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Machine Gun Kelly's Lost Loot
Machine Gun's lost loot: search continues for gangster's ransom money
KEVIN OGLE reports
Updated: February 13, 2003 12:10 PM
This year marks the 70th anniversary of one of the most publicized kidnappings in U.S. history. And, it involved an Oklahoma City millionaire, a notorious legend of the gangster world and lots of money.
Some of that money was buried by the gang, it's buried treasure that may still be out there for someone to find.
The lure of lost loot buried somewhere for someone to find and become rich is the stuff of legends. But most legends are based in fact and this one all began during the dusty Depression-era 1930s in Oklahoma City.
One hot summer evening George Machine Gun Kelly and his gang came to town looking for trouble. And they found it here. A mansion in the Heritage Hills section of Oklahoma City is where oilman millionaire Charles Urschel lived.
About 11 p.m. on the night of July 22nd, 1933 while the millionaire was playing bridge on his screened-in porch something happened that would change the lives of virtually all involved.
"Two unknown men burst into the game. One was carrying a machine gun and one a pistol and they kidnapped Urschel," said Oklahoma City attorney Kent Frates, who is Urschel's nephew and knows the famous story better than anyone. In fact, he is writing a screenplay about it now.
Frates says the kidnappers, Machine Gun Kelly, killer Albert Bates and the rest of the gang, kept Urschel for 10 days tied-up and blindfolded in a shack just outside Paradise, Texas while they demanded a ransom from the Urschel family.
"E.E. Kirkpatrick, who was a close friend and an employee of the Urschel Oil Company, delivered the ransom money, Frates said. It was $200,000, which now is equivalent to about $3 million [today]."
The payment was made in Kansas City. Urschel was released. The FBI was called. Just a few weeks later the suddenly rich kidnappers were once again broke and behind bars.
One of them turned out to be George Machine Gun Kelly s flamboyant and brash wife, Kathyrn Kelly. She was all smiles during the trial.
"She was the mastermind and the evidence at the trial was that she was the one that wanted to kill Urschel," Frates said.
It was the OJ Simpson court drama of its day and it was the only time cameras have been allowed in a Federal criminal trial.
The courtroom were the trial was conducted still exists in the old Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. While leaving the courtroom, Machine Gun Kelly had one final statement to his victim.
"After he was sentenced he walked by the table where my uncle was sitting and made a cut across his throat and said, I'll get you, " Frates said.
Kelly never made good on his threat to kill Urschel and died in prison.
But what became of the $200,000? A little over half of it was recovered.
"So what does that tell you? So that tells you there's about $90,000 out there somewhere."
This lost treasure has been the subject of mystery for the last 70 years, due in part to one of the gang member s stubborn refusal to give any clues to the whereabouts of the unfound ransom.
"There was a remark made by Bates one time when he was in prison that You'll never find the money. I've buried it. And he refused to tell where the money was," Frates said.
Is it possible the money could be buried somewhere around Oklahoma City? Could it be buried between here and Paradise, Texas?
So how do you find it? It's not going to be easy.
Treasure hunters around the area say they don't know where it is and don't know anyone who does. The best bet is to hit the Internet or archive centers to find more clues that might help you locate the unfound ransom
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The Okie Legacy - http://okielegacy.org Saturday, February 15, 2003, Vol. V, Iss. 7
Oakie's NW Corner...
Last Friday's snowfall brought maybe two or three inches on the ground up in Northwest Oklahoma, but I hear it didn't last long. More of a soaker, I guess, and we needed that. After Saturday, the Spring-like weather has been shining across the state with promise of rain showers to come in Thursday. Those showers didn't amount to much in the Northwest, though. Friday, Valentines Day brought more spring-like temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. That's our NW Corner Weather report for the week as we move on to some more Okie Tidbits.
July, 1933 Kidnapping of Charles F. Urschel... Wednesday night a local news station had a piece on "Machine Gun's lost loot: search continues for gangster's ransom money." It was July 22, 1933 that Machine Gun Kelly and and his gang kidnapped Charles Urschel at the oil tycoon's home in Oklahoma City, in Heritage Hills. The FBI uncovered over half of the $200,000 ransom money, but it is alleged that $90,000 was never found and is assumed buried someplace in the hills near Oklahoma City and all-points west. Whatever happened to Machine Gun's wife, Kathryn, after she was released from prison in 1958? Did she know where the money was buried?
"....On Jan. 17, 1954, his birthday, Machine-Gun Kelly died of a heart attack in the federal prison at Leavenworth. In 1958, Kathryn Kelly's trial was reopened. Her attorney contended that during the first trial, she was not allowed to bring in her own handwriting expert to counter the prosecution's virtuoso, who testified she had written threatening notes to the Urschels after their arrest. When the Justice Department declined to turn over its files from the original trial, Kathryn was freed on bond. The second trial never came off. Kathryn lived under a stream of false identifications and vanished into nothingness. Her contribution to history was that she invented Machine-Gun Kelly, an enormously profitable Hollywood commodity. Once the case was closed, Jones and his men concentrated their efforts on finding the $200,000 ransom money, which had been divided, scattered and buried around the hills of Oklahoma City and all-points west. They found some of it, but, according to Division of Investigation records, some $100,000 is still buried somewhere. Kelly also robbed banks throughout Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. Some $38,000 taken from the Citizen's Bank in Tupelo is thought to be buried just outside of town..... The Treasure: A large number of caches, most notably, $100,000 in $20 bills from the kidnapping and another $38,000 from the Tupelo, Miss., bank robbery." -- Of Mice and G-Men by Ralph Michael, from pg. 50 of the January issue of Treasure Cache magazine. - losttreasure.com
Finding the Treasure... They report that much of the loot from Kelly's many robberies is probably buried near the site of the crimes. You can contact the Oklahoma Historical Society and Oklahoma City Public Library, both located in Oklahoma City, for more information on Machine Gun Kelly's activities.
Machine Gun's lost loot: search continues for gangster's ransom money
KEVIN OGLE reports
Updated: February 13, 2003 12:10 PM
This year marks the 70th anniversary of one of the most publicized kidnappings in U.S. history. And, it involved an Oklahoma City millionaire, a notorious legend of the gangster world and lots of money.
Some of that money was buried by the gang, it's buried treasure that may still be out there for someone to find.
The lure of lost loot buried somewhere for someone to find and become rich is the stuff of legends. But most legends are based in fact and this one all began during the dusty Depression-era 1930s in Oklahoma City.
One hot summer evening George Machine Gun Kelly and his gang came to town looking for trouble. And they found it here. A mansion in the Heritage Hills section of Oklahoma City is where oilman millionaire Charles Urschel lived.
About 11 p.m. on the night of July 22nd, 1933 while the millionaire was playing bridge on his screened-in porch something happened that would change the lives of virtually all involved.
"Two unknown men burst into the game. One was carrying a machine gun and one a pistol and they kidnapped Urschel," said Oklahoma City attorney Kent Frates, who is Urschel's nephew and knows the famous story better than anyone. In fact, he is writing a screenplay about it now.
Frates says the kidnappers, Machine Gun Kelly, killer Albert Bates and the rest of the gang, kept Urschel for 10 days tied-up and blindfolded in a shack just outside Paradise, Texas while they demanded a ransom from the Urschel family.
"E.E. Kirkpatrick, who was a close friend and an employee of the Urschel Oil Company, delivered the ransom money, Frates said. It was $200,000, which now is equivalent to about $3 million [today]."
The payment was made in Kansas City. Urschel was released. The FBI was called. Just a few weeks later the suddenly rich kidnappers were once again broke and behind bars.
One of them turned out to be George Machine Gun Kelly s flamboyant and brash wife, Kathyrn Kelly. She was all smiles during the trial.
"She was the mastermind and the evidence at the trial was that she was the one that wanted to kill Urschel," Frates said.
It was the OJ Simpson court drama of its day and it was the only time cameras have been allowed in a Federal criminal trial.
The courtroom were the trial was conducted still exists in the old Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. While leaving the courtroom, Machine Gun Kelly had one final statement to his victim.
"After he was sentenced he walked by the table where my uncle was sitting and made a cut across his throat and said, I'll get you, " Frates said.
Kelly never made good on his threat to kill Urschel and died in prison.
But what became of the $200,000? A little over half of it was recovered.
"So what does that tell you? So that tells you there's about $90,000 out there somewhere."
This lost treasure has been the subject of mystery for the last 70 years, due in part to one of the gang member s stubborn refusal to give any clues to the whereabouts of the unfound ransom.
"There was a remark made by Bates one time when he was in prison that You'll never find the money. I've buried it. And he refused to tell where the money was," Frates said.
Is it possible the money could be buried somewhere around Oklahoma City? Could it be buried between here and Paradise, Texas?
So how do you find it? It's not going to be easy.
Treasure hunters around the area say they don't know where it is and don't know anyone who does. The best bet is to hit the Internet or archive centers to find more clues that might help you locate the unfound ransom
////////////////////////////////////////////////
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Okie Legacy - http://okielegacy.org Saturday, February 15, 2003, Vol. V, Iss. 7
Oakie's NW Corner...
Last Friday's snowfall brought maybe two or three inches on the ground up in Northwest Oklahoma, but I hear it didn't last long. More of a soaker, I guess, and we needed that. After Saturday, the Spring-like weather has been shining across the state with promise of rain showers to come in Thursday. Those showers didn't amount to much in the Northwest, though. Friday, Valentines Day brought more spring-like temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. That's our NW Corner Weather report for the week as we move on to some more Okie Tidbits.
July, 1933 Kidnapping of Charles F. Urschel... Wednesday night a local news station had a piece on "Machine Gun's lost loot: search continues for gangster's ransom money." It was July 22, 1933 that Machine Gun Kelly and and his gang kidnapped Charles Urschel at the oil tycoon's home in Oklahoma City, in Heritage Hills. The FBI uncovered over half of the $200,000 ransom money, but it is alleged that $90,000 was never found and is assumed buried someplace in the hills near Oklahoma City and all-points west. Whatever happened to Machine Gun's wife, Kathryn, after she was released from prison in 1958? Did she know where the money was buried?
"....On Jan. 17, 1954, his birthday, Machine-Gun Kelly died of a heart attack in the federal prison at Leavenworth. In 1958, Kathryn Kelly's trial was reopened. Her attorney contended that during the first trial, she was not allowed to bring in her own handwriting expert to counter the prosecution's virtuoso, who testified she had written threatening notes to the Urschels after their arrest. When the Justice Department declined to turn over its files from the original trial, Kathryn was freed on bond. The second trial never came off. Kathryn lived under a stream of false identifications and vanished into nothingness. Her contribution to history was that she invented Machine-Gun Kelly, an enormously profitable Hollywood commodity. Once the case was closed, Jones and his men concentrated their efforts on finding the $200,000 ransom money, which had been divided, scattered and buried around the hills of Oklahoma City and all-points west. They found some of it, but, according to Division of Investigation records, some $100,000 is still buried somewhere. Kelly also robbed banks throughout Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. Some $38,000 taken from the Citizen's Bank in Tupelo is thought to be buried just outside of town..... The Treasure: A large number of caches, most notably, $100,000 in $20 bills from the kidnapping and another $38,000 from the Tupelo, Miss., bank robbery." -- Of Mice and G-Men by Ralph Michael, from pg. 50 of the January issue of Treasure Cache magazine. - losttreasure.com
Finding the Treasure... They report that much of the loot from Kelly's many robberies is probably buried near the site of the crimes. You can contact the Oklahoma Historical Society and Oklahoma City Public Library, both located in Oklahoma City, for more information on Machine Gun Kelly's activities.
