JOPLIN, Mo. — A sawed-off shotgun used by Bonnie and Clyde will remain in Joplin after being sold at auction. The Western Field Browning Model 30 shotgun was recovered after a 1933 gunfight in Joplin that killed two Missouri law officers. Bonnie and Clyde and their gang escaped. Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of RR Auction, said the shotgun sold for $68,750. Livingston said the bidder wanted to remain anonymous but was determined to keep the weapon in Joplin. The gun was recovered Detective Tom De Graff. The barrel was shortened to a more easily concealable length by the Barrow Gang. The action is functional, however the 1946 NFA registration affidavit written by De Graff states that the gun will jam after “firing one or two shells” due to an unspecified mechanical fault. According to the description on the RR Auction website, “De Graff was a detective with the Joplin Police Department when, on April 13, 1933, he, along with Newton County Constable Wes Harryman, Joplin PD Detective Harry McGinnis, and Missouri Highway Patrolmen W.E. Grammer and George Kahler, attempted to execute a search warrant at an apartment rented by a group of men and women in south Joplin. The warrant had been issued after receipt of a tip that a car matching the description of one used during a burglary at the Neosho Milling Company had been seen in the garage beneath the apartment. Upon their arrival, Harryman exited the vehicle he shared with McGinnis and De Graff, and approached an unidentified man who began closing the garage door upon spotting them. Almost immediately, Harryman was mortally wounded by a shotgun blast, and McGinnis, who was following, was killed by a second shotgun round. The two Highway Patrolmen joined De Graff, who had taken a few pellets during the opening volley, and worked their way around to the side of the building exchanging fire as they did so (W.D. Jones was hit in the side, Buck Barrow was grazed by a bullet, and Clyde Barrow was saved when his coat button deflected a bullet). Eventually, the occupants smashed their way through the garage door in their car and sped away amidst a hail of gunfire from the surviving law enforcement officers.” The shotgun remained with the Joplin Police Department until 1941 when De Graff left the department. He said he took the gun as a memento of the gun battle. Clyde Barrow’s gold-filled gentleman’s Bulova wristwatch recovered from his body by his father after his death, sold for $112,500 at the same auction. This watch was purchased from Clyde’s sister, Marie Barrow Scoma, by noted collector David Gainsborough Roberts, and was accompanied by several pieces of their correspondence, including: a letter signed by Marie Barrow Scoma, providing some background information: “The watch that my brother Clyde was wearing when he was killed in Louisiana was taken from the mortuary by my father along with Clyde’s clothing when he went to claim Clyde’s body.” |