In October of 1971, "Terrible Ted" Walters was killed in a gun battle with Texas Rangers on a bridge
just outside of Grapevine, Texas. The spot, oddly enough, was just across the road about 300 feet from
where Bonnie, Clyde and Methvin killed the two police officers on April 1, 1934. "Terrible Ted" was
gunned down personally by Tom Arnold of Company "B" Texas Rangers. If you stand on the bridge
where Ted was killed you can easily see the spot where Clyde and Company did "their" killing.
"That dern cat started it all" - Hoyt Houston
It started off as a routine traffic violations stop. Huron Ted Walters was driving his 1962 Plymouth Valiant with Etta Mae Compton,
when Euless, Texas officer Sgt. Bill Harvell pulled him over. Ted Walters pulled out his weapon and there was a gunfight between him
and the officer. During the skirmish, Walters was slightly wounded. Walters sped off with the officer firing several more rounds at the
fleeing outlaw. On Villa Drive, Walters dropped off his passenger and made it on foot through a pasture, armed with a shotgun and
a couple of boxes of shells. While an all night manhunt ensued, Walters cooled his heels 3 miles away in a Bedford, Texas boat house
at the Houston family residence. Home owner Hoyt Houston had just finished his breakfast and headed out to his boat house to return
the family's kitten to it's box. He noticed that there was a pair of strange shoes in the box and started to search around. He found
Walters sprawled across the seats of his boat. Walters then led him into his house where Mr. Houston's wife, Mary was with their 5 year
old daughter, Jana. Mrs. Houston offered to attend to Walter's injury. The Houston's 15 year old daughter, Pam was in her bedroom
and heard the commotion between the outlaw and her parents. She then crawled out through a window to seek help and ran into Euless
police officer Dave Eudy, who was on the lookout for the fugitive. He made a call for assistance when he was told what was going down.
The stage was then set. As Mrs. Houston was applying first aid to Walters, there was a knock at their door. It was the police! Walters
told her she better answer the door, but to tell the lawmen that everything was alright. The laws didn't believe that and stayed there.
Walters then loaded Hoyt, Mary and toddler Jana into the Houston family vehicle. Mr. Houston, Mary (driving) and Jana into the front
seat and Walters crawled into the back seat. Together they drove away from the home. All the while, Walters had his shotgun trained
on Hoyt's head. After a short period of time, the car was stopped at a small bridge. The lawmen tried to negotiate with Walters for
20 minutes for the release of the hostages and his surrender, but Walters stood his ground. Meanwhile, Texas Ranger Tom Arnold
had the outlaw in his rifle's sight and when Walters was momentarily distracted, Ranger Arnold placed a fatal head shot to ol' Ted.
Texas Ranger Tom Arnold
SPOT WHERE TED WAS KILLED BY TEXAS RANGER
Photo above, shows the spot where Ted Walters
met his end. Ironically, it's within a stones
throw of where Murphy and Wheeler were killed
by Clyde Barrow and Henry Methvin in 1934.
color photo above, courtesy of Renay Stanard
News photo above, shows the same spot, at the time that Ted Walters met his end.
1969 Mercury Grand Marquis
TERRIBLE TED'S DEATH CAR
Photo below shows Ted's death grip on his shotgun
TEXAS RANGER MUSEUM DISPLAY
Sensationalism
Bonnie and Clyde never even knew Ted Walters. Floyd Hamilton himself had just become acquainted with Ted
shortly before the two started off on a crime spree together. This was well after Bonnie and Clyde were killed.
