There Bailey recuperated. He managed to rob three more banks before his recapture.
It was Harvey's misfortune to tie up with "Machine Gun" Kelly that caused his rearrest.
Kelly and Albert Bates had just kidnapped Charles Urschel, a prominent businessman of Oklahoma City and released him by the time Bailey sought refuge with Kelly's wife, Kathryn's family in Texas, the Shannon farm near Paradise. Which is where Kelly had held Urschel until his release.
Bailey, tired and nursing his bad leg, pulled into the farm and was met by Albert Bates. Kelly owed Harvey $1,000 and "Machine Gun" had left it with Bates to give to Harvey.
Albert warned Harvey not to hang around because the place was "hot." The Shannon's ran a cooling off joint for outlaws on the lam and the heat was on over the Urschel kidnapping.
Harvey ignoring the advise, told him he was tired and wanted to rest a couple days. He gave the Shannons $500 of the loan repayment money.
On August 12, 1933, twelve agents descended on the Shannon farm, led by Gus Jones. They spotted Bailey sleeping on a cot in the back yard. Jones touched the tip of his machine gun against Harvey's nose and gently rubbed it, waking the bank robber.
Bailey, seeing the officers, didn't move. One of the agents, "Two Gun" Billy Winstead shouted for Harvey to go for his gun, the outalw told him he wasn't crazy. An Automatic .45 lay under his pillow and a Winchester against the cot. Gus Jones later marveled over Bailey's coolness during the arrest.
Bailey was rushed to the escape-proof Dallas jail and placed on the 9th floor, called the death row. The $500 found on him was quickly traced to the Urschel ransom money and it didn't take Harvey long to figure out the FBI were going to connect him with the kidnapping.
Bailey denied any involvement, and we now know he never had anything to do with the crime. The FBI also accused him of being in the Kansas City Massacre on June 17, 1933, where four officers were killed along with his friend Frank Nash. Bailey admitted he had just robbed a Black Rock, Arkansas bank at that time and had nothing to do with the massacre. The real killers had been Verne Miller, possibly Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd and Adam Ricchetti. It is believed that Ricchetti, who later died in the gas chambers for the crime, was innocent and possibly that another agent who was unfamilar with the action on his automatic shotgun killed Nash and one of the agents by accident.
The Dallas jail, thought to be escape-proof, may have been if not for the ambitious Deputy Tom L. Manion.
Bailey told the story of the escape in his book, "Bank Robbing Was My Business." He claimed Manion hid a rusty old Colt .45 and a hacksaw under his pillow and asked Harvey what streets he would use when he escaped. It seems the Deputy wanted to be Sheriff, and Bailey felt that Manion had intentions of killing him when he did make a run for it. There were rumors Bailey bribed the Deputy, but Harvey claimed he didn't.
On September 5, 1933 Harvey jumped the Deputy Sheriff, C.W. Young and a trustee as they brought in his breakfast.
Stealing a car, Bailey headed out, he claimed he saw Manion and another officer watching him from a automobile parked on a street. Bailey made it as far as Ardmore, Oklahoma until he was arrested there a few hours later. Bailey's only remark was that, "Well, I got out, didn't I?"
Bailey also claimed that the FBI told him they knew he didn't kidnap Urschel. But they knew he was a "bad" guy and they were going to be put Harvey away for something.
Sent to Oklahoma City to stand trial in front of Judge Edgar S. Vaught, Bailey was found guilty for kidnapping Charles Urschel and sentenced to life at Leavenworth on October 7, 1933. He was later sent to Alcatraz on September 1, 1934 and remained there until 1946 when he was granted to transfer back to Leavenworth.
Charles Urschel And Wife
The Somber Bailey On Trial
Bailey Newspaper Article
{Courtesy: Brian Beerman}
THE MAN GRAVE PARTNERS LINKS
