 Henri Young (Kevin Bacon) was convicted for stealing 5$ from post office and sent to Alcatraz, the most secured jail for the most dangerous criminals. After a futile escape mission he was sent to dungeon and got out as a murderer after thousand days, though maximum 19 days in dungeon is the official punishment was allowed. He became scared and confused savage and killed one of the prisoners. It was a sure to lose case and so James Stamphill (Christian Slater), a fresh law graduate was appointed as his lawyer. But rest is history! Based on a true story, Murder in the first is a masterpiece by Marc Rocco shows how the dungeon of Alcatraz was shut down for ever!