Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow

REAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION
Name	Bonnie Elizabeth Parker Clyde Chestnut Barrow
Gender	Female (Bonnie) Male (Clyde)
Birth Date	October 1, 1910 (Bonnie) - March 24, 1909 (Clyde)
Place of Birth	Rowena, Texas (Bonnie) - Ellis County, Texas (Clyde)
Date of Death	May 23, 1934 (Both; Parker aged 23 and Barrow aged 25)
Place of Death	Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Job	Waitress (Bonnie)
Pathology	Spree Killers Bank Robbers Robbers Killing Team Cop Killers
Modus Operandi	Shooting
No. of Mutual Victims	12
Apprehended	May 23, 1934
Status	Both Deceased (shot by police)

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were a duo of spree killers, cop killers, robbers, and bank robbers active during the Great Depression in the 1930s. They are considered one of the most infamous killing teams in U.S. history.

Backgrounds

Known in the media as "Bonnie and Clyde", the pair and their gang were active in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States during the Great Depression in the period from 1932 to 1934. At the time, the Great Depression brought on by the 1929 Wall Street Crash had hit the United States' economy and finance interests, resulting in mass unemployment and homelessness.

In the rural areas throughout of the Midwestern and Southern United States where the Depression had hit the hardest on the farming communities, the vast amount of contempt for the local banks with their high interest rates and eager foreclosures had created a new era of lawlessness known as the "Public Enemy" era. In the period lasting from 1930 to 1935, outlaws like the Barrow Gang, and their contemporaries such as John Dillinger, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, George "Baby Face" Nelson and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis along with members of the Barker-Karpis Gang and their sprees were viewed by the public and media as the "modern-day Robin Hoods" hitting banks who they viewed as institutes that could easily afford the losses.

Their exploits had also earnt them the attention of the local law enforcement, including the Department of Justice, in particular, the FBI (then known as Bureau Of Investigation) with its team of agents declaring what the director of the BOI (and later the first director of the FBI), John Edgar Hoover called the "United States of America's First War on Crime".

Clyde Barrow

Clyde Chestnut Barrow was born on March 24, 1909, to Henry Basil Barrow and Cumie Talitha Walker. Clyde was the fifth child of seven children in his family and was raised in Ellis County, Texas. In the early 1920s, Clyde and his family moved to Dallas. The family spent their first couple of months in West Dallas under the wagon that they traveled in until they had enough money to afford a tent.

At the age of 17 in late 1926, Clyde was arrested after running when confronted by the police over a rental car that he failed to return on time. The second time that Clyde was arrested was when he and his brother, Buck, were in possession of stolen turkeys.

During 1927 through 1929, Clyde had some legitimate jobs. However, at the same time he was stealing cars, robbing stores, and cracking safes.

In January of 1930, Clyde met Bonnie Parker through a mutual friend, and they spent so much time together during the following weeks. Their romance didn't last for very long and it was cut relatively short when Clyde was arrested and convicted for auto theft.

At the age of 21 in April of 1930, Clyde was sent to the Eastham Prison Farm. While incarcerated there, he killed his tormentor by crushing his skull with a lead pipe in retaliation for the repeated sexual assaults against him and coerced another inmate to chop off two of his toes with an ax to avoid working on hard labor in the fields. Without his knowledge, Clyde's mother successfully petitioned for his release, and he was released six days after he had intentionally severed his toes.

Sometime in 1930, Clyde escaped from the Eastham Prison Farm by using a weapon smuggled to him by Bonnie Parker. However, he was shortly recaptured thereafter and sent back to prison.

On February 2nd, 1932, Clyde was paroled from Eastham and released.

After Eastham, Clyde began robbing grocery stores and gas stations at a rate that outpaced the ten or more bank robberies attributed to both him and the Barrow Gang.

His weapon of choice was the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle.

According to an author by the name of John Neal Phillips, Clyde Barrow's goal in life wasn't centered on gaining fame and fortune from the robberies he committed, but rather to get revenge on the Texas prison system for the abuses that he endured during his incarceration at Eastham.

Bonnie Parker

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born on October 1st, 1910, to Charles Robert Parker and Emma Krause, was the second child of three children in her family, and was raised in Rowena, Texas.

At the age of four, Bonnie's father died. Shortly after, Bonnie and her family moved to the house of Emma's parents in Cement City, an industrial suburb within West Dallas where she worked as a seamstress.

During her second year of high school, Bonnie met Roy Thornton, a fellow student. Six days prior to Bonnie's 16th birthday, she and Thornton both dropped out of school and married each other. However, despite never divorcing Thornton, Bonnie's romance with him was short-lived and they never saw each other again after 1929. On the 5th March 1933, Thornton was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to five years in prison. A week later, he escaped from the Ellis County Jail in Waxahachie, Texas only to be recaptured a short time later.

After being recaptured, Thornton was transferred to Huntsville, where on the 7th March 1934, he made a second escape attempt but failed. Thornton were still imprisoned when Bonnie was killed. Upon hearing Bonnie and Clyde's deaths, Thornton told the United Newspapers that he was "glad they went out like they did. It was much better than being captured."

On the 3rd October 1937, Thornton and three prisoners, Austin Avers (an associate of Barrow Gang member, Raymond Hamilton), Forrest Gibson, and Clyde Thompson attempted to escape from Huntsville. During the escape, Thornton and Avers killed instantly, Gibson was mortally wounded, and Thompson was wounded but had survived his injuries.

After the marriage ended in failure, Bonnie started living with her mother again and she took up a job as a waitress at a café in Dallas known as the "Texan Café". One of the regulars of the café, Ted Hinton would soon become a member of the posse that would gun down both Bonnie and Clyde years later.

At the age of 19, Bonnie briefly kept a diary where she would write about her love of photography, her loneliness, and her impatience of the life she lived in Dallas.

As an adult, Bonnie wrote a couple of poems such as "The Trail's End" (also known as "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde") and "The Story of Suicide Sal".

Crime Spree, Manhunt and Deaths

After being released from Eastham Prison, on the 2nd February 1932, Clyde and his former cellmates, Ralph Fults and Raymond Hamilton begun committing a series of robberies on banks, gas stations, and stores with the aim of collecting enough money and firepower to launch a raid on Eastham Prison. On the 25th March, Clyde, Hamilton and Fults robbed the Simms Oil Refinery in West Dallas, Texas for $300, in early April, the trio had robbed the First National Bank in Laurence, Kansas of $33,000.

On the 19th April, in Kaufman, Texas, Fults and Bonnie attempted to rob a hardware store for firearms but were caught. Bonnie spent a few months in prison before being released on the 17th June after a grand jury failed to indict her, Fults was convicted and imprisoned and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. After his release, he never rejoined with Clyde.

While Bonnie was in prison, on the 30th April, in Hillsboro, Texas, Clyde and Hamilton robbed a local jewellery store. During the robbery, the store owner, John Bucher was shot and killed, before fleeing the scene with $2,500. Even through Clyde was in the car as the getaway driver, Bucher's wife had identified Clyde as one of the shooters. After Bonnie was released, Clyde and Hamilton took her home to Texas to stay her mother for a while. While Bonnie was in Texas, on the 1st August, in West Dallas, Texas, Clyde and Hamilton robbed the Neuhoff Packing Company of $1,100, before fleeing across state lines into Oklahoma.

Four days later in Stringtown, Oklahoma, Clyde, Hamilton, and fellow gang member Ross Dyer were drinking illegal moonshine in the parking lot of a local county dance, when they were spotted by Atoka County Sheriff Charles G. Maxwell and Deputy Sheriff Eugene C. Moore. As Sheriff Maxwell and Deputy Moore went to arrest Clyde, Hamilton, and Dyer, Clyde and Hamilton shot both Maxwell and Moore. Moore died instantly, while Maxwell, despite being shot six times, survived. Moore was the first law enforcement officer killed by Burrow and his gang; by the time of their deaths, Bonnie and Clyde had killed nine law enforcement officers.

Nine days after killing Moore and injuring Maxwell, on the 14th August, Bonnie, Clyde, and Hamilton drove to Carlsbad, New Mexico to visit Parker's aunt, Mrs. E.M. Stamps. Their arrival in a new car in a small rural farming town like Carlsbad had attracted the attention of the local Sheriff. The following day, Deputy Sheriff Joseph Johns drove out to Stamp's home to enquire about the car. When Bonnie had answered the door, she told Johns that the car belonged to Clyde and Hamilton and said that she would get them. As Johns begun to examine the car, Clyde, armed with a shotgun and Hamilton ran from the side of the house and ambushed Johns. During the melee, Clyde's shotgun discharged, just missing Johns' head, only knocking off his hat, while Hamilton relieved Johns of his service revolver. After taking Johns hostage, Bonnie, Clyde, and Hamilton drove back to Texas with their hostage. Hours after John's abduction, two truck drivers found a headless body on the side of the road, 90 miles from El Paso.

The local authorities assumed that the trio had killed Johns and initiated a manhunt for the trio. The following day outside San Antonio, the trio released Johns who then had walked a mile to nearest house to report his abduction. Further investigation had determined that the body found was that of a hitchhiker. Newspapers had reported that Johns was "mystified" by the reports of his supposed death.

Two months after the kidnapping of Deputy Sheriff Johns, on the 8th October, in Cedar Hill, Texas, Clyde and Hamilton held up the First State Bank, resulting in $1,400 being stolen. Three days later on the evening of the 11th October, in Sherman, Texas, Clyde and two accomplices robbed the S.R. Little Grocery Store. During the robbery, Clyde had repeatedly assaulted the store's manager, Howard Hall, before shooting him three times in the chest. Clyde then stood over Hall's body and fired again, mortally wounding Hall. Clyde then went to fire at the store's clerk, Homer Glaze, but the pistol jammed, resulting in Clyde and his accomplices fleeing the scene in a stolen black Buick sedan towards the main highway heading towards Oklahoma. Hall died of his wounds an hour later in hospital, only $60 was stolen in the robbery. Moments before the robbery occurred, the store's owner, Sidney Little had taken the day's takings out of the register to deposit in the bank, before going home for the day, leaving the $60.

On the 9th November in Oronogo, Missouri, Bonnie and Clyde robbed the Oronogo Bank, netting the pair $200. Two weeks later on the 25th November, Clyde and Hamilton along with gang member, Leslie Stewart had returned to Cedar Hill and robbed the First State Bank again, this time, the trio got away with $1,800.

On Christmas Eve 1932, Bonnie and Clyde were joined by Clyde's childhood friend, 16-year-old William "W.D." Jones and the trio left Dallas. The following afternoon on Christmas Day in Temple, Texas, Jones and Clyde spotted a new Ford V8 Roadster parked outside 606 South 13th Street. As Jones and Clyde were in the process of stealing the Ford, they were caught by the owner, Doyle Johnson. In a later statement made by Jones, as Johnson grabbed Clyde around his neck, Clyde grabbed his pistol and fired multiple times, one bullet hit Johnson in the neck, and severing his spinal cord. Jones and Clyde then fled the scene in Johnson's vehicle with Bonnie following behind in another Ford V8 Roadster. Johnson later died from his injuries the following day.

Two weeks later on the 6th January 1933, in West Dallas, Texas, Clyde shot and killed Tarrant County Deputy Sheriff Malcolm Davis after the trio had wandered into a police trap set for another criminal. Three weeks after killing Deputy Sheriff Davis on the 26th January, in Springfield, Missouri, Bonnie, Clyde and Jones had kidnapped Motorcycle Patrol Officer Thomas Persell, after Persell had pulled the trio's car over after suspecting the trio of "car spotting" (a form of vehicle theft). The trio had drove around with Officer Persell for six hours, before releasing him without his service revolver.

On the 22nd March, Clyde's brother, Buck was released from prison on full pardon, and he and his wife, Blanche had set the trio up in a temporary hideout at 3347½ Oak Ridge Drive in Joplin, Missouri where Buck and Blanche had met up with the trio. The noises coming from the gang's hideout, including an accidental discharge of Clyde's BAR had attracted the attention of some of the local residents, resulting one of them informing the local police. Thinking the gang was a group of bootleggers, on the 13th April, two cars containing a team of five police officers drove up to the gang's hideout and were met by gunfire from Buck, Clyde, and Jones. In the first burst of gunfire, Detective Harry L. McGinnis was shot in the chest and died instantly, another officer, Constable John Harryman was shot and fatally wounded. As Clyde, Buck and Jones made their way to their vehicle, Bonnie had opened fire with Clyde's BAR on the three remaining officers, one officer, Missouri Highway Patrol Sergeant G.B. Kahler had been forced by the gunfire to take cover behind an oak tree. The 30-06 rounds fired from Clyde's BAR, had struck the tree, sending wood splinters into Sergeant Kahler's face. Bonnie then fled from the hideout and joined Buck, Clyde, and Jones, before fleeing in the gang's Ford from the hideout, only to stop to pick up Blanche from the street and escaping from the Joplin Police.

Even though the gang had escaped from the Joplin Police, most of their possessions were left behind, including a large arsenal of their weapons, a handwritten poem by Bonnie, Buck's parole papers (dated from three weeks earlier), and a camera with undeveloped film. When the film from the camera was developed at the Joplin Globe, the police found photos of Bonnie, Clyde, and Jones with their vehicle (a dark burgundy 1932 Ford V8 Roadster bearing Texas registration number 587-956) and their arsenal of weapons, including Clyde's 16-inch sawn-off shotgun and the revolver stolen from Officer Persell. Other photos show Bonnie, Clyde, and Jones posing and pointing firearms at each other. Both the handwritten poem and the photos, including one photo of Bonnie clutching a cigar in her mouth leaning against the front of the Ford, with a revolver in her hand were sent by the Joplin Globe over the newswire, putting the gang on the front of every newspaper throughout the United States.

On the 27th April, two weeks after the shootout in Joplin, in Ruston, Louisiana, Jones had stolen a car belonging to local mortician, Henry Dillard Darby to use in the planned robbery of the local Ruston State Bank & Trust Co. Darby and a fellow female boarder, Sophia Stone who both witnessed the theft, gave a chase in Stone's car. When Darby and Stone caught up with Jones, they were intercepted by Clyde, Bonnie, Buck, and Blanche who followed Darby and Stone in a second vehicle. Clyde then grabbed Darby by his collar and forced him into the Barrow gang's car while Bonnie grabbed Stone and forced her into the car with Darby. While in the car, Clyde had told the couple that were going to be killed for messing up the planned robbery, but as the gang were driving throughout Texas, gang took a liking to Darby and Stone, and was told that the gang were going to let them live. Outside the town of Waldo, Arkansas, the gang released Darby and Stone on a desolate rural road before driving off a short distance, before stopping again in order for Bonnie to give the couple a $5 note to get home and requesting Darby to make her body looked respectable for burial after her death. A request that Darby would later fulfill after Bonnie and Clyde's deaths.

On the 10th June near the town of Wellington, Texas, Clyde, driving Darby's car at high speed, failed to see warning signs for a bridge under construction and rolled the car into a ravine, landing it on its side. Despite Clyde being thrown partially through the car's windscreen, he and Jones escaped the accident unscathed while Bonnie sustained third degree burns to her right leg (either from the acid from a leaking battery or from the vehicle catching fire from leaking petrol) resulting in her walking with a limp. Seeing the car crashing into the ravine from the porch of their farmhouse, Sam Pritchard, his son, Jack and Sam's son-in-law, Alonzo Cartwright rushed to the scene and managed to pull the trio from the wreckage just as the car burst into flames and took the trio back to the Pritchard Family farm where the trio were treated for their injuries. Bonnie's injuries were tended to by Pritchard's wife, Sallie and her daughter, Alonzo's wife Gladys while Alonzo drove into Wellington to get a doctor and report the incident to the local authorities.

As the trio were recovering from the injuries, Cartwright returned to the farmhouse with Collingsworth County Sheriff George Corry and City Marshal Paul Hardy. As Sheriff Corry and Marshal Hardy went inside, they were confronted at gunpoint by Clyde and Jones, while Bonnie managed to get up from the couch and relieved both Corry and Hardy of their weapons. Fearing for their infant may come in from the kitchen, Gladys went to latch the kitchen door, only for Jones (thinking that Gladys was reaching for a gun) fired a shotgun at her, nicking one of her fingers. The trio then forced the lawmen into the back of the Chevrolet the lawmen arrived and drove off. With their hostages, the trio drove across the state line into Oklahoma. As both Corry and Hardy had treated Bonnie well during the journey from Texas to Oklahoma, outside the town of Erick, the trio left the Corry and Hardy tied to a tree and drove off in the Chevrolet. Driving the officers' car, the trio drove north into Kansas where in town of Hutchinson, they dumped the vehicle and stole a new Ford V8 sedan and drove back across the state line into Oklahoma and then east across the state line into Arkansas where on the 15th June, they rented two cabins at the Twin Cities Tourist Camp in Fort Smith.

Knowing Bonnie's injuries needed medical treatment, Clyde went to the office of Dr. Walter Eberle and asked him if he could inspect his "wife's" injuries, knowing the risk if Dr. Eberle had read about the accident in Wellington. When Dr. Eberle checked over Bonnie's injuries, he recommended that Bonnie should be treated in hospital. When Clyde disagreed, the doctor suggested that a nurse should be hired at least. A few days later, Dr. Eberle paid a second visit and made the same recommendation. As Bonnie's condition worsened, around noon on the 18th June, Clyde decided to leave Bonnie in the care of Buck, Blanche and Jones and drove nonstop back to West Dallas, arriving at 8pm. After informing Bonnie's family of the accident in Wellington, Clyde and Bonnie's sister, Billie Jean (whom Bonnie was close to) drove back to Fort Smith. Around midnight, Deputy Tim Hinton was driving into West Dallas when he spotted Clyde and Billie Jean driving the other way. Deputy Hinton then turned his vehicle and attempted to chase Clyde's vehicle but had to stop to report the sighting, hoping that roadblocks would stop Clyde, but by the time the local authorities managed to set up roadblocks, it was too late.

While Bonnie was being nursed for her injuries in Fort Smith, on the 22nd June in the town of Alma, Arkansas, Buck and Jones grabbed Alma Town Marshal Henry Humphrey while he was on patrol outside the Commercial Bank. After tying up Marshal Humphrey and relieving him of his service revolver and flashlight, Buck and Jones broke into the bank and stole the safe. The following day, Marshal Humphrey and his friend, Deputy Sheriff Ansel "Red" Salyers from the Crawford County Sheriff Department were responding to a report of an armed robbery of Brown's Grocery Store in Fayetteville, Arkansas. As Marshal Humphrey and Deputy Salyers were driving in Slayers' maroon Ford along Highway 71, they were passed by a Ford Sedan travelling at high speeds in the opposite direction. As the Ford disappeared over the hill, the vehicle crashed into the back of a slow-moving Chevrolet truck. Upon hearing the crash, Marshal Humphrey and Deputy Salyer turned their vehicle around and drove toward the accident scene.

As they were pulling up to the crash site, Marshal Humphrey immediately recognized the wrecked Ford as the vehicle that Clyde stole in Kansas and the same one used in the Fayetteville robbery, prompting Deputy Salyer to use their vehicle to block the road. Marshal Humphrey then drew his replacement service revolver that he got from his brother-in-law, and as he stood outside the vehicle with the weapon drawn, Buck fired his shotgun, hitting Marshal Humphrey in the chest and mortally wounding him. Jones then appeared and opened fired on Deputy Sheriff Salyers but missed. One round missed a farm worker working in a nearby strawberry field and hitting the door of a barn. With their Ford wrecked, both Buck and Jones got into Deputy Salyers' vehicle and drove off from the scene. Desperate to ditch Deputy Salyers' Ford, three miles east of the town of Van Buren, Buck and Jones had stolen another vehicle from Mark Lofton and his wife at gunpoint but was forced to ditch vehicle and make their way back to the tourist camp on foot.

With another officer dead, the Barrow Gang was forced to cram with their belongings into a smaller Ford V8 and fled the tourist camp, travelling further into the Ozark Mountains and setting up camp. With Bonnie still in need for medical attention and being unable to trust the discretion of a doctor due to the Crawford County Sheriff Department warning local law enforcement agency in other states that Bonnie was injured and for local doctors to keep a lookout for anyone seeking treatment for a woman with burns, on the 26th June in the town of Enid, Oklahoma, Clyde stole a Ford V8 vehicle belonging to Dr. Julian Fields from the parking lot of the local hospital, only for Clyde to steal Dr. Fields' medical bag containing syringes, morphine, and various sulfates used to treat Bonnie's burns from the vehicle and dumping the vehicle outside of town. On the 7th July, the Barrow Gang returned to Enid and raided the National Armoury, stealing several automatic machine guns, 46 .45 calibre semi-automatic pistols, and over 2,000 rounds of ammunition.

With the gang needing a new hideout for to rest and allowing Bonnie to recover from her injuries, Clyde had decided to drive to Kanas City. To fund this, the gang drove into Iowa where on the 18th July, they stole another Ford V8 sedan and robbed three gas stations in Fort Dodge, stealing $150.

During the journey from Iowa to Missouri, Buck disagreed with the idea of hiding out in Kansas City as it had been the scene of the Kansas City Massacre several weeks earlier where four law enforcement officers, including two FBI agents were killed in a failed attempt to bust out prisoner and bank robber, Frank "Jelly" Nash who was also killed. The events of the Kansas City Massacre meant that federal, state and local officers would be on the lookout for criminals seeking refuge in the area. Later that night, the gang pulled into a service station with a convenience store and café, south of Platte City called Slim's Castle located at a busy intersection, known locally as "The Junction". While refueling, Clyde had noticed the Red Crown Tavern and Tourist Court located on the other side of the intersection. After noting the complex's structure as suitable, he later told his hot, dirty, agitated passengers, "This is where we stay the rest of the night, even if we all get killed before morning".

Clyde then spoke with the garage attendant who directed Clyde to the Red Crown's office located in the main Tavern. Before driving over to the Tavern, Clyde had covered Buck and Jones with blankets in the backseat of the vehicle so when Blanche books the room, she could claim that they were a party of three. This was done not to save money but was Clyde's attempt to disguise the size of the group's party in case law enforcement inquired about the group. What the gang didn't know was that Red Crown was a favourite gathering spot for the Missouri Highway Patrol. In the days before two-way radios were standard in patrol cars, officers and supervisors from the Missouri Highway Patrol were regularly meet at the Red Crown for meals, exchanging messages, or receiving orders.

Red Crown manager, Neal Houser became immediately suspicious when Blanche entered the main office. Houser noted that Blanche was wearing tight, provocative jodhpurs riding breeches, an outfit that was unheard of in Platte City and was a subject of conversation at the time. Blanche booked both rooms at the back of the tavern for three guests and paid $4 in a fist of small change for the night. Houser then watched through his rear window and saw the driver carefully reversed the vehicle into the left garage, before closing the doors and leaving to go inside the rooms. A short time later, Blanche reappeared in the Tavern's restaurant and bought five chicken dinners and five beers for a party of three and paid for them again in small change. Houser had insisted following Blanche back to the cabins in order to record the vehicle's number plate but was forced to record the vehicle's number plate, (Oklahoma registration number 75-782) from outside the garage as Clyde refused to let Houser into the room. After Houser left, the gang settled in for dinner with both Buck and Clyde still not speaking to each other following the brothers' argument over the debate of hiding in Kansas City. During the night, Clyde had taped the windows inside of the left cabin with newspapers, revealing another flaw in choosing Red Crown as a hideout. As Red Crown had only two cabins, there were no other guests for the gang to blend in. This was apparent to the everyone but the gang themselves, even the local newspaper, The Platte County Landmark had noted:

"Windows curtained with newspapers, continually peeping out of windows by the gang, refusing to admit any of the station (tavern) employees to the cabins, hiding from view all of the members except one woman, created a suspicion on the part of Neal Houser …"

The following day on the 19th July, the gang overslept. Later that day, Blanche still wearing the jodhpurs, went into the Tavern and bought five meals for a party of three, and paid for them in small change. This time, Blanche had felt the air of suspicion all around her. It was while paying for the meals that Blanche had caught the attention of one of the Tavern's patrons, Platte County Sheriff Holt Coffey. Back in the cabin, Clyde had told her to pay for another night. While Blanche was paying for another night, she got a "bad vibe" from Houser as she was handing over more coins to Houser. When Blanche returned to cabin, she had relayed her fears to Clyde who then assured Blanche not to worry. What Clyde didn't know was that Sheriff Coffey wasn't the only law officer at the Tavern, another of the Tavern's patrons was Missouri Highway Patrol Captain William Baxter who was having lunch with some of his men in the Tavern. Houser then spoke to Captain Baxter about his suspicions about the guests in the cabin. Baxter then relayed Houser's suspicions to Sheriff Coffey.

When Houser mentioned the vehicle had an Oklahoma number plate, both Sheriff Coffey and Captain Baxter begun to wonder about the guests in the cabin. Later that afternoon, Sheriff Coffey received a call from the pharmacist at the Platte City Drugs, Louis Bernstein who informed Coffey about a female customer who just left the store after purchasing medical supplies. Both drug stores and law enforcement agencies had been alerted by officials from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas to be on the lookout for strangers purchasing certain medical supplies. The customer who left the pharmacy was Blanche who was purchasing bandages and atropine sulfate to treat Bonnie's leg burns.

To Sheriff Coffey and Captain Baxter, Bernstein's call had put the situation into high alert: if the guests were purchasing medical supplies to treat burns, it might be the Barrow Gang and the wounded Bonnie staying in the cabins. Since the Platte County Sheriff Department was a small department, they lacked protective gear, radios, or any automatic weapons. The only weapons that they were armed with rifles and their service revolvers. Even with assistance from Captain Baxter and the officers from the Missouri Highway Patrol, both men knew they were seriously outgunned. After speaking with Platte County prosecutor David Clevenger, Sheriff Coffey drove to Kansas City and spoke with Sheriff Thomas Bash from the Jackson County Sheriff Department who were better armed with automatic machine guns, steel bullet-proof shields, tear gas launchers, and armored cars. When Coffey arrived at Bash's Kansas City Office, he didn't get the response he hoped for. Sheriff Bash told Coffey, "I'm getting pretty damn tired of every hick sheriff in the country coming in here and telling me they have a bunch of desperadoes holed up and wanting help. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you". But when Sheriff Coffey had warned Sheriff Bash that it might be the Barrow Gang, Sheriff Bash had relented and agree to supply some men, some weaponry, bullet-proof shields, and an armoured car.

While Sheriff Coffey was in Kansas City pleading with Sheriff Bash for reinforcements, Captain Baxter received the report on the vehicle's number plate and found the number plate belongs to Dr. Fields' vehicle. When Clyde dumped Dr. Fields' vehicle, he took the number plate off the vehicle and placed the plate onto the Ford that Clyde stole in Fort Dodge.

When the word got out around Platte City about the potential replay of the Kansas City Massacre at The Junction, members of the assault force and the public began to gather at the Tavern and garage. The assault force consisted of 12 officers from three law enforcement agencies. Five were from Platte County consisting of Sheriff Coffey, Constable Byron Fisher, Constable Thomas Hullet, Deputy James Thorpe, and Sheriff Coffey's son, Deputy Clarence Coffey, four were from Jackson County consisting of Sheriff Bash, Deputy George Highfill, Deputy George Borden, and Deputy Lincoln Baker and three were from the Missouri Highway Patrol consisting of Captain Baxter, Sergeant Thomas Whitecotton, Jr., and Trooper Leonard Ellis. With their assault force formed, Sheriff Coffey and Captain Baxter had decided to wait until later to make their move when traffic at the intersection and from both the Tavern and the garage had thinned out.

After dark, Blanche had left the cabin and walked a short distance to the Tavern to get more soap and towels. According to Blanche in her memoirs about the moment that she entered the Tavern:

"I noticed everyone in the place was doing a lot of talking. I could hear them and see several of them sitting around a table. But when I walked in everyone stopped talking. The place was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It was just as quiet as a death chamber. I knew something must be wrong. ... Everyone acted as though I might pull out a machine gun and turn it on them at any minute. As soon as I stepped outside, the talking started again."

When Blanche told Buck about the behaviour of the patrons in the Tavern, he had told her to go to tell Clyde in the cabin next door, since the brothers were still not speaking to each other. When Blanche told Clyde, he again assured her not to worry. Blanche then told Clyde, "OK. If we all get killed here tonight, you can't say I didn't warn you." After returning to her cabin, Jones had followed Blanche with a message from Clyde to fetch more food. This had angered Blanche who told Jones to tell Clyde that she wasn't going out anymore that night which angered Clyde. At 10:30pm, Sheriff Coffey and Captain Baxter had observed the door opening and Jones emerging from the cabin. Up to this point, it had been Blanche who been doing all the errand running. The officers then observed Jones walking across the road into the garage and ordered five sandwiches and five bottles of soda pop. The garage clerk, Kermit Crawford had noticed that Jones looked nervous and had kept peering over at the people who were hanging around in the Red Crown's parking lot. Thinking nothing of it, Jones didn't report this to Clyde.

With all the preparations, the armaments and reinforcements, the gunfight at the Red Crown wasn't like any gunfight that the Barrow Gang had been in before: a fairer fight. Officers who had encountered the Barrow Gang in Stringtown, Joplin and Alma, were unaware of who they were or the vast superior weaponry they were armed with as well as having no compunction to use them ferociously. According to author Jeff Guinn in the book, "Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde", the officers at Stringtown, Joplin and Alma had limited firepower, expecting that they were dealing with small-time outlaws who were armed with an equal amount of firepower. Unlike the earlier confrontations, the officers at the Red Crown were aware who the Barrow Gang were and what weaponry they were armed with.

By 1am on the 20th July, most of the patrons had departed from the Red Crown. Sheriff Coffey, Captain Baxter and 11 officers from Platte, Jackson Counties and the Missouri Highway Patrol begun their operation. Accounts about the raid are differ in detail but it was certain that Sheriff Coffey advanced on the cabins. He was most likely been accompanied by Captain Baxter or other officers and carrying one or more shields made out of thick boilerplate. Two officers from Jackson County drove an armoured car around to block the garage doors in order to hem the gang in. Sheriff Coffey knocked on the door of Buck and Blanche's cabin. Blanche called out that she wasn't dressed, to which Sheriff Coffey replied, "Well put your trousers on and come out yourself". Sheriff Coffey then proceeded to ask Blanche where the men were, she then told him as loudly that she could for Clyde to hear, that were in the cabin next door.

Clyde heard it, and he and Jones unleashed a mighty torrent of gunfire. Buck then joined in and all three were firing their BARs through the doors and windows of both cabins. Sheriff Coffey's son, Deputy Clarence Coffey was watching from behind and later said that his father "was being pushed back like he was being hit by a high-pressure hose". The boilerplate shield held well against penetration from the BAR rounds but their impact were staggering to Sheriff Coffey. Despite flying glass and wood chips abraded the officers, they were able to fall back without being hit. The officers then returned fire, but even their Thompson Submachine Guns weren't a match for the Barrow Gang's BARs output: one round went through the rear wall of the Tavern's kitchen, passing through both walls of a stove and hitting Deputy Coffey in his arm. Other rounds went through the Tavern's walls at both ends and some were ricocheting on the pavement in the parking lot of Slim's Castle garage.

Inside their cabin, Clyde and Jones made their escape through the internal door into the garage and prepared to get their car loaded and started. When they took a peek outside the garage door, they saw the armoured car blocking the door. The vehicle wasn't a military-type vehicle or a Brinks-truck type vehicle, it was an ordinary vehicle reinforced with bulletproof glass and extra boilerplate embedded in its body for protection. The vehicle wasn't all bulletproof. Clyde and Jones then opened fire on the vehicle immediately and the armour-piercing BAR rounds began to penetrate the vehicle. One round hit the driver, Jackson County Deputy George Highfill in the knees while another round had hit the vehicle's horn button, setting off the horn. The posse had mistaken the sound of the armoured car's horn as the signal for a cease-fire and began to fall back. Realising that the vehicle was not up for the job, Deputy Highfill moved the vehicle back from the garage doors.

To add further confusion, one officer positioned at the back of the cabins fired a tear-gas rocket that overshot the cabins and landed across the road in the parking lot of Slim's Castle, sending the gas blowing in the direction of the officers stationed on the Red Crown side. With the armoured car backed away from the garage door, Clyde, Jones and Bonnie made their escape through the internal door from their cabin into the garage and into their car. Buck and Blanche weren't so lucky. Since there was no internal door between their cabin and the garage, Buck and Blanche had to come into the open to get into the vehicle.

As they made their way towards the vehicle, officers opened fire with their large Thompson submachine guns. As Buck was firing his BAR, a round fired from Captain Baxter hit Buck in his left temple and exiting through his forehead, knocking him off feet and sending the BAR's firing arc upwards. As Jones provided cover fire on the officers, Clyde and Blanche carried a wounded Buck into the car and drove away from the scene. As their vehicle roared past Sheriff Coffey and the posse out of the Red Crown's parking lot and onto Highway 71, the officers fired on the car. One round shattered the vehicle's rear window, sending shards of glass into Blanche's eyes and fragmented with one of the fragments hitting her in the head on the hairline. As the car disappeared into the night, Trooper Ellis tried to muster up support to go after the gang's vehicle but got no takers. As the smoke and the tear-gas cleared, the officers took stock of the shootout. Despite the number of rounds fired by the Barrow Gang, the gunfight at the Red Crown had resulted in minimal injuries to the officers.

Sheriff Coffey who received two scratches to the neck from buckshot, was proud of them to an extent that he bragged about being "shot by the Barrow Gang and lived to talk about". Trooper Ellis and Sergeant Whitecotton decided not to ruin Sheriff Coffey's story by revealing that Sheriff Coffey received the scratches from friendly fire, Trooper Ellis's in the darkness.

Sheriff Coffey's son, Deputy Clarence Coffey received wounds to his arm, caused by a round that had hit the Tavern's kitchen wall while Deputy Highfill received wounds to each knee from his duty as the armoured car's driver. In the cabin occupied by Bonnie, Clyde and Jones, officers found five uneaten sandwiches bought by Jones from Slim's Castle, but five empty bottles of soda. Officers also found a syringe kit for giving injections, leading to a short-lived speculation that the Barrow Gang were drug addicts. The syringe kit was later revealed to come from the medical bag stolen from Dr. Fields. Also found in the cabins were the gang's arsenal of weapons, including six BARs and 47 .45 semi-automatic pistols, later identified as weapons stolen from the armoury in Oklahoma. Also recovered was the revolver taken from the body of Marshal Humphrey.

Following the shootout, the Barrow Gang in their shot-up vehicle drove across state lines into Iowa where they camped at Dexfield Park, an abandoned amusement park near the town of Dexter, 170 miles from Red Crown. The wound that Buck sustained was so severe that Clyde and Jones dug a grave for Buck. On the 24th July, local residents noticed some blood-stained bandages and informed the local police. Determined that the campers were the Barrow Gang, police along with approximately 100 spectators moved in on the gang. While Bonnie, Clyde and Jones escaped the barrage of police gunfire and avoiding capture, Buck and Blanche wasn't so lucky. Buck was hit in the back and both he and Blanche were captured.

Buck was taken to the Kings Daughters Hospital in Perry where he underwent surgery. He died of pneumonia as a result of his head wound on the 29th July. Blanche was charged with intent to kill and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. With Buck dead and Blanche in custody, Bonnie, Clyde and Jones remained on the run. They expanded west to Colorado before expanding north to Minnesota and then southeast to Mississippi where they committed further robberies. On the 20th August in the town of Plattville, Illinois, Clyde and Jones robbed the national armoury, stealing three BARs, handguns and large quantity of ammunition. In September, the trio made a risky trip to Dallas to see their families.

After arriving in Dallas, Jones parted from the group and made his way to Houston where his mother had moved. On the 16th November, Jones was arrested in Houston without incident and sent back to Dallas. Throughout the autumn, while Bonnie was being cared for by Bonnie and Clyde's families, Clyde committed more robberies with local accomplices. On the 22nd November, Bonnie and Clyde narrowly avoided being arrested while meeting their families near Sowers, Texas. Dallas County Sheriff Richard "Smoot" Schmid and Deputies Bob Alcorn and Ted Hinton were lying in wait nearby. Sensing a trap, Clyde drove past his family's car which at that point, Sheriff Schmid and Deputies Alcorn and Hinton stood up and opened fire on the vehicle with their machine gun and BAR.

While Bonnie and Clyde's families weren't hit, a round from the BAR passed through the vehicle and hit the pair in their legs. They later escaped into the night. On the 28th November, a Dallas grand jury indicted the pair for the murder of Deputy Davis. This was the first murder warrant issued for Bonnie.

On the 16th January 1934, Clyde arranged the breakout of Barrow Gang members Henry Methvin, Raymond Hamilton and Joe Palmer along with inmates, William “Hilton” Bybee and J.B French from the Eastham Prison in Loveland, Texas. According to reports in the days leading up to the escape, Clyde, aided by Hamilton's brother, Floyd Hamilton had arranged to have two pistols smuggled into the prison farm and had reportedly paid recently released Eastham inmate and Hamilton's former cellmate, James Mullens, $1,000 to plant the pistols within the prison's compound.

On the day of the escape, Methvin, Hamilton and Palmer were assigned to work detail, clearing weeds with prison guards Major Joseph Crowson and Deputy Guard Olan Bozeman along with other guards assigned in a "shotgun ring" to oversee them. While on detail, Bozeman noticed Hamilton's presence and went to report this to Crowson. As Bozeman and Crowson were talking, both Hamilton and Palmer, armed with a pistol each, walked up to two guards and held their pistols on them. While it is debated of what had happened next, it is believed Palmer fired his pistol.

A shot fired from Palmer had hit Crowson in the stomach, mortally wounding him. Palmer then fired at Bozeman but missed, prompting Bozeman to draw his service pistol and fired at Palmer, creasing Palmer's temple. Palmer then fired again at Bozeman, this time hitting Bozeman's holster containing his shotgun and slice deep into his hip, sending him to the ground. In the excitement, Hamilton had accidently ejected the magazine from his pistol and was searching for it in the mud. It was at that point, that Clyde, concealed in the creek near the prison farm had stood up and fire a volley of shots from his BAR over the heads of the guards and other inmates, sending them to ground. Bonnie remained in their vehicle and sounded the horn, signaling Hamilton, Methvin and Palmer to escape. Hamilton, Methvin and Palmer were then joined by Bybee and French. Two of the guards had deserted their posts and Bozeman, they were later found hiding 500 yards away. One guard, Robert Bullard stood his ground and shouted a warning to other prisoners, "The first man to raise his head will have it blown clear off!".

French who was serving time at Eastham for robbery, attempted murder and vehicle theft, hid into the underbrush and waited until things quieted down and slipped into the woods. He remained on the run until being recaptured by the guards around midnight. Hamilton, Methvin, Palmer and Bybee made it to the getaway vehicle and fled with Bonnie and Clyde from the prison farm. After fleeing from Eastham, Bybee and the Barrow Gang went their separate ways with Barrow Gang driving across Texas and into Oklahoma where they robbed a petrol station and dumping the vehicle in a ravine ten miles northeast of the town of Hugo.

According to author John Philips, the Eastham Prison Breakout was viewed as Clyde's ultimate revenge on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Eastham Prison Breakout had attracted the full power of both Texas state and the federal governments to the manhunt. As Crowson was fighting for life in hospital, the prison chief Lee Simmons made a promise to him that those involved in the breakout would be hunted down and killed.

Simmons then turned to former Texas Ranger, Captain Frank Hamer who Simmons commissioned as a Texas Highway Patrol officer and as a special investigator for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Born in Fairview, Texas on the 17th March 1884, Hamer begun his career first working in his father’s blacksmith shop, before working as a cattle wrangler at the Carr Ranch in West Texas. After capturing a horse thief in 1905, the local sheriff was so impressed that he had recommended that Hamer should join the Texas Rangers. On the 21st April 1906, Hamer was sworn in as a Texas Ranger, joining Captain John H. Rogers' Company C in Alpine, Texas. Early in his law enforcement career, Hamer spent his time patrolling the Mexican border. After retiring in 1908, Hamer worked various law enforcement positions from City Marshal in the town of Navasota, Texas to the role as a livestock theft investigator for the Kimble County Sheriff Department in 1914.

After rejoining the Rangers in 1915, Hamer was posted to the Mexican Border at Brownsville during the Bandit War and the La Matanza. Throughout the 1920s and the early 1930s, Hamer had spent his law enforcement career fighting against the bootleggers and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). In his war against the KKK, Hamer had saved 15 people from KKK lynchings. During the Sherman Riot in 1930, Hamer and his fellow rangers had attempted to stop a mob from storming a courthouse in an attempt to protect an African American man named George Hughes who was accused of rape. In the assault on the courthouse, Hamer managed to shoot and wound two of the mob's members, but he and his fellow Rangers were forced to flee without successfully saving Hughes when the mob set the courthouse on fire.

Despite Simmons saying that Hamer was his first choice for the manhunt, Simmons had approached two former rangers beforehand, but both declined on the basis they weren't willing to "shoot a woman".

Driving a Ford V8 similar to the Barrow Gang, on the 12th February, Hamer set off on the trail of the gang, living in his car and staying one or two towns behind them. Realising that the gang were armed with heavy weaponry including BARs, Captain Hamer acquired similar weaponry as the gang. Three of Captain Hamer's four brothers were Texas Rangers. While his brother, Harrison was considered as a skilled marksman, Frank Hamer was considered as tenacious.

On the 29th March in Gladewater, Texas, the Barrow Gang abducted fellow Eastham prison inmate, Wade McNabb while he was on work furlough. After abducting McNabb, the gang drove to the town of Waskom near the Louisiana state line where he was shot and bludgeoned to death by Barrow Gang member, Joe Palmer before dumping his body. The motive for McNabb's murder was revenge for his behaviour towards Clyde while they were in prison in which McNabb had alleged to assault Clyde with Cower.

On the 1st April (Easter Sunday), near the town of Grapevine (now Southlake), Texas, two Texas Highway Patrol motorcycle officers, Holloway "H.D.'' Murphy and Edward Wheeler spotted a parked vehicle near the intersection of Route 114 and Dove Road. Thinking it was a motorist needing assistance, Officers Murphy and Wheeler pulled off the main highway and approached the vehicle unaware the occupants of the vehicle were the Barrow Gang. As they got off their motorcycles and began to walk towards the vehicle, Clyde and either Bonnie or Methvin produced a shotgun and a pistol and opened fire on Officers Murphy and Wheeler, killing both officers. Officer Wheeler was hit in the chest and died instantly while Officers Murphy was hit in the chest before being finished off with a shotgun round to the face.

While accounts of the murders of Officers Murphy and Wheeler differ on who did the actual shooting, what is agreed on is that Bonnie, Clyde and Methvin were parked on the side of the Dove Road where they plan to ambush and kill fellow Barrow Gang member, Raymond Hamilton after he fallen out with the gang over proceeds from their robberies, resulting in Hamilton and his girlfriend, Mary O'Dare to leave the gang, leading the Barrow Gang to believe that he was going to cooperate with law enforcement.

According to a farmer whose property overlooked the scene, he reported seeing Bonnie and Clyde firing on the two officers and heard Bonnie laughing as she fired the fatal shot into Officer Murphy. After killing the officers, the Barrow Gang got back in their vehicle and drove off from the scene. They first drove to Texarkana on the Texas-Arkansas state line where they were spotted and then drove across the Red River into Oklahoma.

The murders of Officers Murphy and Wheeler had prompted outrage from the public. The chief of the Texas Highway Patrol, Louis "L.G." Phares had offered a reward of $1,000 for the "bodies of the killers" with the Governor of Texas, Miriam "Ma" Ferguson offering an additional $500 reward each offered for Bonnie and Clyde. According to the stories surrounding the Grapevine Killing, officers claimed they found a cigar butt with "Bonnie's teeth marks" at the scene. Photos of Officer Murphy's fiancée wearing her intended wedding dress to his funeral were published in the newspapers.

Public outage had further intensified five days after the killings of Officers Murphy and Wheeler. Near the town of Commerce, Oklahoma on the 6th April, the Barrow Gang's Ford got stuck in mud. They then attempted to stop a passing motorist at gunpoint who fled to report the armed encounter to the local police. A short time later, the chief of Commerce Police Department, Percy Boyd and a police constable, 60-year-old widowed father William "Cal" Campbell drove out and spotted the vehicle. As they got out of their vehicle, Chief Boyd and Constable Campbell were met by a barrage of gunfire. Constable Campbell was shot in the chest and died instantly, while Chief Boyd received a blow to his head and was forced into the Ford.

The Barrow Gang then forced a truck driver who was passing through at gunpoint to push the Ford out of the mud. They then told the truck driver to tell law enforcement that they would kill Chief Boyd if law enforcement didn't back off before driving off. With their hostage onboard, the gang drove into Kansas where they dumped the Ford and got into a black Pontiac and released Chief Boyd. Before driving off, the gang gave Chief Boyd a clean shirt, some money and a message from Bonnie that she "didn't smoke cigars". Like the murders at Grapevine, the murder of Constable Campbell and the abduction of Chief Boyd again prompted outrage from the public. The Dallas newspaper, the Dallas Journal featured a sketch of an empty electric chair with a "reserved" sign and the words "Bonnie and Clyde". As Chief Boyd had identified Bonnie and Clyde but never learnt Methvin's name, arrest warrants were issued for Bonnie, Clyde and a John Doe for the murder of Constable Campbell. On the 16th April, the Barrow Gang committed their final bank robbery. In the town of Stuart, Iowa, Clyde and Methvin robbed the First National Bank, resulting in $1,500 taken.

By May 1934, the Barrow Gang had amassed 16 warrants issued by law enforcements in four states for the crimes of armed robbery, vehicle theft, murder, theft and escape. Captain Hamer who had been tracking the gang since the 12th February had carefully studied the movements of the gang and found their movements swung in a circle, skirting the edges of five western states, allowing the gang to exploit the "state line rule" that prevents local law enforcement pursuing criminals from one state to another. Since Clyde was consistent with movements, Captain Hamer had charted Clyde's path and predicted where he would likely go. Captain Hamer had also found that Barrow Gang's travel itinerary had focused on family visits and predicted that the Barrow Gang would visit Methvin's family in Louisiana.

Unbeknownst to Captain Hamer, Methvin had become separated from the Barrow Gang in Shreveport and was planning to meet up with the gang at the home of Methvin's parents. Based on that assumption, Captain Hamer had amassed a posse of five law enforcement officers from Texas and Louisiana consisting of his former partner and former Texas Ranger, Benjamin "Maney" Gault, Deputies Alcorn and Hinton from the Dallas County Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Henderson Jordan and Deputy Prentiss Morel Oakley from Louisiana's Bienville Parish Sheriff's Department. On the 21st May, the four-man posse from Texas consisting of Captain Hamer, Ranger Gault and Deputies Hinton and Alcorn were in Shreveport when they learnt that Bonnie and Clyde were planning to visit Ivy Methvin in Bienville Parish that evening. Acting on the information, the six-man posse set up an ambush along the side of Louisiana State Highway 154 south of Gibsland towards Sailes. According to Hinton, by 9pm, the ambush was set and waited throughout the following day without any sighting of the Barrow Gang. Other accounts reported that the ambush was set up on the 22nd May.

At 9:15am on the 23rd May, the posse still concealed in the bushes were almost ready to give up when they heard the distinct sound of a V8 engine getting louder and louder. As they looked up, the posse saw a vehicle approaching at speed. In their official report, they persuaded Ivy Methvin to move his truck into position so that Methvin could make out that he had vehicle problems. As the vehicle came into the posse's view, the vehicle revealed itself as a cream-coloured Ford V8 Deluxe Sedan with Arkansas registration number, 15-368, driven by Clyde. As the vehicle approached Methvin, Clyde slowed the vehicle to bring it to a stop as the posse predicted. As the Ford slowed, the six-man posse opened fire on the vehicle.

According to the report, Deputy Oakley most likely opened fire first. In the first barrage of gunfire, Clyde was hit in the head and was killed instantly. According to the Deputy Hinton, he had heard Bonnie screaming. It was at this point that the posse fired 130 rounds into the Ford, emptying their weapons. On previous occasions, Bonnie and Clyde had survived their bullet wounds from previous encounters with the law. In this encounter, any wounds Bonnie and Clyde sustained could have been fatal. While it was certain that Clyde was immediately killed in the first barrage of the posse's gunfire, Bonnie had a faint pulse. As Deputy Hinton push Bonnie's body back in an upright position next Clyde's body in the bullet-riddled Ford, she had then succumbed to her wounds.

According to the statements given of the ambush by Deputies Hinton and Alcorn:

"Each of us six officers had a shotgun and an automatic rifle and pistols. We opened fire with the automatic rifles. They were emptied before the car got even with us. Then we used shotguns. There was smoke coming from the car, and it looked like it was on fire. After shooting the shotguns, we emptied the pistols at the car, which had passed us and ran into a ditch about 50 yards on down the road. It almost turned over. We kept shooting at the car even after it stopped. We weren't taking any chances".

Actual footage taken by Deputy Hinton in the aftermath of the ambush showed that the vehicle was hit with 112 rounds of which a quarter of them had hit the couple. The official report of the autopsies conducted by the local parish coroner J.L. Wade showed that Clyde received 17 entry rounds and Bonnie received 26 entry rounds, including rounds to their heads. One round severed Clyde's spinal column. The local Undertaker, C. F. "Boots" Bailey reported that he had difficulty with embalming the bodies due to the bullet holes.

Still deafen by the gunfire, the officers inspected the bullet-riddled vehicle and found an arsenal of weapons, including several automatic rifles, sawed-off shotguns, assorted handguns, and thousand rounds of ammunition. The officers also found 15 different sets of number plates from various states. Captain Hamer stated:

"I hate to bust the cap on a woman, especially when she was sitting down, however if it wouldn't have been her, it would have been us".

Word about Bonnie and Clyde's deaths had soon got out when Captain Hamer, Sheriff Jordan, Deputy Oakley, and Deputy Hinton drove into town to telephone their superiors, leaving Ranger Gault and Deputy Alcorn to guard Bonnie and Clyde's bodies.

As word got out, Gault and Alcorn lost control of the crowd. One woman cut out blood-stain locks of Bonnie's hair and pieces of her dress, which were later sold as souvenirs. When Deputy Hinton returned to the scene of the ambush, he had reportedly that he "was sicken" when he saw a man attempting to cut off Clyde's "trigger finger". Arriving at the scene to examine the couple's bodies, the coroner Wade reported:

"Nearly everyone had begun collecting souvenirs such as shell casings, slivers of glass from the shattered car windows, and bloody pieces of clothing from the garments of Bonnie and Clyde. One eager man had opened his pocketknife and was reaching into the car to cut off Clyde's left ear".

With the aid of Captain Hamer, Deputy Hinton managed to get the crowd away from the bullet-riddled car. The posse then towed the Ford with the couple's bullet-riddled bodies still inside to the nearby town of Arcadia where the vehicle was taken to the Conger Furniture Store & Funeral Parlor. The embalming process of both Bonnie and Clyde were conducted in the back of the furniture store by Bailey as it was common for furniture stores and undertakers to share the same space. Within hours, the population of Arcadia reportedly swelled from 2,000 to 12,000. Curious throngs of people arrived by train, horseback, buggy and plane. Beer that normally sold for 15c a bottle were sold at 25c a bottle and sandwiches quickly sold out.

Henry Barrow arrived to identify Clyde's body and then reportedly sat in a rocking chair in the furniture section and wept. Next to arrive in Arcadia to identify the bodies were Darby and Stone, the couple who the Barrow Gang abducted in Ruston. Since Darby worked for the McClure Funeral Home at Ruston as an undertaker's assistant, he assisted Bailey with preparing Bonnie and Clyde's bodies for embalming.

Funerals, Burials and the Aftermath

Despite the couple's wish of being buried together, Bonnie's family wouldn't allow it and instead brought her body home. Even though that Bonnie's mother's wish of bringing Bonnie's body home to Dallas, the crowd gathering around the Parker family home made it impossible. At Bonnie's funeral service held at the former McKamy-Campbell Funeral Home on the 26th May, 20,000 attended, making it difficult for the Parker Family to reach her gravesite. According to Dr. Allen Campbell Jr, a number of flowers and cards were sent. Some of them were sent by other bank robbers, including Pretty Boy Floyd and Dillinger who had once remarked about the couple and their spree as "a pair of young punks. They give bank robbery a bad name". A large floral tribute was sent by the Dallas city newsboys. The deaths of Bonnie and Clyde had resulted in over 500,000 newspapers sold in Dallas alone.

Bonnie was first buried in Fishtrap Cemetery, before being moved to the newly built Crown Hill Cemetery in 1945. The funeral service for Clyde was held in Dallas the day before Bonnie's service on the 25th May. Unlike Bonnie's funeral, 15,000 attended Clyde's service held at the Sparkman-Holtz-Brand Funeral Home, before being buried in Western Heights Cemetery next to his brother, Buck with a single granite marker and the epitaph selected by Clyde: "Gone but not forgotten". The Galveston, Texas-based American National Insurance Company paid the life insurance policies in full on both Bonnie and Clyde. In the years since, the policy of insurance payouts had changed to forbid any payouts from deaths caused by criminal acts committed by the insured party.

By the summer of 1934, new federal statutes were introduced, making both bank robbery and kidnapping federal offenses. The growing cooperation between both the FBI and local authorities, aided with the introduction of two-way radios issued in patrol cars made it more difficult for criminals to carry out any robberies and murders. In the months following the deaths of Bonnie and Clyde, the era known as the "Public Enemy Era" was coming to an end. Nearly two months to the day of Bonnie and Clyde's deaths on the 22nd July 1934, FBI agents, Charles Winstead (who had also taken part in the unsuccessful manhunts for Bonnie and Clyde), Herman "Ed" Hollis and Clarence Hurt had shot and killed Dillinger outside the Biograph Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. On the 11th August 1934, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island begun operations and on the 14th August, the first 53 prisoners from the Federal Correctional Institution in Atlanta arrived to the island in what become known as the Atlanta Boys Convoy. The prisoners were chained to their seats on a special prison train before the carriages were rolled onto a ferry to take the prisoners across the Bay to the island.

Three months after Dillinger was killed, a second member of the Dillinger's bank robbery gang, Pretty Boy Floyd was shot and killed by agents in East Liverpool, Ohio on the 22nd October. A month after Floyd's death on the 27th November, a third member of Dillinger's gang, Baby Face Nelson was shot and killed in a gunfight with law enforcement in Barrington, Illinois, known as the Battle of Barrington, which also resulted in the deaths of three federal agents, including agents Hollis and Samuel Cowley who had took part in the manhunt for Dillinger.

Six-man posse were each promised to receive a one-sixth share of the reward money. Sheriff Schmid had promised Hinton that this would total over $26,000, but most of the organizations that had pledged the reward funds had reneged, resulting in each posse member receiving $200.23 with any memorabilia salvaged from the couple's bullet-riddled vehicle.

The bullet-riddled Ford was returned to the original owner, Ruth Warren of Topeka, Kansas in August 1934. Despite the damage it sustained from the ambush, the vehicle still ran and was driven by Warren to Shreveport before being trucked back to Topeka. Since then, the Ford became a popular traveling attraction, being displayed at fairs, amusement parks, and flea markets for 30 years, and once became a fixture at a Nevada racetrack. There was a charge of one dollar to sit in it. As of 2024, the Ford and Clyde's bloodstained shirt are now on display at Buffalo Bill's Resort & Casino in Primm, Nevada.

In February 1935, federal authorities had arrested and tried 20 family members and friends of the Barrow Gang. In what became known as the "Harbouring Trial", all 20 had either pled guilty or were found guilty. Both the mothers of Bonnie and Clyde were convicted and sentenced a month imprisonment. Gang member Raymond Hamilton's brother, Floyd was sentenced to two years imprisonment. Buck and Clyde's teenaged sister, Marie was sentenced to an hour in custody. Other defendants included Bonnie's sister, Billie, Methvin, Jones and Blanche.

Blanche Barrow was permanently blinded in her left eye from the 24th July 1933 shootout at Dexfield Park. She was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. She was released for good behaviour after serving six years in 1939 and returned to Dallas, leaving the life of crime behind her. In 1940, Blanche married Eddie Frasure and found work as a taxicab dispatcher and a beautician while completing the terms of her parole in 1941. She lived in peace with Frasure until his death from cancer in 1969.

For Arthur Penn's 1967 film, lead actor and producer, Warren Beatty had approached Blanche to purchase the rights to her name and she agreed to the script for the film. Despite her objection of her portrayal in the film by Estelle Parsons, stating Parsons' portrayal of Blanche "made her sounded like a screaming horse's ass", Blanche still maintained a firm friendship with Beatty until her death from cancer on the 24th December 1988.

Raymond Hamilton had left the gang after having a falling out over both the proceeds of the gang's robberies and the presence of Hamilton's girlfriend, Mary O'Dare in the gang and was recaptured on the 25th April 1934 after a failed bank robbery and police chase. In February 1935, Hamilton escaped and went on another crime spree with former gang member Ralph Fults, robbing the national armoury in Beaumont, Texas, taking eight Thompson submachine guns. On the 24th February, the pair stole a vehicle in Tulsa, Oklahoma and returned to Texas where they had captured and disarming a posse at McKinney. On the 19th March, Hamilton and Fults travelled to Houston and gave an interview with reporter Harry McCormick about the inhumane conditions in the Texas prison system. To avoid McCormick from facing the harbouring charge, they staged it to look like a kidnapping and left him tied in his vehicle, before robbing a grocery store in San Antonio hours later.

Hamilton eventually returned to Texas where he was captured at a railyard in Fort Worth on the 5th April. He was convicted for his part in the murder of Major Crowson and sentenced to death. On the 10th May, Hamilton was executed in the electric chair. Hamilton's execution was preceded by gang member Joe Palmer who was captured in Kentucky on the 13th August 1934.

W.D. Jones left the gang six weeks after the shootout at the Dexfield Park and returned to Texas, eventually arriving in Houston where he found work, picking cotton. On the 16th November 1933, Jones was arrested by Deputies Alcorn and Edward Caster. At the time of Bonnie and Clyde's deaths on the 23rd May 1934, Jones was in Dallas County Jail awaiting trial for the January 6th murder of the Tarrant County Deputy Davis. On the 12th October 1934, Jones was convicted of murder with intent and sentenced to 15 years. At the February 1935 harbouring trial of the gang's family members and friends, Jones received a two-year sentence to run concurrently. In after completing six of his 15-year sentence in 1940, Jones was released on parole.

After his release, Jones tried to enlist in the army for service in the Second World War, but a bullet and buckshot discovered in Jones's chest during the examination had ruled him unfit for service. Jones spent the rest of his life living in Houston, for which he lived next door to his mother. He married, but his wife died in the mid-1960s. Jones then became addicted to pain-killing drugs. When Arthur Penn's 1967 film ignited a new generation's interest into the Barrow Gang, Jones's arrests made the news. In 1968, Jones filed a lawsuit against the film makers, seeking $175,000 in damages. In the lawsuit, Jones had alleged the film's character CW Moss (who is based on both Jones and Methvin) had played role in betraying Bonnie and Clyde, leading to their death in the film.

In 1969, Jones was charged with possession of barbiturates and received a $50 fine. On the 14th September 1973, Jones was sentenced to six months imprisonment and four and half years' probation for possession of 3,000 barbiturate pills. In the early hours of the 20th August 1974, Jones accompanied a female friend, Lydia Johnson to the home of his associate, George Jones (no relation) where she thought she would be given a place to stay. When was Johnson was refused by George Jones, both men got into an altercation, resulting George producing a shotgun and firing three times at W.D., killing him. George Jones was initially charged with W.D.'s murder, but the charges were dismissed on the grounds of self-defense.

Henry Methvin was convicted of the murder of Commerce Constable Campbell. Methvin served eight years in prison before being paroled in 1942. In 1948, Methvin was killed by a train after falling asleep drunk on the railway tracks even though it was speculated that he was pushed by someone in retaliation for Bonnie and Clyde's deaths. Methvin's father, Ivy was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 1946.

Ralph Fults who was imprisoned during Bonnie and Clyde's spree, was pardoned by Governor Ferguson shortly before she left office on the 10th January 1935. On the 24th February, Fults was rejoined by Raymond Hamilton and the pair robbed the National Armoury in Beaumont before stealing a car in Tulsa, Oklahoma and escaping police ambush at McKinney, Texas. On the 22nd March three days after robbing the grocery store in San Antonio, the pair drove to Louisiana where they stopped at the site of the ambush, before continuing to Mississippi.

After stealing another car on the 27th March in the town of Hattiesburg, the pair robbed a bank at Prentiss before the pair split up with Hamilton heading back to Texas and Fults boarding a train heading to Kentucky. At Springfield, Illinois, Fults learnt of Hamilton's capture in Texas and immediately got off the train and boarded a bus back to Texas. On the 8th April, Fults arrived in Fort Worth. Although he may had planned to break out Hamilton, Fults instead travelled to his mother's home in McKinney. On the 12th April, Fults stole a car in Renner and robbed an oil refinery with an accomplice, netting the pair $900. On the 17th April, Fults was captured in Denton County, Texas, bringing his spree to an end.

In September 1935, Fults was extradited to Mississippi where he convicted of the Prentiss bank robbery and sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment. While housed in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, Fults was placed in solitary confinement for leading a prison strike. In 1944, he was pardoned and returned to Dallas in 1947 where he assumed the profession as a security guard at an orphanage.

Like Blanche Barrow after her release from prison, Fults left the life of crime behind him. In the years since his release from prison, Fults converted to Christianity and ran the laundry facility at the Buckner Baptist Children's Home where he had also talked with the children had educating them the evils of the life of crime. In 1960, Fults had help to create a local television program called Confession. In the series, Fults and representatives from both the Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles and the state prison system discussed in a panel-format the unique needs of former prisoners and the importance of offering them jobs, with former inmates, businesspeople, and attorneys. With the aid of clergyman Norman Vincent Peale, the program became nationally syndicated.

Fults died at his home in Dallas on the 16th March 1993, he was 82 years old.

Eastham prison escapee, William Hilton "W.H." Bybee was recaptured two weeks after the Eastham Prison escape in Amarillo on the 30th January 1934. In that time, Bybee and another inmate, James Welling stole the Warden's vehicle and drove to Fort Worth and then later Dublin in Central Texas where they robbed another man of his money and stole his vehicle near Lake Worth. Driving their latest victim's vehicle, both Bybee and Welling drove to Jacksboro in Jack County before driving to Amarillo where they were recaptured and sent back to Eastham. On the 22nd June 1937, Bybee along with 18 other inmates had escaped from Eastham. While most of them were recaptured within days, Bybee and three of escapees, James Rice, Harry Roberts and Hiriam Prather had already broken away from the group and fled Texas, crossing the state line into Oklahoma.

In the town of Byars during the early hours of the 27th June, Bybee and Prather broke into the Milford Hardware Store through the rear door and stole several firearms and ammunition. As they were exiting from the store with the stolen weapons, they were surprised by a nightwatchman Elijah Columbus "Bill" Smith. Smith was shot twice from behind and then beaten to death. Bybee's prints were found on Smith's torch. The group then fled Oklahoma and crossed into Arkansas where Prather had split from the group. After Prather left the group, Bybee, Rice and Roberts travelled to the town of Weiner where they robbed the local bank.

The robbery of the Weiner bank had prompted the local law enforcement to amass a posse to capture the trio. The trio's luck finally ran out in the town of Selma, 160 miles south of Weiner. On the 20th July, Arkansas State Police Sergeants Neil Shannon and Buck Mooney had spotted Bybee, Rice and Roberts, driving the car that matched the description of the vehicle used in the Weiner bank robbery. Both officers then raced ahead of the posse and approached the trio's vehicle when they were met with gunfire from the trio. In the barrage of gunfire between the posse and the trio, Bybee was hit and was killed instantly while Sergeant Shannon was wounded by a bullet to the chest from a rifle. Rice's pistol was shot out of his hand and promptly surrendered while Roberts took off through the forest, only to be captured by the posse.

In August 1935 seven months after Governor Ferguson left office, the State Government under the leadership of Governor James V. Allred established the law enforcement agency, Texas Department of Public Safety with the Texas Rangers reinstated as a law enforcement division with the Texas Highway Patrol reorganized as another division.

Legacy

The stories surrounding the crimes of Bonnie and Clyde, and their accomplices had become the subject of many Hollywood films including:

• The Bonnie Parker Story, directed by William Witney, released in 1958 and starring Dorothy Provine (in her first credited role) as Bonnie Parker, Jack Hogan as Clyde Burrow (renamed in the film as Guy Darrow), and Douglas Kennedy as Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (renamed in the film as Tom Steel).
  • The film was released as a double feature with the noir film, Machine-Gun Kelly, (based on the life and crimes of gangster and bootlegger George "Machine-gun" Kelly), directed by Roger Corman and starring Charles Bronson in his first leading role as the titular gangster.
• Bonnie and Clyde, directed by Arthur Penn, released in 1967 and starring Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow, Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, Gene Hackman as Buck Barrow, Estelle Parson as Blanche Barrow, Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss (based on Barrow Gang members WD Jones and Henry Methvin), Denver Pyle as Frank Hamer, Gene Wilder (in his film debut) as Eugene Grizzard (based on Dillard Darby), and Evans Evans as Velma Davis (based on Sophia Stone).
  • Three of the film's principal cast, Beatty, Pollard, and Parson would go on to star in the 1990 action-crime comedy film, Dick Tracy (based on the 1930s comic strip of the same name), directed, produced by Beatty and starring Beatty as the titular police detective, with Pollard as Bugs Bailey, and Parson as Mrs Trueheart (the mother of Dick Tracy's girlfriend, Tess Trueheart).
• The Highwaymen, directed by John Lee Hancock, released in 2019 for Netflix and starring Kevin Costner as Frank Hamer, Woody Harrelson as Hamer's partner, Maney Gault, Kathy Bates as Governor Ma Ferguson, Thomas Mann as Ted Hinton and William Sadler as Clyde's father, Henry Barrow with Emily Brobst and Edward Bossert playing the roles of Bonnie and Clyde respectably.
  • While both the 1958 and 1967 films focused on the life and crimes of the Barrow Gang, the 2019 film focused on the manhunt for the Barrow Gang.
    

Modus Operandi

The Barrow Gang primarily targeted small stores and funeral homes for their armed robberies, but their armed bank heists were their most notorious crimes. The majority of their victims were killed by shooting or wounded by shrapnel flying as a result of gunfire, most of their victims being police. They would usually kill their victims during their robberies, or in shootouts, especially during their getaways, and they sometimes abducted victims before releasing them later. Barrow's earliest heists were all burglaries with accomplices, once leaving an accomplice behind to be arrested. When he killed an inmate responsible for raping him in prison, Barrow beat him to death with a lead pipe.

In preparation for their robberies, the Barrow Gang targeted the national armouries to obtain their firearms and ammunition, (in particular, Clyde's favourite, the high-powerful .30-06 M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle). In order to make their getaway from the scenes of their crimes, they would obtain their getaway cars by either stealing them off the street or from their owners at gunpoint, sometimes killing them. In their robberies, the Barrow Gang's getaway car of choice was the 1932-1934 Ford V8 (either the Standard or Deluxe model), due its 85hp V8 engine. Barrow Gang's use of the Ford V8 became known when a letter that Clyde had written while the Barrow Gang was in Tulsa on the 10th April 1934 to the founder and CEO of the Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford.

In the letter to Henry Ford, Clyde wrote:

"While I still have got breath in my lungs, I will tell you what a dandy car you make. I have drove Fords exclusively when I could get away with one. For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got every other car skinned and even if my business hasn't been strictly legal it don't hurt anything to tell you what a fine car you got in the V-8".

On top of having a fast getaway car, the Barrow Gang would made their getaway by travelling on the main highways that would allow them to travel into another state, outrunning the local and county law enforcement.

Known Victims

Earlier crimes

These crimes committed either by Clyde Barrow alone or with other accomplices before meeting Bonnie Parker.

• 1926:
  • December 3, Dallas, Texas: Vehicle theft. (Charges were dismissed.)
• 1928:
  • February 22, Fort Worth, Texas: Unspecified crime. (Detained for investigation; later released.)
• 1929:
  • October 13, Dallas, Texas: the Buell Lumber burglary. (Committed with older brother, Buck Barrow and a unnamed accomplice, all three were detained but were released.)
  • November 29, Denton, Texas: The Mark's Garage burglary. (Committed with Buck and another unnamed accomplice, Buck was shot and captured, Clyde and the accomplice fled.)

Committed by Clyde Barrow after meeting Bonnie Parker.

• 1931:
  • October 29, Eastham Prison, Lovelady, Texas: Edward Cower. (Prison inmate trustee had previously assaulted Clyde; bludgeoned with a lead pipe, then stabbed by another inmate who promptly confessed to the crime.)

Main criminal spree

These crimes were committed by both Bonnie and Clyde and their gang, after Clyde Burrow's release from Eastham Prison.

• 1932:
  • March 25, West Dallas, Texas: the Simms Oil Refinery robbery.(Committed with Hamilton and Fults; $300 was stolen.)
  • Early April, Lawrence, Kansas: The First National Bank robbery. (Committed with Hamilton and Fults; $33,000 was stolen.)
  • April 19, Kaufman, Texas: A hardware store burglary. (Committed by Bonnie and Fults; failed and was caught in the process.)
  • April 30, Hillsboro, Texas: John "J.N." Bucher, 61. (Committed with Barrow Gang members Ted Rogers and John Russell, shot in the chest by Rogers during the robbery, died instantly; $2,500 was stolen.)
  • August 1, West Dallas, Texas: The Neuhoff Packing Company robbery. (Committed with Hamilton; $1,100 was stolen.)
  • August 5, Stringtown, Oklahoma: Sheriff Charles Maxwell and Deputy Sheriff Eugene Moore. (Both shot by Clyde and Hamilton.)
    • Sheriff Charles Maxwell, 43. (Shot six times, survived.)
    • Deputy Sheriff Eugene Moore, 31. (Shot once, killed instantly.)
  • August 14, Carlsbad, New Mexico: Deputy Sheriff Joseph Johns. (Shot at and missed, abducted by Bonnie, Clyde, and Hamilton; later released the following day near San Antonio, Texas.)
  • October 8, Cedar Hill, Texas: The First State Bank robbery. (Committed with Hamilton; $1,400 was stolen, later robbed again with Hamilton and Stewart on the 25th November; $1,800 was stolen.)
  • October 11, Sherman, Texas: S.R. Little Store Robbery. (Committed by Clyde and two other accomplices, store clerk shot dead; $60 was stolen.)
    • Howard Hall, 57. (Store clerk, assaulted by Clyde and shot three times in the chest during the robbery; died an hour later.)
    • Homer Glaze. (Shot at and missed, pistol jammed.)
  • November 9, Oronogo, Missouri: The Oronogo bank robbery. (Committed with Bonnie; $200 was stolen.)
  • December 25, Temple, Texas: Doyle Johnson, 27. (Committed with accomplice, WD Jones; shot in the neck, died the following day.)

• 1933:
  • January 6, West Dallas, Texas: Deputy Sheriff Malcolm Davis, 51. (Was on a stakeout for a different criminal; shot in the chest and head, died a short time later.)
  • January 26, Springfield, Missouri: Motorcycle Patrol Officer Thomas Persell, 25. (Abducted during a traffic stop, later released.)
  • April 13, Joplin, Missouri: Shootout at Bonnie and Clyde's hideout at 3347¹⁄₂ Oak Ridge Drive:
    • Detective Harry L. McGinnis, 53. (Shot in the right arm, left thigh and face; died instantly.)
    • Constable John "Wes" Harryman, 42. (Shot in the chest, died a short time later.)
    • Highway Patrol Sergeant G.B. Kahler. (Shot at and missed, injured by shrapnel caused by splinters from a oak tree.)
  • April 27, Ruston, Louisiana: Henry Dillard Darby and Sophia Stone. (Both abducted, stole Darby's car; both later released near Waldo, Arkansas.)
  • May 12th, Lucerne, Indiana: Lucerne Bank robbery.
  • May 19th, Okabena, Minnesota: Okabena Bank robbery.
  • June 10th Wellington Texas: Gladys Cartwright, Marshal Paul Hardy and Sheriff George Corry:
    • Gladys Cartwright. (Shot and grazed in the hand by Jones; survived.)
    • Marshal Paul Hardy and Sheriff George Corry. (Both abducted; released the following day near Erick, Oklahoma.)
  • June 22, Alma, Arkansas: The Commercial Bank robbery. (Committed by Buck and Jones; stole the safe.)
  • June 23, Fayetteville, Arkansas: The Brown Grocery Store robbery. (Committed by Buck and Jones; $20 was stolen.)
    • Near Alma, Arkansas: Town Marshal Henry Humphrey, Deputy Sheriff Ansel "Red" Salyers and an unnamed farm worker:
      • Town Marshal Henry Humphrey, 51. (Shot in chest by Buck; died 26th June.)
      • Deputy Sheriff Ansel "Red" Salyers. (Shot at by Jones and missed.)
      • Unnamed farm worker. (Shot at and missed.)
  • July 7, Enid, Oklahoma: The National Armoury robbery.
  • July 18, Fort Dodge, Iowa: Robbery of three petrol stations. (Committed by the Bonnie, Clyde, Buck, Blanche and Jones; $150 was stolen.)
  • July 20, Platte City, Missouri: Red Crown Tavern and Tourist Court Shootout:
    • Sheriff Holt Coffey. (Hit by shrapnel from shotgun pellets to the neck, caused by friendly fire; survived.)
    • Clarence Coffey, 19. (Sheriff Coffey's son, shot in the arm; survived.)
    • Deputy George Highfill. (Police Armoured car driver, shot in the knees; survived.)
  • August 20, Plattville, Illinois: The National Armoury robbery. (Committed by Clyde and Jones.)
  • November 8, Overton, Texas: McMurrey Oil Refinery robbery.
• 1934:
  • January 16, Eastham Prison, Loveland, Texas: Prison Guard Major Joseph Crowson and Olan Bozeman. (Both shot by prison escapee and Barrow Gang member, Joe Palmer during the "Eastham Prison Escape".)
    • Joseph Crowson, 33. (Shot in the stomach; died 27 January.)
    • Olan Bozeman. (Shot in the hip; survived.)
  • January 23, Rembrandt, Iowa: The First National Bank robbery. (Committed by Bonnie, Clyde, Hamilton, Palmer, Methvin and Bybee; $3,800 was stolen)
  • January 26, Poteau, Oklahoma: The National Bank robbery.
  • February 27, Lancaster, Texas: R.P. Henry and Sons Bank robbery. (Committed by Clyde and Hamilton; $6,000 was stolen.)
  • March 29, Gladewater, Texas: Wade McNabb. (Abducted, shot and bludgeoned by gang member, Joe Palmer; body was discovered at Waskom near the Louisiana state line on the 3rd April.)
  • April 1, Grapevine, Texas: Highway Patrol officers Holloway Murphy and Edward Wheeler. (Both shot by Clyde and accomplice, Henry Methvin; both died.)
    • Patrol Officer Holloway Murphy, 22. (shot in the chest and face.)
    • Patrol Officer Edward Wheeler, 26. (Shot in the chest.)
  • April 6, Commerce, Oklahoma: Police Chief Percy Boyd and Constable William "Cal" Campbell. (Both shot by Clyde and Methvin.)
    • Constable William "Cal" Campbell, 60. (Shot in the chest; died instantly.)
    • Police Chief Percy Boyd. (Hit on the head and abducted; later released, survived.)
  • April 16, Stuart, Iowa: The First National Bank robbery. (Committed by Clyde and Methvin; $1,500 was stolen.)

On Criminal Minds

• Season Six
  • "The Thirteenth Step" - The duo was mentioned and compared to the episode's unsubs, Raymond Donovan and Sydney Manning, and appear to have been an inspiration for them - Both were couple killing teams who committed both robberies and murders with firearms and targeted gas stations (though both teams also attacked other places), and both their sprees ended in mass shootouts in which both killers died (though Manning was strangled by Donovan instead).
• Season Seven
  • "Hit" and "Run" - While not directly mentioned or referenced in the two-part season finale, Parker and Barrow appear to be inspirations for the episode's main unsubs, The Face Cards, specifically leaders Izzy Rogers and Matthew Downs - Both are outlaw and spree killer couples and cop killers who formed a violent bank robbery crew, the male members suffered previous trauma that motivated their violence (Downs had PTSD from military service, Barrow was raped in prison and killed the rapist), and at least one of them died once cornered by police.

On Beyond Borders

• Season One
  • "The Ballad of Nick & Nat" - The duo was mentioned in comparison to and may have been inspirations for the episode's main unsubs, Natalie Knox and Nick Jamison - Both were spree killer couples with at least one member being a victim of rape, attempted to kill the rapist by beating (one of Knox's rapists in her case, while Barrow acted alone and was successful), one member had an absent parent, one member had a record of rebellion, both were motivated by revenge against American systems (Knox and Jamison targeted American democracy, while Parker and Barrow targeted Texas prison systems), killed their victims by shooting (though Parker and Barrow killed by other means), and died from being shot with a hail of bullets by police. Also, the title of the episode, "The Ballad of Nick and Nat", may be an allusion to Parker's poem "The Trail's End", which is commonly named by historians "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde".

On Evolution

• Season Two
  • While never directly mentioned or referenced in the show, Bonnie, Clyde, and the Barrow gang all appear to be the primary inspirations for The Gold Star Killers - All are outlaw gangs, serial killers, and cop killers with leaders who were sexually assaulted, were active with multiple states, and at least one of their leaders and followers each died by shooting.

References

Wikipedia:

• Bonnie and Clyde
• Barrow Gang