Author Visits Landmarks in Hartford Bank Robbery

By Tammy Moore Teague
*Contributed by Mayor Mary Radley
On Tuesday, July 10, the W.J. Hamilton Memorial Museum welcomed Susan Murray, who came to Hartford to conduct research for a book about the life of her father, Charles Parrott. Parrott robbed the Hartford branch of Farmer’s Bank in 1968.
Murray, a realtor who lives in Fayetteville, toured the museum and visited local landmarks including the current Farmer’s Bank in Greenwood and Hartford. She has been conducting her research for several years and expects to finish her book in the next few months.
Murray discussed that her father had robbed several banks along the Arkansas-Oklahoma border, but always had an alibi. He apparently had a decoy in his hometown of Stillwell, OK, who would dress and conduct business as Parrot, foiling attempts to arrest him for robberies that officials were certain he had committed.
According to the appellate records available on the website Justia: “At about 10 a.m. on February 15, 1986, the bank in Hartford, Arkansas was robbed of approximately $5,000 by two masked gunman. Their ‘get-away’ car was parked on the street near the bank…(and) was found a short time later, abandoned and burning a few miles from the scene of the robbery. The robbery was reported immediately to the law enforcement officials, together with a description of the robbers.”
Although she has yet to come up with a title, the aspiring author said that she has already been contracted by producers to develop a film of her upcoming book. Filming is slated to begin next month in Fayetteville. The film will be directed by Chuck Bowman and produced by Dash Goff. They intend to begin showing at film festivals in 2019.
For more information about the case, visit the Justia website. Additionally, if you have information about Parrott that you would like to share with Murray, please contact Mary Radley at 479-252-2443.