Kelly v. United States, 76 F.2d 847 (10th Cir. 1935)

The Tenth Circuit's affirmance of Kathryn Thorne Kelly's conviction and life sentence for conspiracy to kidnap and hold Charles F. Urschel for ransom. It rejects her claim that she acted under her husband's coercion.

Date: 1935-04-02
Kind: court-opinion
Source: CourtListener
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
Docket: 1133
Rights: Opinion of a federal court. A United States government work; judicial opinions are not subject to copyright (17 U.S.C. § 105). The text is served by CourtListener.

This is Kathryn Thorne Kelly’s appeal; no reported appeal by George Kelly was found. She had been sentenced to custody “for confinement in a Federal Institution for Women, during her natural life” for conspiracy to kidnap and hold Charles F. Urschel for ransom. The Tenth Circuit found that the evidence supported the verdict and rejected her argument that she acted under her husband’s coercion, pointing to acts she did outside his presence. The judgment was affirmed on April 2, 1935.

The court’s account of her acts is its review of the trial evidence.

itemCommitment of Kathryn Thorne Kelly (20 October 1933)The court's commitment of Kathryn Thorne Kelly, alias Catherine Kelly, after her life sentence for conspiracy in the Urschel kidnaping, dated 20 October 1933.itemUnited States v. Kathryn Thorne Kelly and Ora L. Shannon, 269 F.2d 448 (10th Cir. 1959)The government's appeal from a 1958 district court order vacating the 1933 convictions and life sentences of Kathryn Thorne Kelly and her mother Ora L. Shannon, after the government declined to produce FBI files. The Tenth Circuit reversed and remanded.itemShannon v. United States, 76 F.2d 490 (10th Cir. 1935)The Tenth Circuit's affirmance of the convictions of R. G. Shannon and Ora L. Shannon in the Urschel kidnaping. It recites how Urschel was held at the Shannon property and rejects the defense of coercion.