Why Famed Criminal Clyde Barrow Had A Fellow Inmate Cut Off 2 Of His Toes In Prison
One half of the deadly Bonnie and Clyde duo hated prison so much, there was little he wouldn’t try to get himself out
The exploits of some crimminals captivate the public’s attention so much that they become celebrities. This was especially true during the 1920s and 1930s, when a significant shift in the United States due to an influx of technology and changing economic times created household names out of some who were breaking the law in spectacular fashion. Clyde Barrow, of Bonnie and Clyde fame, was one of those desperados. A robber and killer who died young, he wanted no part of prison, and as a young man when he was incarcerated, he even convinced a fellow inmate to cut off two of his toes as part of an ill-advised plot to avoid the full extent of his sentence.
Born on March 24, 1909, in Telico, Texas, Barrow grew up in impoverished circumstances. As a young man, this became exacerbated as the country entered the harsh times of the Great Depression. Like many others, he felt the sting of economic hardship, and it was during this period that he transitioned from being a youth frequently in trouble to a full-blown hardened criminal. .
