Bonnie and Clyde Q&A-- Was Killing Bonnie Parker Fair??

Well, you might want to break out the boxing gloves for this one. A viewer from New Mexico keyed in asking this always controversial and poignant question. As far as I can tell, this has been one of those watershed, double edged sword inquiries for decades-- where no matter who wields the sword, they get cut. From my perspective, a recounting of known facts may help in attempting to sort out this great debate. However, in considering the question of whether the killing of Bonnie Parker was fair-- oddly enough answering this question, often seems to lead to a perpetual array of even more perplexing questions.

An obvious first query for this question is-- fair to whom?? Fair to society??-- fair to Bonnie Parker and her family??-- fair for our system of morals and ethics, then or now??-- or fair to those with the benefit of hindsight, who pick apart this 75 year old controversy with the keen vision of a great African cat?? There are those who take the "hard line" regardless-- regardless of compassion, and regardless of historical circumstance. For the hard liners-- Clyde's paramour was a killer, or at the very least a killer by association-- who needed to be stopped along with Barrow at any cost. Death for B&C couldn't come soon enough, for those who identify most with the law-- and as often expressed through the ambush at Sailes, these blood thirsty desperadoes surely got what they deserved. But for others compassion reigns, in making it seem logical through numerous exercises in the hypothetical-- that additional thought could and should have been exercised by the lawmen involved, in attempting to save Bonnie.

These arguments of salvation often center around ideas thought of now, which "may" have been employed, if only they'd been realized then. Or perhaps alternative plans "were" considered in '34 but rejected-- for which we may never know?? It's been rumored for decades, that good intelligence based on the help of informants close to the outlaws, played a key role in taking down B&C. Thanks to the Dallas FBI files, we now know this to be true-- and to a greater extent than previously known. With good info available from informants trusted by B&C, and at least 6 trained officers plus members of the Bureau of Investigation on the ground near B&C in Louisiana-- the question is asked, why wasn't Clyde just picked off by a sniper-- clean and simple, when they stopped to visit those familiar to them-- or to get gas or food locally in Bienville Parish or the surrounding area?? In fairness-- that's a good question.

Also during the ambush, it's clear that Prentis Oakley likely pressed off the first 2 shots-- one of which killed Clyde instantly. If the Warren car had not been in gear and rolled down the hill toward the embankment when Clyde lost consciousness, would the ambush posse have let loose with such fury-- in catapulting the outlaws to a horrifically earned martyrdom?? With the officers physically so close to the car they would cause to be known as the death car-- were tensions so high, that cooler head's just couldn't prevail when the first shots rang out?? Thus in paraphrasing Lee Simmon's order to literally shoot the hell out of B&C, was this carnage unavoidable and thus inevitable?? Or rather could one or more of the posse members have exercised restraint, when Clyde's head hit the seat it ultimately ended up resting on-- and not fired further which may have saved Bonnie?? Were the intense pent up frustrations of lawmen everywhere in keen evidence that day, which no matter what-- were destined to be taken out on B&C in a bloodbath, even though the officers coolly said they were just doing their jobs??

To me, the answers to all these questions and others which have framed the argument over whether Bonnie deserved to die, can perhaps best be answered by Bonnie herself. From the accounts and conversations we know of, it seems clear that Bonnie was viewed as being too close to Clyde for separation or rehabilitation. Family members tried in vain, to get Bonnie away from Clyde, and by all outward appearances-- she flat out refused. She stayed by her man to the end, and it seems from her own writings-- she knew that death with Clyde was the reality she faced. To me within that stark realization, is the evidence that it was Bonnie's "choice" to go down with Clyde-- and that life for her would have no meaning without him. So for the many who wish for some overt compassion in saving Bonnie, that in reality it seems she never wished for herself-- I would say look to Bonnie Parker, for the answer to this passionate and morally charged question.

Was killing Bonnie Parker fair?? It seems at least to her it was. However when you factor in the possibility that Bonnie may have been pregnant when killed, and that at least one lawman who pulled the trigger didn't seem to give a damn one way or another-- would the reality of a Bonnie pregnancy if true, have changed Bonnie's perception in protecting an unborn child?? Ah, another question-- and a really good one at that.