It’s a crime we rarely hear about today, but kidnapping famously wealthy Americans for ransom was an epidemic between 1925 and 1934.
According to the March 3, 1932, edition of the New York Times, ‘Abduction for ransom has become a big money crime taking its place beside the liquor, vice and drug trafficking among the prominent rackets of the country.’
Among the most notable cases were the abduction of 29-year-old Madge Oberholtzer, who was taken by DC Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the Indiana Ku Klux Klan, and was raped and murdered before the authorities could find her.
Marion Parker, 12, was lured from school when she was told her father, wealthy banker Perry M Parker, had been injured. She was then murdered by her abductor.
Mary Agnes Moroney, 2, taken from her Chicago, Illinois, home, was never found in her parents’ lifetimes.
And then there was the infamous case of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. On March 1, 1932, the 20-month-old boy was taken from his crib at his parents’ East Coast home. The child’s famous father’s accomplishment as a military officer and the pioneer of international commercial aviation and air mail, had elevated him to celebrity status.
While the Bureau of Investigation (the FBI’s predecessor) was preoccupied with finding the murderer of the Lindbergh child, two of America’s most ruthless criminals were planning their own step into kidnapping notoriety.
Kathryn Kelly, 26, was a beautiful but dangerous woman who had little regard for the law. Most men she aligned herself with in her early years shared her enthusiasm for reckless living and defying authority.
When the beautiful but dangerous Kathryn ran into dapper George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, she had met her match
Twelve-year-old Marion Parker (left) was murdered by her abductor. Madge Oberholtzer (right) was raped and murdered by her Ku Klux Klan kidnapper before the authorities could find her
In the summer of 1930, she was racing through the small towns and back roads of Oklahoma with her boyfriend, bootlegger Steven ‘Little Steve’ Stephens.
Bootlegging was a financially lucrative industry during Prohibition. And not only did Kathryn enjoy the clothing, jewelry and furs she was able to acquire from their profits, but she found outrunning the authorities exhilarating.
But she met her match in the dapper, well-dressed Irishman George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, who later became her husband.
Among his many talents was, allegedly, the ability to write his name on a wall with bullets from a machine gun – hence the nickname.
And George, like his bride-to-be, had a taste for the finer things in life – expensive clothing, fancy restaurants and lavish living.
Nearly 100 years later, the rapper Colson Baker took the same name and even shortened it to MGK as a nod to his rapid-fire delivery – he is now arguably much more famous than his gangster predecessor.
George Kelly and his moll first found a level of notoriety from their illicit careers of bootlegging and, later, bank robbing. But they both longed for much more than those outlets could provide.
So when Kathryn was casually reading the newspapers in the fall of 1932, in the Texas home she shared with her husband, one particular article caught her eye.
The Oct. 18, 1932, edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram announced the happy marriage of widow Berenice Slick to widower Charles F Urschel. Both were reported to be prominent, wealthy oil personalities.
The rapper MGK – named for his rapid-fire delivery – with his former girlfriend Megan Fox
George Kelly, like his bride-to-be, also had a taste for the finer things in life – expensive clothing, fancy restaurants, and lavish living
Mary Agnes Moroney was kidnapped at the age of two from her Chicago home – the case is still unsolved
One of the most famous kidnapping cases was that of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr – son of the legendary airman
Berenice alone was said to be worth more than $6 million, thanks to the holdings of her late husband, wildcatter Thomas B Slick.
Over the next two months, Kathryn collected every newspaper article she could find on the Urschels. She read about the newlyweds’ time in France and Italy and sailing to New York after their honeymoon.
She learned the exact day they were to arrive back in the States and the address of their home in Oklahoma City, the names of their teenage children and where they attended school, and the bridge club luncheon scheduled to be held at the Urschel home in early December.
And she convinced George that Charles Urschel was the perfect individual to hold for ransom.
After months of preparation, on July 22, 1933, George and his associate Albert Bates forced their way into the Urschel residence, armed with a machine gun and a pistol, and snatched the wealthy man during a game of bridge.
In the days following the kidnapping, Berenice waited to hear from the abductors.
Four days after Charles had been stuffed into the back seat of the getaway car with a gun to his head, she received a ransom note – written in his own handwriting – demanding $200,000 – one of largest demands ever made.
The newspapers of the day were filled with stories about other kidnap victims still unaccounted for, or killed after the ransom was paid.
In Philadelphia, the kidnappers of real estate investor Frank A McClatchy, 56, shot him twice, and he died instantly.
The family of John O’Connell, the nephew of two powerful Democratic party leaders, who was abducted on July 7, 1933, held a vigil with little to indicate when they’d see their loved one again.
The authorities were still also investigating the kidnappings of the Lindbergh baby and William Hamm Jr (president of Hamm’s Brewery) and the alleged kidnapping of John Factor.
Haunted by these stories, Berenice quietly paid the ransom and her husband was eventually released.
But the subsequent successful manhunt justified the newly formed FBI and its powerful, controversial director, J Edgar Hoover.
The Bureau’s part in capturing Machine Gun Kelly and other notorious gangsters like John Dillinger convinced the American public that the organization could wage war against crime and win.
Kathryn convinced George that Charles Urschel was the perfect individual to hold for ransom
George Kelly is led away in handcuffs by FBI agents after his arrest
Oil magnate Charles Urschel takes the witness stand
All were sentenced and were sent to various institutions throughout the country – including Kathryn, pictured in the Cincinnati workhouse where she started her life sentence
The mistakes they’d made overseeing the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, which threatened to end the organization, had been corrected.
The agency went on to develop a national fingerprinting system, and successfully pushed to have forced abductions recognized as a federal crime, allowing the Bureau to pursue criminals across state lines.
However, Hoover did acknowledge that none of it would have been possible without the cooperation of Charles Urschel.
The information he was able to provide led to the arrest and conviction of more than 15 people in the kidnapping case, including those who helped launder the ransom money and harbored the fugitives.
All were sentenced and were sent to various institutions throughout the country.
A year after his conviction, George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly was transported to Alcatraz, where he struggled to cope with the damp conditions and strict regime.
In early April 1940, he was given permission to write a letter to Charles Urschel.
He wanted to make sure the oil tycoon knew how much he had suffered since being locked away. He stopped short of apologizing for what he’d done to him but did admit he was ashamed of his actions toward him in court.
He wrote: ‘These five words seem written in fire on the walls of my cell: Nothing can be worth this!’
Exclusively excerpted from Meet the Kellys: The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne by Chris Enss, published by Citadel
