Clyde Chestnut Barrow Thief and murderer Date of Birth: 24.09.1909 Country: USA

Biography of Clyde Barrow

Clyde Barrow, whose full name was Clyde Chestnut Barrow, was born in 1909 in Ellis County, near Dallas, Texas. His family was involved in farming, but they moved to Dallas in the early 1920s. They lived on the streets until Clyde's father, Henry Barrow, earned enough money to buy a tent.

In 1926, Clyde was arrested for attempting to escape the police after being caught in a rented car that he failed to return on time. Soon after, he was apprehended again when he and his brother Marvin stole turkeys from a store. From 1927 to 1929, Clyde worked various jobs, but he continued to engage in theft and bootlegging. By 1929, he had committed enough crimes to land him in prison. He was incarcerated at the Eastham Unit in Texas, where he faced various forms of sexual abuse from other inmates. It was during his time in prison that Clyde committed his first murder, brutally killing his cellmate.

In February 1932, Clyde was released from prison early. By this time, he had become a hardened and ruthless criminal. According to his sister Nell, "There was something new in him, something I never wanted to get mixed up in. Something terrible happened to him in prison, because after two years, he was a completely different person." Over the next few years, Clyde robbed gas stations and stores, occasionally assisting his brothers in bank robberies. His ultimate goal was not fame or money, but to dismantle the Texas prison system.

It is not certain how Clyde met Bonnie, but the most probable version is that they met at a party thrown by a mutual friend. Along with Clyde's brothers, they settled in a small three-room apartment in Joplin, Missouri. The town had long been a haven for gangsters, with its mountains providing easy hiding spots and the poorly maintained roads allowing criminals to elude the police.

For the next few years, their gang, known as the "Barrow Gang," committed numerous crimes, including bank robberies and multiple murders. Unlike the rest of the gang, Bonnie and Clyde always kept to themselves, relying only on each other. There are many surviving photographs of them together, with Bonnie often posing theatrically.

After months of searching, the police were able to locate the gang's whereabouts, eventually orchestrating a successful ambush on their apartment. On May 23, Bonnie and Clyde's car was riddled with bullets by six police officers lying in wait on a Louisiana road. At least 160 shots were fired, with 50 hitting the gangsters.

In 1992, a film titled "Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story" was released, providing a detailed account of Bonnie and Clyde's lives and love story.