The Bureau initially badly bungled the investigation. Agents released Blackie Thompson, a notorious outlaw, from jail, hoping to use him as an informant. Instead, he robbed a bank and killed a ...

On Dec. 22, 1946, Samuel Shockley and Miran “Blackie” Thompson, two of the six prisoners involved in the infamous Battle of Alcatraz — which left two men dead and 13 injured — were sentenced to death ...