In two days, it will be 50 years since the quadruple-murder of a family that led to an investigation, manhunt and eventual double-execution. The Clutter family - Herb, his wife Bonnie, and their two youngest children, Nancy (16) and Kenyon (15) were shot to death in their home in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas on November 15th, 1959. Two elder siblings, Beverly and Eveanna, no longer lived at home.
American author Truman Capote, poised to write a different piece entirely, read about the murders in the paper and, intrigued, set out with his friend and fellow author Harper Lee to write an article about the town’s reactions. Upon arrival, Capote quickly determined there was much more than an article here. He called his editor and let him know he would be staying in Kansas for as long as it took to research the book he now knew he needed to write.
The small and tight-knit community of Holcomb was stunned by the murders, which left in its wake fear and unanswered questions. The Clutters were well-liked and well-respected, and the town was small enough that everyone knew each other. Herb Clutter ran a farm, was fair to his employees, was in no way wealthy, and had no enemies anyone could bring to mind. Bonnie Clutter was a homemaker and avid gardener, prone to bouts of severe depression, but again, known to and liked by her neighbours and community. Nancy and Kenyon were both well-adjusted, happy high school students with friends and dates and activities. They were a close family and got along well. Who would do such a thing?
At last, a trail of bad checks led police to investigate and arrest Richard “Dick” Hickock and Perry Edward Smith. Capote stayed in Holcomb, and made multiple trips back after his return to New York. He spoke to townspeople, law enforcement agents, the neighbours of the Clutters, and even conducted thorough and personal interviews with both Hickock and Smith. He developed a personal friendship with Smith, though how much of that was sincere and how much was the means to the end of Capote’s book has been questioned many times.
The eventual finished product, Capote’s final, and arguably finest full-length piece In Cold Blood was first published in September 1965, in The New Yorker magazine, five months after Hickock and Smith were executed by hanging.
In Cold Blood goes into such minute detail about the Clutters, the killers and Holcomb in general that it’s impossible to read it without very much feeling the horror, fear and sorrow that the town suffered. Far from being merely a factual recitation of a crime, it takes a very in-depth examination and analysis of how and why such a terrible thing could happen. The 2005 film Capote stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote and Catherine Keener as Harper Lee, and examines Capote’s methods, motives and obsession while writing In Cold Blood.
Capote himself died in 1984, of complications from alcoholism. Signed or early edition copies of In Cold Blood can be very collectible.
Wouldn’t that be 50 years?
Lisa - yes, of course! That’s why the blog post says 50!
(heh - thank you very much….fixed!)