#killer couples

...images from the lost continent of cult films, b-movies and celluloid dreamscapes

Killer couples in horror movies

What, you wanna know where this relationship is going? Shit, we both know it's going straight to hell...

The story behind one of history’s most infamous criminal couples.

On 5 January 1930, in West Dallas, Texas, Bonnie Parker, 19, met Clyde Barrow, 21. Bonnie was a bored waitress, estranged from her jailed husband, while Clyde was a petty criminal. 

They fell head over heels in love. Soon after, when Clyde was jailed for burglary, Bonnie smuggled in a gun to help him escape.  He was recaptured, sent back to jail. But when he was released in February 1932, Clyde rejoined Bonnie and they stole a car, committed a string of robberies. That April, Bonnie was caught and jailed for two months. 

And when she was released, she and Clyde embarked on their infamous crime spree, rampaging through Depression-era America with an ever-changing team of accomplices.  They robbed banks and convenience stores, murdering anyone who got in their way. 

In the summer of 1932, the couple travelled with Clyde’s boyhood friend Raymond Hamilton, although he was later jailed.  That August, while Bonnie was visiting her mother, Clyde and Raymond were drinking at a country dance. Sheriff Maxwell and his deputy Eugene Moore approached them in the car park. 

Clyde opened fire, killing the deputy.  As their crime spree continued, they became known as the Barrow Gang. In March 1933, Clyde’s brother, Buck Barrow, was released from prison. He and his wife Blanche joined Bonnie, Clyde and their gang. 

The Barrow Gang committed a string of daring robberies and made headlines across the country, particularly Bonnie - an unlikely criminal.  Bonnie and Clyde even posed for playful photos, brandishing guns. However, the notorious lovers were almost caught in April 1933, when police raided their hideout. 

Bonnie provided cover with a hail of bullets from her automatic rifle as the gang shot their way out.  Two police officers were shot dead as the gang escaped. But the criminal couple had to leave behind most of their possessions in the hideout - including a roll of undeveloped film, containing photos subsequently released to the media. 

They included the now-infamous snap of Bonnie beside a car, cigar clenched between her teeth, and pistol in her hand.  Photos of the outlaws were front-page news. In June 1933, Bonnie suffered terrible burns to her right leg during a high-speed car crash. 

Clyde had missed a detour sign, flipping the car into a ravine, and acid from the crushed battery melted Bonnie’s flesh to the bone.  Her burns were so severe that, from then on, she limped, hopped or was carried by Clyde. 

The following month, they were almost caught during a second raid on a hideout in Missouri.  Buck was killed during the shootout, Blanche arrested and later jailed. But Bonnie and Clyde continued their life of crime. 

In January 1934, they attacked Eastham Prison Farm in Texas, freeing five prisoners, including Raymond Hamilton.  Several guards were shot, one killed by the escaping prisoners - using automatic pistols Clyde had hidden in a ditch. 

As the prisoners ran, Clyde covered their retreat with bursts of machine-gun fire.  After this, Texan prison officials hired special investigator Captain Frank Hamer to track down the couple. 

Hamer soon traced the duo, set up an ambush. Before dawn, on 23 May 1934, Hamer and four police officers hid in bushes along a country road near Sailes, Louisiana. 

When Bonnie and Clyde appeared and attempted to drive away in their stolen car, the officers opened fire - killing Bonnie and Clyde instantly.  Clyde Barrow, Bonnie Parker and the Barrow Gang were responsible for at least 13 murders, including those of nine police officers. 

And while their violent story has been romanticized - their bullet-riddled car is still on display at a hotel and casino in Primm, Nevada - they take their place as one of history’s most dangerous criminal couples. 

The Movie Take

The 1967 double-Oscar-winning film Bonnie and Clyde starred Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Some criticize it as romanticized, glorifying the couple’s cold-blooded crimes. 

In the film, they meet when Bonnie thwarts Clyde’s attempt to steal her mother’s car. But Bonnie’s mom said they met over a mug of hot chocolate at a friend’s.  Clyde was portrayed as impotent, but was actively heterosexual. 

Beatty invented this to give his film character more depth. However, Clyde really did chop off two toes in prison!  In the film, the gang are ‘Robin Hood’ types, stealing from rich banks, soft on ‘regular folk’. Yet, in truth, the gang’s main targets were small-town stores and saving banks. 

And, unlike real life - with the pair imprisoned for stints - the film takes place over one long, murderous spree.  But, like all retellings of this infamous due - their story ends the same. The couple die in a hail of bullets. 

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A very young Tracey and her childhood home

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Book title

Unsolved Murders (2001) by Russell Gould

The Butchers (1991) by Brian Lane

Killer Couples (1988) by Richard Glyn Jones

On the shelf

Murder in Big Cities (1962) by Bruce Sanders