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Due to the graphic nature of this crime, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, violence, sexual abuse, and suicide. We advise extreme caution for children under 13.
Almost 65 years ago, a heinous crime ended the lives of four people and changed the true crime genre forever. In this bonus episode of Serial Killers, we detail the true story captured in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." Stick around.
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Today, we're covering the Clutter family murders committed by Dick Hickok and Perry Smith. Let's go back to the highways of Kansas on November 14th, 1959. ♪
28-year-old Richard Hickok drove his black 49 Chevrolet straight to the Clutter home in Holcomb. A former cellmate told him Herbert Clutter kept a safe full of valuables hidden in his house. Dick enlisted his prison buddy, 31-year-old Perry Smith, to help him nab the cash.
Dick was intrigued by Perry. He seemed quiet and sensitive, but Perry swore he'd once murdered a man with a chain. Dick hoped Perry still had ice in his veins because he didn't intend on leaving any witnesses alive in the clutter house. While Dick drove, Perry idly played his guitar. After they secured the safe, the two were supposed to head down to Mexico.
Perry couldn't wait to swim in the ocean and chase women. Dick, on the other hand, was only focused on the task ahead. In his words, he was in it to splatter the walls with hair.
The Clutter household was asleep when Dick and Perry arrived at midnight. They let themselves in through an unlocked door, armed with a knife and a single 12-gauge shotgun. Using a flashlight, they searched the office downstairs. There was no sign of the safe.
The men went upstairs to wake 48-year-old Herbert at knife point. Dick demanded to know where the safe was, but Herbert swore he had no idea what Dick was talking about. Next up was Herbert's wife, 45-year-old Bonnie, who also claimed the family didn't have any secret safe.
Perry could tell they were telling the truth, but Dick was still stubborn. He insisted on turning the house upside down. But before they could search for the money, they needed to account for every member of the family.
The men tied up 15-year-old Kenyon and his sister's 16-year-old Nancy. Dick told Perry he was going to rape Nancy before they left, but something in Perry changed. He suddenly became frustrated and confrontational. He refused to let Dick do that to Nancy. Yet he had no problem helping Dick murder the entire family before they left.
Once it was all over, Perry considered killing Dick too and putting the entire night behind him. Instead, the two men got back in the car together and drove off. Their entire haul was one radio, a pair of binoculars, and between $40 and $50.
The next morning, members of the Holcomb Church noted Herbert Clutter's absence during the morning services. When Susan Kidwell arrived at the home, she could tell something was horribly wrong. It was far too quiet. She went inside and discovered Nancy's body. Shock and terror spread throughout the lonesome town and soon to the entire country.
The public demanded justice for such a gruesome crime.
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On November 14th, 1959, Dick Hickok and Perry Smith murdered four members of the Clutter family in their home. Afterward, the murderers headed to Kansas City before rejoining later to drive straight for Mexico.
Sometime that fall, a prisoner named Floyd Wells heard about the Clutter murders and realized his old cellmate Dick must have been involved. Floyd was the inmate who told Dick about Herbert Clutter in the first place. He'd given Dick the layout of the Clutter home, along with a tall tale about the non-existent safe.
He told authorities he had information about the murders, which eventually reached 47-year-old officer Alvin Dewey.
Alvin and Herbert Clutter had been friends. Now Alvin was leading the investigation into the murders. When he heard about Floyd's tip, he agreed that Dick and his former prison buddy Perry made excellent suspects. He withheld their names from the public, hoping that the two men would slip up if they thought they'd gotten away clean.
On December 30th, 1959, Alvin finally got the call he'd been waiting for. Las Vegas police tracked a stolen vehicle's license plate and arrested Dick and Perry. The killers were driving back to Kansas City when the cops picked them up.
Both had concocted an alibi for the night of the home invasion, claiming they were in a cabin with two sex workers. When police hinted that they had a witness who said otherwise, Dick realized Floyd had ratted him out. He admitted the alibi was made up and claimed Perry had murdered all four of the victims.
Perry, meanwhile, blamed Dick for the entire scheme at first. But not long afterward, he changed his confession and said that he had actually murdered all four Clutters. He claimed he took the blame to spare Dick's mother the heartache. Then everything changed again.
Before their trial began, Perry had an unlikely visitor, 35-year-old writer Truman Capote. Capote had read about the crime in the New York Times and found the case intriguing. Despite his big-city attitude and recent success in fiction, he set off for the high plains of Kansas to cover the story. To assist him with interviews and research, he enlisted his childhood friend, 33-year-old Harper Lee.
While Capote sometimes came off as smug, Lee was grounded and friendly. She was instrumental in securing interviews and helped Capote with the writing. Lee also got Capote close to lead investigator Alvin Dewey.
Capote embedded himself into the case, covering the events as they unfolded. Capote decided that he needed to get to know the killers to understand the reasons behind the senseless violence. While Dick remained standoffish and distant, Perry opened up to the writer, revealing deep truths about himself and the night of the murders.
In court, Perry and Dick were both found guilty and sentenced to death. While Dick maintained his tough exterior during his time on death row, Perry was plagued with guilt. He started to miss Dick. The two men tried to have their convictions repealed, but without any success. On April 14th, 1965, Dick and Perry were set to hang.
Harper Lee and Capote were invited, but Lee declined to show. Both Dick and Perry had made peace with each other and their fates. Dick even shook Alvin's hand before he was hanged. Perry was next, who awkwardly apologized for what he'd done.
According to at least one account, Capote grew sick from the demonstration. He and Perry had grown close over their years of interviewing and correspondence. They had more in common than he expected. Perry's death deeply wounded Capote.
Capote's seminal book "In Cold Blood" was published in 1966. The so-called non-fiction novel was an immediate sensation. Although he dedicated the book to Harper Lee, he didn't acknowledge her help in its creation.
The text elevated true crime into a popular and artistic genre. For Capote, the story was an exploration of the complex human drama surrounding a violent act. It wasn't a tale of bad men hurting innocent people, but how four shotgun blasts ended six lives.
Thanks for listening to Serial Killers, a Spotify podcast. We're here with a new episode every Monday. Be sure to check us out on Instagram at Serial Killers Podcast. And we'd love to hear from you. So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts. Stay safe out there.
Serial Killers is a Spotify podcast. This episode was written by Daniel William Gonzalez, with writing assistance by Terrell Wells, fact-checked by Cheyenne Lopez, and sound designed by Alex Button. Our head of programming is Julian Boirot. Our head of production is Nick Johnson, and Spencer Howard is our post-production supervisor. I'm your host, Vanessa Richardson.