Criminal, American Folk Figure. He was a young, violent criminal who found trouble early on in Indianapolis. He was convicted in October 1940 of a Denver bank robbery and sentenced to Alcatraz. He soon threw in with an escape attempt which included Floyd Hamilton, Fred Hunter, and Harold Brest. On April 14, 1943 they made their move. Boarman and Brest brandished homemade shivs at their shop foreman and Captain Henry Weinhold. They made it out of the cell house just as the alarm sounded. The four, dressed in only their underwear, looped together old tires for flotation devices and smeared themselves with industrial grease to protect themselves against the cold water. They leaped off a 30-foot cliff into the bay. Tower guards opened fire on the men, severely wounding Boarman. Brest was recaptured in the water while Boarman sank below the surface. Fred Hunter was found the next day, and Floyd Hamilton two days after that, having hid in a seaside cave. James Boarman’s body was never recovered. He was 24 years old. (bio by: Dennis Rice)