Oklahoma. July 22nd, 1933. 10:47 a.m. Charles Ursel walks into a restaurant near Norman, Oklahoma, removes his blindfold and asks to use a telephone. 8 days earlier, he was one of the wealthiest oil tycoons in the Southwest. Now he’s calling for a cab from a roadside diner. His suit wrinkled, his hands deliberately pressed against every surface he can reach.
The fingerprints are intentional. So is the mental catalog you’ve been building for over a week. Footsteps counted. Airplane engine sounds timed. The smell of mineral water recorded in his memory. The man who took him is George Kelly Barnes, born July 18th, 1895 in Memphis, Tennessee.
At this moment, Kelly doesn’t know that Ursel has just handed federal investigators everything they need to find him. Kelly’s childhood offered no warning of what was coming. His family was wealthy, traditional, and respectable. He grew up in Memphis, surrounded by stability. In 1917, he enrolled at Mississippi State University to study agriculture.
His academic record was unremarkable. His highest grade was a Cus, awarded for physical hygiene. He spent most of his time working off the merits. The faculty considered him difficult but not dangerous. It was at Mississippi State that Kelly met Geneva Ramsay. The relationship moved quickly. Kelly dropped out of school and married her.
They had two children. To support his family, Kelly took a job as a cab driver in Memphis. The hours were long. The pay was inadequate. Kelly and Geneva struggled. The financial strain became overwhelming. At 19 years old, Kelly left the cab company. His marriage collapsed shortly after. Kelly’s first criminal venture was bootlegging.
He partnered with a smalltime gangster Memphis and began trafficking illegal alcohol. The money was immediate. So was the attention. Kelly found that he enjoyed both. The arrest began soon after. Kelly was detained multiple times for illegal trafficking. Each arrest pushed him further from Memphis and deeper into the underground economy.
He left Tennessee with a new girlfriend and adopted the alias George R. Kelly to protect his family’s name. The decision was calculated. Kelly understood that his criminal career would eventually damage anyone associated with his real identity. By 1927, Kelly had built a reputation in bootlegging circles.
He had been arrested several times and served various jail sentences. In 1928, federal agents caught him smuggling liquor onto an Indian reservation. He was sentenced to 3 years at Levvenworth Penitentiary in Kansas. The sentence was his longest yet. After his release, Kelly was arrested again in 1929 for a similar conviction.
This time, he was sent to the state penitentiary in New Mexico. When he was released, Kelly moved to Oklahoma City. There he connected with Steve Anderson, a local bootleger. Anderson had a mistress named Catherine Thorne. Thorne came from a family of criminals. She had been arrested for robbery and prostitution. She had been married twice.
Her second husband, Charlie Thorne, was a bootleger who died from a gunshot wound in 1927. The official ruling was suicide. Investigators suspected otherwise. Days before Charlie’s death, Catherine told a gas station attendant she was going to kill that godamn Charlie Thorne. No charges were filed. Kelly and Catherine became inseparable.
They married in Minneapolis in September 1930. Up until that point, Kelly’s criminal activity had been modest. Bootlegging, small thefts, occasional smuggling. Catherine changed that. She purchased a Thompson submachine gun for Kelly and insisted he practiced with it daily. Catherine understood branding. She took spent shell casings from Kelly’s practice sessions and distributed them at underground drinking clubs throughout Oklahoma and Texas.
She introduced them as souvenirs from her husband, Machine Gun Kelly. The name stuck. Catherine planned robberies. Kelly executed them. Between 1931 and 1933, the couple robbed small banks across Texas and Mississippi. The operations were efficient and wellcoordinated. Fellow inmates who later served time with Kelly at Alcatraz consistently stated that Catherine was the strategist behind the operation.
Kelly was a public face. In August 1933, the FBI published wanted posters describing Kelly as an expert machine gunner. The designation was exaggerated. Kelly had never killed anyone. His proficiency with the Thompson gun was overstated, but the public image was set. By July 1933, Catherine and Kelly were planning their most ambitious operation, the kidnapping of Charles Ursel.
Ursel was a millionaire oil tycoon based in Oklahoma City. His wealth made him an ideal target. On the evening of July 22nd, 1933, Ursel and his wife were playing bridge with friends at their mansion. Kelly carrying his Thompson submachine gun entered the home with two accompllices armed with pistols. Kelly announced he would blow everyone’s head off if they didn’t cooperate.
The problem was immediate. Kelly didn’t know which man at the table was Ursel. He forced both men into a sedan parked outside. They were covered with a tarp and searched for identification. Once Kelly’s accompllices found Walter Jarrett’s ID, they robbed him of $51 and left him on the side of a deserted road outside the city.
Ursa was driven to a rural ranch in Texas. The location was remote. Ursa was blindfolded throughout the journey, but he was careful. He made sure his fingerprints were on every surface he touched. He counted his steps between rooms. He listened for environmental sounds, airplane engines overhead, the smell of mineral water, the texture flooring beneath his feet.
Catherine and Kelly demanded a ransom of $200,000. The demand was delivered to Ursel’s family. E Kirk Patrick, a family friend, was chosen to make the drop. The arrangement was specific. $20 bills delivered near the Lasal Hotel in Kansas City. On July 30th, 1933, Kirk Patrick delivered the ransom. The exchange took 8 days to arrange.
The following morning, Ursa was released near Norman, Oklahoma. He walked into the restaurant, removed his blindfold, and made the phone call. The FBI moved quickly using Ursel’s detailed observations. Agents identified the ranch in Texas where he had been held. On August 12th, 1933, federal agents raided the property and arrested one of Kelly’s accompllices.
The ransom bills had traceable serial numbers. The Bureau of Investigation, soon to be renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation, launched a nationwide manhunt. Kelly and Catherine began moving from state to state. They dyed their hair to avoid recognition. They stayed in Chicago for several weeks, living off the ransom money.
The couple spent lavishly, hotels, restaurants, new clothes, but the traceable bills were surfacing in multiple cities. Federal agents were closing in. By midepptember, Kelly and Catherine returned to Memphis. They stayed with John Titner, a longtime friend. It was a mistake. On the morning of September 26th, 1933, Memphis police and FBI agents surrounded the Titchener House at 1408 Rainer Street.
The operation was coordinated. No warning was given. Agents force entry at approximately 6:15 a.m. Kelly was found in his pajamas, severely hung over from the previous night. Catherine was still asleep in bed. Neither resisted arrest. According to the official FBI report, Kelly stated, “Gmen, please don’t shoot.
” The phrase would later become part of his legend. Whether Kelly actually said it remains disputed. Several agents present at the arrest claimed he did. Kelly later denied it. The couple was flown to Oklahoma City within hours. They were held in separate facilities. The trial began in October 1933. The prosecution presented Ursel as a primary witness.
His testimony was detailed and methodical. He described the layout of the ranch where he was held, the timing of airplane flyovers, the sound of mineral water being poured. Federal agents had used this information to locate the exact property in Texas. Kelly’s defense attorney argued that Kelly had not personally harmed and that the ransom money had been returned.
The argument failed. On October 12th, 1933, both Kelly and Catherine were convicted. Both received life sentences. Of the six individuals involved in the kidnapping. All were eventually apprehended. Six received life sentences. Kelly was transferred to Levvenworth Penitentiary in Kansas.
Katherine was sent to a federal prison in Cincinnati. Kelly’s behavior at Levvenworth was immediately problematic. He was arrogant toward prison officials. He made statements to the press that he would escape, break out his wife, and spend Christmas with her. The threats were taken seriously. In August 1934, federal prison officials decided to transfer Kelly to a newly opened facility designed to house the most dangerous criminals in the federal system, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.
Kelly was transported by train along with Albert Bates and Harvey Bailey, two accompllices from the Ursel kidnapping. They arrived at Alcatraz on September 4th, 1934. Kelly was among the first wave of prisoners transferred to the island. He was assigned inmate number A17. Alcatraz was located on a small island in San Francisco Bay.
The facility had been a military prison before being converted into a federal penitentiary in 1934. It was designed to be escape proof. The waters surrounding the island were cold and treacherous. The currents were strong. No inmate had successfully escaped. Kelly’s reputation preceded him. The press had built him into a mythic figure, an expert gunman, a ruthless kidnapper, a mastermind criminal.
The reality at Alcatraz was different. Kelly was assigned to work in the prison laundry. He later took a job as an alter boy in the prison chapel. His behavior was largely compliant. Warden James A. Johnson, who oversaw Alcatraz from 1934 to 1948, described Kelly as a model inmate. Kelly did not participate in riots.
He did not attempt escape. He followed prison rules. But Kelly could not stop talking. Inmates who served time with Kelly at Alcatraz consistently described him as a braggard. He frequently claimed responsibility for robberies and murders he had not committed. The exaggerations frustrated other prisoners. Willie Radkrey, who occupied the cell next to Kelly on the second Tirby block, later stated that Kelly told big tales nearly every day.
Radkrey and Kelly worked together in the prison industry’s office. Radkkey recalled that Kelly would reach out his cell at night and slap him in the head with a magazine, accusing him of snoring. Basil the owl bangered. Another inmate who worked alongside Kelly described him as desperate for attention. Kelly wanted to be seen as a major criminal figure.
The other inmates knew better. Most of the crimes Kelly claimed to have committed were fictional. His actual criminal record was modest compared to other Alcatraz inmates. Kelly’s cell block was located in BB block, one of the main housing units on Alcatraz. The cells were small, 5 ft by 9 ft. Each cell contained a cot, a sink, a toilet, and a small shelf.
Inmates spent between 16 and 23 hours per day in their cells, depending on work assignments and privileges. Kelly’s daily routine was rigid. He woke at 6:30 a.m. breakfast was served in the dining hall at 7:00 a.m. Work assignments began at 7:45 a.m. Lunch was at 11:40 a.m. Work resumed at 12:30 p.m. and continued until 4:15 p.m. Dinner was served at 4:30 p.m.
Inmates returned to their cells by 5:30 p.m. Lights Out was at 9:30 p.m. Kelly followed this routine without disruption for 17 years. Warden Johnson noted that Kelly became visibly depressed when receiving letters from family members. But Kelly never missed writing his weekly quot of letters. He wrote frequently to his mother and to his aranged children.
He expressed remorse in many of these letters. He stated that he believed Catherine and the other accompllices had been treated too harshly by the courts. Kelly also wrote multiple letters to Charles Ersel. The letters were pleading in tone. Kelly asked Ursel to help him appeal his sentence. He stated that he had not intended to harm Ursel and that he regretted the kidnapping.
Ursel never responded to any of the letters. Kelly’s work assignment eventually shifted from a laundry to an administrative role in the prison industry’s office. The job involved recordkeeping and filing. It was not physically demanding. Kelly performed the work adequately. He received no disciplinary infractions during his time at Alcatraz.
The prison industry’s office was located in a separate building from the main cell blocks. Inmates assigned to the office worked under close supervision. The work was considered a privilege. Kelly held a position for several years without incident. Outside Alcatraz, Katherine Kelly remained in federal custody. She was held at the Federal Industrial Institution for Women in Alderson, West Virginia after being transferred from Cincinnati.
Her sentence was identical to her husband’s life imprisonment. She did not write to Kelly. Their marriage effectively ended after their arrest. The case had made national headlines. The FBI used the Ursel kidnapping to justify expanded federal law enforcement powers. The bureau framed Kelly as a dangerous criminal mastermind. Edgar Hoover, who became director of the Bureau of Investigation in 1924, used the case to promote the AY’s capabilities.
The phrase Gmen, allegedly coined by Kelly Dur’s arrest, became part of the FBI’s public mythology. But the mythology did not match the man. Inmates at Alcatraz who knew Kelly described him as pathetic rather than dangerous. He was not respected. His constant boasting alienated other prisoners. He was seen as someone who had stumbled into a major crime and had been punished far beyond his actual capability.
Kelly’s health began to decline in the late 1940s. He developed heart problems. Medical records from Alcatraz indicate that he experienced chest pain and shortness of breath. He was treated in the prison hospital on multiple occasions. In 1951, after 17 years at Alcatraz, Kelly was transferred back to Levvenworth Penitentiary in Kansas.
The transfer was granted due to his deteriorating health and his record of good behavior. At Levvenworth, Kelly continued to work administrative jobs. He remained compliant. He did not attempt escape. He wrote letters. He attended chapel services. His daily life was nearly identical to his routine at Alcatraz. On July 18th, 1954, Kelly suffered a massive heart attack.
He was transported to the prison hospital. He died later that afternoon. It was his 59th birthday. Kelly’s body was released to his family. He was buried in Cottondale, Texas in a small cemetery near his mother’s home. The funeral was private. Few people attended. The press did not cover it. Katherine Kelly remained in federal custody.
She was released from Alderson in 1958 after serving 26 years. Upon her release, she moved to Oklahoma and took a job as a bookkeeper at an Oklahoma hospital. She lived quietly. She did not give interviews. She did not discuss her past. She died in 1985 at the age of 81. The Ursel kidnapping had lasting consequences for federal law enforcement.
The case was one of the first major successes for the newly reorganized Bureau of Investigation, which became the FBI in 1935. The investigation demonstrated the effectiveness of coordinated federal law enforcement efforts across state lines. It also established kidnapping as a federal crime under the Lindberg law which had been passed in 1932 following the kidnapping of Charles Lindberg’s son.
Charles Ursel resumed his life in Oklahoma City. He continued to run his oil business. He rarely spoke publicly about the kidnapping. When asked by reporters in later years, he described the experience as unpleasant but manageable. He credited his own observation skills with enabling his rescue. He did not express sympathy for Kelly or any of the other conspirators.
The ranch in Texas where Ursa was held was eventually sold. The property changed hands multiple times over the following decades. By the 1960s, the buildings had been demolished. No marker or historical plaque was ever placed at the site. Albert Bates, one of Kelly’s accompllices, remained at Alcatraz until 1948.
He was transferred to Levvenworth and died there in 1948 from a heart attack. Harvey Bailey, another accomplice, was released from Alcatraz in 1961 after serving 27 years. He moved to Missouri and lived quietly until his death in 1979. The mythology surrounding George Machine Gun, Kelly persisted long after his death. Hollywood films and pulp novels depicted him as a ruthless gangster and expert gunman.
The reality was more mundane. Kelly never killed anyone. His criminal career consisted of bootlegging, small bank robberies, and one kidnapping. His proficiency with the Thompson submachine gun was never demonstrated in any criminal act. The weapon was primarily a prop used by Catherine to build his reputation. Historians who studied Kelly’s life came to a consistent conclusion.
He was a creation of his wife’s ambition and the FBI’s publicity machine. Catherine provided a strategy and the image. The FBI provided the legend. Kelly himself was simply a man who followed instructions. First from Catherine, then from prison officials. Willie Radkkey, Kelly’s former cellmate at Alcatraz, was interviewed in 1982 about his time with Kelly.
He stated, “Kelly talked big, but he wasn’t dangerous. He just wanted people to think he was important. Most of us ignored him.” Basil Banger, who worked alongside Kelly in the prison industries, offered a similar assessment in a 1976 interview. Kelly was a nobody trying to be a somebody. He failed at both.
