Bonnie and Clyde: America’s Infamous Criminal Duo

In 1932, during the Great Depression, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow went on a notorious two year crime spree, where the pair would rob gas stations, restaurants, banks and more, making them one of the most sensationalized criminal duo’s in America due to the media, Britannica states.

Bonnie and Clyde first met and fell instantly at a mutual friend’s house in love in January of 1930, but their relationship was cut short when two weeks later, Clyde was sentenced to two years in prison for previous crimes he had committed. According to ThoughtCo, Clyde escaped from jail on March 11, 1930, using a gun that Bonnie had smuggled in for him, but his escape was short lived as a week later, Clyde was recaptured and sentenced to 14 years in the Eastham Prison Farm near Weldom, Texas. Upon his arrival to the prison, Clyde grew miserable and asked a fellow prisoner to chop off two of his toes in the hopes that it would lead to a physical incapacity transfer, however, on February 2, 1932, he was paroled.

Following his release from prison, Bonnie and Clyde teamed up and began their crime spree that would travel from Texas to Oklahoma, New Mexico, Missouri, and Louisiana, and while it was it was mainly just the two of them who were causing all the traction, they often received help from Buck Barrow–Clyde’s brother–and his wife, Blanche, along with Ray Hamilton and W.D. Jones. 

Because police couldn’t cross state boundaries to follow a criminal, Bonnie, Clyde and their helpers chose to only rob across Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana and New Mexico, always staying close to a state border.

Though Clyde had a criminal history, Bonnie had never committed any crimes upon first meeting Clyde, but that all changed when she accompanied him on what would be considered her first criminal act. The plan for this robbery was that Clyde, his brother and their friends would rob a hardware store, and while Bonnie stayed in the car she was captured and put in the Kaufman, Texas jail, but was later released for lack of evidence. 

During Bonnie’s time in jail, Clyde and Ray Hamilton staged another robbery in April 1932; what was supposed to be an allegedly easy robbery ended up going wrong when John Bucher, the owner of the general store Barrow and Hamilton were robbing, was shot and killed. Due to this, Bonnie was faced with two choices: stay with Clyde for what would be a life on the run or leave him and start fresh. Despite the knowledge of knowing that staying with Clyde would mena death for both of them, Bonnie chose to stay with him and remain loyal.

Over the next two years, the pair would continue their robberies across nearby states, even frequently stealing cars and frequently changing license plates; Clyde also studied maps and had a knowledge of backroads. At the time, police were unaware that the couple made frequent trips to Dallas to visit their families. 

During their two year robbery sprees, the couple along with their friends killed and wounded several members of law enforcement and victims of their robberies, including bystanders.

After two years of chasing and attempting to capture the criminals, law enforcement finally succeeded. Police learned on May 19, 1934 that Henry Methvin, one of the criminals associated with Bonnie and Clyde, was separated from the couple and they took that as their chance to set up an ambush.

Methvin had gone to visit his father, and officers assumed that they would be able to search for him at his father’s farm. Officers confiscated Iverson Methvin’s–Henry’s father–truck and removed one of its tires to place it on highway 154, between Sailes and Gibsland, Louisiana. They figured that if Clyde saw the truck on the side of the road, he’d pull over and investigate.

On May 23, 1934 at 9:15am, Clyde spotted the truck and as he slowed down, officers opened fire. Because Bonnie and Clyde weren’t expecting the ambush, they had little time to react and police shot more than 130 bullets at the couple, eventually killing them.