Sue Hammond is a bandit villainess in the TV series "Highway Patrol."
Appears in -
Highway patrol (USA 1955 - 59)
Episode - Season 4:5 Bank MessengerFirst broadcast - 29 June 1959.
Played by - Sheila Connolly (b. 1930)
Husband and wife robbers Red and Sue Hammond have netted a lot of money by waylaying bank messengers transporting large amounts of cash (and then murdering them, to leave no witnesses). However, their greed gets the better of them when they attempt 3 such robberies in the same region in just one day, as
Dan Mathews and his highway patrol force start closing in on them. After Sue decoys another bank messenger into taking her into his car - then pulling a gun on him, the police spot and pursue the hijacked vehicle. Unable to get the money from the messenger, as the bag cuffed to his arm and he has no key, Sue abandons the heist, getting out of the car, ordering the messenger at gunpoint to drive on. The highway patrol continue chasing the car, not knowing the criminal is no longer in it. Sue is picked up by Red on his motor cycle, and the duo flee back to their hotel, empty handed this time; they hurriedly begin to pack to make their getaway. But Dan Mathews and Sgt Williams have been tipped to their location, and their patrol car pulls up outside the bandit's motel room. Coming out of their room, Red and Sue pretend to surrender, and throw away 2 guns. But Sue has one hidden and, as Mathews and Williams emerge from cover she opens fire on them.... missing. Red takes the gun from Sue and exchanges shots with the cops, but is wounded and put out of action. Sue, hands in the air, surrenders. The 2 murderous bandits are arrested and taken away.
Appearance - An attractive white woman with short dark hair in her late 20s. She wears a quite tight knee length skirt and sweater, and a cloth coat in some of the outdoor scenes. Actress Sheila Connolly somewhat resembles Elizabeth Taylor.
Character - Sue is just as cold blooded and ruthless as Red, if a bit more cautious. We aren't told, but it seems entirely possible that it's Sue rather than Red who gets rid of the messengers by shooting them down. Sue seems to be the principal planner of the pair's robberies; the duo's final trick, where Sue arms herself with 2 guns, so she can throw one away, but then blast the cops with the other one, is her idea.
Weapon - handguns.
Note - This TV episode was Sheila Connolly's penultimate screen appearance.
