George “Machine Gun” Kelly: The Most Wanted Man in America

this video is brought to you by squarespace from websites and online stores to marketing tools and analytics squarespace is the all-in-one platform to build a beautiful online presence and run your business check out squarespace through the link in the description below more about them in a bit we're back in the prohibition era the time of gangsters bootleggers and public enemies number one the time of notorious criminals such as bonnie and clyde john dillinger and of course today's subject machine gun kelly despite his strong association with bank robberies they were not what brought kelly everlasting infamy and turned him into a household name no it was in fact the kidnapping of a ritual magnate it wasn't just the act itself that mattered but also the circumstances america was still reeling from the kidnapping and murder of charles lindbergh's baby boy all eyes were on this case as everyone feared that another high-profile kidnapping would have the same tragic end and that's how george machine gun kelly became the most wanted man in america [Music] right off the bat we have some conflicting information as sources seem uncertain where and when machine gun kelly was born we're going to use his alcatraz rap sheet since that is an official record and according to it george kelly barnes was born in chicago illinois in 1895. he actually came from well-off family and was the son of george senior and elizabeth kelly barnes his father was a successful insurance company exec but he and george never really got along according to one story when he was a teenager george found out that his father was having an affair he then proceeded to blackmail his father for keeping his secret in exchange for a larger allowance in the use of the family car when kelly was two years old the family relocated to memphis tennessee there he attended idlewild elementary school and then central high school where he was a mediocre student his mother died while he was still in high school and this devastated george was very close to her it also further widened the rift between him and his father as george blamed his affairs for his mother's passing after graduating george kelly briefly enrolled in college studying agriculture at mississippi a m today known as mississippi state university because he knew this is what his mother wanted for him however he was clearly not made for college life he racked up dozens of demerits in his first few months and was expelled at the beginning of his second semester while in high school kelly had already started his life of crime at that point national prohibition was still a few years away but already was active in tennessee which had the dubious honor of passing the first prohibition law in the nation therefore kelly had been using his car to do a little bootlegging he thought about going back to it once he was out of college but he met someone who set him straight at least for the time being her name was geneva ramsey and the two of them fell in love and eloped in 1919. she brought kelly to her home where her father george ramsay had a positive influence on him ramsay was a successful levy contractor and he gave his new son-in-law a job as a clerk in his company the two got along well and it seemed like george kelly might live a respectable life after all where not for a tragic accident a few years later where george ramsay killed himself with a stick of dynamite things went downhill fast for the family after that without ramsay in charge his company struggled and his wife eventually sold it george and geneva had a few business adventures such as running a goat farm and selling used cars but they all quickly went under and in a few years george kelly was driving a cab to make ends meet his family life also got significantly worse kelly became a heavy drinker and he abused his wife both mentally and physically they had two sons together but for some reason kelly always resented his first child and showed favoritism towards the second his wife left him several times but kept returning after george convinced her to give him another chance however as she saw him turn to a life of crime she finally left him for good geneva divorced kelly in 1926 and she had to post the divorce notice in the paper because by that point she no longer had any idea where he was that's because kelly went back to something more lucrative bootlegging moonshine by now prohibition was in full effect so kelly knew there was a lot of money to be made but he also had to stay on the move in order to evade the authorities he didn't do a very good job at it though and several arrests came in the years that followed in tennessee new mexico and oklahoma his bootlegging career came to a temporary end in 1928 after that last arrest in tulsa which earned kelly a three-year stint at leavenworth penitentiary [Music] despite the fearsome reputation he would later develop kelly was usually a model prisoner while incarcerated in fact years later while at alcatraz some of the other inmates mockingly referred to him as pop gun kelly instead of machine gun kelly because he was far less brutal and violent than one would expect of course this mortal behavior did have its benefits during his first incarceration at leavenworth kelly was released early in 1930 after serving less than two years he was ready to resume his life of crime but this time he didn't do it alone soon after kelly entered the bootlegging business again he met catherine thorne the two of them quickly fell in love and by the end of 1930 they were married the new mrs kelly was the antithesis of the first one she was a tough and hardened woman who had already been married three times and was a lifelong criminal mainly she dealt in bootlegging but she had also been suspected of killing her third husband charlie thorne although the coroner ultimately ruled his death a suicide she had no objections to george kelly's life as an outlaw and she eagerly joined him in all of his illegitimate benches in fact most people credit catherine kelly with creating her husband's cold-blooded image even gifting him his first tommy gun and coming up with the machine gun kelly nickname she also started a lot of rumors about osmond's prowess with the tommy gun and even gave out spent cartridges to friends and acquaintances as a way of increasing the legend of machine gun kelly of all the tall tales involving kelly the most famous one which has often been replicated in pop culture was that he could use a machine gun to spell out his last name and bullet holes spence that he did this to sign his robberies there is some evidence to suggest that kelly did do this once on a signpost in texas but it was certainly not something that he did regularly despite his continued association with bootlegging after his release from leavenworth machine gun kelly turned primarily to robbery especially as prohibition was winding down he committed his first one in 1930 with some friends he made in prison including other notorious criminals of that era such as harvey bailey thomas holden and francis keating these four would continue to pull off robberies together but on this particular job they were also joined by infamous prohibition-era gunman vernon miller and a few others miller became well known for his role in a shootout known as the kansas city massacre but even on this occasion he had an itchy trigger finger opening fire on bystanders and later killing one of the other robbers for double-crossing him after keating and holden were arrested in 1932 kelly formed a partnership with fellow criminal albert bates and the duo committed a string of robberies throughout the year their biggest score was in colfax washington where the two of them and another robber named eddie bence made off with 77 thousand dollars from the first trust and savings bank of colfax which is about 1.5 million dollars today kelly's last known bank robbery took place in november 1932 when he bates and the third man stole 38 000 from citizen state bank in tupelo mississippi it was somewhat notable because for whatever reason on that particular occasion kelly decided to forego his signature tommy gun and instead committed the robbery armed with a revolver now before we go any further with machine gun kelly we've got a quick word from today's video sponsor squarespace you know what's great about the summer vacation time off a little bit of r r it's the perfect time to spend lying on the beach or in the park jay dreaming about what that next project that you want to start might be fortunately squarespace gives you every possible tool you could want to make that dream into a reality whether it's a small business a sports blog a creative portfolio or just a page of the dankest of dank memes it doesn't matter if you can dream it you can build it with squarespace are you looking to get in and out quick without thinking too much about what your website should look like well 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forward slash biographics to save 10 off your first purchase of a website or a domain and let's get back to today's video [Music] despite his success as a bank robber george kelly also tried his hand at kidnapping where he proved himself to be considerably less adept according to some sources his first kidnapping occurred in 1930 when kelly and a former cop named bernard phillips abducted a pair of victims only to have one of them get killed in an accident then in january 1932 kellyanne a man called eddie doll kidnapped a banker from south bend indiana named howard wolverton first while the banker and his wife were driving around kelly forced himself inside the car at gunpoint and made wolverton drive a few miles out of town the pair then got into a waiting getaway vehicle leaving mrs wilberton with a fifty thousand dollar ransom note kelly and dole drove there captive around indiana for a couple of days before wolverton persuaded them that he simply did not have the money they wanted so they released him on the promise that he would raise the funds later despite receiving a few threatening calls and letters the banker obviously never fulfilled his promise for a third attempt kelly got his wife involved the couple wanted to kidnap the son of a rich old tycoon from fort worth texas to accomplish this catherine kelly approached two fort worth detectives she believed were corrupt to see if they wanted in on the score unfortunately for her the cops were honest and only played along because they thought they could turn catherine into an informant when they realized that this was not the case they turned down the offer and placed the intended target under surveillance forcing the kellys to abandon their plan kidnappings were growing in popularity among outlaws of the time because they were considered to be lower risk than bank robberies and they only involved local or state law enforcement however that soon changed following the notorious lindbergh baby case when the infant son of aviator charles nan lindbergh was kidnapped from his home only to be found dead a few days later the case which was on the front page of every newspaper in america shocked and outraged the public and after the boy's death the federal kidnapping act also known as the lindbergh law was passed now kidnappings became a federal matter as fbi agents and u.s marshals could easily pursue kidnappers who cross state lines the punishments also became much harsher often resulting in a life sentence in some states kidnapping even qualified for the death penalty of the victim had been physically harmed for criminals the raised stakes meant that they needed to up their game and only go after rich targets so that the rewards would outweigh the risks in early summer 1933 the barker and carpus gang successfully executed the high-profile kidnapping of brewery tycoon william hamm and received a hundred thousand dollars for their troubles with money like that on the line it's no wonder the criminals were willing to take a chance inspired by the ham kidnappings the kellys decided to target their own rich businessman an all tycoon from oklahoma city named charles urschel on the night of july 22nd 1933 ursula and his wife were playing bridge with mr and mrs walter jarrett on the porch of their home when two armed men walked up to them one of them was george kelly waving around his signature tommy gun the other one armed with only a pistol was his frequent partner albert bates the two criminals demanded to know which one of the men was charles urschel since no response was forthcoming they decided to kidnap both men obviously as soon as they were gone the wives went inside and called the police they were put straight through to j edgar hoover director of the fbi and both local police officers and fbi agents were on the scene within the hour meanwhile the kidnappers drove for about 12 miles outside of the city limits at which point they stopped to ascertain which one of the two men was their intended target they went through their wallets and released walter jarrett who then began his long walk back home afterwards charles urschel was taken to a ranch in paradise texas owned by catherine kelly's stepfather robert shannon that night the businessman was kept inside the garage until bedtime at which point he was blindfolded and taken inside the house here he was chained to an iron bed the following day shaw was moved to a shack where he was kept handcuffed to a high chair and slept on a quilt by monday herschel's kidnapping was headline news across the country hoover took an active role in the investigation as he was eager to avoid another scandal like the limburg case his agents were busy running leads all over the united states when the kidnappers finally made contact on july the 22nd they reached out to another oil magnate and close friend of herschel's named j g kepler who received a package through western union it contained a letter for him asking him to act as an intermediary in the kidnapping a personal letter for herschel's wife and a third letter with instructions addressed to mr e kirkpatrick of oklahoma city the ransom demands were nothing out of the ordinary the kidnappers wanted two hundred thousand dollars in used twenty dollar bills they also warned against using sequential serial numbers dummy packages and any other kind of shenanigans that would have resulted in herschel suffering a consequences to show that they agreed to the terms urschel's camp was supposed to place an ad in the daily oklahoman which read for sale 160 acres land good five room house deep well also cows tools tractor corn and hay 3 750 for quick sale kirkpatrick did as he was told and he received another letter two days later postmarked joplin missouri this time with more specific instructions he was supposed to put the money in a light-colored leather bag and board a certain train to kansas city missouri throwing the bag off the observation platform after receiving a signal because the fbi's main concern was to bring ursulin alive they did not get involved with the handoff they did take some precautions though sending catlett along with kirkpatrick carrying two identical briefcases one filled with money the other with old newspapers other than that kirkpatrick followed the instructions to a tee but no signal to throw the briefcase ever came he arrived in kansas city still holding the money fortunately for everyone involved there was a contingency plan in case something like this happened kirkpatrick was to check in at the mullibark hotel in kansas city under the name e kincaid there he received a message from the kidnappers telling him to take the money and travel alone west of the lasalle hotel for a few blocks there one of the kidnappers simply approached him and took the bag on july 31 after nine days of captivity charles urschel returned home safely [Music] as this was the first high-profile kidnapping after the passing of the limburg law the fbi were all hands on deck with the investigation determined to make an example out of the culprits they were chasing down leads all over the country but in the end it was herschel himself who served as their greatest asset and proved instrumental in identifying his kidnappers the businessman had a great memory and tried to remember as many details as possible about his time in captivity he had heard oil pumps and barnyard animals outside he noted that the water had a mineral taste and also came from a pump outside he intentionally left his fingerprints over as many objects as possible to prove he had been in that location but the biggest clue of all were the airplanes every day herschel heard two airplanes flying over him every day except for one when there had been heavy rain and presumably the flights had been cancelled but herschel got even more information by waiting for a few minutes after a flyover and then casually asking his captors what time it was they did not make the connection and answered him it seemed that the planes flew over ursula's location around 9 45 a.m and 5 45 pm every day except for one rainy day with this information fbi agents looked over flight schedules within a 600-mile radius of oklahoma city and cross-referenced them with meteorological data and discovered that paradise texas fit the bill when they found out that catherine kelly's parents had a ranch in that area it immediately raised a gianray flag an fbi agent first visited the ranch under cover he found enough circumstantial evidence to justify a raid which was conducted about a week after herschel's release lastly the victim was brought in to confirm that the ranch was indeed the place where he had been held captive the shannons were arrested as was harvey bailey a bank robber and friend of kelly's who was at the ranch nursing an injury following a job it seems like the shannon ranch was often used by criminals as a hideout but neither george kelly nor his wife would bear during interrogation the shannons confessed their role in the kidnapping revealing that it was kelly and albert bates who were behind it now the manhunt began and with his face plastered on every newspaper in the county machine gun kelly was now the most wanted man in america albert bates was the first to get caught he was arrested in denver on august 12th two weeks after the kidnapping with some of the ransom money and tommy gunn in his possession the shannons as well as other associates of the kellys were also taken into custody in all 21 people would be convicted for their role in the kidnapping with another three charged but found innocent but for now george and catherine kelly were still on the run they had disguised themselves in an attempt to fly under the radar george had dyed his hair blonde while his wife wore a red wig they even traveled with 12 year old geraldine arnold the daughter of an acquaintance to make themselves appear like a nice happy family just exploring the country by september after going from city to city the outlaws were hiding out in memphis at the home of a man named john tichenor but they needed money because they didn't have their share of the ransom on them instead they buried most of it in caches throughout texas prior to the raid and didn't have time to retrieve it before going on the run kelly convinced his brother-in-law from his first marriage langford ramsey to travel to texas and dig up the cash but he was unable to do so and the fbi intercepted their wire messages the authorities also talked to geraldine who was sent on a train ride back to her parents the kellys weren't aware that the arnolds had already gone to the police by that point and now geraldine told them just where to find the fugitives on the morning of september 26 1933 the fbi and memphis police raided john tichenor's home and they arrested george and catherine kelly there are multiple versions of how this went down with the most dramatic of all involving the authorities bursting into the house guns blazing and kelly putting his hands up and shouting don't shoot g-men don't shoot right off the bat catherine kelly distanced herself from her husband and claimed that both she and her family were innocent and had been coerced into kidnapping herschel by machine gun kelly in his gangster pals nobody bought it though in october 1933 george kelly catherine kelly albert bates harvey bailey robert shannon and his wife aura shannon were all sentenced to life imprisonment with letter sentences given to other co-conspirators who would either a role in the kidnapping or helped the kelly's evade justice at the time of his conviction machine gun kelly was suspected in the shooting of several policemen but he was never charged with any of those crimes albert bates died in prison harvey bailey served 30 years before being released catherine kelly and her mother each served 25 years before release changing their names and starting a new life in oklahoma city as far as machine gun kelly was concerned he began the last chapter of his life as prisoner number 117 in alcatraz by most accounts he was a model prisoner perhaps in the hopes of an early release this never came but he was granted a small concession after 17 years in alcatraz kelly was transferred to the more relaxed leavenworth penitentiary where he spent the final four years of his life he died of a heart attack on july 18 1954 aged 59. robert shannon his father-in-law had been released a few years earlier brought his body back to the ranch in paradise texas and buried him in a nearby cemetery there is one final secret that kelly took to his grave the location of the ransom money almost half of it has never been recovered and presumably it's still buried somewhere in texas just waiting to be found so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe also please do check out our fantastic 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Channel: Biographics

Views: 351,706

Rating: 4.9320769 out of 5

Keywords: biographics, biography, biographies, people, famous people, simon whistler

Id: tAU6FSUVm28

Length: 19min 37sec (1177 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 29 2021