are these people? That's never gonna happen. Who are you? You wanna live in that condo? Like Jesus, Jesus walkos? What are you asking for? Just want that vibe on there?

Imagine? No. So the building ended up being abandoned for so long because nobody could decide what to do with it or figure it out. It was declared a semi-ruin. Wow. And in 2000, it was added to the list of the 100 most endangered sites list by the world's monuments list. One accomplishment. Yeah, you know. That's the list you want to be on. Hot or not. Good, good. Get it, isp. Now in 2002, it was actually removed from the list. And eventually the site became a museum. It took a long time to preserve the building and the whole idea was never to restore it back

to its original like thing. They wanted to preserve it and make a museum. And while people were working on that, there was this is like the most precious fucking story ever. There was this man named Dan McLeod. He was a city worker, and he was like working on the project with all the people, like, you know, getting this place up and running. I dare I say. Yeah, at least from museum, you know.

And while he was working there, he realized that there was a whole bunch of feral cats living inside. Like they had like its own little community of cats. Like a colony of cats. Literally. So this man's took it upon himself and would go three times a week and feed all of the cats.

That's precious. Like ruin me. That's really wholesome. The ruins have ruined me. I like that. So he passed away in 2003, but in 2004, this artist named Linda Brenner made an art installation called Ghost Cat.

And it was installed in the museum in 2004 in the memory of not only the cat population, but Dan McLeod, the Catman. Oh, stop. Like, ruin me. You just took hold of my heart. ruin me. That's so sweet.

So now for the haunting. Cool, good. I had to tell you like, I really keep the story before I was like this. Like that's so sweet. All right, let's place this haunted. So each block seems to offer something a little different. In Cell Block 12, people hear echoing voices

and cackling laughter. I love that and loves it. Yeah, and Cell Block. Everything's funny. I got it. Lolls, just lulls and good times. So much fun. In Cell Block 6, people have reported seeing shadowy figures

around the walls that are just like circulating the walls. But cell block four seems to be the scariest of them all. So here's the story for you. And when the prison was like totally abandoned and they were just working on getting it together for the tours and everything, they had to hire this locksmith named Gary Johnson to actually get into cell block four because it was like totally locked. Yeah. So when he was removing the lock from the cell, he said that as soon as he removed the lock,

he felt this sudden force take over his body and he felt like he was being held up. He like couldn't move. And he said he felt negative and horrible, but that this force wouldn't let him go. And then all of the sudden in front of him, there were swirling faces on the walls. Oh! And one of them was calling to him. What the fuck? Yeah.

I don't like that. Hate that. I don't like that. No, thank you. People say that when you go on tours, there's towers that used to be like looking over like the yards and stuff, so that like that. Yeah, watch towers so the guards could watch over them.

People say that on tours, if you look up, you'll still see one of the guards standing there. I want that so bad. You'll hear like screaming and like yelling in the prison. There's also like rattling like of the bars of the bars and everything. I wanna go here. Super scary, will we?

This has gotta be a trip we gotta make. We can. Cause we're close. Now, up until 2008, you actually had to sign a waiver to enter the building. Get me there. I'm gonna choose to believe that it's for the ghosts and not liability reasons of a center block falling on my head,

but is this a spestus? Because I'm not into that. Is this a spestus or is this ghost? Because if it's ghosts, like I'll sign five times. All signs. It's a spestus for ghosties. I'm not signed in for any first image. That's my first name.

But people have gone on tours and like they hear all these things. And if you ever want to go for Halloween bitch, they have this event all through spooky season, like leading up to Halloween. I believe it starts in September. And it's called Terror Behind the Wall. And the site says, are you ready? I'm ready.

It includes two haunted houses. Stop. Three immersive walkthrough experiences that apparently aren't scary. Three live and interactive performances. Four themed bars and lounges. And literally obsessed with this. Three opportunities to explore all of the cell blocks.

So you can like experience the haunting for yourself. Philadelphia is not that far away. Honey. We could drive. I need this. Like we could go. I literally need this. We could go.

Yes. This, this halos eve. We could literally go. Like should we figure it out after this? I really want to. Can you imagine? And you took one of my last fun facts that the Green Mile was inspired by this.

Oh, sorry. It's OK. But this is a really fun fact. At one point, there was an audio tour that you could take and it was voiced by Steve Bouchemy. Stop it. Stop it. I called it.

Immediately as if we couldn't get any better immediately as if we couldn't get any better. Is it? It couldn't get any better. And they've also used this site for a couple of movies. I don't know, I've never heard of this movie. It's called 12 Monkeys. 12 Monkeys? You've never heard of that movie? No. Wow. That was with Brad Pitt. Oh, shit. Okay. Well, it was filmed there. Oh, that's great. And also, Transformers Revenge of the Fallen was there.

Hey, look at that. Wow. Yeah Yeah, so let's go for Halloween yesterday. Honestly, it's driving five hours. That's like going to Maine. That's like nothing. And you get two haunted houses, three immersive walkthrough experiences, three live and interactive interactive performances, four themed bars, and three opportunities to explore the cell blocks and see swirling faces all around the walls. Worth it to me. Let's fucking go. Worth it.

Let's go, girls. I wanna go. I don't wanna go really badly. So yeah, that is the Eastern state penitentiary. Damn. Wildin'. What a tale. What a tale.

What a place. I wanna go. I wanna go too. I want, like you can go see like Al Capone's room. You sold it's all set up. You sold me. You can like maybe pretend that you're escaping from the East Wall.

Hell yeah. That's what I would wanna do. Like so crazy. I wanna see the faces. And they have like all these like, um, like big like memorial things. Yeah, and like just like, just like, intermation things.

Yeah, the history alone. There's like a bunch of like art installations. Wow, I really want to see this place seriously. And if you want to see this place, but you're a little too far away, please, please, please go get that book, the Eastern State Penitentiary by Francis X Dolan. I'm gonna link it in the show notes.

And literally the entire book is just like a ton of pictures and like there's even more information in the book. That's amazing. Yeah. Wow, you kicked ass. I want to go there now. more information in the book. That's amazing. Yeah. Wow, you kicked ass. I want to go there now. I think we should leave. If we leave right now, we could get there by seven.

All right, perfect timing. We're out. Dusk. Dusk. Well, we'll tell you how it goes. And in the meantime, we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it. We're, but that's a way that you put bags over people's heads

and an idea that you think is good because it's not ever going to turn out as good as you think it's going to turn out. Yeah, it got weird. But that's a way that you put bags over people's heads and an idea that you think is good because it's not ever going to turn out as good as you think it's going to turn out. Yeah, it got weird. Yeah, they kept it weird. It did. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to morbid, early, and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.