Whiskey Pete's buys Barrow's `death shirt'

      The biggest haul Clyde Barrow ever made was $4,138.50 when his gang took down the bank in Lancaster, Texas, in 1934. On Monday, his shirt sold for $75,000.
      Casino executive Gary Primm bought the bloody shirt -- worn by Barrow when he was shot and killed by Texas Rangers -- and $29,000 worth of other Bonnie and Clyde memorabilia at a San Francisco auction.
      "This answers the question, `Why would anyone buy a shirt with holes in it?' " auction house curator Greg Martin said.
      Primm plans to exhibit the Barrow items at Whiskey Pete's, the casino 45 miles south of Las Vegas where Bonnie and Clyde's death car, a V-8 Ford, already is on display. Bonnie and Clyde were killed by Texas Rangers in 1934 in Gibsland, La.
      He also purchased a belt and necklace made by Barrow while in prison, a handmade mirror and 17 Barrow family photos at the auction. Bidding for Primm was Ray Paglia, vice president and general manager of Buffalo Bill's, which is across Interstate 15 from Whiskey Pete's at the Nevada-California border.
      The high bid for the "death shirt" was more than double the original estimate by San Francisco auctioneer Butterfield & Butterfield.
      Barrow's belongings, from his bank robbing days with partner-in-crime Bonnie Parker, netted $187,809. More than half of the money will go to Marie Barrow, the outlaw's only surviving sibling.
      In the early 1930s, Bonnie and Clyde captured the attention of the nation as they robbed and murdered their way across the West.
      The sedate mood of the auction house changed immediately as the first item in the lot came up for bidding -- Barrow's 17-jewel, 10-carat gold-filled Elgin pocket watch. The item was expected to bring in $3,000, but after a bidding war with Paglia, the watch went to an anonymous phone bidder for $20,770.
      All items in the Barrow lot sold for amounts in excess of their estimated value, often doubling and tripling those estimates.
      "I'm not excited, just a little nervous," said Marie Barrow as she sat alongside her son Shawn for the auction. She kept the belongings in a cedar chest for more than 60 years before deciding to part with them.
      "I'm glad he got it," said Marie of Paglia's tenacious bidding for the shirt. "He's already got the car, and I just think it would be nice for him to have it."
      Marie Barrow, who lives in Dallas, will receive the high bid amount, minus 10 percent for items she consigned to sell.
      Is an old shirt full of holes really worth $75,000, plus fees?
      "Absolutely so," said Paglia. "It's an added attraction, and a good deal."
      A spokesman for Primm's company, Primadonna Resorts Inc., said last week that his boss wouldn't be bidding, but a catalog from the auction house changed his mind.
     The Associated Press contributed to this report.