The Bloody End Of Bonnie And Clyde Was On This Day

On May 23rd, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde's reign of terror ended.

By Unknown author - Rare photo shows Bonnie and Clyde before their bloody end NT Post, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2755727

Real Life

Real life is not like Hollywood movies. Bonnie and Clyde were very bad people. "But they loved each other" isn't a good excuse for romanticizing their crime spree. The F.B.I. believes the due were responsible for about 13 murders (some sources say 12), with nine of those being police officers. Along with murder the duo were responsible for robberies, kidnapping and more.

The Romance

Bonnie Parker had left her husband Roy Horton who she had married a few days shy of her 16th birthday. Horton was frequently absent, no doubt due in part to his frequent brushes with the law. She was 19 when she met the 21-year-old bachelor Clyde Barrow. The two were smitten with each other but he soon went to jail for a burglary. Bonnie snuck him a gun to bust out but he was quickly caught. He was sent back to jail and paroled two years later. That's when the real crime spree began.

The Crimes

Barrow reportedly killed his first man in prison and came out a hardened man. He hooked back up with Bonnie and the real crime spree began. The duo (and the larger "Barrow Gang") had a fondness for robbing stores, gas stations, small banks and even funeral homes. Barrow's motivation was not reportedly money, but to "get back" at the prison system that treated him so harshly. Bonnie was not innocent in any of this, but we're not here to recount all of their crimes, only their last day.

The End

On the morning of May 23rd a posse managed to get ahead of the duo. They parked a truck by the side of the road hoping that Clyde Barrow would stop to see what was going on. He did indeed begin to slow down but before he could stop the gunfire began. Lawmen from Texas and Louisiana fired about 130 rounds, leaving 112 holes in the car. Clyde Barrow had 17 bullet wounds and Bonnie Parker had 26 (the couple's corpses were so shot up the funeral home had trouble embalming them). Today, May 23rd 1934, was the end of the road for Bonnie and Clyde.

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Gallery Credit: Stryker