 In
1932 the businessmen to Tom Bean, after experiencing businesses in town
being robbed, employed a night watchman in the spring. Several
stores at Tom Bean, located 7 miles west of Whitewright, had been
robbed of merchandise adding up to hundreds of dollars. The Ball
store had been broken in to six or seven times. A bout midnight
on Tuesday, April 12, 1932, the watchman, Roy Biggerstaff, saw a car
containing two men drive into town. The car was driven quietly
through town and to a side street northwest of the business district of
town where it was parked. The two men emerged from the car, and
headed for the Post Office where they wasted no time breaking the front
door lock, entering and burglarizing it. Mr. Biggerstaff called
the Deputy Constable, Jeff Gregory, G.E. Ball and J. Bruce. All
four men stationed themselves near the parked automobile, waiting for
the burglars to return. Ab out 2:15 a.m. after completing their
burglaries of the Post Office and the Ball Store where they gathered up
about $100 worth merchandise, which they stacked on the sidewalk.
The burglars headed for the parked car, with the intention of
driving it to the Ball Store and loading up the stolen merchandise. Instead they were met with 4 men holding guns on them. While Mr. Gregory was searching the second burglar when he suddenly pulled out his cut and struck Mr. Ball. The .32 caliber Harrington & Richardson had a long barrel and was light-weight; The gun slipped from the burglar's hand, falling to the ground. All 5 chambers were loaded. Mr. Ball was standing in front of the burglar at the time the gun fell while Mr. Gregory was behind him, doing the searching. Mr. Gregory refrained from pulling his own gun and shooting the burglar out of fear of hitting Mr. Ball. So the burglar broke free and ran for freedom while one of the townsmen fired seven or eight shots at the fleeing robber as he disappeared into the darkness of the night but the robber made his escape. Mrs. Jasper Sparks, who was in asleep in bed at her home, received a flesh wound from a stray bullet fired at the burglar. The bullet passed through a wall before hitting her. The other burglar made no attempt to escape. He was taken to Whitewright early the next morning and was given an examining trial (a preliminary hearing before a judge to determine if there is enough cause to indict the dependent) before Justice of the Peace J.L. Cantrell. The burglar gave his name as Duff Hood and made a statement which he signed. His statement included that the other burglar was his son, Clifford Hood, age 15, that his home was in Sherman where he had lived for 30 years, confessed that he and his son had robbed the Ball Store on the night of March 24 taking about $200 worth of merchandise. Mr. Hood told where the merchandise was hidden and officers recovered some of it. Mr. Hood was wearing a pair of shoes that he had stolen in the March 24th robbery. Mr. Hood was taken to Sherman by Constable C.D. Bennett and Jeff Gregory after his examining trial and was placed in jail to await action of the Grand Jury. He also had to face Federal charges for robbing the post office. About $5 of stamps were taken. The burglars had with them a sledge hammer and two pinch bars which they used to break locks and enter businesses. Clifford Hood was later arrested at the Hood residence, in the 700 block of South Austin Street in Sherman early Wednesday morning. Charges of committing three burglaries and two of theft over $50 were filed in the justice court at Sherman. (The Whitewright Sun, Thursday, April 14, 1932) Sheriff Frank Reece's force filed several other charges against the father and son duo after arrests were made concerning several complaints dating from December 1931, reaching a total of 13 cases pending against Clifford Hood and 8 cases against Duff Hood. The burglaries took place in Tom Bean, Hagerman, and Sadler. (The Whitewright Sun, Thursday, April 14, 1932)   "The Three Desperate Hoods" overpowered Jack Rapp, Deputy Sheriff of McAllen, Texas as he was transporting them to a prison facility. They kept him in fear for his life as they took him on a 600 mile jaunt across the length of the state and let him go just as they crossed the Red River in Oklahoma, which made the kidnapping a federal offense. They then held a Sherman youth captive all day Sunday. Clyde Stout, 20, was surprised by the trio while he was out hunting squirrels. They took his .22-caliber rifle and 19 shells. After exchanging his shirt for one of the boys' shirt, they held him under guard until nightfall, when they tied him and his dog to a tree with barbed wire. Clyde managed to free himself.  The Hoods then walked to a filling staion on Hwy. 5, 4 miles west of Sherman, where one of them purchased food. It was believed that they then burglarized a house occupied by Gordon Cummins, 4 miles west of Sherman, taking a shotgun, an automatic rifle, clothing and a bucket of eggs. Sheriff Benton Davis, his deputies, Denison and Sherman policemen, 5 Dallas police and 4 Dallas deputies and Fannin county officers searched the Cottontail Mountain vicinity Sunday night and Monday with no success. (The Whitewright Sun, Thursday, October 18, 1934, pg. 8) D.M. "Duff" Hood and his son, Carl were captured by a lone officer in a creek bottom in a heavily wooded section near Sherman last Thursday.  Duff and Carl faced 4 charges each in Grayson County of robbery with firearms and 1 charge each of burglary. After both pleaded guilty to violation of the Dyer Act in federal court, they were turned over to Sheriff J. Benton Davis. (The Whitewright Sun, Thursday, November 29, 1934, pg.4) A jury pool of 120 men were called December 13 to try Duff and Carl Hood. Their first trial was for robbery with firearms; they were represented by court appointed representation, Claude Boothman and Nat Birge. The father and son were returned to Grayson County jail from Lamar County jail where they were being held by Federal officers. (The Whitewright Sun, Thursday, December 6, 1934, pg.1)  Carl Hood Missouri State Penitentiary Carl murdered Clarence Hoyle, a 32-year-old fellow inmate from Muskogee, Oklahoma, in the yard on May 18, 1936 for insulting his father. Warden Fred G. Zerbst questioned Carl Hood, 26; Hood said he killed Hoyle at 12:30 in the prison yard immediately north of the fire station. He used an iron pipe to commit the deed because Hoyle had mistreated Hood's father, Duff Hood, a 54 prison inmate. Hoyle died about 5 hours later from his injuries. Hoyle had been received at Leavenworth Prison on April 19, 1935, to serve concurrent sentences of 2-3 years for violating internal revenue laws. Zerbst issued a written statement in which he wrote that Carl Hood had not known the deceased until the time of the assault. Duff Hood told his son of the verbal abuse by Hoyle who had cursed him because Duff had sat down in the wrong dining room seat by mistake; the seat was Hoyle's assigned seat. Hood killed Hoyle with an iron pipe. (The Whitewright Sun, Thursday, May 21, 1936, pg.1) Zerbst forwarded his report of the incident to U.S. District Attorney S.S. Alexander at Topeka. The murder landed Carl in Alcatraz Island, located in San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco, California. The small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison and a federal prison, 1934-March 1963 The strong currents around the island as well as the cold water temperature made escape almost impossible. While at Alcatraz Island Prison, Carl gave testimony at the murder trial of Henri Young who killed Rufus McCain. Mr. Young's muder was a very publicized incident. The defense was based on mistreatments of Alcatraz prisoners, particularly those in solitary confinement. A special venire of 120 men was called in December 1934 to try D.M. "Duff" Hood and Carl Hood, who were under indictment on 4 burglary charges with firearms and one burglary count each (The Whitewright Sun, Thursday, December 6, 1934, pg.1) The 1940 census for inmates at Alcatraz listed Carl Owen Hood, from Sherman, Texas. Clifford Wesley Hood, 72, baker of Howe, died Sunday in Country View Nursing Home in Savoy. Graveside services were held in Hall Cemetery, Howe, Texas. Arrangements were under the direction of Flesher Funeral Home, Denison, Texas. Mr. Hood was born in Sherman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Duff Hood; he married Lois Hill. Surviving are his son, David Hood of Frisco; and two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  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