Alcatraz warden's notebook page for Joseph Paul Cretzer, No. 548
Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Joseph Paul Cretzer, No. 548, received at Alcatraz from USP McNeil on 27 August 1940 under sentences for bank robbery, escape and second-degree murder; a typed header records the 2 to 4 May 1946 prison break and that his body was found on 4 May. A copy is stored here.
- Date
- 1940-08-27
- Kind
- photograph
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- NAID
- 236735810
- Rights
- A Bureau of Prisons record, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. Series "Warden's Notebook Pages" (NAID 296686), Records of the Bureau of Prisons (Record Group 129), National Archives at San Francisco. The National Archives catalog marks the item "Use Restriction: Unrestricted." The series note says that some information on the pages is incorrect when compared with the fuller inmate files, and that clippings in the series may be copyrighted; this page is a prison form. The copy stored here is a downsample of the first digitized image.
The National Archives catalog titles this page “CRETZER, JOSEPH PAUL “DUTCH” - Alcatraz Number 548 - Warden’s Notebook.” It is a Bureau of Prisons notebook form with an identification photograph at the upper right; the placard in the photograph reads “U.S. Penitentiary Alcatraz 548”. It belongs to the series Warden’s Notebook Pages (NAID 296686).
The typed entries, as printed: name “CRETZER, Joseph Paul,” No. 548, received 8-27-40 from “USP McNEIL,” age 29, date of birth 4-17-11. Offenses “(1) Bank Robbery (2) Escape (3) MURDER 2nd DEGREE”; dates of sentence “(1) 2/8/40 (2) 8/23/40”; sentences “(1) 25yrs (2) 5yrs”; districts “(1) S/California” and “(2) Tacoma, Washington.” A note under the detainers records that he was returned to Tacoma on Sept. 21, 1940, tried for murder after a plea of guilty, sentenced to life on 10/21/40, and returned to Alcatraz on October 23, 1940. The header, typed after the events, reads “LEADER IN PRISON BREAK AND RIOT, MAY 2, 1946 BEGINNING ABOUT 2:00 P.M., AFTER GUN BATTLE WITH OFFICERS, body found, dead with gunshot wounds, MAY 4, 1946 IN UTILITY CORRIDOR, C-BLOCK, about 9:45 a.m.” The word “leader” is staff wording. The “Reason for Transfer” box and the sections on his earlier life and family are staff text and are not repeated.
Catalog data, labelled as such: offense “NATIONAL BANK ROBBERY, ESCAPE [McNEIL] & MURDER”; received at Alcatraz 08/27/1940 from US Penitentiary, Marion [as the catalog prints it; the page prints McNeil]; transferred 09/21/1940 to “WHC (USDC TACOMA, WA)”; the remark reads “ATT ESC 05-21-41; 05-02-46; KYLE’S B-I-L”; birth date 04/17/1911; death date 05/04/1946 at Alcatraz. The Bureau of Prisons lists a 21 May 1941 hostage-taking in which Cretzer was one of four prisoners, and names him among the six in the May 1946 battle (BOP Alcatraz history).
