Secret Lives of Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde

Aug. 22 -- — As the wild adventures of the couple dubbed the modern-day Bonnie and Clyde come to an end, friends of the accused robbers call the notorious couple unusual suspects.

The FBI says Michael Pritchert, 41, and Nova Ester Guthrie, 28, used their stolen cash to finance a very lavish lifestyle. The couple went skiing at fancy resorts and scuba diving in the tropics while the FBI searched for them.

The fugitives were on the FBI's most-wanted list and had been living in South Africa illegally since 2000.

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Pritchert's high school friend, Steve Bender, says he can't understand how Pritchert ended up on the FBI's most-wanted list. Bender said Pritchert seemed destined for the big leagues, not the big house.

"This guy was a role model, he dated the prettiest girls in school," Bender said.

Bender said his old friend had dreams of a pro baseball career when he entered Arizona State University.

Pritchert's ex-wife, Laurie Pulzato, also his high school sweetheart, said things started going downhill for her ex-husband when life threw him a curve ball he couldn't cope with.

"His future was in baseball, we thought. I thought he would go on to probably sign a pro contract," Pulatzo said.

But baseball superstar Barry Bonds, Michael's teammate, outshined him and got the deal Pritchert had counted on.

Pritchert dropped out of school and spent the next few years developing a taste for gambling and night life.

Eventually, his appetites cost him his marriage, his former wife said. Then, in 1992, Pritchert robbed a Las Vegas bank.

He was caught and served five years. But authorities say, he used his jail time to learn from his mistakes, and soon after his release in 1997, Pritchert was back at it.

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Soon after his release, Pritchert met Guthrie while in a bar in Farmington, N.M. Guthrie was a small-town girl who grew up in Boone, Colo. — population 400. She was the youngest of eight children and was raised by Christian fundamentalist parents.