Mary McElroy (kidnapping victim)
Encyclopedia
Mary McElroy was an American kidnapping
victim. She was the daughter of Henry F. 'Judge' McElroy, City Manager of Kansas City, Missouri
. The 1996
Robert Altman
film Kansas City
was based loosely on the kidnapping.
McElroy was taken to a farmhouse in Shawnee, Kansas
owned by Click, where she was chained to a wall in the basement. After demanding the original sum of $60,000, the kidnappers settled for $30,000, which Judge McElroy paid on May 29. Mary McElroy was released unharmed near the Millburn Golf Course after twenty-nine hours in captivity. George McGee and Clarence Click were apprehended some time before June 21. Walter McGee was arrested in Amarillo, Texas
on June 2 after trying to purchase a car with some of the ransom money. Of the original sum, about $9,000 was recovered from McGee's person. About $16,000 of the original ransom was recovered.
after sending her father a telegram from Springfield
which read: "Sorry but I am so frighteded. I don't know what I'm doing." She was found in Normal
and brought back to Missouri
where she explained her irrational departure to the authorities: "I felt like a murderer... I wanted to get away. I couldn't stand sitting still." Because he had masterminded the kidnapping, Walter McGee was given the harshest sentence. On March 30, 1935, his sentence, death by hanging, was announced; had it occurred, McGee would have been the first person to be executed for kidnapping in the United States.
After an execution date was set for May 10, Mary McElroy shocked everyone by contesting the penalty. In April 1935, she wrote to Governor Guy Park: "Walter McGee's sentence has hung as heavily over me as over him. Through punishing a guilty man, his victim will be made to suffer equally... In pleading for Walter McGee's life I am pleading for my own peace of mind." McGee was granted a stay of execution by Park on May 7, McElroy's father publicly backed her plea for this stay of execution. His sentence was eventually commuted to life in prison.
. She lived with her father, Judge McElroy for most of her adult life. His death in 1939 devastated her, and she became increasingly reclusive.
On January 21, 1940, her maid discovered McElroy's body in her bedroom; she had committed suicide, shooting herself in the head with a small pistol. She left a suicide note which read: "My four kidnappers are probably the four people on earth who don't consider me an utter fool. You have your death penalty now - so - please - give them a chance. Mary." McElroy was 32. At the time of her death, Walter and George McGee (34 and 29 respectively) were still in prison, Clarence Click had been released in 1938, and Clarence Stevens was still at large.
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
victim. She was the daughter of Henry F. 'Judge' McElroy, City Manager of Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. The 1996
1996 in film
Major releases this year included Scream, Independence Day, Fargo, Trainspotting, The English Patient, Twister, Mars Attacks!, Jerry Maguire and a version of Evita starring Madonna.-Events:...
Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
film Kansas City
Kansas City (1996 film)
Kansas City is a 1996 film, directed by Robert Altman, and featuring numerous jazz tracks. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte, and Steve Buscemi starred. The film was entered into the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
was based loosely on the kidnapping.
Kidnapping
Twenty-five-year-old McElroy was kidnapped while taking a bubble bath in her father's home on the evening of May 27, 1933. Her abductors were brothers George and Walter McGee, Clarence Click, and Clarence Stevens. Walter McGee, a divorced ex-con from Oregon, was the gang leader. McGee and Stevens donned masks, forced their way into the house with a sawed-off shotgun, and allowed McElroy time to dry herself and get dressed. She apparently did not take them very seriously; when told that $60,000 was going to be demanded in exchange for her release, she joked "I'm worth more than that!"McElroy was taken to a farmhouse in Shawnee, Kansas
Shawnee, Kansas
Shawnee is a city located in northwest Johnson County, Kansas, United States and is a western suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 62,209. Shawnee's fur trading and pioneering heritage blends histories of these Kansas Territory townships: Monticello and...
owned by Click, where she was chained to a wall in the basement. After demanding the original sum of $60,000, the kidnappers settled for $30,000, which Judge McElroy paid on May 29. Mary McElroy was released unharmed near the Millburn Golf Course after twenty-nine hours in captivity. George McGee and Clarence Click were apprehended some time before June 21. Walter McGee was arrested in Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
on June 2 after trying to purchase a car with some of the ransom money. Of the original sum, about $9,000 was recovered from McGee's person. About $16,000 of the original ransom was recovered.
Trial
The kidnapping and subsequent trial were a media sensation. The trial took place in Jefferson City. According to reports, McElroy evinced crippling shame and embarrassment when questioned. She related that Walter McGee had ordered her to strip naked before releasing her so that they could be sure she was not smuggling evidence; she refused and they did not force her. She also displayed difficulty in identifying her abductors in court when called to do so. She insisted that she had been well treated and had even been given flowers by Walter before her release. During the trial, McElroy met with relatives of her kidnappers and publicly expressed sympathy for them. She apparently suffered a nervous breakdown on February 10, when she disappeared from her father's home, surfacing a day later in IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
after sending her father a telegram from Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
which read: "Sorry but I am so frighteded. I don't know what I'm doing." She was found in Normal
Normal, Illinois
Normal is an incorporated town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. It had a population of 52,497 as of the 2010 census. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...
and brought back to Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
where she explained her irrational departure to the authorities: "I felt like a murderer... I wanted to get away. I couldn't stand sitting still." Because he had masterminded the kidnapping, Walter McGee was given the harshest sentence. On March 30, 1935, his sentence, death by hanging, was announced; had it occurred, McGee would have been the first person to be executed for kidnapping in the United States.
After an execution date was set for May 10, Mary McElroy shocked everyone by contesting the penalty. In April 1935, she wrote to Governor Guy Park: "Walter McGee's sentence has hung as heavily over me as over him. Through punishing a guilty man, his victim will be made to suffer equally... In pleading for Walter McGee's life I am pleading for my own peace of mind." McGee was granted a stay of execution by Park on May 7, McElroy's father publicly backed her plea for this stay of execution. His sentence was eventually commuted to life in prison.
Life after the kidnapping
The abduction and the subsequent fallout proved to be extremely traumatic for Mary McElroy, and she suffered several 'nervous collapses' in her years after the case. She remained on good terms with the McGee brothers, visiting them in prison and bringing them gifts. She never married and is known to have been addicted to opiumOpium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
. She lived with her father, Judge McElroy for most of her adult life. His death in 1939 devastated her, and she became increasingly reclusive.
On January 21, 1940, her maid discovered McElroy's body in her bedroom; she had committed suicide, shooting herself in the head with a small pistol. She left a suicide note which read: "My four kidnappers are probably the four people on earth who don't consider me an utter fool. You have your death penalty now - so - please - give them a chance. Mary." McElroy was 32. At the time of her death, Walter and George McGee (34 and 29 respectively) were still in prison, Clarence Click had been released in 1938, and Clarence Stevens was still at large.