Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, San Francisco, California, U.S.
Resting place
Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery
Criminal status
Deceased (Killed during escape attempt)
Conviction(s)
Bank robbery, Kentucky
Criminal penalty
25 years imprisonment
Bernard Paul "Barney" Coy (February 13, 1900[1] – May 4, 1946) was an American bank robber and federal prisoner best known as the planner of a failed escape attempt from Alcatraz, on May 2, 1946, which turned into a bloody two-day armed confrontation leaving Coy, two fellow would-be escapees and two prison guards dead.[2]
Coy was a native of Kentucky who turned to crime during the Great Depression and, in 1937, was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment for committing a robbery with a sawed-off shotgun.[2] He was transferred to Alcatraz from Atlanta in 1938 and was later given the position of cell-house orderly which allowed him access through most of the main cell block on Alcatraz. This relative freedom allowed him to spot a tiny flaw in one of the prison's security features, the bars of the gun gallery overlooking the cell house. Coy along with Joe Cretzer, Marvin Hubbard, Sam Shockley, Miran Thompson, and Clarence Carnes[3] planned to break into the gun galleries to steal weapons, take hostages and then flee to the dock.
Coy was successful in creating a makeshift bar-spreader devised from toilet fixtures in the prison workshops which he hid in a cloth bag inside his mouth. This device enabled him to create a gap of approximately ten inches between the relatively weak bars that protected the gun galleries, then enter and overpower the unsuspecting guard on his return from investigating a fabricated incident caused by Shockley in the prison's secure unit, D-Block. The guard was quickly overpowered and strangled into unconsciousness. Coy then lowered numerous weapons to his fellow conspirators, then took the keys from the guard which provided access to the recreation yard.[4]
The prisoners now had one Springfield rifle, one .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun, and a club, but the most important item supposed to be held in the cage was the key to the yard door of the prison from which the convicts expected to make their way to the island's dock to seize the prison's boat. However, Bill Miller, one of the nine guards held hostage in two cells had, contrary to regulations, held on to the yard door key to let out kitchen staff without having to disturb the gallery guard at lunch instead of returning it to the gun gallery. The escape attempt was thus foiled inadvertently as although the prisoners eventually found the key following a search of the captive guards and cells,[5] the door would not open because it had been jammed by trying the lock with different keys, as it was designed to do.
The escapees held several guards hostage and as there was no hope of negotiating, the struggle between prison authorities and the group of prisoners turned into a violent stand-off, that became known as the Battle of Alcatraz or "Alcatraz Blastout".[6] After two days, prison guards regained control of the prison and the body of Coy was found in a utility corridor along with those of Cretzer and Hubbard.[7]
^ancestry.com
^ ab"Golden Gate. The Rock: A History of Alcatraz Island 1847-1972" (PDF). May 31, 1979. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
^"Escapees from Alcatraz: The List of Casualties". January 1, 2010. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
^McCavour 2018, p. 108.
^"Federal Bureau of Prisons: William A. Miller". bop.gov. January 2, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
^"Crime: Revolt on the Rock". Time. May 13, 1946. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
Bernard Paul "Barney" Coy (February 13, 1900 – May 4, 1946) was an American bank robber and federal prisoner best known as the planner of a failed escape...
known as the "Alcatraz Blastout". It was carried out by six prisoners: BernardCoy, Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Clarence Carnes, Marvin Hubbard and Miran...
Wolf Dog as Kurt Evans 1980 Alcatraz: The Whole Shocking Story (TV) as BernardCoy 1981 Taps as Colonel Kerby 1981 Fallen Angel (TV film) as Frank Dawson...
led to the Battle of Alcatraz, also known as the "Alcatraz Blast Out". BernardCoy, Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Clarence Carnes, Marvin Hubbard and Miran...
Al Capone ("Scarface") Meyer Cohen ("Mickey") Theodore Cole ("Ted") BernardCoy Joseph Cretzer Volney Davis ("Curley") Herbert Farmer ("Deafy") Rufus...
cell-house orderly BernardCoy who offered Cretzer a place on the break in return for use of his onshore contacts. On May 2, 1946, BernardCoy attacked officer...
Clark Jim Clark Russell Clark Archie Clement Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe BernardCoy Joseph Paul Cretzer, formed the Cretzer-Kyle Gang Patrick Critton Pat...
of the characters were given the names of the real inmates (such as BernardCoy and Miran Thompson), Carnes' character was renamed Dan Durando, portrayed...
Howard's book about the aborted 1946 escape attempt. David Carradine as BernardCoy Howard Hesseman as Joseph "Dutch" Cretzer David Morse as Marvin Hubbard...
back to his cell. On May 2, 1946, during an attempted escape, inmates BernardCoy, Joseph Cretzer, and Marvin Hubbard took custodial guard Cecil Corwin...
To His Coy Mistress Had we but World enough, and Time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime. We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our...
Bernard Lawrence Madoff (/ˈmeɪdɔːf/ MAY-dawf; April 29, 1938 – April 14, 2021) was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind...
not take part in the escape attempt, learned much from the methods of BernardCoy, who initiated the riot. The disturbance Myles would later start in Montana...
Jonathan Coy (born 24 April 1953) is a British actor. He has worked since 1975 largely in television, notably as Henry in the long-running legal series...
Clarence Carnes. Six Against the Rock (1987), starring David Carradine as BernardCoy, is based on the semi-fictional book by Clark Howard. Alcatraz (2018)...
Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical...
Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925 – September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height...
"The Stars of "Buried By the Bernards" Talk Growing Up in a Funeral Home". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2021. McCoy, Chris. "Life, Death, and Laughs:...
Madoff, the former Nasdaq chairman and founder of the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, admitted that the wealth management...
likes of veteran rappers Loonie, D-Coy of Madd Poets and Krazykyle of Rapskallion. He even filed a case against D-Coy and Krazykyle in 2006 and demanded...
two alternate takes. It contains performances by Hubbard, Bernard McKinney, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Art Davis and Elvin Jones. The album was identified...
Ellie (Diana Garcia) to pick them up, but Ellie's boyfriend Bobby (Chris Coy) talks Jill into going back inside. This elicits jealousy from Adam, who...
Harrington, Mike (August 24, 2022). "For Niagara coach Rob McCoy, seeing Wynton Bernard's MLB debut was a real treat". The Buffalo News. Archived from...
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