Case library · Ransom
Oil Man Taken For Ransom
United States v. Kelly (1933)
Charge: Kidnapping for ransom under the new Federal Kidnapping ActCourt: U.S. District Court, W.D. OklahomaState: OklahomaDocket: Ransom
The facts
A wealthy oil businessman was seized from his own home and driven across a state line. His captors demanded two hundred thousand dollars in used banknotes. The money was paid and he was released. Agents traced the plot to a married couple and to relatives on a farm who had sheltered them. More than twenty people were charged. A new federal law had just made kidnapping for ransom a crime against the United States.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: United States v. Kelly (W.D. Okla. 1933)
Read more at fbi.gov. The source reveals the outcome.