Approximately twenty miles from Oklahoma City, the victim of this kidnapping was blindfolded by the use of adhesive tape. He was driven at a fair rate of speed over what seemed to be country roads until a short time before daybreak Sunday Morning, July 23, when he changed to another car on the farm of R.M. Coleman near Stratford, Oklahoma. After about thirty minutes wait, the abductors proceeded with their victim to the farm home of Robert Green Shannon, father-in-law of Barnes, near Paradise, Texas, in whose home he was held that night. The next morning he was removed to another house located on the Shannon farm about three-quarters of a mile from the R.G. Shannon home, where his son, Armon Crawford Shannon, lives. He was held in this house in a miserable blindfolded condition, being always chained to the chair, and part of the time being forced to sleep on the floor, while a continuous guard watched over him with two .45 caliber automatic pistols. When one of the abductors was not guarding their victim, he was guarded by R.G. Shannon, who is known as Boss Shannon, or his twenty-two year old son, Armon Shannon.
The kidnappers demanded that Urschel designate a friend who would act as a intermediary with his family and John G. Catlett of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was selected to make this contact. Through a well planned arrangement of having the Urschel family place an ad in a daily Oklahoma City Newspaper, negotiations were opened, and E.E. Kirkpatrick, friend and business associate of Urschel, was instructed to take $200,000 in used Federal Reserve Twenty Dollar Notes in a light colored tan handbag and in a certain directed manner and appointed time, should go from Oklahoma City to Kansas City, Missouri where he was to receive further instructions. As directed in Kansas City, about 5:30 P.M., July 30, 1933, Kirkpatrick using the appointed name of E.E. Kincaid, took a yellow cab to the La Salle Hotel and walked west on Linwood Boulevard a short distance where he was met by a man identified as George Kelly Barnes, who took the bag and told him Urschel would be released shortly. A record of the number on each of these ten thousand bills had previously been made.
About 3:30 P.M., July 31, 1933, Mr. Urschel was taken from his temporary imprisonment in the Armon Shannon home by one of the abductors and they were later joined by the other and he was driven to Norman, Oklahoma, and released about 10:00 P.M., being instructed by the kidnappers to hire a car and proceed immediately to his home and not communicate with any officers concerning his experience. This Urschel did. It was not until after a very detailed and extensive investigation, which covered the entire United States, was made that the identity of the kidnappers and those who conspired with and assisted them was established.
After splitting the ransom money with their accomplices, Kathryn and Machine Gun started hopping from state to state, trying to stay ahead of law officials. Aided by the clues that Urschel was able to provide, the FBI raided the ranch and arrested one of the other conspirators. The bills that had been used for payment in the ransom had traceable serial numbers and the Central Bureau of Investigation (now the FBI) started a nationwide search for the ringleader, who they now suspected as being Kelly.
George and Kathryn bounced around in several states, with Chicago as their main hub. In an effort to conceal their identities they both dyed their hair, all the while enjoying a lavish lifestyle with the marked currency. After several weeks in hiding, the couple finally made their way back to Memphis to stay with longtime associate John Tichenor. On the morning of September 26, 1933, Memphis police and FBI agents surrounded the Tichenor house, and then made a violent forced entry. It is said that this was the moment when Kelly coined the phrase: “G-Men, please don’t shoot!” Kelly was found still in his pajamas and badly hung over from the prior evening’s drinking binge, while Kathryn was still in bed asleep. The couple was quickly flown to Oklahoma where they stood trial and both received life sentences. Another accomplice, Albert Bates, was taken into custody in Denver, Colorado, on August 12, 1933, on an unrelated charge. At the time of his arrest, he had in his possession $660.00, later identified by Bureau agents as part of the Urschel ransom money.
Albert Bates and Harvey Bailey’s Alcatraz mug shots.
Harvey Bailey following his capture after escaping from a Dallas jail in 1933.
The FBI then raided the Shannon residence and took into custody Harvey J. Bailey, a notorious criminal who had escaped from the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, Kansas, on May 30, 1933, where he had been serving a sentence of ten to fifty years on a charge of bank robbery. Bailey was also wanted in connection with the murder of three police officers, a FBI Special Agent, and their prisoner. Eventually all of the accomplices were apprehended, and of all those involved in the kidnapping, six were given life sentences.
Kelly was transferred to Leavenworth in Kansas, and Kathryn was sent to a Federal prison in Cincinnati. Kelly was arrogant toward prison officials. He bragged to the press that he would escape and then break his wife out of jail so that they could spend Christmas together. It was decided that these threats should be taken seriously and in August of 1934, Kelly and fellow inmates Albert L. Bates and Harvey J. Bailey were transferred by train from Leavenworth to Alcatraz. Arriving on September 4, 1934, they would be among the first prisoners received on the island. Kelly was now inmate #AZ-117, Bates was #AZ-137 and Bailey was #AZ-139.
Kathryn Kelly and George Kelly following their capture in 1933.
George and Kathryn Kelly during their sentencing.
Following her conviction, Kathryn Kelly was transferred to the Federal prison in Cincinnati, Ohio.
George Kelly was transferred to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary under heavy guard.
In prison, Kelly constantly boasted about robberies and murders that he had never committed. Although this was said to be an apparent point of frustration for several fellow prisoners, Warden Johnson considered him a model inmate and his life at Alcatraz was largely uneventful. He took a job as an altar boy in the prison chapel, worked in the laundry and served out his time quietly. Warden Johnson noted that Kelly would become depressed when receiving mail from family members. He seemed to feel remorse for his crimes and always felt that his wife Kathryn and their other accomplices were treated too harshly.
Machine Gun Kelly (without hat) enjoying his time on the Alcatraz Recreation Yard. Seated next to him (wearing hat) is Willie Radkay.
Basil “The Owl” Banghart and Machine Gun Kelly were close friends at Alcatraz.
Letters from Kelly to the Attorney General, requesting an immediate transfer from Alcatraz.
Inmate Willie Radkay, who occupied a cell next to Kelly, stated that he had many fond memories of getting to know him, and working together in the prison Industries along with Basil “The Owl” Banghart. Every day they would work side-by-side, enduring all of Kelly’s “big tales.” When asked about his most prominent memory of living next to Machine Gun, Radkay said that nearly every night Kelly would accuse Willie of snoring, reach out of his cell and slap him with a magazine.