Reseacher

The Murder

Perry Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock became acquinted with each other during their time in prison. They both plan to commit a robbery after they got out and move to Mexico. When Perry smith was released from jail before Richard, a man named Floyd Wells became Richard's new inmate. Floyd Wells once worked for Herbert Clutter's plantation and he knew the layout of the Clutter's home. Floyd Wells told Richard that Herbert Clutter might possibly have safe in his home,and with this information he contacted Perry and they created the treacherous plot. When Richard was released,the two put thier plans in action, torob the Clutter family's safe. On Novemeber 14, 1959, they shot four members of the Clutters family to death and they did not find any safe.

Word Watcher

tantalizied pg 103

Researcher

Capote's Quest

After Capote's BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1958), Capote saw an article on the New Yorker about a wealthy family in Holcomb, Kansas was killed. Capote thought to himself that this would be a great story to write about. Capote and his good friend Harper Lee set out to Holcomb, Kansas to research about the story. They interviewed the towns people about the murder and about what they know about the Clutter Family. Capote also interacted with the two murders Perry Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock and created a strong reltionship with the two murders. It took a total of six years for Capote to finish the novel. In Cold Blood is considered to be the first documentary book, reacting a true story.

Literary Illuminator

Pg 89

The investigators are left faced with a search for a killer or killers whose cunning is apparent if his (or their) motives is not. For this killer or killers: *Carefully cute the telephone cords of the home's two telephones. *Bound and gagged their victims expertly, with no evidence of a struggle with any of them. *left nothing in the house amiss, left no indication they had searched for anything with the possible exception of [Cltter's] billford. *Shot four persons in different parts of the house, calmly picking up the expended shotgun shells.



This part of the book I feel is very descriptive of the crime scene as they're investigating.

Researcher

Perry Edward Smith

Although a murderer, Perry Edward Smith grew up in a chaotic environment where his parents worked as rodeos. Perry's father was Irish while his mother was a Cherokee Native American. At the age of six his parents divorced due to his mother's heavy drinking, and he moved to San Fransisco for some time. Unable to support him, Perry's mother sent him off to an orphanage. There was much confusion during his young life and he was a wild kid, committing to stealing at the age of eight. Perry was eventually caught and was send to Juvenile halls. After uniting with his father, perry moves to Alaska and when he turned sixteen he joined the merchant marines and went on to join the U.S. Army; Perry served in Korean and Japan. In 1952 Perry was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him maimed for the rest of his life. It took Perry months to recover his legs but it was never the same. In 1955 Perry was put into jail for stealing office equipments, and in Kansas state prison Perry met Richard Hickock.

Literary Illuminator

Pg 79

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation, a state-wide organization with headquarters in Topeka, had a staff of nineteen experienced detectives scattered through the state, and the services of these men are available whenever a case seems beyond the competence of local authorities.


I found that this was an important part of the book because since the murder of the family, the case of trying to figure out who the murder was take a big part of the book.

Literary Illuminator

Pg 65

The Missis and me, we didn't sleep two hours last night, was up and down the whole time, on account of we git a sick baby. But the only thing we heard, about ten-thirty, quarter to eleven, I heard a car drive away, and I made the remark to Missis, "There goes Bib Rupp." I started walking home, and on the way, about halfway down the lane, I saw Kenyon's old collie and that dog was scared. Stood there with its tail between its legs, didn't bark or move. And seeing the dong- somehow that made me feel again. I'd been to dazed, too numb, to feel the full viciousness of it. The suffering. The horror. They were dead. A whole family. Gentle, kindly people, people I knew-murdered. You had to believe it, because it was really true."


This part of the book actually shows a bit of a strong wording to the death of the people. Everything that happens you can see from the characters point of view. You see this dog that once belonged to someone you knew. The dog's alone, afraid and it has no where to be anymore since the murder. The author words the death a bit strongly but in a way someone can relate to how the character feels if they had someone maybe in their family or a friend that has died.

Researcher

The Clutter Family

The Clutter Family was interesting family that lived in Holcomb, Kansas. Herbert Clutter is the father of the family and owns a large plantation and his family was rich due to the success of Herbert's farm. Herbert Clutter was not only rich in Holcomb, but also he was a leader and involved in many organization that better the community of Holcomb. Bonnie Clutter the wife and mother of the Clutter family was depressed because she couldn't keep up with her husband's image in Holcomb as a leader. She suffers mental disorder and spends a lot of time in bed most of the day.
Herbert and Bonnie had four kids while the two older daughters moved out, the two youngest Nancy(16) and Kenyon(15) still lived with them in the house.

Researcher

Holcomb, Kansas

Holcomb, Kansas is a little town located in the middle of the United States. Most of the town income comes from it's agriculture productions. Holcomb has a very small population containing only a little more than 2000 residents. Majority of the population is Caucasian while other ethnicity is limited. Many residents of Holcomb are below the poverty line and must work very hard to bring in money. Although a peaceful little town, Holcomb is notoriously known for the murder of the Clutter family that took place in 1959.

Literary Illuminator

Page 62:

After we got there, and the sheriff had heard Mr.Ewalt's story he radioed his office and told them to send reinforcements, and ambulance. Said, 'There's been a terrible accident.'Then we went into the house, the three of us. Went through the kitchen and saw lady's purse lying on the floor, and the phone where the wires had been cut. The sheriff was wearing a hip pistol, and when we started up the stairs, going to Nancy's bedroom, I noticed he kept his hand on it, ready to draw.
"Well, it was pretty bad. That wonderful girl- but you would never have known her. She'd been shot in the back of the head with a shotgun held maybe two inches away. She was lying on her side facing the wall. and the wall was covered with blood.The bed covers where drawn up to her shoulders.

This part of the book has a strong wording of what has happened. Again the reader can actually imagine the crime scene as if they were there confronting the problem. This actually reminded me of First They Killed My Father by Lung Ung where she actually had watched her father be murdered and you can imagine that you are there and her expression on her face as she watches it happen. Though its different you can imagine the horror the characters must feel watching or seeing this murder right in front of them.

Researcher

Getting To Know Truman Capote

Truman Capote was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 30, 1924, and unfortunately he was born into a desolated family. When he turned 4 years old his parents divorced, and he was sent to Monroeville, Alabama to live with his relatives. When Truman's mother remarried to a successful businessman, he moved to New York and worked for the New Yorker. At first his role was small, but then he began to write articles and publish his first few novels. Success didn't come quickly, so Truman moved to Europe to write fiction and non-fictional stories. After writing and directing several plays, Truman gain more prominence and moved back to the United States where he wrote two of his greatest works,BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1958) and In Cold Blood (1965). Truman Capote died in August 25, 1984, at the age of sixty. Truman will always be remembered for his unique style of clothing and literature.

Literary Illuminator

Page 3:
The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans calls "out there." Some seventy miles east of the Colorado boarder, the countryside, with its hard blue skies and desert-clear air, has a atmosphere that is rather more Far West than Middle West. The local accent is barbed with a prairie twang, a ranch-hand nasalness, and the men,many of them, wear narrow frontier trousers, Stetsons, and high-heeled boots with pointed toes. The land flat, and the views are awesomely extensive, horses, herd of cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples as visible long before a traveler reaches them.



This part of the book tells us that the book takes place in Holcomb, Kansas. The way that the character describes this place is from his or her point of view. As the character explains how he or she is seeing Kansas the reader is able to see from the characters point of view or as if they were there looking at this place.

Researcher

The Murder

Perry Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock became friends when they were in jail and plan to commit and robbery after they both get out. When Perry was released and Richard stayed behind and had to room with Floyd Wells, an former employer of Herbert Clutter's plantation. Floyd Wells knew the layout of the house and told Richard that Herbert Clutters kept a safe in his home. With the information Floyd Wells gave to Richard, Richard contacted Perry and made the treacherous plan to rob the Clutter family safe. On the night of November 14, 1959, Perry and Richard carried out their plan and shot the four members of the Clutter family: Bonnie, Nancy, Kenyon, and Herbert Clutter. Perry and Richard did not find any money and also killed four innocent people.

Researcher

Richard Eugene Hickock

Richard Eugene Hickock was born on June 6, 1931, in Kansas City, Kansas and he was raised in a stable family. Richard was popular, athletic and was on the verge of entering college but his family couldn't afford it. In 1950, Richard was in a car accident that disoriented his face and from this point on his life went downhill. Richard was sent to jail in 1958 for theft and there he met Perry Smith.