STILLWATER, Minn.—During a series of brutal attacks between 1949 to 1974, Harvey Carignan, known as Harv the Hammer, murdered five women and raped ten others in Alaska, Washington, North Dakota, and Minnesota.
The psychopathic ex-soldier armed with a claw hammer who claimed God told him to kill those women, was convicted in 1975 of two rapes, and in 1976 of two murders. He was given a life sentence and has been held at Stillwater prison for nearly 35 years.
Originally condemned to hang in Alaska for a rape-murder in 1949, the conviction was overturned after police were accused of coercing his confession. Instead, Carignan was resentenced to 15 years for assault-rape and sent to Alcatraz.
He arrived on the island on Sept. 13, 1951 and became inmate 935-AZ.
Carignan, 83, discussed his nine years on Alcatraz in a series of recent letters.
“I arrived with four others and we found our way together; Darrell Brown, Victor Garcia, Ed Hall, Joe Dunn, and Winston Henry—a delightful man” he said. “Henry was a happy man with a smile and a good word for everyone.” In 1957, Henry was released and later shot to death in Oakland.
Though unable to remember every violent incident, Carignan did recall seeing Officer Floyd Fisher get nearly beat to death with a trumpet wielded by inmate William McKinney. “Fisher didn’t deserve it,” he acknowledged. “I heard the guards worked over McKinney afterward.”
Carignan had little regard for Warden’s Edwin Swope and Olin Blackwell, referring to them as "sadistic and unnecessarily cruel," but that Warden Paul Madigan was a decent and caring man.
Despite spending five days in isolation for passing contraband cigarettes, Carignan stayed out of trouble during his near decade on the island.
He worked in the industries, laundry, and spent one year as the prison barber. “I cut Robert ‘Birdman’ Stroud’s hair once,” he said, adding “Pershing Fontenot, my cousin from Baton Rouge, worked with me.”
He also befriended two of the Rock’s more famous cons: Morton Sobell; the atom spy, and Louis Fleisher; member of Detroit’s notorious Purple Gang.
“Sobell was a nice man, well educated. We discussed books, music, and movies,” said Carignan. “He was kept there as propaganda to keep Alcatraz operating.” Sobell is alive at age 93, living in New York.
Carignan explained that Fleisher was also a truly nice and friendly man, but also quite dangerous and not to be crossed—he says they never discussed his brothers Harry and Sam, both Purples and ex-Alcatraz inmates—they talked about him burning people who wouldn’t pay his boss protection money. In fact, Fleisher was a known pyromaniac who died in prison while serving time for arson.
In the end, Carignan didn’t find the Rock to be a tough place to do time. “Alcatraz was the easiest prison to get along in, but hard on one’s mentality,” he continued. “There’s too much cell time. You could read and write letters, that’s about it. I played in the jazz band when I could.”
His most vivid memory occurred when he was told that the evidence used in his conviction had been obviated, and he’d be going home the next day. He was released from Alcatraz on April 2, 1960.
Three months later he was arrested in Minnesota for attempted rape, assault, and burglary, and sentenced to 8 years.
Carignan is currently in ill health and is not eligible for parole.
His exact number of victims remains unknown.
E-mail Drew Morita at drew_morita@yahoo.com
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