Burton Phillips

{{Short description|American bank robber and kidnapper (1912-1999)}}

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Burton Phillips

| image = Burton Phillips.jpg

| caption = Mugshot of Phillips in 1935

| birth_date = {{birth date|1912|05|20}}

| birth_place = Topeka, Kansas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1999|07|28|1912|05|20}}

| death_place = Kansas, U.S.

| criminal_charge = Bank robbery, kidnapping

| conviction_penalty = Life imprisonment; paroled January 12, 1952{{cite book|last1=Ward|first1=David A.|last2=Kassebaum|first2=Gene G.|title=Alcatraz: The Gangster Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kV6KXrkQjTsC&pg=PA102|accessdate=22 March 2020|date=19 May 2009|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25607-1|page=331}}

}}

Burton Earnest "Whitey" Phillips (May 20, 1912 – July 28, 1999) was an American criminal, convicted of bank robbery and kidnapping, a federal crime. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison, and served time in Leavenworth and Alcatraz penitentiaries.{{cite book|last=Luce|first=Henry Robinson|title=Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zyg7AQAAIAAJ|accessdate=8 September 2012|date=January 1938|publisher=Time, Inc.|page=43}} He was released on parole in 1952.

Biography

In February 1935, Phillips robbed $2,090 ({{Inflation|US|2090|1935|fmt=eq}}) from the Chandler Bank of Lyons in Kansas. He took the cashier and his assistant as hostages and drove away with an accomplice in a stolen car.{{cite book|last1=Ward|first1=David A.|last2=Kassebaum|first2=Gene G.|title=Alcatraz: The Gangster Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kV6KXrkQjTsC&pg=PA102|access-date=8 September 2012|date=19 May 2009|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-25607-1|page=93}}

He was initially sent to serve his sentence at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. He had planned to overpower the sheriff, take his weapons, and escape to rob the same bank again. Assessed as a highly dangerous criminal, he was transferred to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, which was considered more secure. He was sent to Alcatraz on October 26, 1935.

Phillips was considered a malicious, angry man, and was remarked by the Alcatraz staff upon arrival. In 1937, he savagely attacked the Warden of Alcatraz James A. Johnston from behind in the Dining Hall, where Johnston was unguarded. Phillips beat him until he was restrained. Johnston was 63 at the time and Phillips around 24.{{cite book|last=Allsop|first=Kenneth|title=The Bootleggers: The Story of Chicago's Prohibition Era|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlAsAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=8 September 2012|year=1961|publisher=Arlington House|isbn=9780870000942}} Phillips was said to have been angry at Johnston over a workers' strike. His attack was described as a "queer mental quirk".{{cite book|last=Odier|first=Pierre|title=The Rock: A History of Alcatraz: the Fort/the Prison|url=https://archive.org/details/rockhistoryofalc0000odie|url-access=registration|access-date=8 September 2012|date=1 January 1982|publisher=L'Image Odier|isbn=978-0-9611632-0-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/rockhistoryofalc0000odie/page/127 127]}}

Phillips was given parole in 1952. He died in Kansas in 1999.{{Cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.ca/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=USPenAlcatrazCA&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=angs-d&gsfn=burton&gsln=phillips&uidh=ah6&pcat=36&fh=0&h=259&recoff=8+10+22|title = Ancestry - Sign up}}{{better source needed|date=June 2017}}

Burton Phillips

Biography

References

Further reading