Prison Chronicles Season 1, Episode 6: San Quentin

Alcatraz

Alcatraz, built to hold the worst of the worst, is the last stop for repeat offenders and troublemakers from other prisons. These are three stories of desperate men willing to risk it all to escape the cold, dark cells of "the Rock." Legendary gangster Al Capone tries to be a "big shot" behind bars--but enemies are everywhere. Six convicts organize a jailbreak that becomes an all-out war, and three men attempt the most elaborate breakout in the prison's 30-year history.

21 min

ADX

ADX is the place for terrorists, serial killers, and anyone else who will never again see the light of day. Located in Florence, Colorado it's been dubbed the "Alcatraz of the Rockies." Ishmael Petty, a violent criminal manages to attack the staff; Tommy Silverstein, leader of the Aryan Brotherhood gang, finds a way to communicate with 9-11 terrorist Ramzi Youssef; an inmate who nearly starves himself to death to protest the prison's policies; and a brutal gang hit job in plain sight.

21 min

Hanoi Hilton

The Hanoi Hilton is perhaps the most famous American POW prison of the Vietnam War located in the city of Hanoi. In Vietnamese its name literally means “hell hole” but even hell cannot break the will of some American POWS like John McCain, the hero who endures years of torture, or the group of airmen who invent a secret communication code to talk to each other, and Jerimiah Denton who sneaks messages home on live TV.

21 min

Sing Sing

A maximum-security prison on the banks of the Hudson, just 30 miles north of New York City, it gave rise to the term “being sent up the river”. “Old Sparky”–one of the first electric chairs in the world–takes over 600 lives. Famed escape artist Wille Sutton attempts an audacious plan. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, cold War spies, fight for their lives on death row. And a 1983 spontaneous uprising where the inmates take control.

21 min

Dannemora

Dannemora, located in the frigid Adirondack mountains, its nickname is "little Siberia." Officially called the Clinton Correctional facility--this foreboding prison is commonly known as Dannemora--named after the town where it is built. The prison opens on June 3, 1845, as a source of free labor for the local mines. Here are three of the most incredible tales from inside its icy walls. First, a desperate convict Kenneth Kimes takes a Court TV producer hostage. Then, a superstar prisoner, Tupac Shakur, stirs up trouble, and finally- two murderers, Richard Matt and David Sweat, attempt a daring escape.

21 min

Attica

Attica, a 90-year-old maximum-security prison in upstate New York, has a legacy of violence and inmate abuse stretching back decades. From the serial killer Son of Sam who gets his throat slashed, to an Irish mobster Mad “Dog” Sullivan who is the only person to have escaped the prison successfully, and the deadliest prison riot in American history.

21 min

Leavenworth

Leavenworth located 25-miles northwest of Kansas City, was the largest maximum-security federal prison in the United States for over a hundred years.

Devil's Island

France shipped prisoners to Devil's Island located off French Guiana so they would vanish from the public eye; its most famous prisoner, Alfred Dreyfus, is a military officer convicted of crimes he didn't commit.

Andersonville

Deep in the heart of the Confederacy, Andersonville was the last place a Union soldier wanted to end up during the Civil War; only opened for 14 months, it's the deadliest American prison, becoming the final resting place for over 12,000 men.

Tower of London

Located in the heart of London on the River Thames, the Tower of London's reputation for torture and beheadings fuels nightmares; originally built as a fortress by William the Conqueror in 1078, it becomes a prison in 1101.

The Soviet Gulag

Within the first forty years of operation of the Soviet Gulag system, at least 18 million people were imprisoned and more than one and a half million were killed; three tales of the fight for survival.