Commitment of Harvey J. Bailey (12 October 1933)

The court's commitment of Harvey J. Bailey, with the aliases J. J. Brennan, John Brown and R. G. McDonald, after his conviction in the Urschel kidnaping case, dated 12 October 1933.

Date: 1933-10-12
Kind: case-file
Source: National Archives Catalog
Retrieved: 2026-10-12
NAID: 75815987
Docket: CR10478
Rights: A record of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, held by the National Archives in Record Group 21, Records of District Courts of the United States. A United States government work, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The National Archives catalog marks use "Unrestricted." File "10478: United States v. Albert Bates, et. al." (NAID 66383199), series "Criminal Case Files" (NAID 650898), National Archives at Fort Worth.

The catalog note reads: “This is the commitment of Harvey J. Bailey in the case United States of America vs. Harvey J. Bailey alias J.J. Brennan alias John Brown, alias R.G. Mcdonald. The case also involved George R. ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly and his wife Kathryn Thorne Kelly.” It is dated October 12, 1933, with two page images and a PDF.

Bailey’s Alcatraz notebook page gives the sentence as life, dated October 7, 1933. The aliases are the catalog’s, from the case title. The commitment was not transcribed for this archive.

itemAgreed statement of facts, United States v. Harvey J. Bailey (28 May 1934)Eighteen-page agreed statement of facts of 28 May 1934, prepared for Harvey J. Bailey's appeal from his conviction in the Urschel kidnaping case.itemBailey v. United States, 74 F.2d 451 (10th Cir. 1934)The Tenth Circuit's affirmance of Harvey J. Bailey's conviction and life sentence for conspiracy under the federal kidnaping act of 22 June 1932 in the Urschel case.

itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for Harvey J. Bailey, No. 139Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of Harvey J. Bailey, No. 139, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 under a life sentence for kidnapping and holding for ransom; stamped transferred to Leavenworth on 8 September 1946. A copy is stored here.