Letters From Alcatraz - Michael Esslinger [111]
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