Herbert Clutter (born May 24, 1911) was a well off farmer living in western Kansas with his wife, Bonnie (born January 7, 1914) and his two younger children, Nancy (born January 2, 1943), aged 16 and Kenyon (born August 28, 1944) aged 15 at the time. His two older daughters, Eveanna and Beverly had moved out and begun their own lives.
It was said that Bonnie Clutter had experienced clinical depression and physical ailments since she gave birth, though this was later disputed by many people who knew her. Nancy and Kenyon were both students at the Holcomb High School, with Nancy being described as well liked, pretty, and intelligent, a straight A student, and loved sewing and riding her horse, and Kenyon being quiet, shy, and loved hunting and woodwork.
On the evening of November 14, 1959, two ex-convicts, Richard “Dick” Hickock (born June 6, 1931) and Perry Smith (born October 27, 1928) who had been recently paroled from the Kansas State Penitentiary travelled across Kansas to the Clutter house with the plans to rob them.
Floyd Wells, a former cellmate of Hickock’s had told him in prison that he used to work for a very wealthy man named Herbert Clutter, who would keep large amounts of cash in his safe. The Clutter family lived in a huge house, with 14 bedrooms that they had boughten for $40, 000 which was a lot of money in the 1950′s.
When Hickock found out that Clutter’s were well off, he began to form a plan to rob them, wanting to steal the safe and take off for Mexico. Hickock then brought this plan up to his friend, Smith, another former cellmate who was willing to help him.
In the early hours of November 15, 1959, Hickock and Smith entered the Clutter family home through an unlocked door while they were asleep. They first pushed Bonnie, Nancy and Kenyon into a bathroom on the second floor, then took Herb to his first floor office. The two men searched the residence for a safe, but soon found out there wasn’t one; Herbert Clutter conducted all of his business via checks.
Upon finding this out they took Bonnie and the two children out of the bathroom, Bonnie’s hands being tied in front of her and gagged, tucking her into bed in a second floor bedroom. Nancy’s hands were tired behind her though she was not gagged, but also tucked into bed. Kenyon and Herb were taken to the basement, with Kenyon being gagged and his hands tied behind him. The two men tied this rope to an overhead steam pipe in the furnace room.
The killers then changed their mind, cutting Kenyon free and placing him on a couch, with a pillow behind his head in a playroom. Herb was also bound and gagged, then pushed onto a mattress box lying on the floor in the furnace room.
Hickock went upstairs to keep looking for the safe, but returned angry and empty handed. Smith then slit Herb’s throat and shot him in the head, later claiming that he didn’t want to hurt Herb and though he was a nice man right up to when he cut his throat.
Hickock then went to where Kenyon was and shot him to death, before going upstairs and the two men shot Nancy, before shooting Bonnie in the side of the head. Hickock and Smith picked up each spent shell from the gun and it was also said that Smith stopped Hickock from raping Nancy.
All that Hickock and Smith left with was a Zenith portable radio which belonged to Kenyon, a pair of binoculars, and less than $50 in cash.
The Clutter family had no enemies and were well liked within their community, so much so that about 1,000 people attended their funerals and a large chunk of people also attended their burial.
On December 30, 1959, both Hickock and Smith were arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, and were extradited back to Kansas. They were both found guilty of four counts of first degree murder and sentenced to death.
On April 14, 1965, Hickock and Smith were hanged at the Kansas State Prison.
Before the killers were arrested and found, a man named Truman Capote travelled to Kansas to write a book about the murders. He went with his childhood friend, Harper Lee, known famously for writing ‘To Kill A Mockingbird.’
The pair interviewed local residents and investigators, taking lots of notes. Capote had spent 6 years writing his book and it was published in 1966, called ‘In Cold Blood.’ Today, it is the second best selling true crime book in publishing history, following ‘Helter Skelter’ written by Vincent Bugliosi in 1974 on the Manson Family murders.
dededos
germansingergirl
turnnoffyourmind
pixelskylines
izzy806
snowghoul
