On this month's Morbidly Fascinating Page:
The Life and Death of Bonnie and Clyde in Photos, Some Very Rare
In the Morbidly Fascinating Archives
Early Ghost Photos
Accidental Photos
Strange Tombstones from Over the World
The Haunted Lemp Mansion
The teenage years of Bonnie Parker
Bonnie Parker working as a waitress at Marco’s Cafe in Dallas, Texas in 1929 at age 18
Bonnie (L) and her sister Billie (R) in probably either 1928 or 1929. In February 1935, the Dallas Police Department and the FBI arrested and prosecuted 20 family members and friends of Bonnie and Clyde for aiding and abetting their criminal activities. One of the defendants was Bonnie's younger sister, Billie Jean Parker, who was convicted and spent time in prison.
Bonnie married Roy Thornton on September 25, 1926 (six days before her 16th birthday) who was her high school sweetheart. However, Thornton was imprisoned in 1929 and the two never crossed paths again, despite still being legally married until her death.
Young Bonnie, date unknown.
The teenage years of Clyde Barrow
Two photos of Clyde Barrow, the first when he was 16 and the second at age 17. Notice the unusually long eyelashes.
Clyde's first arrest at age 17. The notorious criminal was arrested for automobile theft after failing to return a car he had rented in Dallas to visit an estranged high school girlfriend. The charges were dismissed.
Just before Christmas, also in 1926, Buck (real name Marvin Barrow), 23, and brother Clyde, who had turned 17, were arrested with a truck full of stolen turkeys they intended to sell for the holidays. Buck took the rap and went to jail for a week. Clyde was let go.
Complete listing of Clyde Barrow's arrests
Photos of Bonnie and Clyde together
Bonnie and Clyde were introduced to each other in 1930 in Dallas through mutual friends. It was said to be love at first sight for both. In 1932, Clyde was released from a stint in prison and the life of crime began in earnest for the couple and the Barrow gang which was loosely comprised of Barrow family members and friends such as William D. Jones. Within a year, the trio consisting of Bonnie, Clyde and William (nicknamed W.D.) had murdered five people.
In 1933, Marvin (nicknamed Buck) and Blanche Barrow (Clyde’s brother and sister-in-law) joined the gang upon Buck’s release from prison. The group had a temporary hideout living in a quiet neighborhood in Joplin, Missouri.
Believing the house was being used by bootleggers, law enforcement officials planned a raid for April 13. A shootout ensued with two of the five lawmen killed. The gang fled the house and headed south out of Joplin. Traveling almost 600 miles overnight, Clyde drove the group to Shamrock, Texas.
Although the gang escaped, most of their possessions were left behind, including Buck’s parole papers, jewelry, a handwritten poem by Bonnie, an arsenal of weapons and a camera with several rolls of undeveloped film.
According to a report in The Joplin Globe on April 15, 1933, the film was taken to the newspaper to be processed. The developed film revealed photos of all five fugitives in a variety of casual and playful poses – what we might consider “selfies” today.
See more HERE
Clyde and fellow gang member William D. Jones (W.D.)
On the run, cleaning guns.
Visiting with Clyde's family in the early 1930s. Bonnie is third in the front and Clyde is second in the back.
The lawmen
The lawmen who killed Bonnie and Clyde, with Frank Hamer (R) and Maney Gault (second from R).
Hamer and Gault did not like the attention they received after killing Bonnie and Clyde
The highly publicized shootout brought Hamer the sort of widespread attention he despised. He said he would not attend the proposed Hamer-Gault Hero Day in Austin, and turned down all media offers to share his story of the Bonnie and Clyde investigation with the public.
Gault proved equally tight-lipped on the subject. He quietly served out the remainder of his years as captain of the Rangers' Company C division, with one profile in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal describing him as "taciturn as a turtle in a drought." He died in relative anonymity in December 1947.
See more HERE
Blanche and Buck
Blanche Barrow mugshot
Police apprehended Marvin (Buck) Barrow (who had been shot in the head) and his wife Blanche at an ambush in Dexfield Park, Iowa. Blanche was almost blinded from broken glass during the shootout. Here she reacts with alarm after mistaking the camera's flash for gunfire.
Another photo of Marvin (Buck) Barrow. Buck barely survived, and Blanche sustained severe injuries to her eyes when police shot at the car, shattering the windows.
On July 19, 1933 Buck was taken into custody but died shortly after (July 29, 1933) from his gunshot wounds at the King’s Daughters Hospital in Iowa.
THE DEATH OF BONNIE AND CLYDE
The United Press International story released on May 23, 1934
GIBSLAND, La., May 23, 1934 (UP) - Clyde Barrow and his cigar-smoking sweetheart, Bonnie Parker, who lived by violence, died by violence today.
The notorious southwest desperado and his companion were shot down from ambush by six officers.
The outlaw rode into a trap, set by Sheriff Henderson Jordan of Bienville Parish. Deputy Prentiss Oakley, a federal agent named Kendall, a Dallas (Tex.) deputy sheriff and two other men were in the posse.
The officers had lain in wait since 2 a.m., after receiving a tip that Barrow was in this vicinity.
The outlaw approached the trap, riding in a gray Ford sedan. Barrow was at the wheel. Bonnie sat beside him.
The officers blocked the road ahead of him. Barrow opened fire with a sawed-off shotgun. The officers loosed a barrage of fire, riddling the bandit's automobile and killing both occupants.
With the ambuscade ended a career of 12 murders and a series of violent crimes attributed to Barrow, 25-year-old Texas youth who covered the midwest and southwest in his depredations.
His sweetheart, Bonnie Parker, 23, fell with him even as she had fought it out with peace officers beside her man many times in the past. Her pistol eye had been credited with being as keen as Barrow's.
In Barrow's car were found several shot-guns, machine guns, pistols and revolvers. The outlaws were driving toward Ringgold, near the Texas state line, when they were met.
Dr. J.L. Wade, coroner at Arcadia, left immediately for the scene of the killings.
The bodies were taken to Arcadia. None of the officers in the attacking party was killed or injured, it was reported at Arcadia.
See more HERE
The car
BONNIE AND CLYDE IN DEATH. WARNING: THESE PHOTOS CAN BE DISTURBING.
The death of Bonnie
The Death of Clyde
The tombstones
Bonnie Parker was originally buried in 1934 in the Fish Trap Cemetery in Texas but due to frequent vandalism, in 1945 she had to be moved to Crown Hill Memorial Park in northwest Dallas which had greater security.
Clyde Barrow is buried in Western Heights Cemetery with his brother Marvin (Buck).