Two Eastern State Penitentiary officers examine the tunnel's exit, on the terrace above Fairmount Avenue, April, 1945.

The 1945 Tunnel Escape

On April 3, 1945, shortly before 7:00 am, twelve convicts escaped from Eastern State Penitentiary through a 97 foot tunnel. Of the twelve convicts to escape, six were recaptured in less than three hours. The tunnel, which opened out onto Fairmount Ave. near 22nd street, was dug by cellmates Clarence Klinedinst and William Russell. The entrance to the tunnel was concealed by a wood panel that was painted to match the plaster wall.

Klinedinst nailed a metal laundry basket to the panel so that nothing appeared out of place. Dirt and paint-smeared Vaseline was used to make the wall and panel appear as one. An investigation of the cell the Saturday before the escape, that was prompted by rumors of wrongdoing, was unsuccessful in finding the opening.

The convicts used a string of seven lightbulbs which were plugged into the overhead light of the cell to light their way through the tunnel. They also fashioned a home-made ladder to climb the 10 foot drop in the tunnel. Authorities questioned how the debris from the digging of the tunnel was disposed of and the answer is still unknown.

According to Warden Smith, Klinedinst, a plasterer, began digging Cellblock 7 in order to repair it. This gave him the perfect cover-up and the tools required. Klinedinst was later joined by cellmate William Russell, who apparently was the only other person involved in digging the tunnel.

William Sutton, notorious bank robber, was suspected to be the brains behind the escape, but most likely found out through the prison grapevine as did most of the convicts. Six of the inmates, including Klinedinst and Sutton, were caught within two hours.

The escape of the remaining six fugitives spurred a citywide manhunt such as the area had never seen. All avenues of escape from the region were being guarded.

Inmates Eventually Found

State Secretary of Welfare Sophie M.R. O‘Hara ordered an investigation into the Penitentiary and the escape on April 4, 1945. On April 10th, escapee William Russell was shot seven times after walking into a trap at an old girlfriend’s house in Frankford. The girlfriend’s father was a policeman and ha been planning the trap since the day of the escape.

On April 6th, at 10:50 am, Mrs. Elsie West spotted escapees David Aiken and William Szymanski walking in the woods across from the train station in Wawa, PA.

On April 11th, James Grace rang the bell at the Penitentiary at 5:15 am and surrendered. He had been hiding under a bridge in Fairmount Park since the escape.

On the evening of May 22nd, escapees James Van Sant and Frederick Tenuto, along with notorious Philadelphia gunman Michael Quinn, were captured [by the FBI] while planning a bank robbery in New York City.

The convicts involved in the escape were taken to trial in June. Most of them received ten to twenty year sentences for the escape, except Klinedinst, who received only three to six years extra. [The reason for this remains a mystery to us.] McKnight and Bowers were not tried for the escape, but rather for the robbery of a milk truck.

[State Secretary of Welfare] O’Hara ordered the retirement or discipline of the officers and guards responsible for the escape by July 15th. She also required documentation of all prison operations. The inquiry into the conditions at the Penitentiary eventually went to the Grand Jury, but no satisfactory explanation was given concerning the escape.

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