Episode 77 & 78: Catching Cletus Part 1 and 2

Updated: Feb 28, 2022

When two men cross paths in jail, they become fast friends, but their plans for release don’t include rehabilitation. What their plans do include are repeating the type of crimes that got them imprisoned in the first place; robbery and assault. That was only the start of the men's spree. After four days, they left in their path of destruction a rape victim, a club shootout, multiple abducted families and a dead cop. This is the first part of the story of Carl Cletus Bowles and Wilfred Gray and the terror they inflicted across three states in 1965.

PART1

Wilfred M Gray (left) and Cletus Bowles (right), photo courtesy of The Californian

PART 2

Bowles and attorney post capture

Hoyt C Cupp headstone

Sources Part 1

SF Gate - Reporter, political figure Hale Champion dies | Eugene Register Guard - 01.30.2006 News of Killer's Death | Life Magazine - 07.23.1965| Offbeat Oregon History - Prison break happened during “conjugal visit” at cheap motel | | Daytona Beach Morning Journal - 07.11.1965 Four Day Rampage | Mineral County Independence - 01.14.1965 Four State Chase | St. Petersburg Times - 01.10.1965 Criminal Odyssey | Chronicle Covers: A kidnapping and rescue stranger than fiction | Federal Firearms Act - Hearings Before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee To Investigate Juvenile Delinquency, Eighty-Ninth Congress, First Session, on May 19-21, June 2, 3, 8, 24, 30, July 1, 20, 27, 1965. Page 650 | Ann Rule - Empty Promises “The Conjugal Visit” | Statesman Journal - 01.28.1966 Final Charges Against Bowles, Gray Dropped | Daily News - 02.20.1966 The Penalty for Terror | The Capital Journal - 07.07.1965 Shooting Suspect Buys Car Here | Fort Lauderdale News - 07.07.1965 Killers Grab Hostages? | The Fresno Bee - 07.07.1965 Mother, Son May Be Hostages | Spokane Chronicle - 07.07.1965 Pair Kill Deputy; Two Are Missing | Albany Democrat-Herald - Woman, Son Feared Held By Killers of Lane Officer | The Capital Journal - 07.08.1965 Oregon Bandits Free Hostages Unharmed | The Times - 07.08.1965 State Finance Chief, Wife, Tot Missing | Los Angeles Evening Citizen News - 07.08.1965 State Aide, Wife, Child Are Missing | The Capital Journal - 07.09.1965 Long Criminal Records Laid to Two Kidnappers | The Press Democrat - 07.09.1965 Kidnappers Surrender; Champion Family Safe | The Capital Journal - 07.09.1965 Map of Bowle’s and Gray’s Route | The San Bernardino County Sun - 07.10.1965 | The Tampa Tribune - 07.10.1965 Five-Day Crime Spree Ends; Hostages Safe | Statesman Journal - 07.10.1965 Family Describes Kidnapping by Gunmen | Statesman Journal - 07.10.1965 Happy Reunion | The Spokesman Review - 07.10.1965 Fleeing Ex-Cons Treated Them Well, Hostages Say | Fort Lauderdale news - 07.11.1965 Two Ex-Convicts Indicted As Kidnappers | Capital Journal - 07.08.1965 Oregon Bandits Free Hostages Unharmed | The Press Democrat - 07.09.1965 Kidnappers Surrender; Champion Family Safe | The Sun - 07.10.1965 Gunmen’s Quip Final Gesture | Daytona Beach Morning Journal - 07.11.1965 Four Day Rampage By Ex-Convicts | Mineral County Independent News - 07.14.1965 Gunmen Captured Friday Near Mineral County Line | The Amarillo Globe Times - 08.05.1959 Two Charged By FBI for Fleeing State | Statesman Journal - 08.07.1965 Crime Spree Pair Moving From Jail | Albany Democrat Herald - 12.16.1965 Slayers Get Life Terms | Independent - 07.08.1965 Pics of Bowles, Gray, the Corbins |

Sources Part 2

Episode 77 & 78: Catching Cletus Part 1 and 2

Recent Posts