James C. "Tex" Lucas
Alcatraz register no. 224. The warden's notebook page records receipt from Leavenworth on 24 January 1935 under a sentence for national bank robbery and the Dyer Act, and a 1938 federal first-degree murder verdict and life sentence. The National Park Service says he attacked Capone in 1936.
- Born
- 1912-06-11
- Died
- 1998-11-28
- Aliases
- Tex, James Crittenton Lucas (catalog title)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state. The identification photograph is a Bureau of Prisons record, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.
On the record
- 1935-01-24 — The warden's notebook page (NAID 236734998) records "James C. Lucas" received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth, age 22, date of birth 6/11/12, offense "Nat'l Bank Robbery, Dyer Act," dated Nov. 5, 1934, district "N/Texas - Abilene."
- 1936-06-23 — The National Park Service says: "On June 23, 1936, Lucas viciously attacked Al Capone in the shower room."
- 1938-05-23 — The Bureau of Prisons says that on May 23, 1938 James Limerick, Jimmy Lucas and Rufus Franklin attacked a correctional officer with a hammer in the woodworking shop, that the officer died, and that Lucas and Franklin received life sentences for his murder.
- 1938-11-26 — A red note on the notebook page records an indictment on June 7, 1938 for first-degree murder and a jury verdict of murder in the first degree on November 26, 1938, with a new sentence of life imprisonment.
- 1950-03-25 — The page is stamped "TRANSFERRED TO LEAVENWORTH MAR 25 1950"; the catalog gives the same date and destination.
- 1998-11-28 — The catalog description gives a death date of 11/28/1998 at Sacramento, California, and the remark "ATT ESC 05-23-38 (GUARD KILLED); ATTACKED CAPONE."
The notebook page’s first image does not mention Capone; the 1936 attack rests on the National Park Service article and on the catalog remark. The catalog and the Bureau of Prisons give the 1938 workshop incident the same date. The role and family fields are left empty because no record cited here states either. Offenses are given as the notebook form prints them; the “Reason for Transfer” boxes are staff opinion and are not used.
Records
itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for James C. Lucas, No. 224Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of James C. Lucas, No. 224, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 24 January 1935 under a sentence for national bank robbery and the Dyer Act (Northern District of Texas); a note records a 1938 federal first-degree murder verdict and life sentence. A copy is stored here.item"The Man Who Tried to Kill Al Capone" (National Park Service, Alcatraz Island)National Park Service article on Alcatraz inmate James "Tex" Lucas. It states that on June 23, 1936 Lucas attacked Capone in the shower room and that Capone suffered a minor chest wound and superficial cuts to his hands.
itemFBI report on the 23 June 1936 assault on Capone at Alcatraz (serial 62-39128-45)A San Francisco FBI report states that inmate James C. Lucas stabbed Capone in the back with a blade of barber shears at Alcatraz on 23 June 1936, that the wound was superficial, and that the U.S. Attorney declined prosecution as a prison administrative matter.itemAlcatraz (Federal Bureau of Prisons history page)The Bureau of Prisons' history page on Alcatraz names Al Capone among the well-known criminals who did time there, and says most of its prisoners were not well-known gangsters.