A remarkable archive of Bonnie and Clyde artefacts, including a shotgun they ditched during an infamous shoot-out, is up for sale.
The pump-action shotgun was recovered by police following a gun fight with the outlaws in 1933 in which two officers were killed and is now tipped to sell for £60,000.
The collection, expected to make a total of £120,000, also includes a gold wristwatch recovered from Clyde’s body following his death a year later in another shoot-out.
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow met in Texas in 1930 and are believed to have committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries by the time they died in 1934.
The public were enamored with the pair during the Public Enemies era of the Great Depression, as they gained headlines for evading the authorities in shoot-outs and making daring getaways.
Bonnie and Clyde’s pump action shotgun recovered by policeman Tom DeGraff after a shoot out in Joplin, Missouri, in which the pair gunned down two of his colleagues. The gun is tipped to sell for £60,000
A vintage Bonnie and Clyde ‘wanted’ poster is up for auction. It is part of a remarkable archive of Bonnie and Clyde artefacts
One of the most fascinating items in the sale is a chilling and bitter letter Clyde wrote to a hated member of his Barrow Gang while the recipient was in jail awaiting execution.
In it, Clyde accused Raymond Hamilton of being a coward for allowing himself to get caught and told him he would have killed him himself had he still been at large.
The famous outlaw wrote: ‘Due to the fact that you offered no resistance, sympathy is lacking. The most I can do is hope you miss the “chair”.
The public were enamored with Bonnie and Clyde during the Public Enemies era of the Great Depression, as they gained headlines for evading the authorities in shoot-outs and making daring getaways (file image)
The collection, expected to sell for £120,000 in total, also includes a gold wristwatch recovered from Clyde’s body following his death a year later in another shoot-out
There is also a book of poems titled ‘Poetry From Life’s other side’ written by Bonnie Parker while she stewed in jail after being arrested for the botched armed robbery with Clyde and Hamilton in 1932. The works are largely drawn from her criminal life on the road with Clyde’s Barrow Gang
‘The Prostitutes Convention’ is one of Bonnie’s fascinating poems from a book up for sale at an auction in the US
‘I’ll Stay’ and ‘The Story of “suicide Sal” are two of the poems up for sale in the auction. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow met in Texas in 1930 and are believed to have committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries by the time they died in 1934
Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty played Bonnie and Clyde in a 1967 film adaptation. The biographical film portrays the pair meeting after Clyde attempts to steal Bonnie’s mother’s car (file image)
Although it was sent from Clyde, the letter was actually written in Bonnie’s hand in about April 1934 – a month before their own deaths.
In the correspondence, expected to sell for £35,000, Clyde called Hamilton a ‘rat’ and a ‘boastful punk’, who had ‘cowered in the floorboard afraid to take a shot’ during one gunfight.
Clyde stated: ‘When we got the road ‘blocked’ on us in the Ozarks and you were too ‘yellow’ to fight. You cowered in the floorboard, afraid of being shot.
‘I hope this will serve the purpose of letting you know that you can never expect the least of sympathy or assistance from me. So long.’
And foreshadowing his own death that came a few weeks later, Clyde added: ‘I know that some day they will get me but it won’t be without resistance.’
The archive also includes a blood-stained bandage that was used to treat a gunshot wound suffered by Clyde, official police ‘wanted’ posters for Bonnie and Clyde and a bulletproof jacket found in their car after their deaths in 1934.
A photograph of Clyde posing with an arsenal of weapons including the pump action shotgun is also included. The pair were best known for evading the authorities in shoot-outs
Police detective Tom De Graff’s signed affadavit for Bonnie and Clyde’s pump action shotgun. The weapon was recovered by De Graff on April 13, 1933, after they executed a search warrant at an apartment in Joplin, Missouri, that turned out to be a Barrow Gang hideout
There is also a book of poems written by Bonnie Parker while she stewed in jail after being arrested for the botched armed robbery with Clyde and Hamilton in 1932.
The works are largely drawn from her criminal life on the road with Clyde’s Barrow Gang.
The items will go under the hammer in the US with RR Auction.
The Western Field Browning shotgun is the most expensive lot, estimated to sell for £60,000 alone.
It was recovered by police detective Tom De Graff on April 13, 1933, after they executed a search warrant at an apartment in Joplin, Missouri, that turned out to be a Barrow Gang hideout.
When officers approached two of them were fatally shot from guns fired from inside the property.
The fugitives the smashed their way through a garage door in their car and sped away amid a hail of gunfire.
Buck Barrow, Clyde’s brother, was grazed by a bullet while the gang leader was saved when his coat button somehow deflected a bullet.
The gang’s torch is also up for sale. Executive vice president of RR Auction Bobby Livingston said: ‘Besides the timeless love story of Bonnie and Clyde, the Barrow gang was known for their massive fire power which could out gun any local sheriff who happened upon them’
A blood-stained bandage recovered from the Joplin, Missouri, shoot-out is also up for grabs. The items will go under the hammer in the US with RR Auction.
De Graff later recounted: ‘There were several guns seized at this time and among them was a Western Field Browning 12 gauge shotgun with 15ins barrel.
‘I took it as a memento of the gun battle.’
The gold Bulova wristwatch recovered from Clyde’s body that features a rectangular white face with golden Arabic numerals, is expected to fetch £25,000.
He was wearing it when he and Bonnie were shot dead in a police ambush while driving through Bienville Parish in Louisiana on May 23, 1934.
It was initially taken by his father from the mortuary and remained in the family for several generations.
Executive vice president of RR Auction Bobby Livingston said: ‘Besides the timeless love story of Bonnie and Clyde, the Barrow gang was known for their massive fire power which could out gun any local sheriff who happened upon them.
‘This particular Browning shotgun was recovered by a law officer who survived a shootout with Clyde Barrow.
‘This is an extremely important piece in the history of Bonnie and Clyde, and would make a stellar centerpiece for any collection of US criminal justice artefacts.’