The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1936-04-23

men freely discussed his past say
ing he had been stealing for rs
years. He mentioned the Barrow
brothers, notorious outlaws whom
he described as lust a couple Of
cheap filling station buns"
Urschel said he noticed that a
.1lane passed over the house reg
ularly every morning about GAS
and another at 5:45. He managed
to get look at his watch when
the kidnapers removed the tape
from his eyes so he could see to
eat.
His abductorS, the oil man
stated. freely discussed the ran.
som with him and calmly in.
formed him that If 1t was moi
paid he would be bumped off,"
On Sunday, July 81, they told
him he was to be freed. They
took him to within 10 miles Of his
home, gave him $40 and let
him go.
Acting on UrSchel'S statement
that he had heard planes at speci.
fled times Federal agents checked
all airplane schedules within q
radius Of 600 miles of Oklahoma
City. They learned that the Fort
Worth Amarillo Line Of the Amer
lean Anyways had a plane leaving
Fort Worth daily at 9:15 a. m,
and at $40 p. m. Reports showed
the ships flew over Paradise, Tex,
about GAS a. m. and 5:45 p. m,
every day with the exception of
Sunday when 1t rained. Sunday,
UrSchel said, was the only day he
hadn't heard the morning plane.
MeteorologistS' reports showed
that rain was recorded in the
vicinity Of Paradise, Tex, July 3
Previous investigation had shown
that Boss" Shannon and his wife
lived on a farm near Paradise.
A Federal agent strolled cas-
ually onto the farm early on the
morning Of August 10. He asked
for a drink Of water and was
given some from a tin cup. He
noticed the mineral taste. UrSchel
had said the pump squeaked. The
Shannon pump not only sQueaked
but the chickens cackled, the
COWS mooed and the dogs barked
just as UrSchel had described
them. ..0
Two days later, acting from
orders given by j. Edgar Hoover,
Federal agents accompanied by
State police walked into the Shan.
non home. They found Harvey
j. Bailey, a notorious criminal,
escaped convict and wanted muir
derer, sound asleep in one Of the
bedrooms. A machine gun lay
just within reach of his right
hand, a rifle lay on his left side
and he had a pistol under his
pillow. But a sawed-off shotgun
prodding his midriff as he blinked
Sleepily convinced him resistance
was useless.
Agents found more than 81 900
on Mr.. Bailey's person and $7O0
OF 1t turned out to be part of the
ransom money.
The Shannons, Boss" Ora, his
wife, and Armon, Shannon's son,
were also taken in custody.
They loudly proclaimed their
innocence and charged that Ma
chine Gun Kelly, Shannon's son.
in-law, had thought up the plot.
They admitted guarding Mr..
Urschel at the command Of Kelly.
They named Kelly and Albert
Bates, Denver desperate, as the
actual kidnapers.
Mr.. Urschel, who visited the
Shannon farm at Paradise, identi-
fled it as the place where he had
been held captive for nine days.
He also identified the Shannons,
father and son, as the pair who
had guarded him when the kid
naperS were away negotiating for
the ransom.
With the arrest Of Bailey and
the Shannons the case broke"
Picked up in Denver by local
police on a minor charge, Bates
was held when handbills which
flooded the city identified him
as one of the kidnapers. Police
found $500 in caSh-later identi-
fled as part of the ransome
money-and a machine gun fully
loaded in the gangster's posses
sion.
Then a truck driver attempted
to purchase q cashiers check for
$1,000 at a Minneapolis, Mimi,
bank, but the alert cashier called
police. Seven more men, termed
little fellows" who were trying
to float the ransom bills, were
arrested and charged with con.
spiracy to kidnap. This made IL
people, directly or indirectly con-
nected with the crime, in GUS
tody. All were promptly indicted
by the Oklahoma City Grand
Jury and imprisoned pending
trial.