Bonnie Parker
Named with Clyde Barrow in a federal stolen-car warrant of 20 May 1933 and in Identification Order No. 1227; killed with him by officers near Sailes, Louisiana on 23 May 1934, as the FBI states.
- Died
- 1934-05-23
- Aliases
- Mrs. Roy Thornton, Bonnie Barrow, Mrs. Clyde Barrow
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state. The photograph is a United States government work, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.
On the record
- January 1930 — The FBI history page says she and Clyde Barrow met in Texas, when she "was 19 and married to an imprisoned murderer."
- 13 April 1933 — A 1933 Bureau report in the FBI Vault (Bonnie and Clyde Part 02, report page 12) records Blanche Barrow's statement that during the Joplin, Missouri shooting "Bonnie Parker was upstairs in the front of the house."
- 20 May 1933 — The FBI history page and Identification Order No. 1227 record the complaint filed at Dallas charging Barrow and Parker with transporting a stolen Ford from Dallas to Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
- 24 July 1933 — The same Bureau report states that officers attacked the gang's camp near Dexter, Iowa "shortly after daybreak on Monday July 24, 1933," and that Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker and a third man escaped on foot.
- 6 April 1934 — In Methvin v. State (Okla. Crim. App. 1936), the information charged Henry Methvin with the killing of Cal Campbell at Commerce, Oklahoma "while acting conjointly with Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker."
- 21 May 1934 — Identification Order No. 1227 names her as "Mrs. Roy Thornton, aliases Bonnie Barrow, Mrs. Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker."
- 23 May 1934 — The FBI history page: "Clyde Champion Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death by officers in an ambush near Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana on May 23, 1934."
Filed in the Public Enemies side section. This is not an organized-crime family page: the records here are federal fugitive, court and prison records.
No federal record opened for this archive gives her date of birth; Identification Order No. 1227 gives an age only. The aliases are the order’s. The snapshots of her published by the FBI are filed as records but are not used as this page’s portrait, because they are not federal works.
Records
itemIdentification Order No. 1227: Bonnie Parker and Clyde Champion Barrow (21 May 1934)Division of Investigation wanted notice for Bonnie Parker and Clyde Champion Barrow under the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act, dated two days before both were killed near Sailes, Louisiana. A copy is stored here.
itemBonnie Parker beside a car with a 1933 Texas plate (photograph published by the FBI)Snapshot of Bonnie Parker standing against the front of a car with a 1933 Texas license plate, published on the FBI's Bonnie and Clyde page with the caption "Bonnie Parker was listed as 5'5" and 100 pounds." A copy is stored here.
itemBonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow posed with a shotgun (photograph published by the FBI)Snapshot published by the FBI under the title "Bonnie and Clyde Horse Around With a Gun": a woman holds a shotgun toward a man in a hat. The FBI identifies them as Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. A copy is stored here.itemBonnie and Clyde: FBI history pageThe FBI's history essay on Clyde Champion Barrow and Bonnie Parker: the stolen-car evidence that gave the Bureau jurisdiction, the 20 May 1933 federal warrant, the January 1934 Eastham prison farm break, and the ambush near Sailes, Louisiana on 23 May 1934.
itemBureau report on the raid near Dexter, Iowa, 24 July 1933 (Vault, Bonnie and Clyde Part 02, pages 59 to 62)Kansas City office report in the FBI Vault's Bonnie and Clyde file: the gang's camp in woods near Dexter, Iowa, the attack "shortly after daybreak on Monday July 24, 1933," "Marvin Barrow died from his wound," and Blanche Barrow's account of the Joplin shooting. A copy of report page 9 is stored here.item8250: United States v. Mary Pitts, alias Mary O'Dare, et al. (harboring Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker)Federal criminal case file from the Northern District of Texas in which the defendants were charged with conspiring to harbor and conceal Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. 131 digitized pages; undated in the catalog.item8008: United States v. Raymond Hamilton, et al. (theft of weapons from a Texas National Guard armory)Federal criminal case file from the Northern District of Texas against Raymond Hamilton, Clyde C. Barrow, Bonnie Parker, Henry Methvin, Joe Palmer and Hilton Bybee, accused of stealing weapons from a Texas National Guard armory.itemMethvin v. State, 60 P.2d 1062, 60 Okla. Crim. 1 (Okla. Crim. App. 1936)Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals opinion in Henry Methvin's appeal from his conviction for the 6 April 1934 killing of Cal Campbell at Commerce, Ottawa County, "while acting conjointly with Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker." Conviction affirmed; death sentence modified to life.itemPalmer v. State, 81 S.W.2d 76, 128 Tex. Crim. 293 (Tex. Crim. App. 1934; on the merits 1935)Texas Court of Criminal Appeals opinion in Joe Palmer's appeal from his conviction for killing a guard during the 16 January 1934 break from the Eastham State Farm. The testimony it recites says Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker and others brought weapons to the farm.