Ted Hinton
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Ted Hinton (1907-1982) was the youngest of the posse that ambushed and killed Bonnie and Clyde in Louisiana in 1934.
Hinton, who was 27 at the time, was a Dallas County, Texas deputy Sheriff who was assigned to accompany Deputy Sheriff Bob Alcorn on the premise that Hinton knew Clyde Barrow and could identify him. Hinton and Alcorn were assigned by Dallas County Sheriff Richard "Smoot" Schmidt to assist Frank Hamer and his assistant Brian "Manny" Gault in a shoot to kill order against Bonnie and Clyde that originated with the Texas Prison system chief Lee Simmons.
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[edit] History
Hinton became a Sheriff's Deputy in 1932 following the election of Schmidt. An avid baseball player, Hinton passed up a chance to join the Cleveland Indians, he didn't want to spend time away from his wife and young son. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Dallas, he knew the Barrow family in his youth and became infatuated with Bonnie while she worked as a waitress in Dallas. Ted Hinton was also once aquainted with young Bonnie Parker while she was working in Marco's Cafe in Dallas, Texas. Because of her good looks, many of the male customers would flirt. Hinton was always gentlemanly and treated Bonnie respectfully, saying good morning. Ted later admits in a later biography that he had a crush on Bonnie, and it was difficult because he was one of the men on the team sent to kill her and her lover, Clyde.
[edit] Controversy
Hinton wrote a book called Ambush in 1979 in which he maintaines that Ivy T. Methvin was forced to lure Bonnie and Clyde into the ambush site by members of the posse, claiming Methvin would plot the ambush if his son, Henry Methvin recieves a pardon. Hinton claims that a deal was reached by the members of the Posse whereby the last surviving member would tell this version of events after all others had died. This member was Hinton. This version of events is widely disputed.
[edit] Aftermath
Hinton remained a Deputy until 1941. An accomplished pilot, he gave flying instructions to new recruits in the Army Air Corps just prior to World War II. Hinton went on to own a restaurant and died in 1982.
[edit] Books by Ted Hinton
Hinton, T. with Grove, L., Ambush (The Real Story of Bonnie and Clyde), Shoal Creek Publishers, 1979. ISBN 0-88319-041-9
