from WORLD CONNECT, Ralph Bouldin was a son of R George Bouldin and Violet McCulley, born in Los Angeles, California. He married, had two children, but died in Turkey in 1968. From the newspapers BOULDIN, GARY RALPH
"b 1935, California. Buried 3 Jan 1969. An alleged "gangster" and smuggler who was being questioned about a stolen car in which he and his girl companion were driving. Dope and LSD were found in their possession. Gary decided to break away and in doing so shot and killed two policemen and two civilians. He was then gunned down after a chase. Brief ceremony of committal was held Friday, 3 Jan 1969 at Protestant Cemetery, Feriköy, Istanbul. Dr. Perry Avery presided and four consular officials from the American Consulate were present."

Newspaper article in Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, December 29, 1968, reports that on the day previous (Dec. 28), Bouldin was arrested near Taksim driving a car with Milan, Italy license plates. With him was his girlfriend, Patricia Ann Seeds. He was taken to the police station in Karaköy next to the Liman Lokantas (Restaurant) to be interrogated. Since it was a Saturday, a full complement of police officers was not on duty. Bouldin drew a gun and shot two policemen. He then ran into a lavatory, locked the door behind him and jumped through the window, landing on the terrace of the restaurant. He entered the kitchen, and after confronting an employee, shot him. In the meantime, the injured policeman were taken to the hospital. Other police were called in and they surrounded the restaurant. The newspaper reported that 1,000 policemen were on site. Upon learning that one of the injured policemen had died, they swore to capture Bouldin. The ensuing shoot-out in the restaurant ended with five dead, including Bouldin, policemen and restaurant patrons. Three were injured.

Immediately after the shoot-out ended, anger ran so high that the police determined to lynch the girlfriend. However, after acknowledging that she had no part in the shooting, they desisted. Officials from the American Consul were called in, along with some American detectives who had been on Bouldin's trail. It was learned that Bouldin was from Los Angeles, California and had an ex-wife and two sons living there. The body was unclaimed and it was buried at the Protestant Cemetery.

(The newspaper called him a "Texas Gangster", apparently a colloquialism for an American "bad guy.")


Los Angeles Times - Sunday, December 29, 1968

ISTANBUL (AP) - A Californian killed three men, wounded four and finally was shot fatally in a wild gunfight with Turkish police Saturday, Istanbul police said.

Police said security men had taken Gary Ralph Bouldin, 35, and a woman identified as Patricia Ann Seeds, 20, both of Los Angeles, for questioning to a police building where a bureau of the Treasury Police, which usually deals with smuggling and narcotics, is located.

During questioning, Bouldin opened fire on police officials, fatally wounding two of them, police said. Then he fled to a restaurant downstairs and continued to shoot it out with policemen.

Police said Bouldin died while being taken to a hospital. His companion, who was not involved in the shooting, was taken to police headquarters for further investigation. Police did not disclose why Bouldin was being questioned.

(The girl's father, Norton H. Seeds, said he had not heard from his daughter for a month since she took time off from her studies at San Jose State College to travel in Europe with a girlfriend, United Press International reported.)
Register of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Membership of the Union Church, Istanbul, Page 187.
Original newspapers available for reference in Atatürk Kütüphanesi (library) near the Sheraton Hotel in Istanbul. No photocopies
allowed.

On December 28,1968, Ralph Gary Bouldin
of San Jose, California, was shot to death in
Istanbul by police aimed with machine pistols.
What was his crime? Why was a photograph of
his bullet-riddled body exhibited in all the local
newspapers?

Bouldin made an agreement to buy 5
kilo of hash and the deal was consumated the
next day at the Gulhane. He paid in cash,
American. Unfortunately he exposed the
contents of his wallet which was packed thickly
with dollar bills of high denomination. There
were two pushers there at the time and their
eyes must have boggled.

As happens here all too frequently the pusher
who sells you the shit is the one who turns you
in to the fuzz who lock you up, confiscate the
hash' and split it 50-50 with the pHsher-informer.
(You can buy all the shit you want in the local
jails.) You go to jaiL

But in Bouldin's case there were attractive
alternatives - his cash and his car.

So the pusher phoned his confederates in
the Sultan Ahmet police station close to the
Gulhane Hotel. They were told of the hash,
the cash and the car. It didn't take long.-
Within a few minutes Ralph and Pat were
under arrest in the police station's booking
room. Two fuzz, one a.ranking officer, began
to discuss things. They told Bouldin they knew
about the hashish but that they were willing to
forget it. (Possession of 5 kilo could bring a 20-
30 year sentence.) All they wanted was for him
to turn over the contents of his wallet and the
papers for his car.

He refused. Whereupon the two began to
beat him viciously. Flanked as he was on both
sides poor Ralph could not escape their fists
and rubber truncheons. Now, unbeknownst to
the fuzz, Bouldin carried two semi-automatic
pistols on his person. Shouting to Patricia to
run he drew his weapons and shot to death his
two tormentors. Pat did run. So did Ralph.

He ran up the street about 150 yards follow-
ed, but not too closely, by some police who had
heard the shooting while in an adjoining room.
In a panic Bouldin dashed into a small neigh-
bourhood restaurant. A waiter, seeing his fist-
held pistols tried to stop him. A mistake. Ralph
shot him dead. Three diners, frightened, tried
to scramble for the door past him. He shot them
too, but not fatally. Panic was spoiling his aim.

There was no rear door for exit. So Ralph
ducked into the tiny toilet in the back. His
mistake.

Meanwhile, police reinforcements had hastily
been summoned by radio. More than 600, armed
with machine pistols, responded. The area was
blanketed by them.

A very high ranking officer decided he could
'talk' Bouldin out. He went up to the toilet
door and called to Bouldin to surrender. He
guaranteed safe conduct. He claimed to be un-
armed. Ralph opened the door a crack, saw the
extra police details clustered about the entrance
door with their machine pistols and opened fire
once more, killing the high police officer. That
spelt the end.

A fusillade of shots through the toilet door
finished off Ralph Gary Bouldin. The local
coroner estimated more than 60 slugs penetrated
his body.

The scene here now is strictly deadsville.
Most of the kids have evaporated. Five hotels
patronised by beats and hippies have been closed
down. The 'Pudding Shop' is deserted. Foreigners,
any kind - long or short haired, bearded or
clean shaven - are looked at with suspicion.
Tension is very high. Tell your readers to either
skip Istanbul for now or go through in a hurry,
same day as arrival if possible.

So, pass the word: Don't come.

A braham Grossman

from WORLD CONNECT, Ralph Bouldin was a son of R George Bouldin and Violet McCulley, born in Los Angeles, California. He married, had two children, but died in Turkey in 1968. From the newspapers BOULDIN, GARY RALPH
"b 1935, California. Buried 3 Jan 1969. An alleged "gangster" and smuggler who was being questioned about a stolen car in which he and his girl companion were driving. Dope and LSD were found in their possession. Gary decided to break away and in doing so shot and killed two policemen and two civilians. He was then gunned down after a chase. Brief ceremony of committal was held Friday, 3 Jan 1969 at Protestant Cemetery, Feriköy, Istanbul. Dr. Perry Avery presided and four consular officials from the American Consulate were present."

Newspaper article in Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, December 29, 1968, reports that on the day previous (Dec. 28), Bouldin was arrested near Taksim driving a car with Milan, Italy license plates. With him was his girlfriend, Patricia Ann Seeds. He was taken to the police station in Karaköy next to the Liman Lokantas (Restaurant) to be interrogated. Since it was a Saturday, a full complement of police officers was not on duty. Bouldin drew a gun and shot two policemen. He then ran into a lavatory, locked the door behind him and jumped through the window, landing on the terrace of the restaurant. He entered the kitchen, and after confronting an employee, shot him. In the meantime, the injured policeman were taken to the hospital. Other police were called in and they surrounded the restaurant. The newspaper reported that 1,000 policemen were on site. Upon learning that one of the injured policemen had died, they swore to capture Bouldin. The ensuing shoot-out in the restaurant ended with five dead, including Bouldin, policemen and restaurant patrons. Three were injured.

Immediately after the shoot-out ended, anger ran so high that the police determined to lynch the girlfriend. However, after acknowledging that she had no part in the shooting, they desisted. Officials from the American Consul were called in, along with some American detectives who had been on Bouldin's trail. It was learned that Bouldin was from Los Angeles, California and had an ex-wife and two sons living there. The body was unclaimed and it was buried at the Protestant Cemetery.

(The newspaper called him a "Texas Gangster", apparently a colloquialism for an American "bad guy.")


Los Angeles Times - Sunday, December 29, 1968

ISTANBUL (AP) - A Californian killed three men, wounded four and finally was shot fatally in a wild gunfight with Turkish police Saturday, Istanbul police said.

Police said security men had taken Gary Ralph Bouldin, 35, and a woman identified as Patricia Ann Seeds, 20, both of Los Angeles, for questioning to a police building where a bureau of the Treasury Police, which usually deals with smuggling and narcotics, is located.

During questioning, Bouldin opened fire on police officials, fatally wounding two of them, police said. Then he fled to a restaurant downstairs and continued to shoot it out with policemen.

Police said Bouldin died while being taken to a hospital. His companion, who was not involved in the shooting, was taken to police headquarters for further investigation. Police did not disclose why Bouldin was being questioned.

(The girl's father, Norton H. Seeds, said he had not heard from his daughter for a month since she took time off from her studies at San Jose State College to travel in Europe with a girlfriend, United Press International reported.)
Register of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Membership of the Union Church, Istanbul, Page 187.
Original newspapers available for reference in Atatürk Kütüphanesi (library) near the Sheraton Hotel in Istanbul. No photocopies
allowed.

On December 28,1968, Ralph Gary Bouldin
of San Jose, California, was shot to death in
Istanbul by police aimed with machine pistols.
What was his crime? Why was a photograph of
his bullet-riddled body exhibited in all the local
newspapers?

Bouldin made an agreement to buy 5
kilo of hash and the deal was consumated the
next day at the Gulhane. He paid in cash,
American. Unfortunately he exposed the
contents of his wallet which was packed thickly
with dollar bills of high denomination. There
were two pushers there at the time and their
eyes must have boggled.

As happens here all too frequently the pusher
who sells you the shit is the one who turns you
in to the fuzz who lock you up, confiscate the
hash' and split it 50-50 with the pHsher-informer.
(You can buy all the shit you want in the local
jails.) You go to jaiL

But in Bouldin's case there were attractive
alternatives - his cash and his car.

So the pusher phoned his confederates in
the Sultan Ahmet police station close to the
Gulhane Hotel. They were told of the hash,
the cash and the car. It didn't take long.-
Within a few minutes Ralph and Pat were
under arrest in the police station's booking
room. Two fuzz, one a.ranking officer, began
to discuss things. They told Bouldin they knew
about the hashish but that they were willing to
forget it. (Possession of 5 kilo could bring a 20-
30 year sentence.) All they wanted was for him
to turn over the contents of his wallet and the
papers for his car.

He refused. Whereupon the two began to
beat him viciously. Flanked as he was on both
sides poor Ralph could not escape their fists
and rubber truncheons. Now, unbeknownst to
the fuzz, Bouldin carried two semi-automatic
pistols on his person. Shouting to Patricia to
run he drew his weapons and shot to death his
two tormentors. Pat did run. So did Ralph.

He ran up the street about 150 yards follow-
ed, but not too closely, by some police who had
heard the shooting while in an adjoining room.
In a panic Bouldin dashed into a small neigh-
bourhood restaurant. A waiter, seeing his fist-
held pistols tried to stop him. A mistake. Ralph
shot him dead. Three diners, frightened, tried
to scramble for the door past him. He shot them
too, but not fatally. Panic was spoiling his aim.

There was no rear door for exit. So Ralph
ducked into the tiny toilet in the back. His
mistake.

Meanwhile, police reinforcements had hastily
been summoned by radio. More than 600, armed
with machine pistols, responded. The area was
blanketed by them.

A very high ranking officer decided he could
'talk' Bouldin out. He went up to the toilet
door and called to Bouldin to surrender. He
guaranteed safe conduct. He claimed to be un-
armed. Ralph opened the door a crack, saw the
extra police details clustered about the entrance
door with their machine pistols and opened fire
once more, killing the high police officer. That
spelt the end.

A fusillade of shots through the toilet door
finished off Ralph Gary Bouldin. The local
coroner estimated more than 60 slugs penetrated
his body.

The scene here now is strictly deadsville.
Most of the kids have evaporated. Five hotels
patronised by beats and hippies have been closed
down. The 'Pudding Shop' is deserted. Foreigners,
any kind - long or short haired, bearded or
clean shaven - are looked at with suspicion.
Tension is very high. Tell your readers to either
skip Istanbul for now or go through in a hurry,
same day as arrival if possible.

So, pass the word: Don't come.

A braham Grossman