Dr. Kelley and the Aftershocks of Extraordinary Justice.
Tags: Time, History, Mystery, Crime, True Crime

Living room setup popular in the Era the Kelleys lived, likely similar to the room they took the call in, 34

Isaac Dee Kelly, aka“Dee” as he was known to friends, was a prominent doctor who had arranged a good marriage (2, 18). His beautiful wife Kathleen, equally as powerful, a beloved daughter of an oil tycoon. They seemed the perfect union. Kelley was descended from those that founded the French Settlement that was St. Louis prior to the Louisiana Purchase, and the city meant so much to him. Even though each had money and means to travel the world, they chose to stay in St. Louis for their family and to serve the beloved city they call home with their two daughters (18).

The Kelley Home, 26

Dr. Kelley had quite a resumé : He attended St. Louis University, was manager and played on of one of the university’s famous football teams, and practiced as a physician at St. Luke’s, Jewish Children’s and St. Mary’s hospitals (10). He was known as an expert as an Ear, Nose and Throat physician, and often served both the wealthy and poor (18). His wife, Kathleen McBride Kelly, was very wealthy on the onset of the marriage. Together, they lived at 32 Portland Place, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in St. Louis, in a gated community that still exists to this day (3, 5).

To this day, the Kelley Neighborhood remains prominent as it first housed the descendants of the French who founded the city. Even Google maps skipped over Portland Place, which was also in the news recently with the McClosky Protester Event.

A Wicked Storm Sets Scene For Layers of Malintent

Historic Gates Into Kelley Neighborhood along Union Boulevard, 18

Late on the night April 20th 1931, Dr. Kelley recieved call from gentleman stating that his nephew has severe ear ache and needed to be seen immediately via house call (2, 7, 23). That night there was a terrible storm and his wife Kathleen didn’t want him to leave, so he offered to call another physician but the caller insisted the boy was not doing well, also stating that was referred by a mutual colleague, Ballinger (10, 11).

Phone similar to Phones in the Era, 10

In that conversation, Kathleen overheard the caller say his name was “Mr. Holmes”and she heard her husband repeat, “just east of the terminal bridge across Clayton Road and two blocks east of the filling station” (11). With the gates along Union Boulevard staying permanently locked, Dr. Kelley exited his Portland Place Gated Community via a road named King’s Highway only to dissapear into the night (18). When Dr. Kelley didn’t arrive home after midnight, Kathleen called family, who called Leonidas “Lon” Hocker, president of St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners, who lived across the street(2, 7, 9). The Kelleys were wealthy, and a string of kidnappings had occurred across the nation targeting wealthy people, bankers and movie stars, with ten kidnappings in St. Louis in the same year including a known relative of his wife, Adolphus Bush Orthwein (19, 35). With Leonidas calling the calvary, Dr. Kelley’s car was found a day later (12).

Leonidas Oates “Lon“ Hocker

Dr. Kelley’s Recovered Car, 28

“Like a bad penny, I turned up again”

49

In the car, officers found ring in between the seat cushions as if Kelley felt was being robbed (14, 16). Two fingerprints were found in the car (10, 16, 18), along with two sets of oilly footprints that had the squad of 50 detectives on the chase. The police questioned nearby gas station attendants at the filling station without any clues (2, 7). The police believed the group was associated with the kidnapping of several bankers and businessmen within weeks of the kidnapping (6). Soon, erroneous tips started pouring in, including a hoax call stating Dr. Kelley was in Chicago (10).

Interestingly enough, the detectives tapped the Kelley phone, expecting a ransom call to arrive. Due to limitations at the time, the source of the call determined the abilities of the tap as the old style telephones and calls made by operator could not be traced, but the ones from dial phones could (10).

Old Style phone.

The Socialite Wife of Dr. Kelley, Kathleen. 14

Kathleen, his wife, was understandably heartbroken, and waited by the phone. The police were unable to trace the original call (10) and no other calls aside from hangups in the middle of the night occured (16). The trail was going cold and no ransom had been demanded, the Kelley family was devastated. Three days after he was kidnapped, Kathleen went to the papers to state publicly that no ransom amount was too great if it meant that her husband came home alive in the hopes the radio silence would end (27). Although the family denies paying the $100,000 requested for his release (see below), he was released to the custody of John Rogers, a reporter for St. Louis Dispatch, at 2 am on April 27th, 1931 (17, 23). Ten hours after police questioning, he was returned home with reporters noting that he sprinted into his house (23). With accidental foreshadowing, Kelley narrowly survived death before in the slaughter of his entire troop in France during World War I where he served as a medical officer; when he went missing he is quoted as saying, “Like a bad penny, I turned up again” (10).

First Ransom Note, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, (St. Louis, Missouri), 29 Apr 1931, Wed, Page 2

“The Coffee was Terrible”

Dr. Kelly in the Goggles his captors made him wear, 50

A week after being kidnapped, Dr. Kelley was returned home. He stated he was well treated by captors when he wasn’t forced to wear goggles with a sack over his head. His captors allowed to read detective stories while confined and they joked with him and showed him their guns (23, 51). Kelley reported he received little sleep and said food, especially the coffee, was terrible (23, 51). Like other kidnappings of the era, Dr. Kelley was moved frequently from house to house (23). A day after his reported release, he appeared publicly to eat with his family. The resturaunt manager tried to question Kelley on what had happened, and commented that he seemed shaken when he sold a summary of the encounter to the press (24). Suspects with similar crimes in their past were arrested: Herman Tipton, Cuckoo Gang Leader Patrick Conway, Leo Casey — a Roadhouse proprietor, Timothy McAuliffe — a ganster, Eugene Rebeau and a man named Cocky Leonard. No arrests were fruitful and suspects were freed (27).

John T. Rogers, Investigative Reporter for the St. Louis Dispatch, (link)

Detectives continued to pursue the case as life went on for the Kelley’s who managed to shield their daughters from the knowledge that this event had even happened (27). The case would go cold for another three years until John Rogers, the reporter unwittingly forced into association with the crime with Kelley being released to him to begin with, was contacted by a former Justice of the Peace wanting to sell his story of what really happened (36, 52). The case, thus far, had made Rogers a famous and prominent man, winning a Pulitzer prize for his work in addition to being awarded a years salary as a bonus for his time on the case (53). Fielder listed of several names, another kidnapping (Oscar Johnson), and named the ringleader of the crime, Mrs. Nellie Tipton Muenich, who did not live more than two blocks away from the Kelley’s (52). Soon after she was arrested and set lose on bail, she verbally accosted Kelley in the street for her arrest. She also, supposedly, came from prominent famiy (38).

Alex Fielder, former Justice of the Peace and kidnapping ring informant, 52

Betrayal by a Neighbor?

Nellie and Dr. Ludwig Muench at 4736 Westminster Place, a couple of blocks from the Kelley Home (link)

Nellie Tipton Muench Booking Photo (link).

Among those identified by the Fiedler testimony, and arrested, Dr. Kelley had identified Angelo Rosegrant and Felix MacDonald as two of his kidnappers (30) and Kelley identified Mrs. Muenich as “Goldie”, present at his kidnapping (37). Maids in the home testified that Rosegrant was at the Muenich home frequently to establish association (30, 36). Others verified the Fiedler testiony that Muenich had stalked Isaac D. Kelley at dinner parties to gain information about his whereabouts (36). She had been the brains of the whole operation (46). Among those accused were Mrs. Muenich, John C. Johnson, Bart David, Angelo Rosegrant, Felix McDonald, Tommy Wilders, and Tommy Hays (43). The judge, having tried several of the for the crime, seemed satisfied the crime had received its justice, and additionally, Muenich had announced the birth of her “Gift from God”, a baby boy that was born 23 years into her childless marriage. She was acquitted, others like Angelo Rosegrant, received decades in prison (30,31).

Angelo Rosegrant, Bart David, 52.

The Hero Informant, John C. Johnson, Goes into Hiding after Mob Violence.

John C. Johnson, gave testimony as a secret witness against the kidnappers. 54.

It was insinuated that pressure of the trial caused Al Stack, prosecuter’s assistant, to kill himself before trial, and later the prosecuter himself was accosted by three men which left his car overturned and a broken leg (43). Tommy Hays, a gangster involved in the kidnapping, had been killed in a gunfight, along with two of his bodyguards (42). Another assitant of Anderson was later attacked but escaped without injury (43). After Fielder came forward implicating John C. Johnson, John confessed his unknowing involvement, and secretly made a pack with the prosecuter in regard to his safety in trade for testimony (47). The story Johnson gave was that men he did not know offered him money and cash to move to a different plot of land, and kept his, in order to house a man with Tuberculosis. He later saw the group bootlegging and heard the refer to a man named ‘Doc’(54). For safety, Johnson stayed with the Deputy Sheriff Newbold and his family, but sadly it was short lived. Although Johnson’s testimony was kept a secret, somehow he was located and tragically gunned down by gansters with a machine gun in front of the Newbold home (54). Eight of the 12 shots fired struck Johnson with the remaining hitting the side of the house within distance of the Newbold children (47). Sadly, his story remains untold.

The Hunt For A Killer Ends Tragically

The trial is known for ending 6 lives (simple math says many more), and shortly after the death of John C. Johnson, tips lead to a home of a man named Jack who supposedly fired the machine gun that killed him. The home was in a very bad neighborhood, so officers didn’t want to simply knock, and started their raid by firing shots through the door. A bullet went through the skull of Bessie Masterson, mother of five, as she lay in bed with her nine year old daughter. No guns were actually found, niether Jack, and the matter of impropriety was later investigated by the Justice Department as a false raid (45, 46).

Bessie Masterson, 45

Two Women Come Forward with Complaint As More Twists Unfold; Evolves Into New Trial

Mary and Anna Ware, 40.

Mrs Nellie Muenich, 40

Mary and Anna Ware came forward claiming that Mrs. Muenich’s miracle baby, who was obtained by evading adoption laws, was actually the illegitimate child of Anna Ware, former servant of the Muenich home which spurned another trial for Nellie Muenich(32, 40). It was uncovered that not only did Muenich try to extort $250,000 from a man she claimed was the baby’s father, Marsh Pitzman, that she tried desperately to obtain a child for the trial in order to gain sympathy, with record of three babies purchased on the black market (31, 32, 33). In response to Ware’s accusations, Muenich said she had no idea Ware was pregnant (39). The first baby boy that Muenich was accused of taking died in a hospital on July 11th (41). The second was taken back by its mother. Despite presenting a birth certificate for her boy, Ware was required to wait for examination of Muenich to see if she had given birth recently. Mr. Muenich had also presented a birth certificate for the boy, despite the conflict of interest in having signed it himself (40, 41). It was later determmined that Anna Ware was the actual mother of the baby, with Nellie’s grand scheme crashing all around her. Nellie Muenich and her husband were sentenced to ten years in prison, along with her lawyer who arranged the adoptions, and a midwife who had claimed to be present for the birth (56).

Isaac Dee Kelley, Anna Ware, and their families, were finally free of this ordeal and able to live their life, as the masterminds of these terrible plots met justice.

Anna Ware, reunited with her baby, 55

Kelley with his family, 57

R eference/Resource/Bibliography

Because my references and resources are about 100 sources and very long, often times, this tanks my stats. I’ve opted to record them on a different page as to not ax my required reading time. You can find them recorded accurately here.