THE last survivor of the gang of thieves headed by Bonnie and Clyde

that gained notoriety in the 1930s, Mr Ralph Smith Fults, has died of

cancer at 82.

Mr Fults, who began his life of crime by stealing sweets at age 14,

died on Monday at his home.

He spent time in a Texas reform school for robbing stores and was

later sentenced to prison for two years for burglary.

He escaped, was recaptured, and returned to prison where he met Clyde

Barrow, according to Mr John Neal Phillips, author of a book about the

Barrow gang.

In 1932, Mr Fults and Barrow were paroled and went to Denton, where

they teamed up with Bonnie Parker and started robbing banks, gasoline

stations, and oil company payrolls.

Parker and Barrow were shot to death in a police ambush on May 23,

1934, in Bienville parish, Louisiana.

In 1935, Mr Fults was sentenced to nine years in a Mississippi prison.

He received full pardons from Texas and Mississippi in 1954.

From 1964 to 1984, Mr Fults worked as a security guard at the Buckner

Baptist Children's Home in Dallas. He spoke to young people about his

conversion to Christianity and encouraged them to avoid crime.