1902 Colt that belonged to Bonnie Parker

budman93 · Jan 7, 2014

Just saw this and thought it was cool. It has quite the price tag as well. The article has one annoying typo, "The chamber will hold seven [rounds]." The author must have been thinking magazine.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/201...d-in-embalming-room-after-her-gruesome-death/

Rack&Roll · Jan 7, 2014

Don't be surprised to see it bring $250K even though the auction estimate is $175K.

Reports from the posse at the ambush said that Bonnie's voice sounded like a screaming panther being shot…and it rung in their ears for decades...

somd_mustangs · Jan 7, 2014

There better be iron-clad documentation on this one. It's a 1902 Sporting that looks like it was over-polished and plated, not a factory job (at least from the photos). As a carry pistol, this would not be a first choice. Low power round, relatively large and awkward to conceal in one's skirt, mag change isn't easy, etc. Many better pistols were available at the time. But maybe they stole it from somebody like 99% of the firearms they used and she just kept it because it looked flashy. But without a picture of her holding it ... my Spidey sense is tingling. Especially since the story sounds kind of hokey. It could have easily been dumped in the room, no proof it was really hers. But I'm a cynical SOB by nature.

So no, I wouldn't buy it

But if somebody else does I'd love to come look at it!

Thanks for providing the link ... and in the wake of the recent mini-series (which wasn't as good as the Warren Beatty / Faye Dunaway movie IMHO), a renewed interest ...

somd_mustangs · Jan 7, 2014

Just for the heck of it I read through some of the posts (some are quite amusing, actually) and one guy hit it on the head, just what I said:

davidkachel: "ALSO, I call fraud on this gun entirely. First, it is waaaaay too big to have been ‘concealed in the folds of Bonnie Parker’s skirt’, especially in light of her small stature. Second, even in this out of focus photograph, it is plainly obvious this gun has been subjected to the machinations of a ham-fisted, no-talent gunsmith who refinished and re-nickeled it, VERY badly. Note the rounded edges everywhere. That is the sure sign of a refinish by someone who doesn’t know how to do it..."

Melnic · Jan 7, 2014

I'd be skeptical. You pull a gun off a dead Bonnie Parker and think it's not significant?

yup, more evidence than a display case needed for me.

Rack&Roll · Jan 7, 2014

Bonnie Parker was something like 5-foot-one and very skinny. It would not have been in her skirt but stuffed in her garter belt and thus not seen until she was undressed at the morgue.

As far as the Colt winding up with the undertaker, it makes sense. It was finders keepers then.

Police did not rope off gangster death scenes and it was routine for onlookers to dip handkerchiefs in blood or even clip hair as souvenirs while the cops watched.

DoubleTap007 · Jan 7, 2014

I'd be skeptical that a gun that is on a person who was shot probably 100x is in near-perfect condition.

Rack&Roll · Jan 7, 2014

The Colt was likely on her inner thigh, and thus shielded. The posse had shotguns and handgun rounds that had to go thru car doors first.

Alphabrew · Jan 7, 2014

Eh, buy the gun, not the story.

somd_mustangs · Jan 7, 2014

The 1902 is a pretty big damn gun. Not going to stuff it in a garter belt IMHO. The posse was armed with BAR's as well as Thompsons and the various assortment of rifles, shotguns and handguns. B&C literally had the crap blown out of them. The story could be true, or it might not be. I personally wouldn't risk an insane amount of money for a shaky story (assuming I actually had an insane amount of money). There's too much "hokey" in the description ... and it really does look refinished. I suppose it could have been done prior to 1934 if somebody wanted a flashy gun. But the .38 ACP round was out of favor by then and it just seems like a truly odd choice for a garter belt weapon.

Top: Model M 1908 in .380
Middle: 1902 Sporting in .38 ACP
Bottom: 1911 (c. 1917)

somd_mustangs · Jan 7, 2014

Alphabrew said:
Eh, buy the gun, not the story.

What he said... it's a $750 gun + $100 or so for the case

Definitely refinished after watching the "promo video"

And BTW - how completely and totally stupid and irresponsible IS that guy? He's carelessly handling a gun he admits may be loaded but never bothered to check. And assumption is they plan to sell it that way.

budman93 · Jan 7, 2014

somd_mustangs said:
What he said... it's a $750 gun + $100 or so for the case
Definitely refinished after watching the "promo video"

And BTW - how completely and totally stupid and irresponsible IS that guy? He's carelessly handling a gun he admits may be loaded but never bothered to check. And assumption is they plan to sell it that way.

Yeah I'm skeptical of the story too and I can't believe that they were so stupid they didn't check to see if it was loaded. Still very interesting though.

somd_mustangs · Jan 7, 2014

Yup, definitely interesting...

The 1902 doesn't have any safety devices other than an inertia-type firing pin. It'll fire without a mag just fine

Also another reason not to choose it as a conceal-carry weapon.

I'm just over 6' and allowing an inch or two for "clearance" the muzzle reaches my knee joint. I just can't see a someone of her slight stature carrying this under her skirt, even on the outer thigh in a tacti-cool fashion (and it was a long skirt). But I could certainly be wrong, I wasn't there - and she was pretty much a badass so anything is possible, I suppose. A verified picture of her with the gun or a police inventory would be the only definitive proof IMHO. Lacking that, it's just a cool story.

Irish64 · Jan 7, 2014

One commentor on the article says it is not a news article, it is an advertisement for an auction. I completely agree!

Huckleberry · Jan 7, 2014

Maybe she had it in the folds of something else between her thighs?

Maybe there was a fishy smell to go along with the gun's fishy story :rolleyes:

Irish64 · Jan 7, 2014

Huckleberry said:
Maybe she had it in the folds of something else between her thighs?

Maybe there was a fishy smell to go along with the gun's fishy story

reverendbeer · Jan 7, 2014

A couple of things:

Article: “found enfolded into the outlaw Bonnie Parker’s skirt at the Conger Funeral Home embalming room of Arcadia, LA in 1934,”
Wiki: "Officially, parish coroner Dr. J. L. Wade's 1934 report listed 17 separate entrance wounds on Barrow's body and 26 on Parker's, including several headshots on each, and one that had snapped Barrow's spinal column. Undertaker C. F. "Boots" Bailey had difficulty embalming the bodies because of all the bullet holes."

So they were examined by the coroner (PLENTY of disturbing pics on the web, FYI) before embalming...huh. Granted, it was done at the funeral home, but....

Article: “At the time they didn’t know or think that there was going to be any value of the memorabilia..."
Wiki: "... nearly everyone had begun collecting souvenirs such as shell casings, slivers of glass from the shattered car windows, and bloody pieces of clothing from the garments of Bonnie and Clyde. One eager man had opened his pocket knife, and was reaching into the car to cut off Clyde's left ear."

CONCLUSION: BULLLLLLSHEEEEEIIIIIIITTTTTT....

bruceh · Jan 7, 2014

auction house site

For more information go to the source:

http://caseantiques.com/

Better information and photos at auction website.

reverendbeer · Jan 7, 2014

bruceh said:
For more information go to the source:

http://caseantiques.com/

Better information and photos at auction website.

" Letter of authentication dated 5/15/1972, signed by James Lavelle Wade (Sept. 28, 1886 – Dec. 17th, 1972), coroner in charge of the “Bonnie & Clyde” death investigation and signer of death certificates, and by Mrs. Alwyn (Vern) Hightower, employee of Conger Funeral Home."

"The dated August 1973 letter from Peter Simon of Jean, Nevada offers to “purchase the gun, the book of actual pictures, and any other memorabilia….” Dr. Robert Hightower died October 27th, 1973. The letter also has handwritten notes from Dr. Hightower’s wife, “Before Dad died he had me write… Bob, this fellow wanted to buy the Clyde & Bonnie gun etc."

So...Hightower got a letter of authentication signed by the coroner--who wasn't even involved in the matter (Hightower got the gun from the embalmer)--7 months before the coroner dies, a year before Hightower himself died, 38 years after the event, witnessed by someone who worked at the funeral home who just happens, shocker, to be in his family--if not his wife,

Regardless of the fact that other weapons, such as the one found here (page three, top of page...found taped to Bonnie's thigh), were found during the coroner's autopsy/postmortem inspection of her body (WARNING: Some pics NSFW) ...THIS gun apparently made it through the initial inspection of the body, moving the body to the funeral home, the removal of all her clothing in anticipation of the autopsy, the autopsy, the removal of other weapons from the body which were then turned in to the police, was completely ignored by everyone until it was miraculously found in her clothes during the preparation of the body for burial, was off-handedly given to some random dude by the embalmer (because, you know, who wants a gun from the most famous criminal of the age..."pfft, not me--here, you have it"), was never racked or cleared by anyone, was refinished by Hightower because why wouldn't it be, and then only remembered right before his death. "Oh, right! The Bonnie and Clyde gun!"

I reiterate: BULLLLLSHEEEIIITTT.

Rack&Roll · Jan 7, 2014

The most interesting thing about the ambush was the posse was not under orders to try to arrest and detain. Lawman Frank Hamer and his crew staged a disabled car on the road that Bonnie & Clyde were expected to travel on--using a man known to the gangsters so as to encourage them to come to a stop.

There was no plan to surround the car and demand surrender. Hamer and his posse were given the green light to just blast them to smithereens when they came to a stop.

1902 Colt that belonged to Bonnie Parker

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