A Texas family had found a ring that Clyde Barrow is believed to have given to Bonnie Parker before the famous gangster couple’s death.
The silver ring, adorned with three snakes with jeweled eyes, was taken in 1933 from Bonnie and Clyde’s bullet-riddled getaway car when they were almost killed.
‘If Clyde gave that ring to Bonnie Parker, then it is the closest thing there is to a wedding ring between Bonnie and Clyde,’ Bobby Livingston, vice president of R&R Auctions, Livingston tells Jamie Colby on the newest episode of ‘Strange Inheritance’.
The descendants of a Texas sheriff (pictured) have found a ring that Clyde Barrow is believed to have given to Bonnie Parker before the famous gangster couple’s death.
About 50 years after their grandfather’s death, they were cleaning out the family home when they found an apparent inventory of additional items their grandfather had stashed somewhere. One item on the list: ‘Bonnie Parker ring, three silver snakes with tiny jewels’ (pictured)
The ring (pictured) was taken in 1933 from Bonnie and Clyde’s bullet-riddled getaway car when they were almost killed by Dallas County Sheriff Richard ‘Smoot’ Schmid and his squad
Bonnie and Clyde met when they were 19 and 20, respectively, in January 1930. They fell in love and soon became two of America’s most famous criminals. They were killed in 1934.
The ring was inherited by the grandchildren of legendary Dallas County Sheriff Richard ‘Smoot’ Schmid. One granddaughter, Debbie Daily, says Schmid’s greatest claim was that ‘he came this close to nabbing Bonnie and Clyde’.
In November 1933, Schmid and his squad were laying in wait nearby as the pair tried to meet with family members near Sowers, Texas.
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.
However, they escaped and drove far enough to hijack another vehicle. Later, the lawmen went back and collected souvenirs from the gangsters’ abandoned car.
‘I’m sure Grandpa was disappointed that attempt to catch them did not work out, but he was a big hero after it,’ says Daily.
It wasn’t until 50 years until after Schmid died in 1963 that the grandchildren discovered the ring. while cleaning out the family home near Houston.
Bonnie and Clyde met when they were 19 and 20, respectively, in January 1930. They fell in love and soon became two of America’s most famous criminals
After the pair escaped Schmid and hijacked another vehicle, the lawmen went back and collected souvenirs from the gangsters’ abandoned car.
The ring was eventually found in a bag of costume jewelry in a closet. The ring sold for $20,000 at auction and more memorbilia brought in just under $100,000 at auction
They were sorting through memorabilia from Schmid’s storied career – including his badge, service revolver, and monogrammed cowboy boots – when they found an apparent inventory of additional items their grandfather had stashed somewhere.
One item on the list: ‘Bonnie Parker ring, three silver snakes with tiny jewels.’
‘That’s the first we had ever seen or heard anything about the ring,’ said Diana Knowlton, another Schmid granddaughter.
The ring was eventually found in a bag of costume jewelry in a closet. Schmid also had other Bonnie and Clyde relics including mug shots, arrest warrants and a four-page letter to a Barrow gang member handwritten by Bonnie and signed by Clyde.
After watching a ‘Strange Inheritance’ episode featuring an auction of Bonnie’s and Clyde’s guns, the family decided to sell their artifacts.
The ring sold for $20,000 and the entire collection brought in just under $100,000 at auction.