Hi Class,
Here I am leaving you an article on a USA Newspaper about the Clutter Case.
Midwest Murders: The Clutter Murder Case
Murders Committed by Hickock and Smith in Holcomb, Kansas
- Jul 23, 2009
- Vickie Britton
On November 15, 1959, four members of the Clutter family were bound, gagged, and shot to death in their isolated farm home in Holcomb, Kansas, by two strangers.
On the morning after the murders, the bodies of four members of the Clutter family: Herbert, his wife Bonnie Jean, daughter Nancy, and son Kenyan, were discovered by a friend of Nancy's after efforts to rouse them for church had failed. In the ensuing poilice investigation it was found that the family had been murdered during the night. Telephone lines had been cut, but there was no sign of a struggle. For a long time, the police looked for a motive, but could find none because the act was committed by two transients who never even knew the Clutters.
The Clutter Family Murders-Crime and Motivation
Richard Hickock first heard about the Clutter family from a prison mate and former employee of Herbert Clutter, Floyd Wells. Wells led Hickock to believe that Clutter, a wealthy farmer, kept a considerable amount of money hidden in a safe in his home. He told this to inmate Perry Smith, and upon their release from prison, the two conspired to rob the place.
Hitchcock and Smith drove 400 miles to the Clutter home with the intent to get the contents of the safe. The two bound and tied the members of the family and demanded money. But the rumors were wrong, and Herbert Clutter did not keep his cash on the premises.
In an act of incredible violence, they then shot the four Clutter family members who lived in the house.. Herbert, his wife, Bonnie, 16 year old Nancy, and 15 year old Kenyon. (Two other daughters, Evanna and Beverly had moved away.) Bonnie and Nancy were found shot in their bedrooms. Herb and Kenyon had been taken to the basement, where it appeared Herb had also been tortured and his throat cut before his shooting. The murders netted the killers $40.00, a radio and a pair of binoculars.
Two months later, information derived from Floyd Wells led the police on the trail of Hickock and Smith, who were soon apprehended near Las Vegas. Five years later, both men were hanged for their crimes. Novelist Truman Capote had to delay publication of his book about the crimes In Cold Blood until the verdict was carried out on April 14, 1965.
The Killers-Hickcock and Smith
Richard "Dick" Hickock, 28, grew up on a farm near Kansas City. He had a stable family life, and had no trouble with the law until a car accident in 1950, which left him with a dislocated jaw that made his face permanently disfigured. Twice divorced, he began to turn to petty crime. He met Smith while serving time for fraud and burglary. Though he had been in and out of trouble with the laws, nothing in his backgound indicated that he might one day commit murder.
Perry Edward Smith was born in Nevada to rodeo performers. The brooding, part-Cherokee man had a handsome face, but was runty and his legs were disfigured from a motorcycle accident. He was portrayed as the more sympathetic of the two because of troubled childhood. He.came from a dysfunctional family with a history of suicide and alcohol abuse. His mother took the kids and left his abusive father. She died when he was thirteen, and Smith spent the rest of his youth in orphanages. Two of his siblings committed suicide.
Capote’s Famous Novel In Cold Blood and Films Based on the Clutter Murders
Novelist Truman Capote found himself drawn to the story of the Clutter murders, and devoted six years to researching his famous novel In Cold Blood. The book, published in 1965, was the first true account of a crime in novel form that was told as fiction. It also served as a forerunner of the now-popular true crime novels.
It is obvious to note that Capote felt a certain empathy for Perry Smith. Both men came from a similar family background which included neglect, suicide, and alcoholism. It was rumored that Capote may have had a homosexual affair with Smith during his visits to the prison, but these rumors are not substantiated. The filmInfamous explores Capote’s relationship with Smith.
Books and Films about Capote and The Clutter Murders
One major book and three major films have been written about the Clutter murders, and about the man who made them famous. In both of the films the murder case and Capote’s involvement in the writing of the book are intertwined.
Books:
Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood, The Modern Library First Edition, NY, 2002
ISBN 10-0375507906Films:
- In Cold Blood , 1967 Columbia Pictures (starring Robert Blake)
- Capote , 2005 Universal Studios (starring Philip Seymour Hoffman)
- Infamous , 2006 Warner Independent Pictures , (starring Toby Jones)
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