U.S. AGENTS FIND NEW KIDNAP LOOT
Medford Search Yields $5460 Bills, Drafts
MONEY HID IN OUTBUILDING
Scott's Daughter Quizzed by Federal Officers
FURTHER CACHE SOUGHT
Pair Taken at Roseburg to Go Before
Federal Magistrate for Arraignment Soon.

LATE DEVELOPMENTS IN KIDNAPPING CASES

    Arrest of two suspects in Oregon brings list of persons held in connection with Urschel kidnapping to 17.
    Bond for Oscar H. Robson of Phoenix, Ariz., held on charge of extortion in June Robles kidnapping, increased from $50,000 to $100,000.
    Vernon Clark, California youth, arrested and charged with attempt to extort $2700 from prominent banker.

    Thomas H. Robinson Sr. ordered to Louisville to face indictment in connection with Stoll kidnapping.

SOUNDPROOF ROOM PUZZLE
Officers Conduct Minute Search of Medford House and Yard.

    MEDFORD, Or., Nov. 8.--(Special.)--Discovery last night of a large amount of the currency paid in the ransom of Charles F. Urschel of Oklahoma City, Okla, in a house on the outskirts of Medford recently occupied by Alvin H. Scott, 46, and Margaret Hurtienne, led federal officers one step nearer the final solution of one of the nation's greatest kidnapping cases.
    Although the exact amount of the money found was not divulged, C. C. Spears, federal investigator in charge of the case here, said that a "considerable" amount had been discovered and that federal officers and state police are still searching for more of it. Officers had been credited with reporting $5460 in currency and bank drafts recovered here.
    The money, officers said, was not found in the large two-story house in which Scott and Miss Hurtienne have lived since last June, but in one of the outbuildings in the yard. It is believed to have been buried under the floor.
    Scott and Miss Hurtienne have been under investigation since they were in an auto wreck near Roseburg November 2 and $1380 of the Urschel ransom money was found in their possession. They were arrested and placed under $25,000 bond.
    Since Scott and Miss Hurtienne moved into the property, considerable improvements have been made to the house. Additions have been built on the back which are of great interest to the federal men, according to local officers, because in one of the small buildings is a room that is soundproof, is ventilated, and is electrically heated.
    "A man could yell at the top of his voice in that room and never be heard beyond the walls," one officer said.
    A well has recently been dug back of the house, but the house has Medford city water piped throughout it.
    The money found here is thought to be a part of the reputed $50,000 "cut" received by Albert L. Bates in the kidnapping of the oil millionaire. Bates is now serving a life sentence in prison.
    Family connections brought the money into this region. Clara Feldman, said by police to have posed as the wife of Bates, is reported to be a sister of Margaret H. Hurtienne, housekeeper for Scott.
    While state and county police were methodically shoveling about on the Scott place, federal agents were in the house minutely ransacking all the belongings. If any further discoveries are made they will be reported to C. C. Spears, Department of Justice agent, the federal men said. Spears is in Roseburg.
Oregonian, Portland, November 9, 1934, page 6


    PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 10.--(AP)--A thin trail of scattered ransom money, part of $200,000, today led two women and a man to a drab courtroom, as the government moved to send them to Oklahoma City to be asked what they can tell of the kidnapping last year of Charles F. Urschel, millionaire.
    The narrow trail of "hot" money had been followed relentlessly by federal agents since the day in July, 1933, when the kidnappers of Urschel were paid $200,000 for his release.
    Mrs. Clara Davis, known too as Clara Feldman, wife of Albert Bates, convicted kidnapper, was ordered held under $50,000 bond. Her son, Edward Feldman, 21, named with her in federal conspiracy complaints, was held for $25,000. Bond for his wife, young Betty O'Neil Feldman, was set at $10,000. She was advised she is held only as a witness.
    Before United States Commissioner Kenneth F. Frazer the three appeared late today. Federal guards, heavily armed, watched closely for any overt act.
    On Dec. 4 at 10:30 a.m., the three will protest the government's removal proceedings. On the same date another man and a woman will be given a hearing of the same order in Eugene--Alvin H. Scott, 46, and his housekeeper, Mrs. Margaret Hurtienne, sister of Mrs. Feldman.
    Clara Feldman, her son, Edward, and his wife were arrested in Dunsmuir, Cal., yesterday by federal agents who earlier this week had arrested Scott and Mrs. Hurtienne in Roseburg. Scott is improving from a skull injury suffered in an automobile accident Nov. 2.
    From the five, federal investigators said, about $4,000 in $20 ransom notes has been recovered, in addition to $4,000 in bank drafts made out to Mrs. Feldman.
    Mrs, Feldman, the long-sought "mysterious blonde" who has been described as a key witness in the Urschel kidnapping, wept softly as she waited her turn before the commissioner. When he told her she must remain in custody unless she raised $50,000 bail, she said, "no chance," and smiled wanly.
    Her son, his face reddening, said only, "I don't want to go to Oklahoma," when the commissioner spoke of the removal complaint. Of the three, Betty Feldman alone was flippant. She grinned often but said nothing.
    The complaint against mother and son, as does the one for Scott and Mrs. Hurtienne, charges that they and 15 others already convicted of the kidnapping conspired to aid and abet in transporting Urschel from Oklahoma to Texas after he had been kidnapped and held for ransom.
    Federal agents revealed today that a letter was received at the Salem post office today addressed to Mrs. Hurtienne. It contained clippings from Denver newspapers telling of her arrest. The return address, the officers said, was post office box 2565. The investigators observed that upon delivery of the Urschel ransom, the kidnap gang separated, some going to Denver, some to St. Paul and some to the West Coast.
    PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 10.--(AP)--Mrs. Clara Feldman and her son and his wife were brought here early today by Federal Agent C. C. Spears, who said $1,100 "hot" Urschel ransom money was found at their home in Dunsmuir, California.
    This made more than $3,000 reputed Urschel ransom recovered the past week during which five persons were taken into custody as far-reaching investigation continued in the Urschel kidnapping, for which 15 persons already have been sentenced to prison.
    A few hours earlier a missile, believed to have been a bullet, cracked the windshield of an automobile in which Mrs. Margaret Hurtienne, sister of Mrs. Feldman, was being spirited from Eugene to Portland.
    Mrs. Hurtienne was housekeeper for Alvin H. Scott of Medford, and both are charged with conspiracy in concealing ransom paid for release of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma millionaire kidnapped in July, 1933.
    Mrs. Hurtienne was arraigned at Eugene, Ore., before a United States commissioner late yesterday and bail was set at $25,000.
    The apparent sinister assault was made a few miles north of Albany just as United States Marshal J. P. Summerville with his prisoner sped past a parked automobile with a man on the running board. The missile ricocheted off.
    The prisoner became almost hysterical and insisted an attempt had been made on her life. She also expressed concern lest an attempt be made to "deliver" her sister, Clara
Feldman.
    "I do hope if they get Clara they have a good big bunch of fellows to protect her," Summerville quoted Mrs. Hurtienne as saying. "I know they will kill some of our family before this is over."
    ROSEBURG, Ore., Nov. 10.--(AP)--Alvin H. Scott of Medford, whose automobile accident here November 2 led to the discovery of Urschel ransom money in his possession, with the subsequent arrest of himself and four other persons for conspiracy, is reported to be making satisfactory improvement from his critical injuries.
    Scott, his physician, Dr. E. J. Wainscott, believes, is out of danger and will survive the injuries suffered when his car swerved off the highway at high speed north of Roseburg. He is still suffering from brain concussion and is in a somewhat dazed condition, in which he appears to have suffered a loss of memory. Rational periods, however, are said to be increasing in frequency and duration.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 11, 1934, page 1


    Federal, state and county officers today continued their digging at the A. H. Scott home on South Peach Street, in search for additional money assertedly paid in the ransom for Charles F. Urschel of Oklahoma.
    C. C. Spears, Department of Justice agent from Portland, arrived here by plane at midnight Saturday, but said he "just dropped down," when asked the occasion for his visit.
    Captain Lee M. Bown, who last Friday afternoon accompanied Spears north when Clara Feldman, her son Ed and his wife Betty were in custody, returned to Medford today on the Oregonian. He reported no new developments in the case.
    PORTLAND. Ore., Nov. 12.--(AP)--The last persons to be apprehended by federal agents--Mrs. Clara Feldman, long sought as a "key witness" in connection with the famous kidnapping case, her son Edward, 21, and his wife, Betty O'Neil Feldman--spent a quiet Sunday in the Multnomah County fall here. They were permitted no visitors, and no one attempted to see them, jailers said.
    The recent arrest followed the discovery of n number of Urschel ransom notes in the possession of Alvin H. Scott after he was injured in an automobile accident. Scott now is receiving treatment in a Roseburg, Ore., hospital for skull injuries, but is under heavy guard and will be taken into custody by federal agents as soon as he is sufficiently recovered, it was announced.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 12, 1934, page 1


    SALEM, Ore., Nov. 14.--(AP)--Possibly in a septic tank at John Moore's restaurant at Brooks, nine miles north of here, is $1000 of the ransom money paid kidnappers of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma millionaire, said a story carried in the Capital Journal here today.
    While federal officers were taking Margaret Hurtienne from Roseburg to Portland, the party stopped for coffee at Moore's place Friday morning. While there the Hurtienne woman asked permission to go to the restroom.
    Friday afternoon officers returned to Moore's place and asked permission to search the restroom, explaining that the woman was believed to have hidden $1000 there.
    No money was found. Officers believed there was a possibility the woman may have flushed the money down a sewer.
    Excavating was progressing today at the Alvin H. Scott home on South Peach Street, where last Wednesday night several thousand dollars, allegedly part of the Charles F. Urschel kidnap ransom money, was found buried in the garage.
    Practically one entire side of the front yard had been dug up by the officers working on the case, and a portion of the other side had several large holes. This morning officers were also digging near some old pens at the edge of the field on the north side of the property.
    PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 14.--(AP)--Roscoe P. Hurst of Portland, attorney for Margaret Hurtienne, said she was a "victim of circumstances" and innocent of any connection with the Urschel kidnapping case.
    Miss Hurtienne is one of the four held here on charges of conspiracy in concealing Urschel ransom. Hurst was retained as her attorney at the request of the Hurtienne family attorney, E. F. Adams of Tacoma, who was here yesterday.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 14, 1934, page 1


    OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov. 20.--(AP)--Federal Judge Edgar S. Vaught today called a session of the federal grand jury for December 11 to consider, among others, the case of four persons recently arrested in Oregon in connection with the Charles F. Urschel kidnapping.
    Held in Oregon are Alvin H. Scott, 46, his housekeeper, Mrs. Margaret Hurtienne; Mrs. Clara Davis, known also as Clara Feldman, wife of Albert Bates, serving life for his part in the Urschel kidnapping., and her 21-year-old son, Edward Feldman.
    The arrests followed tracing of part of the $200.000 Urschel ransom to Scott.
    District Attorney W. C. Lewis said Oregon authorities asked that the cases be presented to the grand jury before removal of the prisoners.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 20, 1934, page 1


    Twelve men from the Evans Creek CCC camp this afternoon returned to camp after having spent a day and a half digging around and beneath several buildings at the Alvin H. Scott residence on South Peach Street, where some of the alleged Urschel kidnap ransom money was found the night of November 7. Federal agents did not disclose if any valuable information had been disclosed by the extensive digging.
    PORTLAND, Nov. 23.--(AP)--Dazed, weak and emaciated, Alvin H. Scott, 41, was held in the county jail here today on a charge of conspiracy growing out of the kidnapping last year of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma millionaire, for whose release $200,000 was paid his kidnappers.
    "Am I supposed to be guilty of all that?' Scott asked after United States Commissioner Frazer had read the information. "I ain't guilty of any of that," the man said. "I don't know why you got me here, or even how I got here."
    Scott was critically injured in an automobile accident near Roseburg on November 2. Until yesterday he was held in the hospital for treatment of a skull fracture and other injuries. Federal agents said they found in his possession about $1,300 of the ransom money paid the kidnappers of Urschel.
    He was removed from the hospital at Roseburg yesterday, and was brought to Portland. He is charged, generally, with conspiracy to aid the kidnapping plot, and specifically with possessing and concealing ransom money.
    Scott's bail was set at $25,000, and December 4 was set for the formal hearing on the government's removal order to Oklahoma. On that day, too, hearings on removal orders will be had by Margaret Hurtienne, housekeeper for Scott; Clara Feldman, reputed wife of Albert Bates, convicted kidnapper, and Edward Feldman, her son.
    "Can't I get out of jail to take care of my kids?" Scott asked during his arraignment here last night. "I want to get out and take care of my family. I don't know anything about this other stuff. I just want to get out and look after things."
    Scott has six children at Medford, where he and Mrs. Hurtienne lived. His oldest daughter is 23 years old. Four of the children are still in school.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 23, 1934, page 1


    DENVER, Nov. 30.--(AP)--The conviction of Harvey Bailey as one of the kidnappers of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma oil millionaire, was upheld today by the United States circuit court of appeals.
    Bailey is now confined in Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay.
    The decision upheld the conviction obtained in a spectacular trial in Oklahoma City in 1933, in which the prosecution of Bailey, George (Machine Gun) Kelly, Albert Bates and their associates was directed by Joseph B. Keenan, assistant attorney general.
    Urschel, for whose release $200,000 ransom was paid, identified the Texas gang hideout, where he was held captive, by the frequency and direction of passenger planes which passed overhead. Bailey was a fugitive from the Kansas penitentiary when he participated in the kidnapping.
    Bailey was sentenced to life imprisonment. A similar sentence was given Kelly and Bates and Mr. and Mrs. R. G. Shannon, on whose farm near Paradise, Texas, Urschel was held captive nine days.
    Kelly's red-haired wife also was convicted in connection with the kidnapping, as well as Barney Berman and Clifford Skelly of Minneapolis, and the Shannons' son Armon.
    Bates and Kelly were alleged to have been the actual kidnappers of Urschel, who was abducted from his home in Oklahoma City on July 22, 1933.
    Bailey was the leader of a prison break at the Lansing, Kans., prison farm which freed 11 desperadoes, and he also was indicted in connection with the Kansas City union station slayings.
    He appealed his conviction, imposed by Federal District Judge Edgar S. Vaught, on the grounds the sentence was "cruel and unusual."
Medford Mail Tribune, November 30, 1934, page 1


    PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 4.--(AP)--Two Catholic nuns and a federal agent were called upon by the government today to close the first links in the chain of evidence against four persons held here for conspiracy in the notorious kidnapping of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma millionaire.
    Alvin H. Scott, Margaret Hurtienne, Clara Feldman and her son, Edward Feldman, under arrest for alleged conspiracy, face hearings on removal orders to Oklahoma.
    Early testimony linked $1360 of Urschel ransom money with Scott.
    Scott and Mrs. Hurtienne appeared before the United States commissioner today. Scott recently was released from a Roseburg hospital to which he was taken Nov. 2 after having suffered a skull fracture in an automobile accident.
    The two nuns, Sister Mary Michael and Sister Superior Theresa Agnes of the Mercy Hospital at Roseburg, provided a strange contrast to the colorful, jostling crowd in the courtroom.
    Sister Mary testified Scott was unconscious when admitted to the hospital. In his pocket, she said, was a wallet containing about $700. Sister Theresa testified she removed a second wallet containing $800.
    Special Agent F. A. Grimsdell of the famed division of investigation of the Department of Justice related that he checked the serial numbers of the $20 notes found in Scott's possession against known numbers of the $200,000 paid for Urschel's release, and found that $1360 taken from Scott was part of the ransom.
    The first three witnesses were unable to connect Mrs. Hurtienne, housekeeper for Scott, with the ransom plot.
    Grimsdell, a slight, blond youth who looks like a college undergraduate, told United States Commissioner Frazer that Scott, when irrational, had mistaken him for Edward Feldman, one of the accused, and had, in a dazed manner, warned him not to pass any of the bills.
    Grimsdell said Mrs. Hurtienne disclaimed all knowledge of the money found on Scott and that she had none in her possession.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 4, 1934, page 1


    PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 5.--(AP)--Federal agents intimated today that new, important and perhaps startling information on the distribution of the $200,000 ransom paid kidnappers of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma millionaire, may develop from the hearing before the United States commissioner here of two men and two women held on conspiracy charges in connection with the case.
    Urschel, who flew from Oklahoma City to appear as a witness in the hearings, was not permitted to testify. "It is impossible," said United States Attorney Carl Donaugh, "to permit Mr. Urschel to testify this morning. His presence elsewhere in connection with further developments in this case is imperative." The government asked for, and was granted, a postponement of the hearing until late in the afternoon.
    Today's session was on the government's petition to remove to Oklahoma for trial Alvin H. Scott and Margaret Hurtienne, his housekeeper. They have been charged with possession of part of the ransom.
    Others to be given a hearing later are Clara Feldman, reputed wife of Albert Bates, convicted kidnapper, and her son, Edward Feldman.
    Court attaches said they believed Urschel's appearance against Scott and Mrs. Hurtienne had been postponed because special agents in the Department of Justice wanted to question him further about the kidnapping.
    Scott and Mrs. Hurtienne were arrested early last month after Scott had been taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries suffered in an automobile accident. Federal agents said $1,360 in ransom notes was in his possession, and that $4,680 more was found at his home at which Mrs. Hurtienne lived.
    Lyall Barnhart, comptroller of the First National Bank of Oklahoma City, testified before the United States commissioner today he had prepared the $200,000 ransom payment turned over to kidnappers of Urschel. He identified bank notes the federal agents said they found on Scott and at his home as part of the ransom.
    Barnhart said the ransom was entirely in $20 bills of the J-10 series. He said he, personally, made a note of the serial number of each of the 10,000 bills. The money was turned over to E. E. Kirkpatrick, associate of Urschel. Kirkpatrick is supposed to have made the actual contact with the kidnappers.
    More than $7000 in $20 federal reserve notes, assertedly a part of the $200,000 ransom money paid tin the Charles F. Urschel kidnapping case, was introduced in evidence yesterday.
    The money was identified by numerous witnesses as a portion of sums found in wallets belonging to Alvin H. Scott and dug up on the premises of the house he occupied by Scott and Miss Margaret Hurtienne at Medford. Scott and Miss Hurtienne were the only alleged conspirators before the commissioner.
    Three glass fruit jars, dug out of the ground by investigating officers, were entered as evidence. Their contents were removed and replaced several times as witnesses made identifications. M. B. Lindquist identified a jar containing $4680 in $20 federal reserve notes which, he said, he dug up at the site of a razed barn at the Medford place.
    Another jar containing 73 $20 federal reserve notes also went into evidence, along with a money bag found in a third jar. The money bag, according to Coe A. MacKinnon, state officer, contained $795 in $5 and $10 bills. The same jar gave forth the wedding certificate of Clara Feldman and George L. Davis, issued May 17, 1933, at Denver, Colo., and several gold pieces, totaling $90. A draft on a Denver bank, dated July 17, 1933, for $2000, payable to Mrs. George L. Davis, also was found in one of the jars.
    Throughout the hearing Miss Hurtienne and Scott, flanked by their attorneys, Roscoe Hurst and Elton Watson, sat quietly. Whether they will be called to the stand today was not indicated by their counsel.
    Miss Hurtienne, usually smiling, caught the eye of every government witness. She was attractively garbed in a full-length coat of light brown dyed ermine, a dark brown felt hat and brown shoes of suede and kid. Visible on the back of Scott's head was the wound which accompanied the skull fracture he received in an automobile accident near Roseburg early in November.
    Miss Hurtienne and Scott were purchasing the Medford property where they resided from the Jackson County Building and Loan Association, J. H. Fletcher, representative of the company, testified. Miss Hurtienne had signed the option to buy.
    F. A. Grimsdell, special agent of the division of investigation, Department of Justice, and Phil Stansbury, deputy sheriff of Jackson County, testified that $1360 of the money found on Scott was $20 Kansas City federal reserve notes. Grimsdell stated that he checked them against the list of series numbers of the original ransom notes given in the Urschel case and found them listed.
    Two of the glass jars containing money were found at the Medford house in a combination woodshed and garage. buried in the ground, by Officer MacKinnon.
    Almost every investigating officer called to the stand during the day was cross-examined on the subject of manure and fertilizer found around the Medford place. The reason for the line of questioning was not brought out.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 5, 1934, page 1


    PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 6.--(AP)--A ruling of probable cause, sufficient for the removal to Oklahoma of Alvin H. Scott and Mrs. Margaret Hurtienne, his housekeeper, held on a conspiracy charge in connection with the kidnapping last year of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma millionaire, was handed down today by Kenneth Frazer, United States commissioner.
    It was explained, however, the case must be brought now before the federal district court here for a removal warrant. The district court, thus, will have to review the evidence which for two days has been presented to the United States commissioner.
    Federal agents testified at the hearing that $1360 of the $200,000 ransom paid for Urschel's release was found on Scott when he was taken to a hospital early last month, and that more of the ransom notes were found in the Medford home where he lived with Mrs. Hurtienne and his five children.
    Similar removal order complaints pend against Clara Feldman, said to be the wife of Albert Bates, serving a life sentence for Urschel's kidnapping, and Edward Feldman, her son.
    The United States commissioner is not empowered to issue an order for removal of the defendants to Oklahoma; it must be issued by a federal judge in this district.
    Upon Commissioner Frazer's ruling today, attorneys for Scott and Mrs. Hurtienne announced the decision would he fought in federal court when the United States attorney petitions for a warrant for removal, based on the commissioner's findings.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 6, 1934, page 1


    PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 8.--(AP)--Closely guarded by federal agents who took elaborate precautions against mishap, two men and two women were to be started tonight on a swift journey to Oklahoma, there to face accusations that link them with the kidnapping last year of Charles F. Urschel.
    The prisoners were Alvin H. Scott, Edward Feldman, Clara Feldman, his mother, and Margaret Hurtienne.
    Department of Justice agents would reveal nothing of the departure plans beyond the single statement they would leave tonight.
    The transfer of the Urschel conspiracy suspects to another jurisdiction followed by about 24 hours the discovery of $30,000 in ransom notes in a cache on the banks of the Lewis River in Washington.
    The two men and the women were first linked with the case when early last month Scott was critically injured in an automobile accident and $1360 in $20 ransom bills was found in his clothing. A search of the house near Medford in which he, Mrs. Hurtienne and his five children lived revealed another ransom cache. Federal agents who arrested Mrs. Feldman and her son in Dunsmuir, Cal., said another part of the ransom was found there.
    On Thursday, United States Commissioner Frazer approved the removal of Scott and Mrs. Hurtienne to Oklahoma City, where conspiracy charges have been filed. Yesterday, at about the same time investigators announced the finding of the $30,000 on the Lewis River, the Feldmans agreed to waive hearing.
    Urschel, for whose release from the kidnapping band $200,000 ransom was paid, testified at the Scott-Hurtienne hearing, as did his associate, E. E. Kirkpatrick, who negotiated for Urschel's release. An Oklahoma City banker, who made up the ransom package, identified the money recovered in Oregon as part of that paid the kidnappers for the oil man's release.
    The family of Alvin H. Scott is still residing at the home on South Peach Street, where officers uncovered some money, allegedly paid as ransom in the Urschel kidnap case. Until two days ago, a federal agent from C. C. Spear's Department of Justice office in Portland has been stationed here, and has spent a great deal of time daily at the small farm just south of town.
    The eldest Scott girl, Frances Lucile, 23, is taking care of the children since the arrest of the family housekeeper, Mrs. Margaret Hurtienne, at Roseburg at the time Scott was injured in the automobile accident.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 9, 1934, page 1


    KELSO, Wash., Dec. 12.--(UP)--Newspapermen today found the uncleared homestead on which federal agents last week discovered $30,000 in Urschel ransom.
    The homestead, on the Butte Mountain road about five miles from Woodland, had been filed on by Ed Feldman, one of the suspects in the kidnap case. He was believed to have directed recovery of the money.
    The money was hidden in a deep canyon with brush-covered walls. A faint trail led into the otherwise impenetrable growth.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 12, 1934, page 2


    OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 17.--(AP)--Mrs. Clara Feldman, wife of Albert Bates, convicted kidnapper, pleaded guilty in federal court this after noon to an indictment charging conspiracy in the Urschel kidnapping case.
    Alvin Scott, indicted with Mrs. Feldman, pleaded not guilty after he told the court he would "plead guilty in part," and was told that he could not do that.
    Bond of James C. Mathers, Oklahoma City attorney, whose indictment was announced today in the case, was reduced by order of Federal Judge Edgar S. Vaught from $25,000 to $10,000.
    No date of sentence for Mrs. Feldman was set.
    DENVER, Dec. 17.--(AP)--The arrest of Ben Laska, Denver attorney, on a charge of complicity in the Urschel kidnapping, was announced today by Harold Nathan, assistant chief of the division of investigation of the Department of Justice.
    Laska has been indicted, said Nathan, with James C. Mathers, Oklahoma City attorney, for "illegal participation in the division of the Urschel ransom money apportioned to Albert Bates."
    Bates now is confined with Harvey Bailey, notorious southwestern desperado, and George (Machine Gun) Kelly in Alcatraz prison, San Francisco, for the $200,000 abduction in 1933 of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma millionaire.
    "The division," said Nathan, "has suspected for considerable period that his (Laska's) relations to various members of the underworld with whom he has been associated have been more intensive and extended than those based upon the legitimate duties and responsibilities of an attorney to his clients."
    Laska, who appeared as counsel for Bates after the latter's arrest in Denver, also represented a group of suspects in the $60,000 kidnapping of Charles Boettcher, Il.
    Laska, a gray-haired bespectacled attorney, dapperly dressed, was taken to the office of E. K. Newman, Department of Justice agent, for questioning in which he denied the charges against him emphatically.
    Laska, asserted Nathan, received between $10,000 and $11,000 of the ransom money. However, Nathan acknowledged that federal agents had been unable to locate the currency Laska was accused of receiving.
    Describing the recent recovery of $46,000 of the Urschel loot in Oregon and Washington, Nathan said, "It was necessary that special agents of the division don boots, overalls, and other equipment of a like character and dig for this 'buried treasure' in a manner depicted in certain works of romantic fiction dealing with the recovery of pirate gold."
    Department of Justice agents took Laska into custody in the downtown office where he has practiced law for more than two decades.
    Laska successfully defended Mrs. Fern Sankey, widow of the late Verne Sankey, Boettcher kidnapper, and Mrs. Alvina Kohler, sister-in-law of Sankey, on charges of conspiracy in the Boettcher crime. The women twice were tried in South Dakota, resulting in a jury deadlock and an acquittal for Mrs. Sankey and dismissal of charges against Mrs. Kohler.
Medford Mail Tribune, December 17, 1934, page 1


    DENVER, Colo., Dec. 19.--(AP)--Uncle Sam went treasure hunting today.
    No Long John Silver was the expedition's leader, Harold Nathan, portly, spectacled and middle-aged assistant director of the division of investigation of the Department of Justice. Nor did members of his crew resemble the popular conception of seekers after buried wealth.
    Romance also was lacking in the setting.
    The government agents are seeking approximately $44,000 of the $200,000 ransom paid by Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma City oil man, for his release from kidnappers. The suspected cache is believed to be part of the $90,000 received by Albert Bates, now serving a life sentence for the crime.
    Bates was captured in Denver. Ben B. Laska, veteran Denver attorney, who defended him in the trial, Monday was arrested here, accused of accepting $10,000 of the ransom money for his fee. Laska's home and bank vaults, Nathan revealed, already have been examined for a trace of the money, for the government man admits that no marked bills have been found in Laska's possession.
    However, under Nathan's direction, about $46,000 has been recovered from hiding places in Oregon and Washington in activities that Nathan described as "outshining any of romantic fiction."
    "We have a map and other information," said Nathan, "showing that some of Bates' associates received $90,000 from Mrs. Clara Feldman, wife of Bates, while she was held in jail here. About $75,000 of this was taken to a point 10 miles southeast of Laramie, Wyo., and was buried. It was in an isolated spot off the main highway.
    "Later associates of Bates took this money and buried it at scattered points throughout Oregon and Washington.
    "We knew that Mrs. Feldman and Alvin H. Scott, her brother-in-law, had knowledge about the money. We didn't want to arrest them unless we could get them with the money on them.
    "Scott was hurt in an automobile accident near Roseburg, Ore. When they took his clothes off at the hospital federal agents searched them. We found some ransom money. Then we began questioning certain people and found out where some of the other money was buried.
    "If you have ever dug for buried treasure you know what a job we had. If you are one foot off the exact spot you might as well be a mile away. But we finally got some definite information and some help from people that knew the exact location.
    "We dug up about $6000 from the wood shed of Scott's home near Medford. It was contained in fruit jars.
    "Then we got other information and found some more of the treasure buried in fruit jars and thermos bottles in other parts of Oregon and Washington. Altogether, we recovered about $46,000, and nearly $80,000 was recovered in Texas.
    "I tell you, it was a real treasure hunt and a story that goes Robert Louis Stevenson one better. But the government cannot try its cases out of court. The real story of all this is going to come out at the trial."
    Mrs. Feldman and her son, Edward, have been arrested in connection with the case.
    The ransom recovered in Texas was believed to be the share of George (Machine Gun) Kelly and his wife, Kathryn, both convicted and sent to prison for the kidnapping.
    The kidnap victim, Charles F. Urschel, millionaire Oklahoma oil man, was held captive on the Paradise, Tex., farm of R. G. Shannon, who with his wife and the Baileys are serving life terms.
    Edward Feldman was brought here to aid Nathan in the Denver treasure hunt but was returned to Oklahoma Monday night.
    Laska was released from custody after bond had been provided. He issued a denial of the government charges after he was released.
    "Parts of this story are so insane and asinine that they don't require any explanation," Laska said.
    "The statement by Edward Feldman, Mrs. Bates' son, that he gave me $80,000 and I never even counted it or looked at it is one that doesn't require a denial.
    "I know positively that the boy didn't know anything about what was Urschel's money or any money obtained by Bates from any other criminal source.
    "I probably will ask a change of venue from Oklahoma to Denver and I will be counsel in my own defense.
    "I accepted money as attorney's fees and I delivered a message to Mrs. Feldman from her husband. I gave her a picture of him and a message of love from him."
Medford Mail Tribune, December 19, 1934, page 1


    OKLAHOMA CITY, Jan. 2.--(AP)--Alvin H. Scott and Edward Feldman pleaded guilty today to charges of conspiracy in connection with the $200,000 Charles F. Urschel kidnapping.
    Federal Judge Edgar S. Vaught deferred sentence until after the trial, Feb. 18, of James C. Mathers and Ben B. Laska, defense attorneys, also indicted in the case.
    Scott and Feldman were arrested in Oregon recently after the discovery of part of the Urschel ransom money in Scott's possession, found after he had been injured in an automobile accident.
    Feldman's mother, Mrs. Clara Feldman, previously had pleaded guilty.
    Reports that Mathers will be a government witness in the trial of his co-defendant, Laska, were denied today by Frank M. Dudley, assistant district attorney.
    "I'm just going in there and tell all I know about the case," young Mathers said, and his father concurred.
    Scott, who lived in Medford for a time, was arrested when his automobile smashed up near Roseburg, and part of the alleged ransom money was found in his possession at the hospital where he was taken.
    Young Feldman was also in Medford for a time before his arrest.
    $6,000 of the money was dug up at the Scott residence here.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 2, 1935, page 1


    Clara Feldman, wife of A. L. Bates, now serving a life term at Alcatraz Island federal prison for kidnapping, and her son, Edward Feldman, and her brother-in-law, Alvin Scott, minor figures in the abduction of Chas. F. Urschel, Oklahoma oil millionaire, passed through this city last Saturday en route to Tacoma, Wash., to visit relatives. They reported to the state police during their short stay here, and plan to return later. Revelation of the visit was made today.
    Scott, owner of a house and small tract of land on South Peach Street, this city, where a portion of the kidnap money was found buried, was injured in an auto wreck near Roseburg. The accident led to revealing of the money. The woman, federal authorities claim, was a frequent visitor at the house. Young Feldman lived in Portland but also spent considerable time in this city. He was married a short time before his arrest.
    The trio testified as government witnesses in the trial of attorney Ben B. Laska, Denver, Colo., who was convicted recently at Oklahoma City of knowingly accepting a portion of the $200,000 ransom money as a legal fee.
    Mrs. Feldman, her son Edward and Scott were granted suspended sentences by the federal court. Under its terms they are granted five years on parole and five years on probation, officers say.
    The court granted the trio two months in which to straighten up business affairs and dispose of property in this state, after which they must return to the jurisdiction of the Oklahoma federal court, and there remain for the ten-year probationary period.
    Close to $5000 of the Urschel ransom money was found buried at the Scott place here. Some of the money was spent in this city and was later identified by numbers as part of the ransom. Scott paid cash for the property.
    The Feldman woman--who married Bates three months before his arrest as one of the kidnappers--was said by authorities to have made frequent trips in and out of this city and was alleged to be the "money changer."
    Scott, during his three months' residence at the place, made several improvements. A thorough search of the house and property was made by federal men in an effort to find hidden ransom money.
    Scott was known to a number of local residents. He is married and has three children.
    Authorities state that all but approximately $800 of the money found in the possession of the trio has been identified as ransom money. It is still being held by the government.
    It was also reported, but unconfirmed, that Urschel, the millionaire victim of the abduction, had given Scott a substantial sum for the care of his children.
Medford Mail Tribune, June 27, 1935, page 1


     A clue to the probable purposes of the mystery room, found by federal agents in the windmill room of a southwest Medford farm house in 1934, is provided by Roy Gardner, one-time notorious Pacific Coast desperado, in a series of newspaper articles describing his life and experiences during seventeen years spent in three federal prisons. Gardner, after his escape from McNeill's Island, stopped here long enough for a shave and a meal.
    Gardner, in one chapter, declared an Alcatraz prison plot to kidnap Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes, hatched by Albert Bates, serving life for his part in the kidnapping of Charles F. Urschel, Oklahoma oil millionaire, failed when Al Capone, Chicago ex-underworld czar, refused a $10,000 loan to finance the venture. According to the Gardner article, Secretary Ickes was to be held as a hostage until a Presidential pardon was granted for the release of Bates and two other Alcatraz prisoners. The cabinet officer was to have been kidnapped while at Albuquerque, N.M., the Gardner articles narrated.
    Southern Oregon state police and Jackson County authorities believe there might possibly be a link between the fantastic plot and the mystery room in the windmill building. It might have been intended as a hideaway for Secretary Ickes, had the criminal venture Gardner recites come to pass, Deputy District Attorney George W. Neilson, and Captain Lee M. Bown of the state police, now surmise.
    The windmill room had no windows, was sound-proof, and could be reached only by a ladder and through a trap door. It was situated on the outskirts of Medford, in a quiet small farm area, and an ideal haven. At the time of its discovery there was official speculation as to its purpose. No explanation was ever made. Others now own the place.
    Here are a set of circumstances of official record weaving together Roy Gardner's story, and the mystery room in the windmill.
    On November 2, 1934, Alvin Scott was purchasing the southwest Medford tract, and had made payments upon it. En route north, with his housekeeper, Margaret Huertienne, he was injured in an auto accident near Roseburg. Taken to a Roseburg hospital, $1360 in Urschel kidnap bills was found in his wallets.
    On the night of November 7, 1934, federal agents found buried in fruit jars in the yard and field of the southwest Medford house $5,460 of the same ransom money. A three-day further search of the premises brought forth no more "hot" money, bearing serial numbers of the $200,000 ransom paid by the Oklahoma millionaire.
    In the course of the later investigation it developed that Scott's housekeeper, Mrs. Huertienne, was a sister of the wife of Albert Bates, a convicted member of the Urschel kidnap gang. Later, the woman, also known as Clara Feldman, was arrested at Dunsmuir, Calif., with her son. Later, with her sister, Scott, and the youth and his wife, the woman was ordered held by a federal grand jury at Portland, later to be removed to Oklahoma.
    Later all were granted clemency and probation, in the Oklahoma hearing, and faded from the news, with whereabouts now unknown.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 10, 1938, page 1