How They Were Caught: Bonnie and Clyde

hitting the road and taking on whatever was in their way these two young lovers shared a passion love devotion and loyalty all wrapped up in the midst of a life on the run but their time together both as a couple and as criminals would be short-lived as the outlaws crimes began to make the headlines the pair would soon become known as the infamous Bonnie and Clyde in her early life before she met Clyde young Bonnie Parker only a week shy of turning 16 would marry Rory Thornton their relationship is said to have been strained for sometime and eventually Roy would end up behind bars for murder in his early life before he met Bonnie young Clyde already had a record with the law for nonviolent crimes mostly thefts done alongside his older brother buck in January 1930 in West Dallas while visiting a mutual friend the pair crossed paths unbeknownst to them this moment would mark the birth of Bonnie and Clyde as we know them having been married to a man in prison for murder Bonnie was no stranger to bad boys and apparently she liked what she saw in Clyde needless to say Clyde was quite pleased with what he saw in Bonnie as well instantly hitting it off it wouldn't be long before the two became inseparable some weeks later Clyde went to visit Bonnie at her mother's home what was likely intended to be a nice time turned out to be where Clyde's life a crime would once again catch up with him he was arrested by Dallas police for several burglaries in the surrounding area setting a perfect stage for Bonnie to prove her loyalty to the thief who'd stolen her heart the following month Clyde was sentenced to serve seven two-year terms to be served concurrently but he had no intentions on doing his time while in McLennan County Jail he conspired a plan to escape and enlisted his newfound love to his system Bonnie obliged smuggling a gun to Clyde which he successfully used to carry out his escape in a week's time Clyde and his accomplices traveled from Texas to southwestern Ohio in stolen vehicles committing a string of robberies along the way while they got pretty far in miles they would only get so far in their freedom they were captured and sent back to Texas where Clyde was sentenced to 14 years in prison his original sentence served consecutively as opposed to concurrently [Music] 14 years is quite a long time for lovers to be apart the two stayed in touch through letters for a while but they began to wane in frequency on Bonnie's part eventually stopping all together the thought of waiting 14 years for Clyde might have seemed daunting to Bonnie she moved on to a new boyfriend January 1932 assigned to the cotton fields at Eastham prison farm Clyde wanted so badly to get out of the grueling manual labour that it would take an act of desperation to finagle his way out whether it was self-inflicted or assisted Clyde would wind up with two of his toes the big toe and a small piece of the second toe and his left foot chopped off the amputation sank Clyde to the prison hospital where he could recover from the injury his ploy had worked but it cost him his balance which resulted in the permanent limp to add insult to injury within a week of the chop Clyde was paroled by the governor after Great petitioning by his mother rendering his body sacrifice pointless he was released from prison in February of 1932 and set out to find Bonnie it was clear that what they shared was a bond so profound greater than any other love affair either of them may have had because the moment Clyde showed up at Bonnie's door the two were once again deeply and madly in love and just like that they were back together Clyde tried a number of times to make an honest living but his efforts didn't seem to pay off he eventually gave up resorting to what he knew best a life of crime wasting little time Clyde formed a gang that will become known as the Barrow gang which was made up of Clyde in a rotating roster of fellow criminals the gang made money by robbing a number of businesses such as gas stations banks and stores April 1932 Clyde puts a plan together for a prison break of East him the prison he'd done time in to release a few of his associates Bonnie assisted with preparation for the prison break but after a series of very unfortunate events she was captured by authorities and thrown in jail up until this point the gang was mostly nonviolent in their crimes but while bonnie was in jail one of the members of the gang shot and killed a man during a robbery up a store making it their first kill a few months later bonnie was released by a grand jury after claiming she was kidnapped by the two men hide in one of his associates and that they had forced her to accompany them on their botched robbery despite her mother's pleas for her to end everything with Clyde bonnie was soon back in his arms after her release in August 1932 as prohibition dragged on an evening out with the two other accomplices would take Clyde from being known as a simple thief to a dangerous killer the trio happened to find a small town dance and their behavior got a bit too rowdy as the sheriff approached the car two of them had been sitting in to arrest them for drinking they opened fire creating chaos and killing an undersheriff because Clyde in one of the accomplices was wanted for murder of the store clerk they knew their arrest for the drinking would quickly be followed by the murder charges the fugitives were officially on the run the couple along with various companions would meander through the South and Midwest for the next few months they wrap small businesses to keep them going their notoriety grew around the area as the group made headlines with their crimes Bonnie who always wanted to be famous was finally getting the attention she'd crave as part of the gang within a four month span two Ford vehicles were found abandoned on the side of the road one was from Illinois found in Oklahoma in September of 1932 and the other was from pasca Oklahoma found near Jackson Michigan in December of the same year inside the vehicle found in Oklahoma authorities found abandoned items evidently belonging to a man and woman of those items was a prescription bottle from a pharmacy in Nacogdoches Texas it was found the bottle belonged to none other than Clyde SOT who had recently been visited by Bonnie and Clyde as well as Clyde's brother LC who had gotten the bottle from their own son this marks the first federal crime committed by the gang that can be pinned to them putting them in the jurisdiction of the federal law enforcement for transporting a stolen car across state lines while the authorities had discovered their possessions the pair was long gone as the pursuit of Bonnie and Clyde escalated it would seem that law enforcement were always just one step behind them multiple showdowns with the gang soon followed April 1933 the couple is now in Joplin Missouri with their accomplice WD Jones as well as Clyde's brother buck who had just recently been released from Eastham prison along with his wife Blanche while there the group stayed in an apartment and had attracted some unwanted attention from the neighbors one day on the suspicion of bootlegging the authorities were notified and came out to investigate but were met with gunfire as the gang fled the apartment killing two police officers in the process WD buck and Clyde all sustained injuries in the action as they escaped during the ambush a camera belonging to the group was left behind containing photos of the outlaws the world would finally get a glimpse of the infamous gang through their very own lens there was also a poetry from bunny found at the scene as well an exciting new piece of evidence that had emerged from the action would quickly make its way to the public through newspaper publications the publishing of these photos and their exploits soon with the gang famous throughout the country their glamour mixed with their danger made them an enjoyable escape from the reality of the depression this also marked the first time Bonnie got any specific attention as part of the gang the gang remained on the run for the next few months with a warrant out for their arrest for the transportation of a stolen car across state lines issued by the United States commissioner at Dallas Texas in June of 1933 while on the move the Ganga into a car wreck that left bodies suffering from a severe battery acid burn down her leg after the accident the gang would lie low for a bit as Bonnie healed from her injury with the aid of her sister whom they fetched from Dallas and now like her lover she too had her walking impaired shortly thereafter back-to-back altercations with authorities would ensue just days apart the first gunfight took place at of motor Court in Platte City Missouri where the group had been taking shelter shots were exchanged as the game once again made their escape in the heat of the moment buck was shot in the head but survived while Blanche was left partially blind from broken glass entering her eyes a few days later at an abandoned theme park in Iowa the battle continued with authorities who'd caught up to the bandits once more only this time balking Blanche's journey with the gang would cease while Bonnie Clyde and WD managed to escape the altercation buck who took a bullet to his back and his wife Blanche for captured buck died days later at the hospital and Blanche was extradited back to Missouri for the previous showdown in Platte City she was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her involvement the gang further dwindled as WD decided to exit the gang but not long after his exit he too would be captured Bonnie and Clyde were now on their own just the two lovers who happened to also be outlaws ready for whatever was ahead in January 1934 Clyde circled back to his original plan and was finally able to pull off the Prison Break he plotted earlier that was never buried out the scheme broke free five inmates and killed one guard in the process now freed some of the men joined the gang one of whom was Henry Methvin after the incident former Texas Ranger Frank hammer was hired by the state to hunt down the pair to help him capture the fugitives hammer studied the couple's moves in an attempt to anticipate their next steps they continued their spree killing a number of officers along the way but little did they know that the family of Henry Methvin was cooking up a deal with authorities while accounts differ on the involvement of the Methvin family they had made a deal to help ambush and capture the gang in exchange for Henry's immunity the plan was put into action the couple was expected to travel down highway 154 which led toward the Methvin home authorities awaited the wanted couple who soon came traveling down the road as they appeared within view authorities would take no chance of losing them the moment closed in and guns were drawn without hesitation shots were fired riddling the car with bullets bringing Bonnie and Clyde to a crashing halt authorities didn't hold back to insure the bandits would not get away again they continued shooting at them making certain that they were dead Bonnie and Clyde lived their final moments side-by-side meeting their fate in a defenseless final showdown their thrilling love affair and wild criminal spree finally came to an end on May 23rd 1934 at 9:15 a.m. upon their death locals clamor to the scene to catch a glimpse of the notorious duo some reportedly tried to take souvenirs from the scene including Bonnie's wedding ring news of Bonnie and Clyde's ultimate demise spread throughout the country bringing a closing chapter to a story that captivated the nation separate public funerals were held for each of them with tens of thousands of people reported to be in attendance but the two were not buried together reportedly because of Bonnie's mother's refusal to do so however Bonnie's niece and Clyde's nephew are trying to get Bonnie moved into the empty plot next to Clyde among the relics of Bonnie and Clyde the car the two were murdered in was purchased and toured around the country for people to see the tale of Bonnie and Clyde is one of devotion for better or for worse becoming a symbol and pop culture for couples who pride themselves on having one another's backs through it all and for the long haul or at least till death do they part [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeed Unsolved Network

Views: 1,272,339

Keywords: PL-HowTheyWereCaught, SffZ, american, anti hero, bonnie and clyde, bonnie and clyde story, buzzfeed, buzzfeed unsolved, buzzfeed unsolved network, buzzfeedunsolved, crime, crime cases, criminals, explained, famous criminals, famous robbers, history, how bonnie and clyde were caught, how they died, how they were caught, how they were killed, investigate, investigation, robbery, true crime, urban legends

Id: 876JTKU8Mek

Length: 14min 7sec (847 seconds)

Published: Tue May 26 2020