| Description |
1 online resource (x, 361 pages) ; illustrations, maps |
| Contents |
Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Introduction -- Part I. The Kidnapping of an Everyman -- 1. "This is a Stickup" -- 2. War, Flappers, Booze, and the Kidnapping Crescent -- 3. "Otherwise, I Would Be Killed" -- 4. The Mystery Daughter -- 5. Unsatisfactory Lodging -- 6. Manufacturing the Truth -- 7. A Message for the Kidnappers -- 8. The Secret Six -- 9. Pandemonium in South Bend -- 10. A Series of Odd Decisions -- Part II. Anatomy of a Cover-Up -- 11. Howard Woolverton, Reluctant Kidnapper -- 12. The Mystery of the Phone Call -- 13. The Man Who Came Home |
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14. Kidnapping? What Kidnapping? -- 15. The Press Starts Digging -- 16. The Woolvertons Get Even -- 17. Tales of Terror and Torture -- Part III. The Unique Significance of the Woolverton Case -- 18. Fear and Loathing in South Bend -- 19. Law Enforcement Takes a Stand -- 20. The Rules Have Changed -- 21. The Love Story of Kathryn and George "Machine Gun" Kelly -- 22. The End of an Era -- Part IV. Who Kidnapped Howard Woolverton? -- 23. The Man with a Cough -- 24. A Rogue's Gallery of Suspects -- 25. A Ghastly Meeting -- 26. Frank Nash Gets Revenge -- 27. The Kansas City Massacre |
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28. Vernon Miller: Veteran, Lawman, Criminal, Killer -- 29. The Woolvertons Move On -- 30. The Closing Argument -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author |
| Summary |
"An FBI cover-up spanning nearly a century. A victim and his family sworn to secrecy. Machine Gun Kelly's first kidnapping, a crime that changed America before it was swept under the rug of history. Under Penalty of Death: The Untold Story of Machine Gun Kelly's First Kidnapping brings to light for the first time the long-forgotten (and twice covered up) tale of the 1930s kidnapping that saved America from itself. In January 1932, Howard Arthur Woolverton, a wealthy industrialist in South Bend, Indiana, was kidnapped by Kelly and his gang. While no one was killed, the crime-occurring just six weeks before the Lindbergh kidnapping-nevertheless proved a watershed event, gripping the imagination of terrified Americans everywhere. The combined fallout of the two kidnappings helped usher in the federal law that shut down America's professional kidnapping industry for good. However, today Woolverton's name is forgotten, his story erased from public memory as if it had never happened. But why the cover-up? How did Woolverton quash the first investigation? Why did J. Edgar Hoover and his "G-Men" impose their own wall of silence? And how does it all connect with a bloody 1933 FBI screwup at a train station in Kansas City? Drawing on a buried federal statement, family archives, extensive research through period newspaper accounts, and interviews with those few who still remember, Under Penalty of Death: The Untold Story of Machine Gun Kelly's First Kidnapping exposes intrigue and collusion in the era of gangsters, rampant crime, and the Great Depression"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on April 13, 2023) |
| Subject |
Kelly, Machine Gun, 1897-1954.
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Woolverton, Howard Arthur, 1880-1960.
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| SUBJECT |
Kelly, Machine Gun, 1897-1954. fast (OCoLC)fst00295595 |
| Subject |
Kidnapping -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Case studies
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Kidnapping.
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United States.
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| Genre/Form |
Case studies.
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History.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Hendry, David W., Jr., 1948- author.
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| LC no. |
2022047978 |
| ISBN |
1684352002 |
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9781684352012 |
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1684352010 |
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9781684352005 |
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