Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Correctional Institutions Division, Texas
End of Watch: Thursday, June 6, 1963
Age: 51
Tour of Duty: 30 years
Badge Number: Not available
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Date of Incident: June 6, 1963
Weapon Used: Not available
Suspect Info: Not available
Bobbie B. (Dub) Bullard was the warden of the Darrington Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in Brazoria County. Warden Bullard was leading a posse on horseback in pursuit of two escaping prisoners, Robert Emanuel Kirby and Billy D. Simmons, when he suffered a heart attack. Livestock Supervisor E. L. Osborn from the Ramsey Unit was in the posse when he saw Bullard’s horse without a rider. Bullard was found gasping for breath and alive near a creek. He died a short time later without speaking. Both convicts were captured.
Bullard had been employed by the Texas Department of Corrections since 1933. On January 16, 1934, Bullard was on duty when Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker shot and killed Officer Major Crowson while breaking Raymond Hamilton and Joe Palmer out of the Eastham Prison in Huntsville. Bullard was instrumental in preventing other convicts from escaping. Hamilton and Palmer were executed for the death in 1935.
Bullard had been the warden at the Darrington Unit since 1953. He was survived by his wife, Beatrice Bullard; one son, James Lee Bullard; three sisters, Mrs. Lora Arnold, Mrs. Peggy Erwin and Mrs. Ruby Wells; one brother, Rad Bullard; and two grandchildren. He was buried in the Addicks Addition of the Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville.