Bonnie and Clyde - who is it. bonnie and clyde true story real bonnie and clyde
Their names have long become household names, and their history has formed the basis of many works of art in various genres. Bonnie and Clyde - eternal lovers or just partners? What connected these two besides the recorded crimes? What is the story of Bonnie and Clyde about - endless cruelty or real feelings?
And how it all began...
From numerous sources it is known for certain that Clyde's childhood and youth did not pass in the most favorable way. The family in which he grew up was dysfunctional - a low level of education, poverty on the verge of poverty, children left to their own devices. However, he had a number of talents and noble hobbies, he played some musical instruments well, for example. However, the lack of faith in one's own strengths and the desire to achieve something by legal methods played a cruel joke on him.
Of course, the story of Bonnie and Clyde would not be complete without the main female role. She, Bonnie Elizabeth Parker, was a well-rounded personality, she studied well and had attractive external data. At the age of 16, she married for love, and perhaps everything would have turned out differently if she had not met him. There are several versions of their acquaintance, among which one of the most popular is a chance meeting in the house of a mutual friend. Be that as it may, Clyde and Bonnie immediately fell in love with each other, and very soon she helps him escape from prison. However, Clyde still has to spend some time behind bars, but he quickly gains freedom, and from that moment they become inseparable.
Bonnie and Clyde: A True Story of Crime and Love?
After reuniting with Bonnie, Clyde continues to make a living through criminal methods. But do not forget that the criminal couple not only strove for an interesting and idle life, but also loved to dress well and brightly, and there was absolutely not enough money for all this, obtained through petty theft. They say that the first joint murder was spontaneous - the unfortunate store employee simply did not want to give the proceeds to the robbers, for which he paid with his life. Later, they dealt with a police officer during a document check, and after this act there really was nothing to lose - if they were caught, they would both face life imprisonment. From that moment on, the story of Bonnie and Clyde turns into a real gangster action movie. A little later, Bonnie will learn to shoot, and new people will join the gang.
unhappy ending
They managed to hide from the police and continue their crimes for so long rather because of the problems of the system of searching and catching criminals. The story of Bonnie and Clyde ended in May 1934. The police managed to organize an ambush, the criminals were killed on the spot. Bonnie was 24, Clyde was 25. Such a development of events can be considered natural, the fact that the couple did not have a normal future is obvious. And yet, despite all the negative qualities of these bloodthirsty killers, who brought grief to a huge number of families, their devotion to each other is admirable.
1935, May 23, morning - a dark red Ford was driving along a country road. Behind tall bushes, six riflemen armed with carbines were waiting for him. Inside the Ford were a man and a girl whose heads the American police valued at $50,000. When the car arrived at the ambush site, all six shooters rose to their full height and opened heavy fire.
More than a hundred bullets riddled the car and everyone in the cabin. "Ford" after driving a few more meters, stopped on the side of the road. The two bloody bodies of a minute ago were the legendary raiders Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. They were ranked among the most famous bandits in the United States. The reasons for this were more than solid.
The law pursued Bonnie and Clyde in a dozen states. They did not hesitate to shoot anyone who tried to stop them. The news of their death flew through all the world's newspapers, but no one believed in it. “This is another police duck,” said one of the respected American newspapers. “Someone needs political dividends in the upcoming elections, and he (and most likely “they”) intends to get them even with official recognition, based on gossip at best.” And only when the public was presented with photos of the corpses and an expert opinion on death, the Americans were convinced that they had lost their unlucky heroes.
Bonnie and Clyde became celebrities in two short years. They really were to become folk heroes - modern-day Robin Hood and Maid Maryam. But not for their victims, and not for the cops who tracked them down and killed them. For the police, they were simply trophies that could be shown to the whole world. Naked and unwashed, they were laid out on mortuary tables and photographed for history. Bonnie Parker is only 23, her partner is a year older.
Clyde Barrow was born on March 24, 1909 in Teleko (Texas), in a small town near Dallas. He was the sixth, penultimate child in the family. At the age of nine, Clyde was sent to an institution for juvenile delinquents as an incorrigible truant and petty thief. Teleko was located in a sandy basin. This was the name given to a vast area in the American Southwest, devastated by drought and intensive farming. 2/3 of the inhabitants dispersed in search of a better life. Among them was Clyde's father, who sold the farm for next to nothing. Clyde tried to provide for his family, but all his noble attempts were beyond the law.
1929 - young Clyde Barrow met young Bonnie Parker. Petite and slender, cheerful and smart, she was able to charm anyone. Bonnie's father died when she was only 4 years old. The mother, having taken the children, moved to live in Dallas, in a gloomy area, which was called the "cement city". Bonnie and her sister Billy married early, and both were petty criminals. A year after the wedding, the first husband of the future raider, Roy, ran away with his mistress.
Bonnie did not long for long: three months later she sheltered Clyde, who was hunted by the police with might and main. Clyde Barrow, a thief and swindler, spent only one night in bed with his beloved. Dawn had barely dawned when the door ripped off its hinges with a crash and three guys in uniform fell on the sleepy thief in unison. Clyde received 2 years in prison and 12 years on probation.
And although the prison term looked ridiculous for a professional thief, the energetic Clyde decided not to sit it out. His faithful Bonnie, having hidden a loaded Colt under her dress, was able to pass the weapon through the bars during the next meeting. The stern jailer at the checkpoint was ashamed to search the sweet and friendly girl, who exuded genuine timidity and chastity.
That same night, an armed Clyde escaped from prison, but two days later he was already caught and again yearned behind bars. He was now facing a full 14 years in prison. I had to resort to a small but painful operation. A local chamber "surgeon" chopped off two toes on his cellmate's leg with a homemade knife, moreover, at his request. The wounded prisoner was released.
In the United States in those days, banditry flourished thanks to Prohibition. The mafia ruled in the big cities, and in the provinces there was a hunt for gangsters like John Dillinger. The country was gripped by a depression that followed the stock market crash on Wall Street. More than three million families were forced to live on welfare. Employers were not interested in yesterday's prisoners.
Bonnie and Clyde, armed with revolvers, began to rob trading establishments throughout Texas. Bonnie, covering her face with a dark silk handkerchief, fearlessly fired upwards, while her partner hurriedly packed the money into a bag. This went on for several months until the hijackers fell into a police ambush in Kaufman.
Clyde, firing back, took to his heels and escaped with only a slight wound in the shoulder. The police roughly tied up Bonnie, who was squealing and biting, and dragged her to the car. When the judges looked at the young, pretty raider, they did not believe for a long time that they actually faced the object of criminal proceedings. Appearance and touching notes took their toll: the raider was sentenced to only three years.
Bonnie, after serving two, was released early for good behavior. Behind the prison walls, all her virtue disappeared again. Bonnie and Clyde were still together. Raid followed raid. During breaks, they had fun and posed for the camera. The pictures only increased their popularity. The press portrayed the gangsters as ruthless lovers who, wandering through the cities of Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri, robbing and killing, at the same time remained a romantic couple.
In reality, everything was much more prosaic and even piquant. The prison turned the passionate Clyde into a bisexual. Very soon, the formidable gang was replenished with a third member - Ray Hamilton, with whom Clyde spent his prison term in love joys. Jealous Bonnie for a long time could not treat same-sex sex with understanding, then got used to it and tried to simply ignore it.
During the year, the criminal trio killed 4 people, the first of which was a jeweler. The raiders stole weapons, stole cars, and even swung at banks. Bank locks and employees, whose hands lay a few centimeters from the red button, could not resist their audacity. Ray Hamilton, although he considered himself lucky, got caught first.
Bonnie and Clyde hid for a month and decided to leave the state. A few days before leaving, they were again ambushed and opened fire with revolvers. In a desperate shootout, a sheriff's deputy was killed. The raiders managed to get away again, but now they were being hunted by the entire Texas police force. Bonnie, who sensed her near death, decided to play with death already openly. The gang was replenished with Clyde's brother named Buck and a certain 16-year-old youth named Wu De.
The raiders needed firearms. Bonnie offered to organize a raid on the federal arsenal in Springfield, Missouri. The operation went brilliantly. Success was immediately celebrated with a robbery of a loan company in Kansas City. While the police were looking for gangsters in six states, they made their way back to Dallas to visit their relatives. After the robbery of a jewelry store in Neosh, Bonnie and Clyde rented a house nearby, but a neighbor managed to notice how suspicious trunks migrated into the house along with bags and boxes.
The police arrived 15 minutes later and immediately began to suffer casualties. The first volley from the window of the surrounded house killed two policemen. The guards did not expect such a rebuff. Taking advantage of the confusion, the bandits jumped out of the house, got into the car and rushed along the dusty road. That night they drove almost 400 miles from Neosh to Texas. Clyde's hand was bleeding, it was bandaged right on the go. Before that, Bonnie was able to pull a bullet out of the wound with a hairpin.
Despite all their fame, the money the bandits got was tiny. The biggest prize - $ 2,500 they captured in May 1933 at the Okobino bank. The legendary John Dillinger commented on this event: “A couple of scumbags. They dishonor the bank robbers." A week later, Clyde was driving at his usual crazy speed when the accident happened. The car caught fire and overturned.
Clyde was able to open the door and jump out of the blazing salon. Bonnie was less nimble. She received serious burns and was barely able to hobble to the nearest village. A compassionate family that sheltered a young couple offered to call a doctor. Bonnie refused. The owner then called the police.
Two officers arrived at the house and a few minutes later were ambushed. The hijackers declared them hostages, got into a police car with them and at the same frantic speed rushed to the state line. The officers were released at the border.
Bonnie recovered slowly. The raiders had a chance to hide in Kansas and Iowa. Despite all their caution, the police tracked them down again. Early in the morning, a dozen or two policemen surrounded the house, where Clyde and his Bonnie were basking in the early morning slumber.
Sensitive Bonnie heard a slight noise, looked out from behind the curtain and was horrified. She woke Clyde, and together they tried to sneak out of the house unnoticed. The first shots rang out, and the bandits, shooting right and left, rushed ahead. They were able to get to the river and started swimming. Fortune again and again helped Bonnie and Clyde, who seemed drunk on the risk.
In the next 4 months, they shot four more policemen. By that time, Brother Buck was already resting in a better world, struck down by a bullet from a carbine. Baby Wu De, captured at the border, was able to avoid the electric chair. At the trial, he cried and shouted that he was forced to shoot and cut by force. Wu De asked for a pardon and was sent to federal prison for 15 years.
The elusive Bonnie and Clyde were dealt with by Sheriff Schmidt, who ordered his best agents to get the bandits alive or dead. The same, inspired by luck, attacked the farm where the prisoners worked, killed the guards and selected five prisoners from the striped crowd. The new team began to smash banking institutions, leaving behind corpses. Everything would be fine, but Clyde's sexual orientation manifested itself again.
Shameless Clyde flirted with two members of the gang, and they reciprocated. The third bandit brought his girlfriend to the group, and away we go. While the press treated the gangsters as sensational, a quarrel developed among them, not so much because of a sexual partnership, but because of the booty. The raids yielded a meager catch. Having quarreled and almost shot each other, the bandits split into two camps and dispersed.
Bonnie and Clyde traveled around the states, robbing and killing. During a long road trip, they stopped between corn fields, deciding to rest. The loving couple drank whiskey, shot birds and made love. Soon, two police officers from the highway patrol noticed her. The officers drove up to the car, not even suspecting who they would have to deal with. Smiling amiably, Bonnie and Clyde unanimously opened fire. After this cold-blooded murder, they signed their own verdict: the romantic and sentimental part of the United States turned away from them. Now a reward has been posted for the capture of Bonnie and Clyde.
The federal authorities joined forces to capture the daring hijackers. The search was led by Mounted Policeman Frank Hamer, who had shot 60 bandits in his time. Hedged by two fighters, he followed the trail of the raiders, not allowing them to rest and gain strength and ammunition. Bonnie and Clyde were heading northeast toward Oklahoma.
A random police patrol tried to stop a suspicious car with bullet holes in its windshield. But a machine gun shot out of the window. Two policemen fell on the road. One of them fell already dead. Local police chief Percy Boyd received minor head wounds and was taken hostage. The bandits kept him for a day. In the end, they somehow liked him and were generously released.
Percy Boyd began to share his impressions. According to him, Clyde stood out for his vanity and arrogance. As for Bonnie, the chief of police liked her:
She is not at all the same as shown in the picture with a revolver in her hands and a cigar in her mouth. She was annoyed by the caption under the photo "Clyde Barrow's girlfriend smokes cigars", and she regretted that she had once posed. Bonnie looks like herself in another picture. Where a smiling and cheerful girl stands. And you know, she really loves Clyde. This couple constantly carries a little rabbit named Sonny Boy with them in their car. They are going to give it to Bonnie's mother.
The last fact was a clue. A small squad of police headed to Dallas and visited the mother of Texas' most famous raider. The aging lonely woman sorted through the photographs and stared blankly at the armed policemen. “I haven't seen Bonnie for 5 years,” she said. “And even if I knew where she was, I still wouldn’t say. A mother cannot betray her child, no matter what it may be and no matter what is written about it.”
The deadly tired officers hoped for the mistake of the raiders and still waited. Clyde's Ford was spotted outside a cafe in Louisiana. The police suggested that the bandits were looking for a meeting with their former accomplice Henry Methven, whose father lived on a local farm. For some reason, all local robberies were attributed to Bonnie and Clyde.
Six police officers hid near the Methven Sr. farm. There was a whole arsenal of automatic weapons in their car, but there was nothing to brighten up the long wait. The officers were mortally tired, soaked, and exhausted by mosquito bites. For three days and three nights they sat in ambush. However, Bonnie and Clyde were on the lookout. On May 23, at 4 am, officers stopped the car where Henry Methven's father was driving. The old man was dragged out of the car, handcuffed to a tree, and the car was left in the middle of the road as bait.
At ten o'clock in the morning, a familiar Ford appeared on the horizon. Clyde was driving. Noticing the bait, he slowed down, but the next second he pressed the gas again. But it was already too late. A friendly volley of carbines rang out from the bushes. The Ford, shot almost point-blank, stopped. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker died a violent death, died the way they lived. Bonnie fell onto Clyde's shoulder.
Clyde was an excellent shot. Few managed to stay alive if Clyde fired the first shot. Pistols and a carbine lay next to Bonnie, but the ambush took her by surprise. A few hours later, the first onlookers appeared at the shooting site. A bullet-riddled Ford escorted a long escort of 50 cars to the police station.
The crimson Ford was put on public display behind a high mesh fence. This fence appeared after souvenir hunters tried to dismantle the car for parts. Some even got pieces of Bonnie's clothes and locks of hair before her body was removed from the car. Three light machine guns, two shotguns, a dozen pistols and at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition were found in the back seat. They were of no use to the bandits. More than a hundred bullets lodged in two corpses.
The officers who shot the raiders became national heroes. Chaos reigned around the morgue. The crowd was eager to see the famous corpses. Filming was done at the morgue to visually witness the death. Bonnie's body, put on display in Dallas, could be seen by almost 40,000 onlookers. A few less came to gawk at Clyde's corpse. The most curious were shown Clyde's torn jacket and his carbine, where seven notches flaunted on the butt - one for each victim.
20 people were brought to trial on charges of harboring criminals. These were relatives and friends. The men were shackled with one long chain to prevent an attempt to attack the guards.
Clyde was buried next to his brother Buck in West Dallas Cemetery. A huge flower wreath was dropped from an airplane on his grave. Bonnie wanted to be buried next to Clyde, but her body was taken to Fishtrap Cemetery.
Between robberies and murders, Bonnie sent her poems to many newspapers. Examination proved their authenticity. Among them was her own prophetic epitaph:
They don't consider themselves too cruel
They know that the law always wins.
They've been shot at before
And they remember that death is the punishment for sin.
Someday they'll be killed together
And buried side by side.
It will be sadness for the few
And it will be a relief to the law
And it will be death for Bonnie and Clyde.
On Bonnie's grave, someone's hand carved the inscription: "As flowers become sweeter from the sun and dew, so our old world becomes better thanks to people like you."
And yet she was America's most cold-blooded and cruel raider.
Both of our heroes, whose names have become household names, come from Texas. Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born in Rowena, and after the death of her father, she moved with her mother and sisters to Dallas. If I hadn't turned onto a crooked path, I could have become a poetess. Even in prison, she wrote a small collection of poems.
Few people know that Bonnie was officially married - and not at all to Clyde! On September 25, 1926, at almost 16, she married Roy Thornton and got a job as a waitress in a café. In early 1929, they separated, but did not divorce, and Thornton was soon imprisoned for robbery. Nevertheless, Bonnie continued to wear her wedding ring, and she had a tattoo on her thigh: two hearts with the names "Bonnie" and "Roy".
Clyde Chestnut Barrow was a little older, he was born on May 24, 1909 in the city of Teliko into a poor farmer's large family. As a preschooler, he suffered from malaria.
From the age of 15, he, along with his older brother Marvin, began to trade in petty thefts. But the first drive to the police was not at all for this: he rented a car and did not have time to return it in time. However, the charges were soon dropped.
A little later, he wanted to join the Navy, but was commissioned for health reasons - due to an illness suffered in childhood.
Acquaintance
The exact date of his acquaintance with Bonnie is unknown. Most likely, this happened in early 1930, when he came to the cafe where she worked. They quickly found a common language, and Clyde, who by that time was an experienced robber, turned the head of a miniature waitress (his height is only 162 cm, and Bonnie was shorter - 150 cm). And not in the literal sense - he was gay, but stories of criminal acts that they could commit together in order to become rich and free.
Obviously, the criminal path promised a much more interesting life than offering visitors coffee and scrambled eggs!
They were united by a passion for weapons. Even during her short marriage, Bonnie loved to hold Roy's gun in her hands, and when he was in a good mood, he taught his wife how to shoot. Bonnie then developed this skill together with Clyde: they even went out into the field just to shoot.
Three months later, Clyde was arrested for robbery, and he spent almost two years in prison. And when he left, Bonnie invited him to work together.
Solid crime
Now Bonnie and Clyde are often presented as sort of Robin Hoods of the Great Depression: they supposedly robbed only the rich. Nothing like that: they robbed everyone. The first raid was on an armory in Texas, and then indiscriminately attacked gas station stores, roadside motels, and banks. The revenue was sometimes quite small, but they seemed to enjoy the process itself. The number of their crimes, according to various estimates, ranges from 70 to more than a hundred.
It will also not be possible to imagine them in the halo of holy robbers: both did not disdain to kill those who stand in the way. In order not to go to jail, Bonnie and Clyde even shot back from the police: after killing one of them for trying to check documents, they had nothing to lose. True, when they began to look for them all over the country, Bonnie took several photographs that they were fighters for justice, and sent them to various newspapers. But it did not help. In total, the couple killed about two dozen ordinary people and at least nine police officers.
In total, the couple killed about two dozen ordinary people and at least nine police officers.
By the time he met Bonnie, Clyde had a whole gang of robbers, but they often worked together. Sometimes they were joined by one of the older Barrow brothers, mutual acquaintances and one of Bonnie's many lovers - Reynold Hamilton. According to rumors, Clyde also liked him ...
Both hijackers periodically went to jail for robbery (if the police had found out about the massacres, they would have been immediately executed). But usually they were able to free themselves quickly, either because of a lack of evidence or because they helped each other out. It’s unimaginable these days that guns could be handed over to a prison on a date, but in the 30s everything was possible, and Bonnie took advantage of it. Once Clyde was released at all after the request of his mother!
Lame criminals
Interestingly, at the end of their short lives, both began to limp.
When Clyde was sent to prison, he wanted to be sent to easier work - and cut off one and a half fingers on his left foot. True, he was soon released, but it was not possible to sew the severed back.
In 1933, Bonnie and Clyde had an accident - he lost control, and the car flew into a ditch. Bonnie's leg was severely burned by acid from the battery, and for the last year of her life she had difficulty moving.
End of story
Their criminal journey ended two years after it began. And ruined a couple ... sentimentality. Despite the fact that both left the parental home quite early, they periodically visited their families (who, of course, suspected something, but did not know for sure). So the police had the opportunity to track their routes.
- famous American robbers who operated during the Great Depression. The expression has become a household word to refer to lovers engaged in criminal activities. Killed by FBI agents.Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born October 1, 1910 in Rowena, Texas. When Bonnie was four years old, her father, a bricklayer by profession, died, and her mother moved to the suburbs of Dallas with three children. Despite the fact that her family lived in poverty, Bonnie made progress in school, especially excelling in literature.
On September 25, 1926, fifteen-year-old Bonnie, an attractive petite girl (with a height of 150 cm, she weighed only 41 kg), married a certain Roy Thornton.
In 1927, Bonnie began working as a waitress at Marco's Cafe in East Dallas.
Relations between the spouses did not work out. A year after his marriage, he began to regularly disappear for long weeks, and already in January 1929 they broke up. Shortly after the breakup (there was no official divorce, and Bonnie wore a wedding ring to her death), Thornton went to prison for five years.
Clyde Barrow
Clyde Chestnut Barrow was born March 24, 1909 near Telico, Texas. He was the fifth child in a family of seven or eight children, his parents were poor farmers.
At 16, Clyde leaves school. He starts to work, but does not stay in one place for a long time. He is becoming more and more interested in cars. Plays the saxophone. The police first arrested Clyde for stealing a car in 1926. A second arrest soon followed, after Clyde, along with his brother Buck, stole turkeys.
In 1928, he leaves home and settles with a friend. A few months later, Clyde decides to organize the thefts on his own. His first raid is on a gambling hall in Fort Bend County, where he disarms two guards at gunpoint with a broken gun. This is followed by a failed nighttime burglary attempt.
In late 1929 - early 1930, Clyde and Buck are wanted by the police of many cities at this time he meets Bonnie Parker.
The 1930s were the years of depression in the USA. January 13, 1930 Clyde Barrow walks into a Dallas diner, shortly after being released from the colony - he is served by a pretty blond waitress, as yet unknown to anyone, Bonnie Parker. What happened between them? What unknown force pulled them to each other? Love at first sight or sudden passion? Hardly: Perhaps Clyde seduced Bonnie with stories about the romance of robbery, about the unlimited freedom and power that can be achieved with weapons in hand? This is closer to the truth. Bonnie was sick and tired of living in a lousy cafe, she had long hated boorish customers and trays of dirty dishes. To work for a penny in a cheap eatery, to be married to a poor worker, to give birth to children who then would have nothing to feed, Bonnie did not want to.
I wanted to bring other colors into the faded everyday life. Diversity did not work out: Bonnie's life still remained monotonous, though the gray color changed to scarlet - the color of human blood ... "Little blond lump", as Bonnie wrote about herself in her diary, excited exciting stories about the life of a reckless tramp that Clyde told her. As a woman, she was of little interest to the leader of the gang. He changed his sexual orientation while still in prison and lost two toes under unclear circumstances. Bonnie was content with love affairs with other members of the gang. They fueled their friendship with stories of robberies and violent fights.
But we would err on the side of truth if we said that Clyde and Bonnie were cold and impassive. They were passionate about weapons. Together, they often went out of town to set up a shooting range. Perhaps, marksmanship from all types of weapons became the only science (Bonnie and Clyde were illiterate and did not even complete their primary education) in which they achieved perfection.
The sweet couple loved to be photographed with weapons: Bonnie, with a gun in her hands and a cigarette in her mouth, posed in front of the lenses. Clyde with a rifle in the photographs looked simpler - he lacked the artistry of his girlfriend. Bonnie admired the pistols her suitor wore in a coat holster and the power that came from the deadly guns.
Bonnie and Clyde Gang
They soon began working together. Their deadly odyssey began with a robbery of an arms depot in Texas in the spring of 1930. There they were armed to the teeth. The legend of the 'robing hoods', facilitating the wallets of moneybags, is untenable: the couple mainly robbed eateries, shops, gas stations. By the way, there was not much money to be made from robbing banks in those days - the Great Depression raked all the big money out of the banks, and the Clyde gang sometimes received more by robbing some roadside shop. But sometimes even 10 dollars was not collected at the box office.
The robbery scenario was usually as follows: Bonnie was driving a car, Clyde broke in and took the proceeds, then jumped into the car on the go, shooting back. If someone tried to resist, then he immediately received a bullet. However, they ruthlessly removed innocent bystanders. They were not just robbers, they were murderers, and on their account were both ordinary people like the owners of small shops and gas stations, and policemen, whom Clyde preferred to kill in order to avoid prison.
One day, the criminals kidnapped the sheriff, stripped him and, having tied him up, threw him on the side of the road with the words: ‘Tell your people that we are not. Get into the position of people trying to survive this damn depression.
Bonnie and Clyde, 1932
After the murder of the first policeman who decided to check the documents of a suspicious couple from the car, there was nothing to lose: now they were probably facing a death sentence. Therefore, Bonnie and Clyde went all out and, without hesitation, fired at people in any situation, even when they were practically not in danger. On August 5, 1932, two policemen spotted Clyde at a village festival. When they asked him to come up, the bandit put both of them down on the spot. A month later, breaking through the police posts on the road, the gang shot twelve guardians of the law. Pretty soon, more people joined their gang: Clyde's older brother Buck with his wife Blanche and a young boy S. W. Moss, whom they picked up at some gas station, seducing the "free life" of romantics from the main road. And also Bonnie's lover Raymond Hamilton, to whom Clyde also showed special feelings ...
Therefore, there was no unearthly love between Bonnie and Clyde by definition, although there was no doubt that they were really very devoted to each other: Bonnie at one time pulled Clyde out of prison, passing him weapons on a date, and Clyde later, when the police detained Bonnie, beat off his girlfriend by brazenly attacking the police station. The murders turned the bloody couple on more than sex or alcohol. Whiskey was drunk at night, and Bonnie wrote pompous romantic poems in which she lamented her fate ... and had fun with accomplices. They were united by the desire to live life cheerfully and brightly, and also brought together by a pathological passion for murder: that Bonnie, that Clyde killed people because they liked to do it. One of the gang members, a certain Jones, said during interrogation: ‘These two are monsters. I've never seen anyone enjoy killing so much.'
Bonnie and Clyde, 1932
Once in Kansas, Bonnie first saw a Wanted by Police poster with her image. The fact that she and Clyde became "celebrities" shocked Bonnie so much that she immediately sent a dozen letters to major newspapers with pictures that she and Clyde took on their criminal path. Bonnie, by all means available to her, supported the version that she and Clyde were fighters for justice. After all, the banks they rob belong to the powerful, not to poor farmers and small businessmen. Her work was later published in newspapers:
The wild customs of the raiders, their unbridled passions and base desires terrified people. Of course, they were constantly hunted by the police. However, for the time being, the Barrow gang was incredibly lucky, and they managed to slip out of the most ingenious police traps. However, it wasn't just luck. Bonnie and Clyde had absolutely nothing to lose, so any attempt by the cops to get this gang ran into a terrible lead shower of ‘Tommy Guns’…
Even at the very beginning of his criminal career, Clyde was arrested. The first time he escaped with the help of Bonnie, the second time the governor of the state succumbed to the tearful pleas of his mother and Clyde was released from prison on parole (!) Word. In 1933, when photographs of Bonnie and Clyde marked ‘Police Wanted’ adorned the streets of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, the gangsters were identified by the owner of the house they rented.
All police forces of the city of Lawton were thrown to capture the gang, but after a fierce shootout in which Clyde's brother Bob was killed, the criminals managed to hide in the nearby forest. The bloody couple miraculously escaped from the encirclement and moved to Texas to meet Clyde's mother. Here they were ambushed: the sheriff's people had been watching Cammy Barrow for a long time. Bonnie and Clyde received only scratches, but the car on which they fled from the cops, from the bullets, became like a sieve. Having licked their wounds, the Barrow gang again entered the ‘high road’. And again, criminal terror began: murders, car thefts, robberies. The FBI took over the raiders. The head of the department, Edward Hoover, called Clyde a mad animal, all forces were ordered to fire to kill. The hunt has begun...
Texas Sheriff Frank Hamer nevertheless crossed the path of a love couple. He analyzed each of their attacks, created maps and diagrams of their movements over the years, studied all the places of the raids and the paths they chose. “I wanted to penetrate their diabolical plans,” he said, “and I did it.” For several months, he and his assistants tracked down Bonnie and Clyde. But the criminals left right from under the nose. Finally, the father of one of the gang members, Henry Metvin, offered his help in the capture in exchange for pardoning his son. Henry Methvin gave the police the key to the house where the criminals were hiding. The house was surrounded by two dense police rings, all entrances to it were blocked.
Death of Bonnie and Clyde
On the morning of May 23, 1934, a stolen Ford appeared on the road. The driver was wearing dark glasses, and a woman in a new red dress was sitting next to him. Hidden in the car were two thousand rounds of ammunition, three rifles, twelve pistols, two pump-action shotguns and: a saxophone. Still, they had no hope. The sheriff's car drove towards them. Hamer got out of the car and ordered the bandits to surrender. Clyde immediately reached for his rifle, Bonnie for his revolver. But they hardly managed to fire at least one shot. Lead hail hit the car. More than five hundred bullets pierced the bodies of the gangsters, and they were literally torn apart, and the police continued to pour deadly fire on the riddled car ...
The front pages of American newspapers were full of reports of death. The mutilated bodies of the criminals were put on public display in the morgue, and those who wished for one dollar could look at them. There were quite a few curious people ... Photos of the killed bandits were published by all the newspapers. America breathed a sigh of relief. The inscription on her gravestone Bonnie reads: "As flowers bloom under the rays of the sun and the freshness of the dew, so the world becomes brighter thanks to people like you."
Beautiful love story which is built on blood, broken destinies and human lives.
In the early 2000s, Russia had a tradition of romanticizing criminals. Criminals were considered victims who were rejected by the world, sufferers who needed a helping hand. The romanticization of criminals began all over the world, and not just in our country.
Many thieves, rapists and murderers today act as rescuers and evoke sympathy among today's youth.
One of these heroes appear before Bonnie and Clyde - gangsters from america. These young people have achieved overwhelming popularity, films have been made about them, poems and songs have been written.
The first Bonnie and Clyde movie was made in 1967 and won two Oscars.
And who were these young people until the moment when the whole world started talking about them?
Bonnie and Clyde lived in times of constant economic crises, poverty and hunger. At this time, banditry flourishes, the authorities could not do anything about it.
Bonnie and Clyde were mafia structures and were what are commonly called "thugs". Personalities who are not accustomed to obeying anyone are surrounded by utter chaos and death is on their heels.
Young people were born in Texas. Their parents were ordinary hard workers, the girl's father worked as a bricklayer, and her mother sewed clothes for poor peasants. The young man grew up in a family where there were many children and there was not enough money.
Bonnie studied hard at school, was a leader in the team, had an excellent imagination and loved to participate in school productions.
Everyone knows that good girls fall in love with bad boys. At the age of 15 she met Roy's first love. Surrounding assumed that soon the young man would be in prison. In 1926, a young man proposes to Bonnie and they get married. The girl at that time worked in a local cafe.
A year later, the young people decided to divorce. Roy did not spend the night at home, he could not appear for several days, the girl was not intentional, to endure the antics of the newly-made hubby. Roy didn't really mind and let Bonnie go with ease. A few years later he was put behind bars.
Rape victim in prison
Clyde was a year older Bonnie went to jail for the first time at the age of 16. He was soon released, but the second time he was caught stealing domestic turkeys. Clyde was not afraid of prison. Despite the fact that he had a stable income, he always wanted to steal something.
At 21, Clyde is sent to Eastham Prison.
Something terrible happened to a young guy behind bars, because he became a completely different person. Cheerful Clyde, turned into an angry at the whole world who hated everyone.
There are suggestions that behind bars young man was raped, it is likely that this was repeated several times. Clyde killed the rapist.
Two years later goes free.
In the same year, Bonnie and Clyde met. Clyde is 22 years old, hates the whole world, Bonnie is 21 years old, works at a local cafe, wants to change her life, travel a lot and find her “bad boy”. Bonnie never aspired to have a family and children, the goal in life was fun. Clyde was the perfect candidate.
Bonnie and Clyde organized a small gang, which included a few other people. They were robbing stores.
Clyde had a goal - to punish the prison in which he had to endure such torment. He planned to organize a mass escape of prisoners, but for this he did not have the necessary money.
Clyde was not stopped by the fact that sometimes he had to kill people for profit.
Bonnie and Clyde were not afraid to be behind bars. One evening they were having fun in their apartment, where a shot was fired. The neighbors called the police.
In 1933, the police were at the house of gangsters who didn't want to give up, a shootout ensued. Young people managed to get away from law enforcement agencies.
In 1933, the gang gets into a car accident, where the girl suffered the most.
In 1934, Clyde managed to implement a revenge plan and organize a mass escape of prisoners. Everyone rose up in the fight against criminals: the authorities, the police and the local population.
In 1934 Bonnie and Clyde were shot in their own car, 69 bullets were counted in the guy's chest, and 78 in the girl's chest.
They began to make money on the corpses, they began to show them to the population for money. Their clothes cost a lot of money.
From the first day they met, young people dreamed of being buried nearby, but their dream did not come true.
To this day remains a mystery why of all the mafia organizations of that time, Bonnie and Clyde gained popularity.
Bonnie loved to be photographed, and she was considered a slutty girl, although if you look at these photos now, there is not a drop of debauchery in them. Society did not accept young people, not only because of mass robberies, but also because of sexual relations outside of marriage, at that time in America this was unacceptable.
Bonnie and Clyde are young people madly in love with each other, but behind these feelings are human lives, broken destinies and destroyed families ...
