Kathryn Thorne Kelly
Committed for life on 12 October 1933 by the federal court at Oklahoma City for the kidnapping of Charles F. Urschel. The Tenth Circuit affirmed in 1935, and in 1959 reversed an order that had vacated her sentence and her mother's.
- Aliases
- Catherine Kelly
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited records state, each labelled by kind.
On the record
- 12 October 1933 — Commitment (NARA 75815999): at Oklahoma City, Judge Edgar S. Vaught presiding, on an indictment "for violation of Section 408A Title 18 U.S.C.A. (By wilfully kidnapping and holding for ransom one Chas. F. Urschel)," she was committed to the Attorney General "for confinement in a Federal Institution for Women, during her natural life."
- 17 October 1933 — Marshal's return on the same commitment: delivered to the Warden of the Cincinnati Workhouse, Cincinnati, Ohio.
- 2 April 1935 — Kelly v. United States, 76 F.2d 847 (10th Cir.): "The contention urged that appellant acted in the presence of her husband and therefore under his coercion, is without support." The judgment was affirmed.
- 1958 — United States v. Kelly, 269 F.2d 448 (10th Cir. 1959): "Ora L. Shannon and Kathryn Thorne Kelly are mother and daughter"; in 1958 each moved under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 to vacate her sentence, and the district court vacated the judgments.
- 27 July 1959 — Same opinion: "The order vacating and setting aside the judgments and sentences in the two criminal cases is reversed and the cause is remanded."
No family or role is set; the records describe a conviction, not a place in any organization. The 1935 opinion rejects her defense that she acted under her husband’s coercion; the husband is filed under his own records.
No record filed here gives her later places of confinement, a release date, or dates of birth and death.
Records
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.itemKelly 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.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.