A Criminal Couple

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Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

It’s 1933 and Prohibition has given rise to the American gangster. Bank robberies at gunpoint are commonplace and kidnapping for ransom is the scourge of a lawless nation. With local cops unauthorized to cross state lines in pursuit and no national police force, safety for kidnappers is just a short trip on back roads they know well from their bootlegging days. Gangster George “Machine Gun” Kelly and his wife, Kathryn, are the most celebrated criminal husband-and-wife team of the Great Depression. With gin-running operations facing extinction and bank vaults with dwindling stores of cash, Kathryn persuades Kelly to set his sights on the easy-money racket of kidnapping. His target: rich oilman, Charles Urschel.

Enter J. Edgar Hoover, a desperate Justice Department bureaucrat who badly needs a successful prosecution to impress the new administration and save his job. Hoover’s agents are given the sole authority to chase kidnappers across state lines and when Kelly bungles the snatch job, Hoover senses his big opportunity. The Kellys abduct a young girl to help them avoid capture. What follows is a thrilling 20,000 mile chase over the back roads of Depression-era America, crossing 16 state lines, and generating headlines across America along the way.

The Kellys’ crimes and subsequent arrests marked a number of significant firsts for the American justice system. The Kellys were the first to be tried after the Lindburgh Law was approved by Congress. The Kellys were the first gangsters to be transported by plane to the location of their trial and their trial was the first to be filmed. The FBI National Emergency Phoneline created to manage the increased number of high-profile abductions was first used by the victims of the Kellys’ kidnapping escapade. The ransom the Kellys received in the kidnapping was the largest ransom ever paid in the nation.

To learn more about the criminal duo read

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne.