Document text
i
ii,
" .
1
1
E-
T
I
F
IE"
3. __.,_-n-Q--- -~ * -¢_,_ ___.@-._.._.
' --- - is -
f ' ' U.S. PIPER? M
i§E?' Fu&na!Bunmn:iInw5@son
g H 7 ""; _ if _ _ _ ._ _ 7 .-
~. nhqII.D.C.$.5
I.C. I28-31672 i December ll, 1934
{Revised October, 1983!
CZ??? C§3H@lN EIRFCW
BONNIE PARKER
NATIONAL MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT ACT
Clyde Champion Barrow and his companion, Bonnie Parker,
were shot to death by officers in ambush near Sailes, Bienville
Parish, Louisiana, on May 23, 1934, after one of the most colorful
and spectacular manhunts the ation had seen up to that time. .
Barrow was suspected of numerous killings and was wanted
for murder, robbery, and on state charges of kidnaping.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation in early l930!s called
the Bureau of Investigation! became interested in Barrow and his paramour
late in December, 1932, through a singular bit of evidence. A Ford
autoobile was found abandoned near Jackson, Michigan, which had
been itolen in Fawhuska, Oklahoma, in September of that year. it Pawhuska
it was learned another Ford car had been abandoned there which-bad
been stolen in Illinois. A search of this car revealed itzhad
been occupied by s man and a woman, indicated by abandoned YT
articles therein. In this car was found a prescription bottle, which
led Special Agents to a drug store in Nacogdoches, Texas, where
investigation disclosed the woman for whom the prescriptiom had been filled
was Clyde Barrow's aunt.
Purther investigation revealed that the eoman ehosehtained
the prescription had been visited recently by Clyde Barrow,
Bonnie Parker, and Clyde's brother, L. C. Barrow. It also was learned
that these three were driving a ?ord car, identified as the one
stolen in Illinois. It was further shown that L. C. Barrow@&id
secured the empty prescription bottle from a son of the woman who
had originally obtained it. A
On Hay 20, 1933, the United States Commissioner st£ii1as,"* ? L
sexes, issued e -ear:-ant against Clyde Barres and Bonnie Par1r.s.*,,._.-?'1~I?_,...,*92
them with the interstate transportation, from Dallas to oa;gnsi;§§£§t§e..§
automobile stolen in Illinois. The FBI then started its hi@ior ease *' '
elusive pair. Zéee<~-e~"P
BACKGROUND V .,e, ;M _ V
l=ees*---.F
lonnie and Clyde let in Texas in January, l93O.,;;-;,,§t,_the
time, bonnie eas l! and aarried to an imprisoned murdersriilydewas 21 and unmarried. Soon after, he was arrested for a
and sent to jail. He escaped, using a gun bonnie had smugg a f f*e"
him, was recaptured, and was sent back to prison. Clyde was paroled
in Flbrulfy, 1932, t0j0i¢ Bonnie, and resumed a life of crime. "
.
x
T>
F
P
1
E
a
E
2
I
>..
L
I-
F
r
1P
In addition to the automobile theft charge, Donnie
and Clyde were suspects in other crimes. At the time they were
killed in 1934, they were believed to have committed 13 murders
and several robberies and burglaries. Barrow, for example, was
suspected of iurdering two police officers it Joplin, Hissouri,
and kidnaping a man and a woman in rural Louisiana. Be released
them near Ialdo, Texas. Huerous sightings followed, linking
this pair with bank robberies and automobile thefts. Clyde
allegedly murdered a man at Hillsboro, Texas; committed robberies
at Lufkin and Dallas, Texas; murdered one sheriff and wounded another
at Stringtown, Oklahoma: kidnaped a deputy at Carlsbad, New Mexico;
stole an autoobile at Victoria, Texas; attempted to murder a deputy
at Wharton, Texas; committed murder and robbery at Abilene, Texas;
iurder and robbery at sherman, Texas; another murder at belles, Texas:
abducted a sheriff and the chief of police at wellington, Texas: and
committed a murder at Joplin, Missouri, and a murder at Columbia,
Iissouri.
THE CRIME SPREE BEGINS
Later in 1932, Bonnie and Clyde began traveling with
Raymond Hamilton, a young gunman. Hamilton left them several
months later, and eas replaced by Hilliam naniel Jones in Hcvember,
1932.
IvanM. Buck Barrow, brother of Clyde, was released
from the Texas State Prison on March 23, 1933, having been granted
a full pardon by the Governor. He quickly joined Clyde, bringing
his wife,Blanche, so the group now nubered five persons. This
gang embarked upon a series of bold robberies which made headlines
across the country. They escaped capture in various encounters
eith the law. however, their activities made law enforcement
efforts to apprehend them even more intense. During a shootout
with police in Iowa on July 29, 1933, Buck Barrow was fatally
wounded and Blanche was captured. Jones, who was frequently
mistaken for Pretty Boy Floyd, was captured in November, 1933,
at Houston, Texas, by the sheriff's office. Bonnie and Clyde
went on together.
On Iovember 22, 1933, a trap was set by the Dallas, Texas,
eheriff and his deputies in an attempt to capture Bonnie and Clyde
near Grand Prairie, Texas, but the couple escaped the officers
gunfire. They held up an attorney on the highway and took his
car, which they abandoned at Miami, Oklahoma. On December 21, 1933,
bonnie and Clyde held up and robbed a citizen at Shreveport, Louisiana
on January 16, 1934, five prisoners, including the
notorious Raymond Hamilton who was serving sentences totaling more
than 200 Tiers!, were liberated from the Zastham State Prison
Iarm at Ialdo, Texas, by Clyde Barrow, accompanied by Bonnie Parker.
Two guards were shot by the escaping prisoners with autoatic pistols,
which had been previously concealed in a ditch by Barrow. As the
{_r
On April 1, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde ancounterad two
rev-he Mqhvar patrolman near Grapevine, Iexas. Before the
officers could draw their guns they were shot. on April 6, 1934,
a constable at Miami Oklahoma tell mortally wounded by Bonnieand Clyde, who also ibducted a'police chief, whom they wounded.
fheFBI had jurisdiction solely on the charge of transporting
a stolen automobile, although the activities of the Bureau Agents
were vigorous
notices were
photograph, dand ceaseless. Every clue was followed. ianted
distributed to all officers, furnishing fingerprints,
escription, criminal record, and other data. Ehe
agents followed the trail through many states and into various
haunts oi the
with Henry Me
by FBI Agents
a car stolenBarrow gang, particularly Louisiana. lhe association
thvin and the Hethvin family of Louisiana was discovered
and they found that Bonnie and Clyde had been driving "
in New Orleans.
On April 13, 1934, an FBI Agent, through investigation in
the vicinity
definitely plof Ruston, Louisiana, obtained information which
aced Bonnie and Clyde in a remote section southwest
of that community. The home oi the Methvins was not far away
and the Agent learned of visits there by Bonnie and Clyde.
Special Agents in Texas had learned that Clyde and his companion
had been traveling from Texas to Louisiana, sometimes accompanied
by Henry Beth
The
Louisiana and
whom they str
learned thatvin.
FBI and local law enforcement authorities in
Texas concentrated on apprehending Bonnie and Clyde,
ongly believed to be in the area. Then, it was
Bonnie and Clyde. with some of the Hethvins, had
staged a party it Black Lake, Louisiana, on the night of nay
21! Bo
days later.nnie and Clyde were due to return to the area two
A posse composed of police oificers from Louisiana
and Texas, in
themselves in
before dawn o
automobile in
away, the off
instantly.eluding Texas Ranger Prank Bamer, concealed
bushes along the highway near Sailes, Louisiana,
n Hay 23, 1934. Bonnie and Clyde appeared in an
the aarly daylight. as they attempted to drive
icers opened fire. Bonnie and Clyde were killed
- 3 a