 Kelly and his wife are pictured during their trial, above, and at their arraignment, right. It would be the first trial in which motion picture equipment was allowed. Kathryn would make the most of it, often mugging for the camera. |
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No one knew them anymore
With the heat on the Kellys intensifying, even the Chicago underworld turned their back on the pair. The best they could do was Joe Bergl, a friend of Kelly, who provided them with a car, $200, and whiskey, before ordering them away from his place.
On Sept. 21, they headed for Kelly’s hometown of Memphis with the Arnold’s daughter still in tow.
They thought they were safe, but things were about to get worse.
The day after they left Chicago, the Barker-Karpis Gang drove a bulletproof Hudson automobile, equipped with smoke screen and oil slick devices, in the robbery of a Federal Reserve Bank messenger. During the escape, the bandits wrecked the car and killed a Chicago police officer. The car was traced back to Joe Bergl, a known associate of Kelly.
The police immediately suspected Kelly and Verne Miller of the robbery. Authorities theorized the two men were attempting to raise cash to spring Bailey, because the police and the FBI still believed that Kelly and Bailey were Miller’s accomplices in the Kansas City Massacre the previous June. Later, Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd and Adam Richetti would be accused of the Chicago robbery and murder, and also accused of being Miller’s partners in the massacre. The heat just kept intensifying.
The Kellys arrived in Memphis and hid at the home of John Tichenor, where they marked their third wedding anniversary. Kelly contacted Langford Ramsey, the brother of his first wife, Geneva, who was a local attorney. Giving his ex-brother-in-law his automobile, he sent Ramsey to Texas to retrieve some of the buried ransom money. Kelly had Geraldine go with him as a guide to help find Coleman’s farm. When Ramsey arrived at the ranch, however, he was informed that the FBI was watching the place closely and Coleman refused to allow him to dig up the money. Ramsey went to the local telegraph office and wired Kelly that, "the deal fell through." He also wired the Arnolds in Oklahoma City that their was being placed on a train. Unknown to Ramsey or the Kellys, was the Arnolds were already in FBI custody and talking. The agents even intercepted Ramsey’s wire about Geraldine’s return. The FBI met the child at the train station and she began to tell the story of her incredible sojourn … leaving out no detail.
Arrest and Trial
With the information supplied by 12-year-old Geraldine Arnold, Memphis police and the FBI set out to arrest the Kellys on the morning of Sept. 26, 1933, at the Tichenor home.
There are several versions of Kelly’s arrest. Newspapers reported that Sgt. William Raney of the Memphis Police Department knocked on the door and Kelly opened it and stuck out his .45 automatic. The newspaper account said, "Raney, who is a big and powerful man, pushed his shotgun against Kelly’s stomach. It was a tense second, but Raney’s coolness and the look that was in his blue eyes won."
Writer and crime historian Rick Mattix reports that Memphis police "burst" into the house where Kelly was staying. As Raney, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, entered Kelly’s room, he found him standing there in his pajamas, hung over and holding a .45. Kathryn was asleep on a bed next to him. During the night the two of them had consumed six quarts of gin. The sergeant jammed his shotgun into Kelly’s stomach and ordered him to drop the gun, which Kelly did, on his own foot. "I’ve been waiting for you all night," Kelly was said to have muttered.
Another, somewhat humorous version, comes from Bruce Barnes, Kelly’s son. Tichenor told him a story years later that Kelly had picked up the morning newspaper but failed to re-lock the front door. He walked into the bathroom and while there the police entered the house. When the police burst into the bathroom, Kelly was still relieving himself. Although his gun was in the bathroom, he didn’t have time to grab it.
Of course, the last version comes from the FBI archives and was dramatically presented in the movie, "The FBI Story," starring Jimmy Stewart. FBI agents, armed with automatics, machineguns and shotguns, burst through the doors of a Memphis rooming house and confronted Kelly, who is fully clothed and wearing a coat and hat. Kelly pulls his hands out of his coat pockets, drops a gun on the steps, and cries out, "Don’t shoot, G-men! Don’t shoot!" In a masterpiece of public relations propaganda, the FBI took full credit for the arrest. Hoover, his agents, Hollywood, and the rest of the country ate it up. What gets lost in Hoover’s mythical version of the arrest is the fact that FBI agents were not permitted to carry firearms until May 1934. (However, this regulation did not prevent the "G-men" from killing unarmed Dillinger gang member Eddie Green on April 3, 1934. During that investigation, Hoover refused to identify the agents who took part in the shooting. Less than three weeks after Green’s death, FBI agents killed an innocent man and wounded two others while allowing the Dillinger gang to escape from a tourist lodge in Wisconsin.)
Kelly taken into FBI custody
After the arrests, Kelly and his wife were arraigned the same day at the Shelby County jail where they both pled not guilty to kidnapping Charles Urschel. Kelly was defiant. He declared he would fight extradition to Oklahoma. When the warrants were read, Kelly proudly shouted out, "I won’t sign that."
An officer leaned over to Kelly and quietly explained, "You don’t have to sign it. That’s just the charge against you."
When placed in a cell, Kelly boasted, "I’ll be out of this in no time. Let’s see them keep me."
Kathryn Kelly wasn’t as gallant. She stated she would waive extradition and would go as soon as they wanted her to leave. Kathryn’s story was that her family had been coerced into helping with the kidnapping, which consisted only of watching over and feeding Urschel. That was also the story her family was telling during their trial. The Shannon family members also claimed they were in fear of Kelly, and Kathryn told the authorities that she had wanted to surrender and testify on her family’s behalf, but her husband threatened to kill her if she did.
Kathryn told the Memphis police chief, "I’m glad we are both arrested because I am not guilty and I can prove it. I’ll be rid of him and that bunch. I don’t want to say anything about that guy Kelly, but he got me into this terrible mess and I don’t want to have anything more to do with him."
After the arrest, the newspapers were still pointing out that Kelly was wanted for participating in the Kansas City Massacre, as well as the murder of a policeman in St. Paul, and the killing of the police officer in Chicago. In fact, famous Chicago Chief of Detectives William "Shoes" Schoemaker asked government officials to bring Kelly to stand trial in Chicago before taking him to Oklahoma City.
The following day Kelly had a change of heart. He told FBI Agent W. A. Rorer, "You’ve got me right on the Urschel kidnapping, but not the Chicago robbery or the Kansas City Union Station job." Kelly said he would waive extradition and go back peacefully.
On Sept. 27, federal agents went to the farm of Cass Coleman and retrieved the $73,250 that Kelly had buried there. Coleman was arrested, as was Langford Ramsey.
The trial of the original defendants in the Urschel kidnapping case was winding down. Kathryn, who was expected to testify on her family’s behalf, never took the stand. The defendants were the first to be tried under the new Lindbergh Law. The new law introduced after the abduction and murder of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. in 1932, allowed the FBI to become involved in cases where state lines had been crossed or, "in the absence of evidence to the contrary," when it was "presumed" the boundaries had been violated. The law also provided penalties of life in prison.
In District Attorney Herbert K. Hyde’s impassioned final argument he told jurors:
"I beg of you, in the name of my government, to return a verdict of guilty against these defendants. This is one of the most important cases ever tried. Precedents are being set that will guide the courts and the bar in all future trials that grow out of this determined effort of your government to stamp out this most damnable of crimes — kidnapping."
The jury took less than two hours to decide the fate of the defendants. On Sept. 30, seven of the accused were found guilty of participating in the Urschel kidnapping. Three others — Isadore "Kid Cann" Blumenfeld, Sam Kronick and Sam Kozberg — were acquitted. Sentences were to be announced a week later.
On Oct. 1, the Kellys were flown to Oklahoma City amid a convoy of nine airplanes. Upon arriving, Kelly quipped, "Hello, gang, nice trip," to a group of photographers. Fearing a repeat of what happened in Kansas City, one of the guards held a machinegun on Kelly while another officer kept one trained on the crowd.
Also at the airport was prosecutor Hyde, who arrived with Mr. and Mrs. Urschel.
"That’s the man," Charles Urschel exclaimed. From inside the car, Mrs. Urschel stated, "That face will haunt me for as long a I live."
The Kellys were rushed to a motorcade of 10 automobiles and taken to the county jail. Their trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 9. A newspaper article five days later wrongfully reported that both Kellys were going to plead guilty and stand with the other convicted participants to receive their sentences.
On Oct. 7, prior to Federal Judge Edward S. Vaught handing down sentences, Kelly and his wife entered pleas of not guilty. The judge then sentenced Albert Bates, Harvey Bailey, R. G. "Boss" Shannon, and Ora Shannon to life in prison. One wonders if Kathryn has testified could she have prevented the life sentences for everyone except Bates. Armon Shannon, just 22 years old, was given a 10-year suspended sentence, "conditional upon his future good conduct." Edward Berman and Clifford Skelly, the St. Paul money exchangers, received five-year sentences.
"Boss" and Ora Shannon stood dumbfounded as they heard the judge state that they must spend the rest of their lives in federal prison. Kathryn was reported to have "stared at the judge icily," as she listened to her mother being sentenced. She then broke down.
Kelly, who had entered the courtroom smiling, passed near Urschel on his way out. "You’ll get yours yet, you bastard," Kelly sneered. Kelly then drew his index finger across his throat in a cutting motion. Urschel ignored the incident. He knew he had already gotten his.
The following day, Bates and Bailey were whisked off to Leavenworth to begin their sentences. "Boss" Shannon was allowed 60 days to get his business affairs in order. Ora Shannon was granted 10 days to dispose of her property.
On Sept. 21, they headed for Kelly’s hometown of Memphis with the Arnold’s daughter still in tow.
They thought they were safe, but things were about to get worse.
The day after they left Chicago, the Barker-Karpis Gang drove a bulletproof Hudson automobile, equipped with smoke screen and oil slick devices, in the robbery of a Federal Reserve Bank messenger. During the escape, the bandits wrecked the car and killed a Chicago police officer. The car was traced back to Joe Bergl, a known associate of Kelly.
The police immediately suspected Kelly and Verne Miller of the robbery. Authorities theorized the two men were attempting to raise cash to spring Bailey, because the police and the FBI still believed that Kelly and Bailey were Miller’s accomplices in the Kansas City Massacre the previous June. Later, Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd and Adam Richetti would be accused of the Chicago robbery and murder, and also accused of being Miller’s partners in the massacre. The heat just kept intensifying.
The Kellys arrived in Memphis and hid at the home of John Tichenor, where they marked their third wedding anniversary. Kelly contacted Langford Ramsey, the brother of his first wife, Geneva, who was a local attorney. Giving his ex-brother-in-law his automobile, he sent Ramsey to Texas to retrieve some of the buried ransom money. Kelly had Geraldine go with him as a guide to help find Coleman’s farm. When Ramsey arrived at the ranch, however, he was informed that the FBI was watching the place closely and Coleman refused to allow him to dig up the money. Ramsey went to the local telegraph office and wired Kelly that, "the deal fell through." He also wired the Arnolds in Oklahoma City that their was being placed on a train. Unknown to Ramsey or the Kellys, was the Arnolds were already in FBI custody and talking. The agents even intercepted Ramsey’s wire about Geraldine’s return. The FBI met the child at the train station and she began to tell the story of her incredible sojourn … leaving out no detail.
Arrest and Trial
With the information supplied by 12-year-old Geraldine Arnold, Memphis police and the FBI set out to arrest the Kellys on the morning of Sept. 26, 1933, at the Tichenor home.
There are several versions of Kelly’s arrest. Newspapers reported that Sgt. William Raney of the Memphis Police Department knocked on the door and Kelly opened it and stuck out his .45 automatic. The newspaper account said, "Raney, who is a big and powerful man, pushed his shotgun against Kelly’s stomach. It was a tense second, but Raney’s coolness and the look that was in his blue eyes won."
Writer and crime historian Rick Mattix reports that Memphis police "burst" into the house where Kelly was staying. As Raney, armed with a sawed-off shotgun, entered Kelly’s room, he found him standing there in his pajamas, hung over and holding a .45. Kathryn was asleep on a bed next to him. During the night the two of them had consumed six quarts of gin. The sergeant jammed his shotgun into Kelly’s stomach and ordered him to drop the gun, which Kelly did, on his own foot. "I’ve been waiting for you all night," Kelly was said to have muttered.
Another, somewhat humorous version, comes from Bruce Barnes, Kelly’s son. Tichenor told him a story years later that Kelly had picked up the morning newspaper but failed to re-lock the front door. He walked into the bathroom and while there the police entered the house. When the police burst into the bathroom, Kelly was still relieving himself. Although his gun was in the bathroom, he didn’t have time to grab it.
Of course, the last version comes from the FBI archives and was dramatically presented in the movie, "The FBI Story," starring Jimmy Stewart. FBI agents, armed with automatics, machineguns and shotguns, burst through the doors of a Memphis rooming house and confronted Kelly, who is fully clothed and wearing a coat and hat. Kelly pulls his hands out of his coat pockets, drops a gun on the steps, and cries out, "Don’t shoot, G-men! Don’t shoot!" In a masterpiece of public relations propaganda, the FBI took full credit for the arrest. Hoover, his agents, Hollywood, and the rest of the country ate it up. What gets lost in Hoover’s mythical version of the arrest is the fact that FBI agents were not permitted to carry firearms until May 1934. (However, this regulation did not prevent the "G-men" from killing unarmed Dillinger gang member Eddie Green on April 3, 1934. During that investigation, Hoover refused to identify the agents who took part in the shooting. Less than three weeks after Green’s death, FBI agents killed an innocent man and wounded two others while allowing the Dillinger gang to escape from a tourist lodge in Wisconsin.)
Kelly taken into FBI custody
After the arrests, Kelly and his wife were arraigned the same day at the Shelby County jail where they both pled not guilty to kidnapping Charles Urschel. Kelly was defiant. He declared he would fight extradition to Oklahoma. When the warrants were read, Kelly proudly shouted out, "I won’t sign that."
An officer leaned over to Kelly and quietly explained, "You don’t have to sign it. That’s just the charge against you."
When placed in a cell, Kelly boasted, "I’ll be out of this in no time. Let’s see them keep me."
Kathryn Kelly wasn’t as gallant. She stated she would waive extradition and would go as soon as they wanted her to leave. Kathryn’s story was that her family had been coerced into helping with the kidnapping, which consisted only of watching over and feeding Urschel. That was also the story her family was telling during their trial. The Shannon family members also claimed they were in fear of Kelly, and Kathryn told the authorities that she had wanted to surrender and testify on her family’s behalf, but her husband threatened to kill her if she did.
Kathryn told the Memphis police chief, "I’m glad we are both arrested because I am not guilty and I can prove it. I’ll be rid of him and that bunch. I don’t want to say anything about that guy Kelly, but he got me into this terrible mess and I don’t want to have anything more to do with him."
After the arrest, the newspapers were still pointing out that Kelly was wanted for participating in the Kansas City Massacre, as well as the murder of a policeman in St. Paul, and the killing of the police officer in Chicago. In fact, famous Chicago Chief of Detectives William "Shoes" Schoemaker asked government officials to bring Kelly to stand trial in Chicago before taking him to Oklahoma City.
The following day Kelly had a change of heart. He told FBI Agent W. A. Rorer, "You’ve got me right on the Urschel kidnapping, but not the Chicago robbery or the Kansas City Union Station job." Kelly said he would waive extradition and go back peacefully.
On Sept. 27, federal agents went to the farm of Cass Coleman and retrieved the $73,250 that Kelly had buried there. Coleman was arrested, as was Langford Ramsey.
The trial of the original defendants in the Urschel kidnapping case was winding down. Kathryn, who was expected to testify on her family’s behalf, never took the stand. The defendants were the first to be tried under the new Lindbergh Law. The new law introduced after the abduction and murder of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. in 1932, allowed the FBI to become involved in cases where state lines had been crossed or, "in the absence of evidence to the contrary," when it was "presumed" the boundaries had been violated. The law also provided penalties of life in prison.
In District Attorney Herbert K. Hyde’s impassioned final argument he told jurors:
"I beg of you, in the name of my government, to return a verdict of guilty against these defendants. This is one of the most important cases ever tried. Precedents are being set that will guide the courts and the bar in all future trials that grow out of this determined effort of your government to stamp out this most damnable of crimes — kidnapping."
The jury took less than two hours to decide the fate of the defendants. On Sept. 30, seven of the accused were found guilty of participating in the Urschel kidnapping. Three others — Isadore "Kid Cann" Blumenfeld, Sam Kronick and Sam Kozberg — were acquitted. Sentences were to be announced a week later.
On Oct. 1, the Kellys were flown to Oklahoma City amid a convoy of nine airplanes. Upon arriving, Kelly quipped, "Hello, gang, nice trip," to a group of photographers. Fearing a repeat of what happened in Kansas City, one of the guards held a machinegun on Kelly while another officer kept one trained on the crowd.
Also at the airport was prosecutor Hyde, who arrived with Mr. and Mrs. Urschel.
"That’s the man," Charles Urschel exclaimed. From inside the car, Mrs. Urschel stated, "That face will haunt me for as long a I live."
The Kellys were rushed to a motorcade of 10 automobiles and taken to the county jail. Their trial was scheduled to begin Oct. 9. A newspaper article five days later wrongfully reported that both Kellys were going to plead guilty and stand with the other convicted participants to receive their sentences.
On Oct. 7, prior to Federal Judge Edward S. Vaught handing down sentences, Kelly and his wife entered pleas of not guilty. The judge then sentenced Albert Bates, Harvey Bailey, R. G. "Boss" Shannon, and Ora Shannon to life in prison. One wonders if Kathryn has testified could she have prevented the life sentences for everyone except Bates. Armon Shannon, just 22 years old, was given a 10-year suspended sentence, "conditional upon his future good conduct." Edward Berman and Clifford Skelly, the St. Paul money exchangers, received five-year sentences.
"Boss" and Ora Shannon stood dumbfounded as they heard the judge state that they must spend the rest of their lives in federal prison. Kathryn was reported to have "stared at the judge icily," as she listened to her mother being sentenced. She then broke down.
Kelly, who had entered the courtroom smiling, passed near Urschel on his way out. "You’ll get yours yet, you bastard," Kelly sneered. Kelly then drew his index finger across his throat in a cutting motion. Urschel ignored the incident. He knew he had already gotten his.
The following day, Bates and Bailey were whisked off to Leavenworth to begin their sentences. "Boss" Shannon was allowed 60 days to get his business affairs in order. Ora Shannon was granted 10 days to dispose of her property.
Albert Bates, in shirtsleeves, Harvey Bailey, Armon Shannon, and his father, Robert 'Boss' Shannon, stand to be sentenced after they were found guilty. Kelly is seated at left.
A short trial
George and Kathryn confer during trial.
The trial for Kelly and his wife began Oct. 9, and it was the first time sound picture equipment was allowed in a federal courtroom. While Kelly appeared uneasy most of the time, the fashionably attired Kathryn seemed to enjoy the attention she received, and mugged for the cameras on several occasions.
When the Kellys arrived at the courthouse the first morning, Kathryn spotted her father, J. E. Brooks, near the elevator they were about to enter. As she paused to give him a kiss, federal agent J. C. White gave Kathryn a slight shove and she turned around and slapped him. With this, Kelly raised his manacled hands to strike the agent only to be pistol whipped about the head by White as Kathryn screamed, "Don’t! Don’t!" Later Kathryn chatted with the agent as if nothing had happened.
Kelly, who had been on bread and water since his threatening gesture to Urschel, entered the courtroom with swelling on his left temple and blood trickling down his face. The night before, he went to sleep without dinner after he stomped on a shallow pan containing his meager food rations.
During the first day of trial, not only was a complete jury selected, but the government had called nearly half of their witnesses. The prosecutors presented overwhelming evidence against the Kellys.
Mr. and Mrs. Urschel, and John Catlett, who received the ransom notes all testified. Kathryn cried when her grandmother, Mrs. T. C. Coleman, was brought forward in a wheelchair to testify against her.
After the first day of testimony is was clearly evident that Kelly didn’t have a prayer. The following day’s testimony would center around Kathryn’s participation in the kidnapping, which up until then was still in question.
Mrs. Arnold took the stand and testified after her family was picked up, Kathryn identified herself to them and talked about all the problems the Shannon family was going through because of Charles Urschel. Arnold told the court, "Mrs. Kelly said they ought to have killed the son of a bitch and then she wished she could do it herself."
She then said Kathryn "virtually" kidnapped her 12-year-old daughter. "I let her have my baby for a little ride," she claimed. "She said she would be back that day. It was two weeks before I saw her again."
When Geraldine took the stand, she told the jury about her ordeal and said that Kelly threatened to kill Judge Vaught, Charles Urschel, and the prosecutors who were handling the case against the Shannons. When the trial was over, Geraldine collected a portion of the $12,000 reward that had been offered for the Kellys.
A handwriting expert was then called to testify that the threatening letter sent to Urschel was actually written by Kathryn. Cass Coleman, Kathryn’s uncle, told the jury about the couple’s short stay there, and that his niece had several "lurid verbal exchanges" with Kelly regarding the hiding of the ransom money. He claims Kathryn referred to Kelly as "that damned fool."
On Oct. 11, Kathryn took the witness stand. She denied any involvement in the kidnapping, writing the note to Urschel, and being on her uncle’s farm when the ransom money was buried.
Prosecutor Hyde grilled her about the kidnapping. While she cried softly, Kathryn told the court of first finding out about the kidnapping and about Kelly threatening to kill Urschel at the ranch:
"I talked to Kelly there by the little house. He said he had a kidnapped man there. I begged him to please release him. He said it was none of my business. He then threatened me. He said they were going to kill him (Urschel). I begged him not to. If you do I’ll tell on you, even if you kill me," she testified.
When Keenan said to her, "But Mrs. Kelly, you could have surrendered at any time, couldn’t you?" Kathryn replied, "But I didn’t know I was wanted."
Kelly sat listening to the testimony with absolutely no hope for acquittal. His own attorneys and his wife were trying desperately to place the entire blame on him.
When Kelly had taken Urschel to the Shannon ranch, Kathryn took her daughter, Pauline, and the daughter of the Shannons, Ruth, to her Fort Worth apartment, claiming she was lonely and wanted company. In the judge’s instructions to the jury, he reminded them of this incident in his astonishing final comments:
"The court would feel it had been cowardly and derelict in duty if it had not pointed out … that the defendant Kathryn was not wholly truthful. This court will not hesitate to tell you that Kathryn Kelly’s testimony concerning her removal of the little girls from the Shannon farm near Paradise, Texas, the day Mr. Urschel was brought there did not sound convincing. Her conduct at the Coleman farm … not only is a strong circumstantial point but is convincing to this court that Kathryn knew about the kidnapping and knowingly participated. Other testimony from this defendant is utterly convincing to this court that Kathryn Kelly had criminal knowledge of the abduction conspiracy. However, you can ignore my remarks altogether. They are not binding upon the jury," he said.
The jury took less than an hour to reach a verdict. On the morning of Oct. 12, George and Kathryn Kelly were convicted for their roles in the Urschel kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison. Kathryn was clearly angered by the decision.
"Anyone would have been convicted in this court. If they’d brought my dog in here, he would have got a life sentence, too," she protested.
Kathryn’s Fort Worth home was deeded over to her daughter, 14-year-old Pauline Frye. Pauline also received her mother’s expensive jewelry. Saying goodbye to George, she told him to "be a good boy." Kelly had threatened to bust out of Leavenworth, where he was sentenced, by Christmas. Kathryn told reporters that she still loved him and would see him at Christmas time.
"He told me he will break out (at) Christmas and get me out. He always does as he says he will," she assured them.
Manacled, hand and foot, Kelly was led to a train where he was to be transferred to Leavenworth. Shuffling from an automobile to the train, Kelly mumbled to reporters, "Don’t worry about me going stir crazy. I won’t be there long."
Some of his guards had already gotten wind of a proposed "American Devil’s Island," a penal colony that was to house 600 hard-core prisoners on a remote island called Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. There was a report that the government was going to make Kelly the first inmate there. "How does that sound to you?" one guard asked him.
"Listen, the prison at McNeil Island is just as tough," Kelly replied. "And don’t forget, they get away from there. Don’t forget it!"
Kelly would soon feel very differently.
See Kelly Aftermath
When the Kellys arrived at the courthouse the first morning, Kathryn spotted her father, J. E. Brooks, near the elevator they were about to enter. As she paused to give him a kiss, federal agent J. C. White gave Kathryn a slight shove and she turned around and slapped him. With this, Kelly raised his manacled hands to strike the agent only to be pistol whipped about the head by White as Kathryn screamed, "Don’t! Don’t!" Later Kathryn chatted with the agent as if nothing had happened.
Kelly, who had been on bread and water since his threatening gesture to Urschel, entered the courtroom with swelling on his left temple and blood trickling down his face. The night before, he went to sleep without dinner after he stomped on a shallow pan containing his meager food rations.
During the first day of trial, not only was a complete jury selected, but the government had called nearly half of their witnesses. The prosecutors presented overwhelming evidence against the Kellys.
Mr. and Mrs. Urschel, and John Catlett, who received the ransom notes all testified. Kathryn cried when her grandmother, Mrs. T. C. Coleman, was brought forward in a wheelchair to testify against her.
After the first day of testimony is was clearly evident that Kelly didn’t have a prayer. The following day’s testimony would center around Kathryn’s participation in the kidnapping, which up until then was still in question.
Mrs. Arnold took the stand and testified after her family was picked up, Kathryn identified herself to them and talked about all the problems the Shannon family was going through because of Charles Urschel. Arnold told the court, "Mrs. Kelly said they ought to have killed the son of a bitch and then she wished she could do it herself."
She then said Kathryn "virtually" kidnapped her 12-year-old daughter. "I let her have my baby for a little ride," she claimed. "She said she would be back that day. It was two weeks before I saw her again."
When Geraldine took the stand, she told the jury about her ordeal and said that Kelly threatened to kill Judge Vaught, Charles Urschel, and the prosecutors who were handling the case against the Shannons. When the trial was over, Geraldine collected a portion of the $12,000 reward that had been offered for the Kellys.
A handwriting expert was then called to testify that the threatening letter sent to Urschel was actually written by Kathryn. Cass Coleman, Kathryn’s uncle, told the jury about the couple’s short stay there, and that his niece had several "lurid verbal exchanges" with Kelly regarding the hiding of the ransom money. He claims Kathryn referred to Kelly as "that damned fool."
On Oct. 11, Kathryn took the witness stand. She denied any involvement in the kidnapping, writing the note to Urschel, and being on her uncle’s farm when the ransom money was buried.
Prosecutor Hyde grilled her about the kidnapping. While she cried softly, Kathryn told the court of first finding out about the kidnapping and about Kelly threatening to kill Urschel at the ranch:
"I talked to Kelly there by the little house. He said he had a kidnapped man there. I begged him to please release him. He said it was none of my business. He then threatened me. He said they were going to kill him (Urschel). I begged him not to. If you do I’ll tell on you, even if you kill me," she testified.
When Keenan said to her, "But Mrs. Kelly, you could have surrendered at any time, couldn’t you?" Kathryn replied, "But I didn’t know I was wanted."
Kelly sat listening to the testimony with absolutely no hope for acquittal. His own attorneys and his wife were trying desperately to place the entire blame on him.
When Kelly had taken Urschel to the Shannon ranch, Kathryn took her daughter, Pauline, and the daughter of the Shannons, Ruth, to her Fort Worth apartment, claiming she was lonely and wanted company. In the judge’s instructions to the jury, he reminded them of this incident in his astonishing final comments:
"The court would feel it had been cowardly and derelict in duty if it had not pointed out … that the defendant Kathryn was not wholly truthful. This court will not hesitate to tell you that Kathryn Kelly’s testimony concerning her removal of the little girls from the Shannon farm near Paradise, Texas, the day Mr. Urschel was brought there did not sound convincing. Her conduct at the Coleman farm … not only is a strong circumstantial point but is convincing to this court that Kathryn knew about the kidnapping and knowingly participated. Other testimony from this defendant is utterly convincing to this court that Kathryn Kelly had criminal knowledge of the abduction conspiracy. However, you can ignore my remarks altogether. They are not binding upon the jury," he said.
The jury took less than an hour to reach a verdict. On the morning of Oct. 12, George and Kathryn Kelly were convicted for their roles in the Urschel kidnapping and sentenced to life in prison. Kathryn was clearly angered by the decision.
"Anyone would have been convicted in this court. If they’d brought my dog in here, he would have got a life sentence, too," she protested.
Kathryn’s Fort Worth home was deeded over to her daughter, 14-year-old Pauline Frye. Pauline also received her mother’s expensive jewelry. Saying goodbye to George, she told him to "be a good boy." Kelly had threatened to bust out of Leavenworth, where he was sentenced, by Christmas. Kathryn told reporters that she still loved him and would see him at Christmas time.
"He told me he will break out (at) Christmas and get me out. He always does as he says he will," she assured them.
Manacled, hand and foot, Kelly was led to a train where he was to be transferred to Leavenworth. Shuffling from an automobile to the train, Kelly mumbled to reporters, "Don’t worry about me going stir crazy. I won’t be there long."
Some of his guards had already gotten wind of a proposed "American Devil’s Island," a penal colony that was to house 600 hard-core prisoners on a remote island called Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. There was a report that the government was going to make Kelly the first inmate there. "How does that sound to you?" one guard asked him.
"Listen, the prison at McNeil Island is just as tough," Kelly replied. "And don’t forget, they get away from there. Don’t forget it!"
Kelly would soon feel very differently.
See Kelly Aftermath
