The Case Study Report: The Life And Crime Of Bonnie And Clyde Barrow

Case Study Report: The Life and Crime of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow

The Story of Bonnie and Clyde has been told many times throughout History. The Crime duo spent their last two years on earth striking back at society and those who they saw held responsibility for the downfall that was occurring. The Couple Decided to take action during the Great depression. Their two year crime spree consisted of Murder, Kidnapping, Automobile theft, and Robbery. Bonnie Elizabeth Parker, born on October 1, 1910, to Henry and Emma Parker in Rowena, Texas. The family lived quite a normal life. In 1914, Bonnie’s family moved to West Dallas to be closer to other relatives following the death of her father. She attended a public school,
where she was labeled an honor student; she interested herself in reading, and writing poetry. That didn’t seem to be enough for Bonnie though. Becoming bored with her average life, she dropped out of school at the age of 16. In 1926 she married her “long-time sweetheart, Ray Thornton” (Strickland1). Even though the marriage wasn’t the best and Roy ended up being arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for robbery, Bonnie decided that she was not going to divorce. In 1929, around the time her husband was sent to prison, Bonnie lost the job she had working as a waitress at Marco’s Café. Bonnie was out of a Job, and the Great Depression was just beginning.
Clyde Chestnut Barrow, Born on March 24, 1909, to Henry and Cummie Barrow, in Ellis County, Texas.
Clyde’s family were tenant farmers and they didn’t make much money. The family eventually moved to Dallas in 1922 and from there Clyde began his life of crime. In 1926, Clyde got in some trouble for running from the police after being confronted about not returning a rental car. Barrow used a rental car to go visit Anne, who at the time was his girlfriend. After the contract between clyde and the rental company was broken, which stated that he was to return the car after 24 hours, the company became suspicious and asked authorities to look into it. Clyde eventually returned the car and the rental company dropped the charges. Clyde didn’t take his close run in with law into consideration. Back in Dallas he joined a gang. “These miscreants called themselves “The Root Square Gang”.”(Hendley 5). The gang could be found stealing things like car tires, which they would sell for
liquor.
In January of 1930, Bonnie and Clyde were introduced. Bonnie was out of work and was staying with a friend to assist her with her broken arm. Clyde just happened to stop by the house while bonnie was there. The two instantly fell for each other but before they could really get to know each other, Clyde was jailed for previous crimes. Bonnie was devastated by the arrest and the two began planning Clyde’s escape. On March 11, 1930, their plans succeeded as Clyde escaped using a gun that bonnie had smuggled to him. A week later Clyde was recaptured and was sentenced to serve 14 years at the Eastham Prison Farm. Police who were assigned in finding bonnie and Clyde only worked off tips they received from the public.
Not too many articles state exactly what law enforcers were doing to catch the couple but what was stated is how they came about knowing of the couple. The FBI became interested in the duo around December of 1932. Officers responded to the report of a stolen ford which was later found abandoned holding a small piece of evidence. In the car, police found a prescription bottle. Officers researched more and found that the prescription had been filled for clyde’s aunt. Further investigation showed that the aunt had recently been visited by the gang and that they had been seen driving a ford car, identified as one that had been stolen from Illinois. On May 20, 1930, the US Commissioner of Texas issued a warrant for the couples arrest. FBI began their hunt for the exclusive pair. The gang took part in many robberies which made headlines across the country. On multiple occasions they escaped encounters with the law. On April 13, 1933 police received noise complaint and witnesses said that they believed the noisy people were none other than the well known Bonnie and Clyde. Using this tip police surrounded the house and began a
shootout. Other precautions should have been taken in order to bring these criminals to justice. Instead of acting on tips, I believe law enforcement should have followed up more closely on the case. I think if they did so, they would’ve have been able to keep better tabs on the gang and the two would have been captured long before they could cause the damage that was inflicted. Finally police being to notice a pattern in their travels and realized that they would soon be paying someone a visit. Police confiscated the vehicle of a fellow gang member henry methvin, and set it along side of the road. Hoping the truck would catch the attention of the couple and stop them, police got in place for the ambush. Just as planned, Clyde saw the truck and began to slow down. That’s when police opened fire on the stolen ford V8 and it was all over. Bonnie and Clyde’s crime spree and came to an end. Over the years following the death of the crime duo Bonnie and clyde, there has been many people to highlight what the couple did through music, movies, and stories. also people try to reenact the couples actions at times. the media had a high influence on Bonnie and Clyde’s crimes. With everything they did, there was a newspaper article about it. Just recently a movie was released highlighting the couples actions. The movie touched on some major points in their lives but according to some history readings, a lot of the information shown was incorrect.

Work Cited

Hendley, Nate. "Bonnie and Clyde: A Biography." . Greenwood Publshing, n.d. Web. 16 Dec 2013.
Long, C.. N.p.. Web. 16 Dec 2013. .
Staff, FindingDulcinea. "On This Day: Bonnie and Clyde Shot Dead in Louisiana." FindingDulcinea. 23 May 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. .
Strickland, K.. N.p.. Web. 16 Dec 2013. .

rosenberg, J.. N.p.. Web. 16 Dec 2013. .