One of the few men ever to escape San Quentin State Prison walked out legitimately this time, after a long stint in the same prison.
In 1974, Watani Stiner fled the U.S. and lived as a fugitive in South America for the next two decades before turning himself into U.S. authorities.
“There was a civil war going on in Suriname,” Stiner said. “All the chaos and turmoil going on made me worry for the safety of my family. I walked into the U.S. embassy to negotiate my surrender for the love of my children.”
The Stiners
Stiner, who was a columnist for the San Quentin News before he paroled, was born in Texas on Jan. 30, 1948. He is the son of George and Lula Mae Stiner. He has two brothers and two sisters.
Stiner said when he was 7 years old his mother wanted a change, so the family took a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles.
He said after arriving in the projects of Watts, he was excited to get back to school. Watts, he says, was a lot different from Texas.
Stiner said his father, a mathematics professor, taught at various black schools while his mother worked as a nurse. However, Stiner said his father’s alcoholism eventually broke his family apart.
“Just when I thought I was settled into school, my mother took our family to the west side of Los Angeles,” Stiner said.
After moving to West Los Angles, Stiner said his other siblings from Texas joined the family.
Two months before graduating from Manuel Arts High School, Stiner said he married Hodari, his high school sweetheart. They had two children, Larry Jr. and Lionel. “I was a very proud father,” he said.
To support his family, in 1967, Stiner said he got a job at Douglas Aircraft.
Conflict, Revolutionaries and War
“We not only made airplanes but bombs that were sent to Vietnam,” Stiner said. “At that time, I was also taking classes at UCLA studying cinema photography and Political Science.”
Stiner said as he became more educated, his political beliefs changed.
“I began to disagree with what Douglas Aircraft was doing,” Stiner said. He said after two years of working at Douglas, he quit and got involved in a movement that led to the shootout on the UCLA campus. Stiner said after being convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, he and his brother received life sentences, while another defendant was sent to the Youth Authority.
Stiner said that once in the prison system, he and his brother were separated. Watani was sent to Soledad Prison and George to San Quentin.
He said everything changed two years later when in 1971, a Soledad prison guard was murdered and the Soledad Brothers went on trial for his murder. He said Soledad was completely locked down and a large number of blacks, considered revolutionaries, were transferred to other prisons.
Stiner was sent to San Quentin’s Adjustment Center also known as “the hole.” Records show that the Stiner brothers should not be housed in the same prison, but no other prison would accept him, Stiner said. After two months in segregation, he was released to the general population.
For the next three years, he would share the same cell with George. However, Stiner said they both felt that because of the incident at Soledad, their lives were in danger. He said that at the time, they believed a squad was formed to destroy all revolutionaries.
He said they were living in constant fear. So, they devised a plan to escape from San Quentin. The plan was successful in 1974.
On The Run
In South America, Stiner said, he established a new identity, a new life and settled down and had seven children.
“It was difficult not having contact with my high school sweetheart and our two kids,” Stiner said. “This was a pain I lived with every day. While living in Suriname, every time I saw my children, I was reminded of my two sons in America.” Love is powerful, Stiner said, “especially when two innocent kids have no idea what happen to their daddy.”
Stiner said authorities in the U.S. embassy confirmed he was convicted for the UCLA incident and in fact had escaped from San Quentin Prison. In exchanged for Stiner’s surrender, his children were supposed to come to the U.S. with him.
Stiner said that although he knew, he would be incarcerated and away from his children, perhaps for the rest of his natural life, he says it was a sacrifice he could live with.
Back in the Hole
When he was returned to San Quentin, he was told he was going to Pelican Bay State Prison; the prison officials call a prison for the “worst of the worst.” However his attorney arranged for him to be housed at San Quentin pending the out come of the escape charges. During that time, he was returned to the Adjustment Center. After being found guilty of escape, the subsequence time added to his sentence was run concurrent to his life sentence.
Stiner spent 21 years back in prison since his surrender.
He said that he lived in agony for 11 years waiting for his children to come to the United States after he turned himself in. He smiles and proudly says “Three of my children have successfully graduated from college with their Bachelors of Arts degree.”
While in prison Stiner spent most of his time working clerk jobs and in the library searching for ways to hold the government accountable for their agreement with him.
The OG
Watani eventually became a staff member for San Quentin News and had this urge to reach out to the young troubled kids in order that they not get caught up in and pursue a negative life style. The OG Perspective Colum was created.
“To stumble is not to fall only to move forward faster,” Stiner said, referring to an African proverb that has inspired him to never accept failure and help change lives in a positive direction. “For the love of my children, it was worth it.”
Stiner’s future includes getting his memoirs published, a fascinating story about crime, murder, and redemption.
