Charles Urschel
Toronto Daily Star, September 25 1933
Charles F. Urschel (1890-1970) was an American oil magnate. On July 22 1933, his bridge game was rudely interrupted by George "Machine Gun" Kelly, who kidnapped him and held him for ten days until receiving $200,000 in ransom money.
While held captive, Urschel memorized as much information about his location as possible and left his fingerprints on all available surfaces, which helped the FBI capture Kelly and his confederates. Kelly and five others were sentenced to life in prison for the crime, including Kelly's wife, Kathryn, who had purchased Kelly's machine gun, given him his nickname, and helped plan the kidnapping.
After Urschel's death, it was discovered that he had secretly funded the college education of Kathryn's daughter Pauline despite believing that she (Kathryn, not Pauline) was the mastermind behind his kidnapping.
Created September 25, 2025.