Machine Gun Kelly | The American Kidnapping Epidemic | 2

It's the evening of March 1st, 1932 at the Lindbergh Estate in New Jersey. Around 10:30 p.m., Hopewell Police Chief Harry Wolfe and Assistant Chief Charles Williamson pull up to the house.

Despite the late hour, they can see lights on all through the building. Less than 10 minutes ago, a call came in to the Hopewell PD. The message was brief.

The Lindbergh's 20-month-old son Charles Jr. was missing, presumed kidnapped. Come at once.

Colonel Charles Lindbergh Sr. is probably the most famous man in the country thanks to his achievements as an aviator. That's part of the reason he and his wife built their home in such a remote part of the state.

Winding dirt roads through dense woodlands are the only way to reach the family home, so there's a sense of privacy out here, of security.

Assistant Chief Williamson turns the car into the driveway, and the two men get out, staring up at the three-story mansion. Then the front door opens, and Lindbergh himself steps out onto the porch.

He's tall and slim with tussled hair and sharp eyes. Also, he's holding a rifle. Williamson and Wolfe step forward to introduce themselves, but the Colonel doesn't waste time on plesitrees.

He beckons them inside and shows them upstairs to the nursery. The interior of the home is brightly lit, but oddly still. The whole place feels like it's holding its breath.

Williamson glances at the family photos on the wall beside the staircase. He recognizes Charles Jr. The kid's picture has been in newspapers and magazines from coast to coast practically since birth.

Just about anyone in the country would know who he was. At the door to the nursery, Lindbergh stops. He tells the officers that nothing in the room has been touched yet and orders them to keep their hands to themselves.

Then he steps back to allow them inside. It's a beautiful room with tasteful wallpaper of fireplace and large windows. There's a wooden tricycle beside the hearth and toy birds on the mantle.

The crib is empty, save for a blanket that's held down by safety pins, something Charles' nurse does to stop him from climbing out of bed. Across the room, a white envelope sits below one of the windows.

Williamson asks about it, and Lindbergh says it's a ransom note. He hasn't opened it to check yet, but he's certain that's what it is. Aside from the envelope, there aren't any obvious clues for the cops to examine.

So they follow Lindbergh back downstairs, across the entrance hall and out into the night. He leads them around the side of the house, explaining that he and one of their staff have already searched the grounds.

There's mud around the back of the house, and Lindbergh points out a pair of deep impressions that could have been left by a ladder. They're directly underneath one of the nursery windows. Nearby are a couple of unusual footprints.

They look like they were made by people wearing only socks, or who would wrap cloth around their shoes. Lindbergh stands by the markings, both hands still tight on his rifle.

Williamson and Harry move slowly away from the building, eyes peeled for useful details that could help them find the kidnappers. About 75 feet from the house, Williamson stumbles across part of a wooden extension ladder lying in the grass.

Not far from that is the top piece of the ladder, abandoned by the abductors as they made their escape. The ladder is one of the few mystifying clues as to who's kidnapped the most famous baby in the world.

But with the pressure on and the clock ticking, these small town cops have no idea what to do next. From Airship, I'm Jeremy Schwartz, and this is American Criminal.

At the beginning of 1932, just a couple of months before the Lindbergh kidnapping, George Kelly attempted to pull off a ransom job of his own.

4:38

The Kidnapping Epidemic

The abduction of his target, Howard Wolverton, went off without a hitch. But Howard's family didn't pay the ransom by George's deadline.

That left him with two options, make good on his threat to kill his hostage or walk away from the plan altogether. He chose not to become a murderer.

But all around the country, other families were paying rantms to kidnappers, hoping that it would bring their loved ones home. This was happening every day.

We're talking thousands of abductions a year in a country already dealing with the realities of the Great Depression. It got so bad that the federal government eventually had to wait in and try to do something about it.

Not that George Kelly was paying much attention to what the feds were up to, he was always marching to the beat of his own drum. Plus, he had an expensive lifestyle to maintain for himself and his wife.

So even with a kidnapping crackdown in the works, he was still determined to try it again, and get it right this time. This is episode two in our four part series on the life and crimes of George Machine Gun Kelly, the American kidnapping epidemic.

It's February, 1932. 28-year-old Katherine Kelly is reading the paper in her Fort Worth home when the phone rings. She stands and walks across the room to answer it.

It's her friend, Jacob Clar. Jacob owns a pawn shop and gun store in town that's popular with lawmen and criminals alike. So they're always getting interesting things in stock.

Today, Jacob tells Katherine that he's just taken delivery of a 1921 Thompson machine gun. Hearing this, Katherine perks up.

Her husband George has been using Thomsons for years, and he could probably do with another, just in case he has to ditch his for some reason. Even better, Jacob says that she doesn't need to fill out any paperwork for the weapon.

All he needs is $250 cash. In 2025, that would be over $5,000. But to Katherine, it's a steal.

She tells Jacob not to sell the gun to anyone else. She'll be at the store within the hour. Katherine's excited as she hangs up and goes to fetch her purse.

George will be so pleased with her when she presents him with a new machine gun. Okay, sidebar, here's where we should probably talk about George's nickname.

So according to legend, the Thompson that Katherine buys in early 1932 is the one that makes George into Machine Gun Kelly.

That same version of the story has Katherine encouraging her husband to make it his signature weapon, which leads him to do things like using it to sign his name and bullets on the side of banks he robs.

As he gallivants across the country knocking over banks and terrorizing people with his favorite firearm, people start spreading the legend of Machine Gun Kelly.

Only, that doesn't hold up to much scrutiny, because there are several accounts of George carrying a Thompson on his earliest bank robberies, long before the date when Katherine supposedly buys him his very first Tommy gun.

So it's at least a bit of a signature of George's. But Katherine seems determined to make it his defining feature. There are stories that say Katherine starts telling people how good her husband is with a Machine Gun.

She rolls into Speakeasy's Enhance People bullet she says her husband has fired. She'll tell them they're keepsakes, collectibles from the most feared Machine Gun marksman America has ever known.

So is that when people start calling a Machine Gun Kelly? Well, no. And they won't start for quite some time.

I'll let you know the exact moment though, I promise. Anyway, in early March 1932, a few weeks after Katherine buys her husband his latest Machine Gun, a news story sends shockwaves through the entire country.

The son of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh has been kidnapped, stolen from his crib in the middle of the night. As local police, federal agents, and even Lindbergh himself try to solve the crime and bring Charles Jr.

home, people around America keep tabs on the story in every newspaper. For the most part, people are horrified.

The Lindberghs are almost like American royalty at this stage, and the thought of their son, their little prince being kidnapped for ransom, is an affront to the entire nation.

But there are also people watching the story unfold with a different kind of interest, a professional interest. In recent years, kidnapping has become a much more common crime. There are literally thousands of them happening every year.

The New York Times declares it as an epidemic, and established gangs worth their salt know it's a reliable moneymaker.

So, plenty of underworld figures keep tabs on the Lindbergh case, marveling at how someone managed to pull off the crime in such a secluded location.

They watch as law enforcement scratch their heads, and as theories and accusations fly thick and fast. And they wait to see just how much money the wealthy family are willing to pay for their son's safe return. George Kelly is one of those people.

Just a few months back, he staged a kidnapping of his own, but ended up with nothing to show for it.

I suppose that's not completely true, because George's kidnapping of Indiana businessman Howard Wolverton got a lot of media attention, and spurred Congress to consider the Federal Kidnapping Act, which would make transporting kidnapping victims

across state lines a federal crime. It would also grant judges the power to impose the death penalty in those cases. And now, as the country is captivated by the fate of the Lindbergh baby, those discussions are revived.

That summer, Congress passes the Federal Kidnapping Act. Though plenty of people just call it the Lindbergh law. So, in the middle of the epidemic, kidnapping is finally getting the attention of the feds.

Which could spell trouble for criminals down the line. The ones who get caught, that is. For George, the heat might be a little too intense for him to try again.

For now, at least, he's going to stick with what he knows. It's before noon on June 17th, 1932, just a couple of months since the Lindbergh kidnapping.

11:20

A Summer of Heists

In Fort Scott, Kansas, the Citizens National Bank on Main Street is fairly busy. About a dozen customers doing business when five gunmen walk calmly through the doors.

A sixth man waits behind the wheel of their car, and a seventh stands out front of the building, a Thompson machine gun at the ready. Depending on where you get your information, this last guy is either George Kelly or Charles Pretty Boy Floyd.

George and Floyd are often mistaken for one another, so it's hard to be certain. My money's on George for this one because of the tommy. Inside the bank, the gunmen order everyone to the ground and start emptying cash drawers.

Within a minute or two, they've cleared the place out, filling satchels with close to $47,000 in cash. Today, inflation would make that over a million.

Once they're sure they've got everything they can, the bandits make their exit, grabbing two women to act as hostages.

They're pulled into the car and forced to stick their heads out the windows to show cops that any bullets could hit innocent civilians. But the police never even get close to the car as it speeds through Fort Scott.

So, at the city limits, the car pulls over, the hostages are set free, and the robbers drive away to split up their money. It's the beginning of another summer of bank heists for George and his buddies.

A couple of weeks later, they kick off a tour of Texas, first hitting the state bank in Ponder, then the farmers and merchants state bank in La Donia, and finishing up with the security state bank in Blue Ridge.

But none of these recent jobs sees the men walk away with tens of thousands in cash and gold like they're used to.

They manage to get a few grand from each bank and the occasional bond which they can sell at a later date, but on the whole, it seems like Texas banks are starting to feel the effects of the Great Depression just as much as the rest of the country.

That might be why as the summer draws to a close, George and a couple of his friends decide to head northwest for a change of scenery, and hopefully a change of fortune.

On September 21st, 1932, three armed men walk into the first savings and trust bank in Colfax, Washington. The staff and customers are shocked by what's happening. So many of the recent bank jobs have been confined to the Midwest.

No one ever thought that the little town of Colfax would become a target. But here these guys are, waving their guns around and demanding that the tellers empty their cash drawers.

Once that's done, one of the men ushers the employees towards a vault at the back of the two-story building. But it turns out that opening a combination lock with a machine gun pointed at you was pretty nerve-racking. Go figure.

So, three different employees have to try before they finally get the door open. That's when the gunman stuffs what's left of the bank's assets into a leather carry-all.

With that done, the robbers order everyone in the bank to lie still for five minutes. Then they make their escape in a green Chevrolet sedan that's waiting in a nearby alley. As usual, the whole thing's over in a matter of minutes.

And local police aren't fast enough to catch the Chevy before it disappears. But enough people inside the bank got a good look at the armed men, and the authorities are quick to announce their suspects.

Albert Bates, Edward Bentz, and of course, George Kelly. Arrest warrants are issued for Albert and Eddie, but for some reason, not for George. Which leads to a strange, fateful misunderstanding a couple of months later.

It's November 7th, 1932. Catherine Kelly is relaxing in a Fort Worth speakeasy with her husband and Eddie Bentz. The three of them are just discussing getting another round of drinks when Catherine catches sight of two familiar faces.

Ed Weatherford and JW. Swinney both work for the Fort Worth PD. Catherine's known them for years.

They've always been incredibly respectful towards her, which she appreciates. But as she smiles at them across the bar, they don't wave back. Their expressions are grim as they walk towards the table.

When they arrive, they explain that they don't want to bust up anyone's fun, but they've gotten an arrest warrant for Bentz for the Colfax Bank Heist back in September. He's going to be extradited to Washington to face charges.

Bentz can see his corner, so he gets up to go quietly, and Catherine's half expecting George to stand up and be cuffed too. After all, he was involved in that same robbery.

But once they have Bentz, Weatherford and Swinney give a polite nod to the Kellys and make a quick exit. Catherine's shocked. She knew that these two cops liked her, but she never expected them to do her a favor this big.

And as she and George sip their cocktails, she starts thinking about how she can use this relationship to her advantage. She'll have to treat them real nice, invite them to parties, introduce them to friends.

It feels exciting having a pair of cops in her pocket like this. But unfortunately for Catherine, she's got it all wrong. Weatherford and Swinney weren't doing her and George a favor by not arresting him with Benz.

They just didn't have a warrant for him. And Catherine's assumption is going to cost the Kellys a lot of headaches over the next year. A new year, colder days, this is the moment your winter wardrobe really has to deliver.

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20:50

The Tupelo Job

It's November 23, 1932, in Tupelo, Mississippi. The Citizens Bank is busy. Times are tough, but tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so the town's more financially comfortable residents have been coming in all day to make withdrawals to buy extra groceries.

Head teller Homer Edgeworth is about to call the next customer forward when something catches his eye. It's a woman in her late 20s. The collar of her plush fur coat brushes the bottom of her dark bob.

Even Homer, who deals with all kinds of people every day, thinks she looks too glamorous to be in here. A woman like her doesn't usually do her own banking. But that's not what's so striking about this woman, the 25-year-old Homer.

No, what makes him stop and take notice is the fact that he's seen her in here several times this week. She's been dressed in a different outfit every time, and she never speaks to any of the staff.

But he'd recognize her prominent chin and sharp eyebrows anywhere. Homer watches as the mystery woman walks slowly around the room, her eyes scanning the walls, the windows, the bars on the teller cages.

It's sketchy behavior for sure, but maybe she's just checking how safe the bank is before she makes a deposit. Rich people can be weird.

Meanwhile, the line of customers is growing, so Homer has to take his eyes off the woman in fur to call someone forward. A few minutes later, he's forgotten all about what he saw.

But soon enough, he'll know exactly what that glamorous woman was doing in his bank. Five days later, on November 28, 1932, four armed, unmasked men, including George Kelly, burst into the Citizens Bank in Tupelo.

One of the men covers the five customers, ordering them into the safety deposit vault and locking the door. Then the employees are rounded up from the various offices and back rooms, brought out to the main lobby and forced to lie on the floor.

A man at the front door keeps watch over them, a Thompson machine gun in his hands. The bandits single out Homer Edgeworth to accompany them into the vault, where they hold open a bag for him to shove money into. The gang escapes with around $17,000.

With inflation, that would be over $350,000 today. Not bad for a day's work. And while it's likely covered by the bank's insurance, it's not something the town can just ignore.

So later that afternoon, police officers rustle up a posse of locals to hunt for the robbers. But despite their best efforts, it's no good. They're long gone.

In the aftermath of the robbery, Tupelo locals will report that they saw a glamorous woman hanging around the bank in the days leading up to the crime.

Looking back, they'll realize she must have been a gun mall who was casing the joint for her gangster boyfriend.

And they're spot on, because it's thought that the Tupelo job was one of the few bank heists that Katherine Kelly helped her husband plan. It might have even been the only one she ever helped out on.

But it certainly wasn't going to be the last time Katherine got in on the act with George Kelly.

24:08

A Botched Plan

By the start of 1933, George and his various accomplices and mentors have made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold, and bonds from the banks they've hit.

And this is just in the little over two years since George was released from Leavenworth Prison. By now, the country is deep into the Great Depression, and money is drying up everywhere, even for the criminals.

Banks are being forced to close their doors, which means targets are much less plentiful than they used to be. So George and Catherine Kelly are ready for a pivot. They've recognized that kidnapping is the new crime de jure.

It's getting to be such a common occurrence that some companies are even selling kidnapping insurance. And the authorities are still trying to work out how to deal with it. Just look at the Lindbergh case.

A year on, an investigator still have no idea who's behind the crime that stopped the nation. The Kellys think about the 50 grand ransom the Lindberghs paid, and decide that it's time to give this kidnapping thing another try.

Last year's attempt was just practice. They've learned from their mistakes. They're sure of it.

For starters, they want to stick closer to home this time. In Indiana, George felt like he didn't have anywhere to lie low.

But if they choose somewhere near Catherine's Fort Worth home, George can use their network of contacts to stay hidden while they wait for the money to come through. But it wasn't just the location that was off last year.

Clearly, they chose the wrong target, too. The Wolvertons weren't rich enough. So they have to set their sights higher this time.

They need to target a family that has so much money they won't hesitate to pay the ransom when it's demanded.

And sure enough, there's a family in North Texas who George and Catherine are certain will have more than enough to cover whatever some is asked of them. The Waggoner family are ranchers. You could even call them the ranchers.

Their property, which is still in operation in 2025, is the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. They began operations with cattle and horses.

But about 50 years later in 1902, the family found oil while drilling on the property for water, adding new levels of wealth to their already considerable fortune.

Now, three decades later, the Kelly's set their sights on carving out a piece of that wealth for themselves. Last year, George partnered with Eddie Dahl for his scheme. But this time, he asks Albert Bates to join him.

They've got a history of pulling successful bank heist together. So George knows that Albert's a reliable guy. With Albert on board, George and Catherine select their target.

Of all the Waggoners, the current patriarch, 49-year-old Guy, seems like their best bet. Catherine sees his name in the local society pages all the time. So they know he's not some recluse who'll be difficult to snatch.

And the Kellys and Albert figure that if they grab the head of the family, they'll probably have removed the best negotiator from the equation, so the rest of them will fold when they see the ransom demand.

What I'm getting at is it's not like they haven't thought this through. Sure they're setting out to commit a crime, but at least they're taking the time to consider how to get the best outcome for themselves.

But even after what must have been literally tens of minutes of planning, one night of drinking screws it all up.

See, Katherine loves to throw parties, inviting a mix of neighbors, buddies from the criminal world, and any friendly acquaintances she's managed to pick up along the way. Lately, that's included officers Ed Weatherford and JW.

Swinney, of the Fort Worth PD. Remember those of the two cops who've been polite to Katherine in the past, and who didn't arrest George that one time, so Katherine assumes they're crooked? And you know what they say about assuming.

At this party, Katherine cozies up to Weatherford and Swinney, telling them all about the plan to grab Guy Waggoner and hold him for ransom. The cops have been staying on Katherine's good side for ages waiting for a moment like this.

They tell her they're happy to help her however they can once the plan gets underway.

But later that night, Weatherford and Swinney leave Katherine's party, and place a call to the Dallas headquarters of the United States Bureau of Investigation, which we now know as the FBI.

At this stage, the Bureau is only about 25 years old, and Director J. Edgar Hoover has been working hard to make it into the premier crime investigation force in the country.

And though the agency still has to deal with a lot of red tape and pushback from some local authorities, recent changes have increased the scope of the Bureau's power.

That includes the recent Lindbergh law, which authorized agents to pursue kidnappers across state lines. That's part of the reason Weatherford and Swinney call the Bureau now.

Kidnappings are tricky to deal with, and the sooner they can get an experienced team on the case, the better. And the Bureau doesn't waste any time.

By the next day, they've arranged a meeting with the Wagoner family and the Fort Worth Detective Bureau to alert them to the Kellys plan. After a lengthy discussion, it's decided that Guy Wagoner will receive 24-hour protection from a US.

Marshal until further notice. By this time, George and Albert are scoping out their intended target. So they definitely notice Guy's security increases over the next few days.

Plus, they spot detectives coming and going from the ranch every now and again. After a week or so of this, they decide that it's not safe to proceed with the kidnapping. The Waggoners are much better protected than the Kellys' first thought.

They'll have to go back to the drawing board. They never realize that their supposed friends in the Fort Worth PD are the ones who ruin their plan. And once again, that oversight is going to come back to bite the Kellys in a big way.

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32:50

Targeting the Urschels

It's a warm morning in late May 1933.

In the kitchen of her Fort Worth home, 29-year-old Catherine Kelly is eating breakfast with her husband. George has been a nightmare to have around the house the last few months.

He hasn't pulled a bank job since last year, and in February, they had to call off their plan for what could have been a successful ransom plot before it even began. So the 37-year-olds frustrated. He wants to be bringing money in.

Ideally, through a nice, easy kidnapping, one that works out this time. Catherine knows all of this about George, and she's confident she can help him out of this slum.

When he takes the last sip of his coffee, she slides the morning paper across the table to him. It's open to the Society pages, where there's a small piece written about a Mr. and Mrs.

Urschel of Oklahoma City. What about them? Catherine asked George.

From what she's heard, the Urschels are very wealthy. And OKC is only 200 miles away from Fort Worth. Close enough to be convenient, but far enough away that George will never be suspected of involvement.

George peers at the newspaper scratching his chin. Might work, he says. It just might work.

By 1933 standards, the Urschels are perfect candidates for a kidnapping plot. 53-year-old Charles Urschel is one of the wealthiest people in Oklahoma City. He made his fortune thanks to a decades-long partnership with the late Thomas Slick.

As a young man, Thomas spent years searching for a profitable oil field. In 1912, he struck it rich when he discovered the Cushing Oil Field, the largest of its kind in Oklahoma to that date.

As a former farm kid with a knack for numbers, Charles Urschel worked his way into the oil industry and started working for Thomas about four years after he struck oil in Cushing. Around the same time, Charles married Thomas' sister Flo.

So, they were all one big happy family. Thomas was bringing in millions from his oil field, and Charles was handsomely rewarded for helping run the business. But in 1930, Thomas died of a stroke at just 46.

He left a lot of money to his wife Bernice and their children, but he also left a considerable sum to his friend and brother-in-law, Charles. Then, less than a year later, Charles' wife, Thomas' younger sister, also died. So what did Charles do?

He married his friend's widow. Separately they were each incredibly wealthy. Together?

Forget about it. So when I say that the Urshels are ideal kidnapping targets, that's what I mean. They've got oodles of money, even at the height of the Great Depression.

And to their credit, they're aware that they're juicy targets for ambitious criminals. At this stage, most of America's richest people spend half their time looking over their shoulder.

Some celebrities have even taken to riding around in armored limos with gun-toting guards riding shotgun just in case. And rich businessmen like Charles Urschel usually have at least one bodyguard on their payroll.

In fact, the Urschels do have a personal bodyguard at their mansion in Oklahoma City. But in July 1933, they'll let them go for sleeping on the job. Which is a decision they'll come to regret soon enough.

Exactly who is the mastermind of the Urschel kidnapping plot is something that historians, law enforcement, and crime fans will debate for decades to come. Hell, even J. Edgar Hoover himself will put his two cents in.

But it's believed that Catherine is the one who first suggests the Urschel family is targets. How much of the plan she decides after that really depends on who you ask.

Even if Catherine's heavily involved in the planning, George knows he needs another man on board. He loves his wife, but this is still 1933. He's not going to be bringing a woman along to kidnap a guy.

It just wouldn't be right. So he places another call to his old friend, Albert Bates. This time it's for real, he promises Albert.

They're about to land a whale. The Kellys come to Albert with much of their plan already worked out. They've decided that once they've grabbed their victim, they'll bring them to Paradise, Texas.

A couple of years back, Catherine's mom or a married RG. Shannon, who owns several hundred acres just outside of Paradise.

The farm's almost 200 miles south of Oklahoma City, and is remote enough that some of George's criminal friends crash there when they need to lay low. It's the perfect place to hold the hostage. Crucially though, it's also across state lines.

So whether George, Catherine, and Albert realize it or not, they're now planning to commit a federal crime. Then again, none of them are planning on getting caught, so why should they worry about what kind of crime they're committing?

Instead, they focus on the details that'll make or break the scheme. Chief among them, which of the Urshels should they nab? They're not going to mess with any of the couple's kids, which leaves Charles and Bernice as their two options.

After much discussion, George and Albert decide that Charles is their best bet. Their thinking is that, as a woman, Bernice would be easier to intimidate into paying the ransom, and won't even think about negotiating. It'll be a piece of cake.

But once again, the Kellys are making assumptions based on limited information. If they knew just a little more about their targets, they would probably make a different decision about which of the couple to kidnap.

Because Bernice Urshel isn't an easy woman to intimidate, and her husband Charles is just about the worst kidnapping victim you could ever hope to find. So strap in, friends, we're in for a bumpy ride.

From Airship, this is episode 2 in our series on George Machine Gun Kelly. On the next episode, George and Albert carry out an almost flawless kidnapping. Then Charles Urshel reveals his hidden superpower.

We used many different sources while preparing this episode. A few we can recommend are George Machine Gun Kelly by Bart L. Largent, The Year of Fear by Joe Urschel, and Hopman's Ladder by Richard T.

Cahill Jr. This episode may contain reenactments or dramatized details, and while in some cases we can't know exactly what happened, all our dramatizations are based on historical research.

American Criminal is a co-production of airship and evergreen podcasts. It's hosted, edited, and produced by me, Jeremy Schwartz. Audio editing and sound design by Sean Ruhl Hoffman.

Music by Thrum. This episode is written and researched by Joel Callan. Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive producers are Joel Callan, William Simpson, and Lindsey Graham.