Today is the anniversary of George Kelly Barnes' birth...and death.
Born on this date in 1895 in Memphis, Tennessee, Barnes attended Central High School. He would become a petty criminal, running bootleg liquor during the Prohibition Era, until his arrest and conviction for the crime; Barnes spent three years in prison, by all accounts a 'model' prisoner which earned him an early release.
It was after his first stint of incarceration that Barnes would become infamous, a man who would eventually become one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted men in America. Barnes, while fleeing federal authorities, dropped his last name and became George Kelly.
George 'Machine Gun' Kelly.
Kelly and his wife Kathryn, who bought Kelly his first Thompson sub-machine gun, kidnapped Oklahoma oil tycoon Charles Urschel, eventually collecting a $200,000 ransom. Urschel, however, proved to be smarter than his captors; after his release, Urschel was able to recount various details while being held, blindfolded, such as background noises and sounds, and made it a point to leave as many fingerprints as he could in the small house his kidnappers had used in which to hide. Urschel's quick thinking led to a massive amount of evidence that pointed the FBI to Kelly and his wife.
George Kelly was convicted in 1933 of kidnapping in a trial that had historic significance: it was the first federal trial during which in-court filming was permitted. Kelly and his wife both received life sentences for the crime, which was also the first time the newly-passed Lindbergh Law, making kidnapping a federal offense, was utilized.
After twenty-one years of incarceration, George 'Machine Gun' Kelly Barnes died in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary of a heart attack on his 58th birthday. He is buried in Cottonwood, Texas.
