Editing Bonnie and Clyde (section)

== Armed robbery and murder ==
=== 1932: Early robberies and murders ===
{{Further|Barrow Gang}}

[[File:BonnieParkerCigar1933.jpg|thumb|Parker's pose with a cigar and a revolver cultivated her portrayal in the press as a 'cigar-smoking gun moll' after police discovered the undeveloped film at the Joplin residence.]]
After Barrow's release from prison in February 1932, he and [[Ralph Fults]] began a series of robberies, primarily of stores and gas stations.<ref name=":0" /> Their goal was to collect enough money and firepower to launch a raid against Eastham prison.<ref name="eastham" /> On April 19, Parker and Fults were captured in a failed hardware store [[burglary]] in [[Kaufman, Texas|Kaufman]] in which they had intended to steal firearms.<ref>Guinn, pp. 103–04</ref> Parker was released from jail after a few months, when the [[grand jury]] failed to [[indictment|indict]] her. Fults was tried, convicted, and served time. He never rejoined the gang. Parker wrote poetry to pass the time in [[Kaufman County, Texas|Kaufman County]] jail,<ref>Guinn, p. 109.</ref><ref group=notes>Parker composed these poems in an old bankbook, which the jailer's wife had given her to use as paper. Some were her own work, and some were songs and poems she copied from memory. She titled the lot ''Poetry From Life's Other Side''. After being released from jail, she either left it behind or gave it to the jailer. In 2007, the bankbook sold for $36,000. [http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=WholeCataloguePrint&iSaleNo=15291 Item 5337] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708082454/http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=WholeCataloguePrint&iSaleNo=15291 |date=July 8, 2011}} [http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=aboutus Bonhams 1793: Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227083936/http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=aboutus |date=February 27, 2010}}</ref> and reunited with Barrow within a few weeks of her release.

On April 30, Barrow was the getaway driver in a robbery in [[Hillsboro, Texas|Hillsboro]], during which store owner J.N. Bucher was shot and killed.<ref>Ramsey, Winston G., ed. (2003). ''On The Trail of Bonnie and Clyde: Then and Now''. London: After The Battle Books. {{ISBN|1-870067-51-7}}, p. 53</ref> Bucher's wife identified Barrow from police photographs as one of the shooters, although he had stayed inside the car.

On August 5, Barrow, [[Raymond Hamilton]], and Ross Dyer were drinking [[moonshine]] at a country dance in [[Stringtown, Oklahoma]], when Sheriff C.G. Maxwell and Deputy Eugene C. Moore approached them in the parking lot. Barrow and Hamilton opened fire, killing Moore and gravely wounding Maxwell.<ref>Guinn, p. 120</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Deputy Sheriff Eugene C. Moore |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/9549-deputy-sheriff-eugene-c.-moore |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page |access-date=November 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212204724/http://www.odmp.org/officer/9549-deputy-sheriff-eugene-c.-moore |archive-date=December 12, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Moore was the first law officer whom Barrow and his gang killed. They eventually murdered nine. On October 11, they allegedly killed Howard Hall at his store during a robbery in [[Sherman, Texas]], though some historians consider this unlikely.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kxii.com/news/headlines/On-80th-anniversary-Clyde-Barrow-no-longer-said-to-be-Sherman-murder-173800241.html|title=On 80th anniversary, Clyde Barrow no longer said to be Sherman murder|work=[[KXII]]|last=Powell|first=Steven|date=October 11, 2012|access-date=August 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903082116/http://www.kxii.com/news/headlines/On-80th-anniversary-Clyde-Barrow-no-longer-said-to-be-Sherman-murder-173800241.html|archive-date=September 3, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[W. D. Jones]] had been a friend of Barrow's family since childhood. He joined Parker and Barrow on Christmas Eve 1932 at the age of 16, and the three left Dallas that night.<ref>Guinn, p. 147</ref> The next day, Christmas Day 1932, Jones and Barrow murdered Doyle Johnson, a young family man, while stealing his car in [[Temple, Texas|Temple]].<ref>Ramsey, pp. 80–85</ref> Barrow killed [[Tarrant County, Texas|Tarrant County]] Deputy Malcolm Davis on January 6, 1933, when he, Parker, and Jones wandered into a police trap set for another criminal.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deputy Malcolm Davis |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/3880-deputy-malcolm-davis |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page |access-date=November 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212053617/http://www.odmp.org/officer/3880-deputy-malcolm-davis |archive-date=December 12, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The gang had murdered five people since April.

=== 1933: Buck and Blanche Barrow join the gang ===
[[File:BarrowJoplinHideout1933.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Bonnie & Clyde Garage Apartment|gang's Joplin hideout]]. Recovered photos and Bonnie's "Suicide Sal" poem were published in newspapers nationwide.<br />{{Coord|37.051671|-94.516693|display=inline|region:US-MO|name=Site of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow Garage Apartment}}]]
On March 22, 1933, Clyde's brother Buck was granted a full [[pardon]] and released from prison, and he and his wife [[Blanche Barrow|Blanche]] set up housekeeping with Bonnie, Clyde and Jones in a temporary hideout at [[Bonnie & Clyde Garage Apartment|3347 1/2 Oakridge Drive]] in [[Joplin, Missouri]]. According to family sources,<ref>Barrow and Phillips, pp. 31–33. Blanche's book tells of the gang's two-week "vacation" in Joplin.</ref> Buck and Blanche were there to visit; they attempted to persuade Clyde to surrender to law enforcement. The group ran loud, alcohol-fueled card games late into the night in the quiet neighborhood; Blanche recalled that they "bought a case of beer a day".<ref>Barrow and Phillips, p. 45</ref> The men came and went noisily at all hours, and Clyde accidentally fired a [[M1918 Browning automatic rifle|Browning automatic rifle]] (BAR) in the apartment while cleaning it.<ref>Barrow and Phillips, p. 243 n30.</ref> No neighbors went to the house, but one reported suspicions to the [[Joplin Police Department]].

The police assembled a five-man force in two cars on April 13 to confront what they suspected were [[Rum-running|bootleggers]] living at the Oakridge Drive address. The Barrow brothers and Jones opened fire, killing Detective Harry L. McGinnis outright and fatally wounding Constable J. W. Harryman.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/8972-detective-harry-l.-mcginnis |title=Detective Harry L. McGinnis |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page |access-date=November 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091002160220/http://www.odmp.org/officer/8972-detective-harry-l.-mcginnis |archive-date=October 2, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Constable J.W. Harryman |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/6155-constable-j.-w.-Dallasharryman |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page |access-date=November 5, 2009}}</ref> Parker opened fire with a BAR as the others fled, forcing [[Missouri Highway Patrol|Highway Patrol]] Sergeant G.B. Kahler to duck behind a large oak tree. The [[.30-06 Springfield|.30 caliber bullets]] from the BAR struck the tree and forced wood splinters into the sergeant's face.<ref>Ballou, James L., ''Rock in a Hard Place: The Browning Automatic Rifle'', Collector Grade Publications (2000), p. 78.</ref> Parker got into the car with the others, and they pulled in Blanche from the street where she was pursuing her dog Snow Ball.<ref>Parker, Cowan and Fortune, p. 114.</ref> The surviving officers later testified that they had fired only fourteen rounds in the conflict;<ref>Ramsey, p. 102.</ref> one hit Jones on the side, one struck Clyde but was deflected by his suit-coat button, and one grazed Buck after [[ricochet]]ing off a wall.

[[File:WDJonesAndGuns1933.jpg|thumb|[[W. D. Jones]] committed two murders in his first two weeks with Barrow at age 16. The cut-down shotgun is one of his "whippet" guns.]]
[[File:Bonnie apuntant de broma a Clyde amb una escopeta.jpg|thumb|Bonnie with a shotgun reaches for a pistol in Clyde's waistband.]]

The group escaped the police at Joplin, but left behind most of their possessions at the apartment, including Buck's parole papers (three weeks old), a large arsenal of weapons, a handwritten poem by Bonnie, and a camera with several rolls of undeveloped film.<ref>Parker, Cowan and Fortune, p. 115</ref> Police developed the film at ''[[The Joplin Globe]]'' and found many photos of Barrow, Parker, and Jones posing and pointing weapons at one another.<ref>Ramsey pp. 108–13.</ref> The ''Globe'' sent the poem and the photos over the [[newswire]], including a photo of Parker clenching a cigar in her teeth and a [[pistol]] in her hand.<ref group="notes">Parker did smoke cigarettes, although she never smoked cigars.</ref> The Barrow Gang subsequently became front-page news throughout America.

The photo of Parker posing with a cigar and a gun became popular. In his book ''Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde'', writer Jeff Guinn noted:

{{blockquote|[[John Dillinger]] had matinee-idol good looks and [[Pretty Boy Floyd]] had the best possible nickname, but the Joplin photos introduced new criminal superstars with the most titillating trademark of all—illicit sex. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were wild and young, and undoubtedly slept together.<ref>{{cite book |title= Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde |author1=Guinn, Jeff |date=2010 |pages=174–76 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]  |location=New York|isbn= 978-1-4711-0575-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uZv9yMrfMmYC&q=Go%20Down%20Together%3A%20The%20True%2C%20Untold%20Story%20of%20Bonnie%20and%20Clyde |access-date=November 22, 2013}}</ref>}}

The group ranged from Texas as far north as [[Minnesota]] for the next three months. In May, they tried to rob the bank in [[Lucerne, Indiana]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://casscountyin.tripod.com/bankheist.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010134253/http://casscountyin.tripod.com/bankheist.htm|url-status=dead|title=bank_heist|archivedate=October 10, 2011|website=casscountyin.tripod.com}}</ref> and robbed the bank in [[Okabena, Minnesota]].<ref>Ramsey, pp. 118, 122</ref> They [[kidnapping|kidnapped]] Dillard Darby and Sophia Stone at [[Ruston, Louisiana]], in the course of stealing Darby's car; this was one of several events between 1932 and 1934 in which they kidnapped police officers or robbery victims.<ref group=notes>Victims of kidnapping included: Deputy Joe Johns on August 14, 1932; Officer Thomas Persell on January 26, 1933; civilians Dillard Darby and Sophia Stone on April 27, 1933; Sheriff George Corry and Chief Paul Hardy on June 10, 1933; Chief Percy Boyd on April 6, 1934.</ref> They usually released their [[hostage]]s far from home, sometimes with money to help them return.<ref name="riding" /><ref name="dallasnews">Anderson, Brian. [http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2003/bonnieclyde/story.html "Reality less romantic than outlaw legend"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225034912/http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2003/bonnieclyde/story.html |date=February 25, 2008 }}. ''The Dallas Morning News''. April 19, 2003.</ref>

Stories of such encounters made headlines, as did the more violent episodes. The Barrow Gang did not hesitate to shoot anyone who got in their way, whether it was a police officer or an innocent civilian. Other members of the gang who committed murder included Hamilton, Jones, Buck, and [[Henry Methvin]]. Eventually, the cold-bloodedness of their murders opened the public's eyes to the reality of their crimes, and led to their ends.<ref>Guinn, pp. 286–88</ref>

The photos entertained the public for a time, but the gang was desperate and discontented, as described by Blanche in her account written while imprisoned in the late 1930s.<ref>Barrow and Phillips, p. 56</ref><ref group=notes>Blanche wrote that she felt "all my hopes and dreams tumbling down around me" as they fled Joplin.</ref> With their new notoriety, their daily lives became more difficult as they tried to evade discovery. Restaurants and motels became less secure; they resorted to campfire cooking and bathing in cold streams.<ref>Parker, Cowan and Fortune, pp. 116–17</ref> The unrelieved, round-the-clock proximity of five people in one car gave rise to vicious bickering.<ref>Jones' ''Playboy'' interview, Barrow and Phillips, p. 65</ref><ref group=notes>Barrow's sister Marie described her brother Buck as "the meanest, most hot-tempered" of all her siblings. Phillips, p. 343 n20</ref> Jones was the driver when he and Barrow stole a car belonging to Darby in late April, and he used that car to leave the others. He stayed away until June 8.<ref>Treherne, p. 123; Blanche describes the cramped conditions in her book, pp. 70–71.</ref>

Barrow failed to see warning signs at a bridge under construction on June 10, while driving with Jones and Parker near [[Wellington, Texas]], and the car flipped into a ravine.<ref name="riding" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/map/show_map.aspx?Layer=2&Query=ATLAS_NUM%3D5087004218 |title=Red River Plunge of Bonnie and Clyde – Marker Number: 4218 |date=1975 |website=Texas Historic Sites Atlas |publisher=Texas Historical Commission |access-date=July 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210225359/http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/map/show_map.aspx?Layer=2&Query=ATLAS_NUM%3D5087004218 |archive-date=December 10, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sources disagree on whether there was a gasoline fire<ref>James R. Knight, "Incident at Alma: The Barrow Gang in Northwest Arkansas", ''The Arkansas Historical Quarterly'', Vol. 56, No. 4 (Arkansas Historical Association Winter, 1997) 401. {{JSTOR|40027888}}.</ref> or if Parker was doused with acid from the car's battery under the floorboards,<ref>Guinn, pp. 191–94</ref><ref group=notes>Six witnesses at a farmhouse described battery acid as the culprit; the open-fire story started with the Parker-Cowan-Fortune book; it was repeated in Jones' ''Playboy'' interview.</ref> but she sustained [[third-degree burn]]s to her right leg, so severe that the muscles contracted and caused the leg to "draw up".<ref>Parker, Cowan and Fortune, p. 132</ref> Jones observed: "She'd been burned so bad none of us thought she was gonna live. The hide on her right leg was gone, from her hip down to her ankle. I could see the bone at places."<ref>W. D. Jones, Riding with Bonnie and Clyde, Playboy, November 1968</ref>

Parker could hardly walk; she either hopped on her good leg or was carried by Barrow. They got help from a nearby farm family, then kidnapped [[Collingsworth County, Texas|Collinsworth County]] Sheriff George Corry and City Marshal Paul Hardy, leaving the two of them handcuffed and barbed-wired to a tree outside [[Erick, Oklahoma]]. The three rendezvoused with Buck and Blanche, and hid in a tourist court near [[Fort Smith, Arkansas]], nursing Parker's burns. Buck and Jones bungled a robbery and murdered Town Marshal Henry D. Humphrey in [[Alma, Arkansas]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Town Marshal Henry D. Humphrey |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/6841-town-marshal-henry-d.-humphrey |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page |access-date=November 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212034201/http://www.odmp.org/officer/6841-town-marshal-henry-d.-humphrey |archive-date=December 12, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The criminals had to flee, despite Parker's grave condition.<ref>Ramsey, p. 150</ref>

=== Platte City ===
{{Main|Red Crown Tourist Court}}
[[File:RedCrownBarrowHideout1933.jpg|thumb|The two-unit [[Red Crown Tourist Court]], where the gang's conspicuous behavior drew police. Buck was mortally wounded in the ensuing gunfight. {{Coord|39.31194|-94.68639|display=inline|region:US-MO|name=1933 Site of Red Crown Tourist Court Platte City, Missouri}}]]

In July 1933, the gang checked in to the [[Red Crown Tourist Court]]<ref name="platte">Vasto, Mark. [http://www.plattecountylandmark.com/Article792.htm "Local lawmen shoot it out with notorious bandits"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527073111/http://www.plattecountylandmark.com/Article792.htm |date=May 27, 2008 }}. Platte County Landmark. Retrieved May 25, 2008.</ref> south of [[Platte City, Missouri]]. It consisted of two brick cabins joined by garages, and the gang rented both.<ref name="platte" /> To the south stood the Red Crown Tavern, a popular restaurant among [[Missouri Highway Patrol]]men, and the gang seemed to go out of their way to draw attention.<ref>Knight, James R. and Jonathan Davis (2003). ''Bonnie and Clyde: A Twenty-First-Century Update''. Waco, Texas: Eakin Press. {{ISBN|1-57168-794-7}}. p. 100</ref> Blanche registered the party as three guests, but owner Neal Houser could see five people getting out of the car. He noted that the driver backed into the garage "gangster style" for a quick getaway.<ref name="Guinn, p 211">Guinn, p. 211</ref>

[[File:BlancheCapturedExfield1933.jpg|thumb|[[Blanche Barrow|Blanche]] is captured at Dexfield Park, Iowa, still in her [[jodhpurs]].<br />{{Coord|41.564388|-94.228942|display=inline|region:US-IA|name=Site of Barrow Gang shootout at Dexfield Park, Iowa}}]]
Blanche paid for their cabins with coins rather than bills, and did the same later when buying five dinners and five beers.<ref>Knight and Davis, p. 112.</ref><ref group=notes>The gang had many coins because they had broken into the gumball machines at the three service stations that they robbed in [[Fort Dodge, Iowa]], earlier that day. Guinn, pp. 210–11</ref> The next day, Houser noticed that his guests had taped newspapers over the windows of their cabin; Blanche again paid for five meals with coins. Her outfit of [[jodhpurs|jodhpur]] riding breeches<ref>Parker, Cowan and Fortune, p. 117</ref> also attracted attention; they were not typical attire for women in the area, and eyewitnesses still remembered them 40 years later.<ref name="Guinn, p 211" /> Houser told Captain William Baxter of the Highway Patrol, a patron of his restaurant, about the group.<ref name="platte" />

Barrow and Jones went into town<ref group=notes>Sources are split on this; most say that it was Blanche who went to town, but she recounted it as Clyde and Jones; p. 112</ref> to purchase bandages, crackers, cheese, and [[atropine sulfate]] to treat Parker's leg.<ref>Barrow and Phillips, p. 112</ref> The druggist contacted Sheriff [[Holt Coffey]], who put the cabins under surveillance. Coffey had been alerted by Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas law enforcement to watch for strangers seeking such supplies. The sheriff contacted Captain Baxter, who called for reinforcements from [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]], including an [[Armored car (VIP)|armored car]].<ref name="platte" /> Sheriff Coffey led a group of officers toward the cabins at 11 p.m. on July 20, 1933, armed with [[Thompson submachine gun]]s.<ref name="redcrown">[http://texashideout.tripod.com/redcrown.html "Red Crown Incident"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526182154/http://texashideout.tripod.com/redcrown.html |date=May 26, 2008 }}. TexasHideout. Retrieved May 25, 2008.</ref>

[[File:WDJones1933.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|W. D. Jones' confession triggered murder warrants against the gang.]]
In the gunfight that ensued, the officers' .45 caliber Thompsons proved no match for Barrow's .30 caliber BAR, stolen on July 7 from the [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] armory at [[Enid, Oklahoma]].<ref>Ramsey, p. 153</ref> The gang escaped when a bullet short-circuited the horn on the armored car<ref group=notes>The armored car was an ordinary automobile that had been fortified with panels of extra boilerplate.</ref> and the police officers mistook it for a cease-fire signal. They did not pursue the retreating Barrow vehicle.<ref name="platte" />

The gang had evaded the law once again, but Buck had been wounded by a bullet that blasted a large hole in the bone of his forehead and exposed his injured brain. Blanche was also nearly blinded by glass fragments.<ref name="platte" /><ref>Barrow and Phillips, pp. 119–21</ref>

=== Dexfield Park ===
The Barrow Gang camped at Dexfield Park, an abandoned [[amusement park]] near [[Dexter, Iowa]], on July 24, 1933.<ref name="riding" /><ref name="road">{{cite web|last=Vasto |first=Mark |url=http://www.plattecountylandmark.com/Article790.htm |title=In Search of Bonnie and Clyde, Part III: Further on up the road |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527073101/http://www.plattecountylandmark.com/Article790.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2008 |location=[[Platte County, MO]] |newspaper=The Landmark |access-date=May 25, 2008}}</ref> Buck was sometimes semiconscious, and he even talked and ate, but his massive head wound and loss of blood were so severe that Barrow and Jones dug a grave for him.<ref>Guinn, p. 220</ref> Residents noticed their bloody bandages, and officers determined that the campers were the Barrow Gang. Local police officers and approximately 100 spectators surrounded the group, and the Barrows soon came under fire.<ref name="road" /> Barrow, Parker, and Jones escaped on foot.<ref name="riding" /><ref name="road" /> Buck was shot in the back, and he and his wife were captured by the officers. Buck died of his head wound and [[pneumonia]] after surgery five days later at Kings Daughters Hospital in [[Perry, Iowa]].<ref name="road" />

For the next six weeks, the remaining perpetrators ranged far afield from their usual area of operations, west to [[Colorado]], north to Minnesota, southeast to [[Mississippi]]; yet they continued to commit armed robberies.<ref>Guinn, pp. 234–35</ref><ref group=notes>Guinn writes that their clothes were so bloody after Dexfield that they wore sheets with slits cut for their heads.</ref> They restocked their arsenal when Barrow and Jones robbed an armory on August 20 at [[Plattville, Illinois]], acquiring three BARs, handguns, and a large quantity of ammunition.<ref>Ramsey, p. 186</ref>

By early September, the gang risked a run to Dallas to see their families for the first time in four months. Jones parted company with them, continuing to [[Houston]] where his mother had moved.<ref name="riding" /><ref name="road" /><ref group=notes>Knight and Davis had a different version, but once they split up, Jones never saw Barrow and Parker again. Knight and Davis, pp. 114–15</ref> He was arrested there without incident on November 16, and returned to Dallas. Through the autumn, Barrow committed several robberies with small-time local accomplices, while his family and Parker's attended to her considerable medical needs.<ref name="Knight and Davis, p. 118"/>

On November 22, they narrowly evaded arrest while trying to meet with family members near [[Sowers, Texas]]. Dallas Sheriff Smoot Schmid, Deputy Bob Alcorn, and Deputy Ted Hinton lay in wait nearby. As Barrow drove up, he sensed a trap and drove past his family's car, at which point Schmid and his deputies stood up and opened fire with machine guns and a BAR. The family members in the crossfire were not hit, but a BAR bullet passed through the car, striking the legs of both Barrow and Parker.<ref name="Knight and Davis, p. 118">Knight and Davis, p. 118</ref> They escaped later that night.

On November 28, a Dallas grand jury delivered a murder indictment against Parker and Barrow for the killing – in January of that year, nearly ten months earlier – of Tarrant County Deputy Malcolm Davis;<ref name="Slaying Bill 1933, p 1">"Clyde and Bonnie Names Reported in Slaying Bill", ''The Dallas Morning News'', November 29, 1933, section II, p. 1</ref> it was Parker's first warrant for murder.

=== 1934: Final run ===
[[File:FrankHamerEarly1920s.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Former [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]] [[Frank Hamer]], the Barrow Gang's relentless shadow after the notorious [[Eastham Unit|Eastham prison]] breakout]]
On January 16, 1934, Barrow orchestrated the escape of Hamilton, Methvin, and several others in the "Eastham Breakout."<ref name="eastham" /> The brazen raid generated negative publicity for Texas, and Barrow seemed to have achieved what historian Phillips suggests was his overriding goal: revenge on the [[Texas Department of Criminal Justice|Texas Department of Corrections]].<ref group=notes>Phillips writes that Barrow had been so focused on this for so long that, after the Eastham raid, "life for Clyde Barrow became anticlimactic…only death remained, and he knew it". Phillips, ''Running'', p. 217.</ref>

Barrow Gang member Joe Palmer shot Major Joe Crowson during his escape, and Crowson died a few days later in the hospital.<ref>{{cite web |title=Major Joe Crowson |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/3663-major-joe-crowson |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page |access-date=November 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091214084832/http://www.odmp.org/officer/3663-major-joe-crowson |archive-date=December 14, 2009 |url-status=dead }} "Major" was Crowson's first name, not a military or TDOC rank.</ref> This attack attracted the full power of the Texas and federal government to the [[Manhunt (law enforcement)|manhunt]] for Barrow and Parker. As Crowson struggled for life, prison chief Lee Simmons reportedly promised him that all persons involved in the breakout would be hunted down and killed.<ref name="eastham" /> All of them eventually were, except for Methvin, who preserved his life by turning on the gang and setting up the ambush of Barrow and Parker.<ref name="eastham" />

The Texas Department of Corrections contacted former [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]] Captain [[Frank Hamer]] and persuaded him to hunt down the Barrow Gang. He was retired, but his commission had not expired.<ref>[http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/law/index.html ''Frank Hamer and Bonnie & Clyde''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602164445/http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/law/index.html |date=June 2, 2008 }} [[Texas State Library and Archives Commission]].</ref> He accepted the assignment as a [[Texas Department of Public Safety|Texas Highway Patrol]] officer, secondarily assigned to the prison system as a special investigator, and was given the specific task of taking down the Barrow Gang.

Hamer was tall, burly, and taciturn, unimpressed by authority and driven by an "inflexible adherence to right, or what he thinks is right."<ref>Webb, p. 531.</ref> For twenty years, he had been feared and admired throughout Texas as "the walking embodiment of the '[[Texas Ranger Division#"One Riot, One Ranger"|One Riot, One Ranger]]' ethos".<ref>Burrough, p. 228.</ref> He "had acquired a formidable reputation as a result of several spectacular captures and the shooting of a number of Texas criminals".<ref>Treherne, p. 172</ref> He was officially credited with 53 kills, and suffered seventeen wounds.<ref>Guinn, p. 252</ref>

Prison boss Simmons always said publicly that Hamer had been his first choice, although there is evidence that he first approached two other Rangers, both of whom declined because they were reluctant to shoot a woman.<ref>Phillips, ''Running'', p.  354 n3</ref> Starting on February 10, Hamer became the constant shadow of Barrow and Parker, living out of his car, just a town or two behind them. Three of Hamer's four brothers were also Texas Rangers. Brother Harrison was the best shot of the four, but Frank was considered the most tenacious.<ref>Knight and Davis, p. 140</ref>

On [[Easter Sunday]], April 1, 1934, at the intersection of Route 114 and Dove Road, near [[Grapevine, Texas]], now [[Southlake, Texas|Southlake]], highway patrolmen H.D. Murphy and Edward Bryant Wheeler  stopped their motorcycles thinking a motorist needed assistance. Barrow and Methvin or Parker opened fire with a shotgun and handgun, killing both officers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Patrolman H.D. Murphy |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/9770-patrolman-h.-d.-murphy |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page |access-date=November 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126004226/http://www.odmp.org/officer/9770-patrolman-h.-d.-murphy |archive-date=November 26, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/14044-patrolman-edward-bryan-wheeler|title=Patrolman Edward Bryan Wheeler|publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page|access-date=November 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128204102/http://www.odmp.org/officer/14044-patrolman-edward-bryan-wheeler|archive-date=November 28, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> An eyewitness account said that Parker fired the fatal shots and this story received widespread coverage.<ref>Guinn, pp. 284–86</ref> Methvin later claimed that he fired the first shot  after mistakenly assuming that Barrow wanted the officers killed. Barrow joined in, firing at Patrolman Murphy.<ref name="dallasnews" />
[[File:B&CElecChairEditCartoon1934.jpg|thumb|upright|Public opinion turned against the couple after the Grapevine murders and resultant negative publicity.]]

During the spring season, the Grapevine killings were recounted in exaggerated detail, affecting public perception. All four Dallas daily papers seized on the story told by the eyewitness, a farmer who claimed to have seen Parker laugh at the way that Murphy's head "bounced like a rubber ball" on the ground as she shot him.<ref>Guinn, p. 284</ref> The stories claimed that police found a cigar butt "with tiny teeth marks", supposedly those of Parker.<ref>''Ft. Worth Star-Telegram'', April 2, 1934</ref> Several days later, Murphy's fiancée wore her intended wedding dress to his funeral, attracting photos and newspaper coverage.<ref>Guinn, p. 285</ref>

The eyewitness's ever-changing story was soon discredited, but the massive negative publicity increased the public clamor for the extermination of the Barrow Gang. The outcry galvanized the authorities into action, and Highway Patrol boss L.G. Phares offered a reward of $1,000 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|1000|1934|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) for "the dead bodies of the Grapevine slayers"—not their capture, just the bodies.<ref name="Knight and Davis, p 147">Knight and Davis, p. 147</ref> [[Governor of Texas|Texas Governor]] [[Ma Ferguson]] added another reward of $500 for each of the two killers, which meant that, for the first time, "there was a specific price on Bonnie's head, since she was so widely believed to have shot H.D. Murphy".<ref>Guinn, p. 287</ref>

Public hostility increased five days later, when Barrow and Methvin murdered 60-year-old Constable William "Cal" Campbell, a widower and father, near [[Commerce, Oklahoma]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Constable William Calvin Campbell |url=http://www.odmp.org/officer/2735-constable-william-calvin-campbell |publisher=The Officer Down Memorial Page |access-date=November 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215121155/http://www.odmp.org/officer/2735-constable-william-calvin-campbell |archive-date=December 15, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> They kidnapped Commerce police chief Percy Boyd, crossed the state line into [[Kansas]], then let him go, giving him a clean shirt, a few dollars, and a request from Parker to tell the world that she did not smoke cigars. Boyd identified both Barrow and Parker to authorities, but he never learned Methvin's name. The resultant arrest warrant for the Campbell murder specified "Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker and John Doe".<ref>Knight and Davis, p. 217 n12. Methvin's name was added to the warrant later in the summer, and he was eventually convicted and served time for the murder.</ref> Historian Knight writes: "For the first time, Bonnie was seen as a killer, actually pulling the trigger—just like Clyde. Whatever chance she had for [[clemency]] had just been reduced."<ref name="Knight and Davis, p 147" /> ''The Dallas Journal'' ran a [[editorial cartoon|cartoon]] on its editorial page, showing an empty [[electric chair]] with a sign on it saying "Reserved", adding the words "Clyde and Bonnie".<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Dallas Journal |date=May 16, 1934 |title=Cartoon online |url=http://texashideout.tripod.com/Reserved.html |access-date=January 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206124035/http://texashideout.tripod.com/Reserved.html |archive-date=February 6, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>