# data[].attributes.headline
“It is no shame to have a dirty face- the shame comes when you keep it dirty.” 

# data[].attributes.subject
“It is no shame to have a dirty face- the shame comes when you keep it dirty.” 

# data[].attributes.body
There are many ways to interpret this quote but how we interpreted it was if you commit a crime (have a dirty face) and continue to deny that you committed this crime (keep a dirty face) shows that you should be shameful of your actions.

# data[].attributes.headline
What did you think of the book? Would you recommend it

# data[].attributes.subject
What did you think of the book? Would you recommend it

# data[].attributes.body
The book started off slow and without a lot of action. However as the book progressed, it become much more interesting. We would recommend this book because it has historical background and while you find out who did the crime, you then have to find out why they did it. People who enjoy exciting books will enjoy this book.

# data[].attributes.body
The murder is the most important part of the book. If there was no murder then there would be no book.  The book would've been changed by not being the book because there is no case.

# data[].attributes.body
Religion was extremely important to the town of Holcomb. Especially socially

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I'll be the first to admit that while I love being at church once I actually get there, I don't always love the process of getting my whole family out the door every Sunday morning. There are too many weekends where I'd rather stay cuddled up in bed with a favorite book or binge watching my latest Netflix obsession.

I don't know what it is exactly that makes getting out the door on Sunday feel so much harder. Maybe it's because while our weekday routine is pretty set, our weekend schedule is far more relaxed. It's our time to kick back and recuperate, without always having to DO something. Or maybe it's that I want to look nice and make sure the girls are looking their best, which sometimes requires a little extra prep time-effort that I don't always feel like putting in.

I'm guessing we're not the only family that struggles to get to church sometimes.

For many families, scheduling and making time for church in the middle of a jam-packed week can feel like a test in itself. Whether you go on Saturday evenings, Sunday mornings or even weekday afternoons, it can be hard to part with what we see as "free" time, especially when it conflicts with other things we really want to do.

But over the years, one thing I've realized is that when I get to a point where I feel like I just don't have time for church, it is a pretty clear sign that I'm pushing myself too hard. And that usually means that I need to reevaluate my schedule and regain some sanity, because at the end of the day, I've never once regretted taking the time to attend church. There's just something about being there that calms me down, makes me feel connected and whole, and simply allows me to breathe again.

And it's not just me, apparently. Research shows that people who regularly attend church report stronger social support networks and less depression. They smoke less and lead healthier and even longer lives. In a very real and physical way, Church is literally good for your health.

Which means that if you haven't been in a while, this might be a great time to start going back, or to find a new church home that fits your personality and your family-one where you click with those around you, make great friends, and feel a strong and welcoming sense of community.

And if you're still not sure you're ready to give it a try? Here are a few more surprising benefits of going to church:

Church Connects Us with God

There is something reverent about simply being inside a church. It gives us a physical space to connect and draw closer to God and to realize that there is something out there bigger than ourselves.

Plus entering a house of worship, we're instantly elevated to a state where we're opening ourselves to God and trying to understand his message. The simple act of walking in the door brings you closer. Ultimately, that connection with God is strengthened and reinforced by church attendance. We're making time for God and physically allowing him into our lives by attending a place of worship.

Church Gives Us a Chance to Reflect on Gratitude

By practicing gratitude, we can reframe negative or frustrating situations into learning opportunities. Gratitude helps us to realize how blessed we are and how much we truly have. Even when things seem dire and awful (say, your husband lost his job, your child is sick, or a loved one passes away), church helps us change our outlook and stop dwelling on empty questions like, "Why is this happening to me?"

Church can help us realize the things we do have, even when we feel lost. For example, we may have access to modern medical care for our sick child, a network of people to support and help our spouse during a job search, or memories and lessons we hold on to from our time with our loved one, as well as the prospect of reuniting with them in heaven. Even if it's hard to see the blessings at the moment, attending church can help us open our hearts and eyes to see the things we have.

Church Connects Us Socially

A more peripheral benefit of church attendance is the way it connects us socially. This is especially true if you have recently moved to a new town, or even just a new neighborhood. As a general rule, church people are pretty friendly, and most churches have a variety of social events, groups, clubs, and connection opportunities available each week. If you're struggling to meet people or to make friends, this is the place to do it!

Church Helps Us Better Connect with our Spouse

Not everyone is on the same page as his or her spouse when it comes to faith. However, couples who attend church together report higher levels of happiness and satisfaction within their marriage. Why is that? Church reconnects us to our shared beliefs. It reinforces the higher philosophy and purpose behind marriage and family and it allows us a safe space to connect with God and our spouse together.

Couples who attend church together are making time to reiterate the important foundations of their marriage. When you got married, you pledged to love and support each other. When you commune with God at church on Sundays, you're reminded of your pledge and your connection is reinforced.

Church Allows Us to Feel Reverence

In the chaos of every day, do you ever long for peace, quiet and reverence? When we attend church, we're transported to a place of worship and peace. I'm always amazed at the peaceful feeling that washes over me the moment I walk into the building. It's a place of calm and a place of joy.

Attending church can help us revisit this revered state regularly. It gives us a space to pray and to express humility and gratitude. It allows us to feel at peace and gives us respite from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.

Church Provides Plenty of Opportunities to Give Back

Most Christian churches offer some type of charity work and assistance for their communities and other areas of need around the world. Through our faith, we've been able to visit and help communities around the world, as well as locally in a variety of ways.

Church offers an opportunity to donate our time and money to causes we believe in. We can also help out through organizations who share the same values and want to share God's Grace and love with those in need. We're so blessed to live full lives with so much opportunity, safety and freedom. So many people in the world live in poverty and pain, and through our faith, we can help bring them comfort and help.

Church Helps Us "Find the Lesson" in our Trials

A friend of mine was recently struggling because, try as she might, she and her husband couldn't get to stable financial ground. It made her heartsick to have to work full-time when she was desperately longing to stay home with her young child. She said, "I'm having such a hard time figuring out what I'm supposed to learn from this experience."

It's such a normal response, isn't it? We all want to know why things don't always go the way we planned.

But I can't even tell you how many times I've been struggling in a particular area and found that the sermon or message applied so directly to my situation that it felt like the pastor was talking directly to me. Church helps us "get it," whether we are ready for it or not.

Church Teaches Us Forgiveness

It can be hard to let go of disappointments, frustrations and annoyances. Maybe a friend has let us down, our kids have been out of control lately, or our spouse has said or done something hurtful. Forgiveness is one of the hardest lessons to learn, and yet, when are finally able to let things go, it can take a huge weight off our shoulders.

There's no better place to be reminded of the gift of forgiveness that we have already received than by going to church, and our hearts can help but be softened in the process.

Church Fills Our Hearts with Song

There's something a little bit magical about music. Listening to hymns and religious music can uplift us and give us messages we may not otherwise hear. It's amazing how open our hearts can become through song, and how sometimes even the weight of the world can be lifted off our shoulders the moment that first song begins playing.

Through music, we feel more spiritually connected because song is a conduit to God. We can feel joy and happiness by listening to music with a great message, then carrying that song in our hearts all week long.

Church is Where We Find Deeper Meaning in our Lives

In my most frustrated and stressed-out moments, I sometimes find myself wondering, "What's the point?" When we feel despair, sorrow, frustration and stress, it's easy to lose sight of the greater plan and purpose that's out there for all of us. We might even feel alone and isolated from God and from other people.

But when we go to church, we're given a greater sense of purpose and meaning. We can see the history of what has led us up to this point, and the promise that lies in our future even beyond this world. Church helps us revisit the larger narrative of life and the reasons to hold on and keep the faith.

The next time you're feeling like church might be more stress than it's worth, remind yourself it's a sign you NEED church in your life even more! Church can help alleviate our stress, ease our burdens and carry us through the week-something we all need.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Surprising Benefits of Going to Church | 10 Reasons to Attend

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
No time for worship? Believe it or not, there are some very concrete benefits of going to church that you might not have thought of. Don't miss these 10 reasons to go. Ever feel like life has gotten so chaotic that there's just no time left for church?

# data[].attributes.headline
Famous Last Laugh Photo between Perry and Dick

# data[].attributes.subject
Famous Last Laugh Photo between Perry and Dick

# data[].attributes.body
"No chicken-hearted jurors, they!

# data[].attributes.headline
"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of Western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call "out there.""

# data[].attributes.subject
"The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of Western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call "out there.""

# data[].attributes.body
The very first line of the book that really helps the reader imagine the rural, small town, country side, that is Holcomb, Kansas.

# data[].attributes.body
Real news article on the murders of the Clutter family.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Richard Hickock and Perry Smith Trial: 1960 - Trial Leaves Questions Over Sanity, Appeals Fail To Overturn Conviction, Suggestions For Further Reading

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Defendants: Richard E. Hickock and Perry E. Smith Crime Charged: Murder Chief Defense Lawyers: Arthur Fleming and Harrison Smith Chief Prosecutors: Logan Greene and Duane West Judge: Roland H. Tate Place: Garden City, Kansas Dates of Trial: March 22-29, 1960 Verdict: Guilty Sentence: Death by hanging

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Back in the 1960's, the whole state of Kansas was shaken and traumatized by the quadruple murder when four members of the Clutter family had been killed. The murders took the entire community by surprise, and for the first six weeks, detectives working on the case didn't have the slightest clue of who might have done it.

The American author Truman Capote traveled in Holcomb, Kansas, accompanied by his friend, Harper Lee so that he could observe the events in the town following the murders. It culminated with his masterpiece In Cold Blood. The book was the first so-called nonfiction novel which prompted a new style in literature.Capote finished the book after six years when the killers were executed.

Until 1959, most Americans had never heard of the little town of Holcomb, Kansas. A small, quiet, and friendly place, where its citizens knew each other. And then, suddenly, on the 15th November 1959, the four members of the prominent Clutter family, the 48-year-old Herbert; his wife Bonnie, 45-years-old; their youngest daughter of 16, Nancy, and their youngest child and only son, the 15-year-old Kenyon, were found bound and shot to death. They were all killed in different rooms around the house, on their River Valley Farm.

For six weeks, the four KBI detectives couldn't find a single clue about the murders of the beloved and highly respected Clutter family. Until one day, when they received a call from an ex-convict, named Floyd Wells, who had worked for Mr. Clutter in 1948. While in jail for a robbery, Wells told his life stories to his cellmate, Richard "Dick" Hickok. Apparently, Wells told Hickock about his job on a lovely farm, about a nice gentleman named Mr. Clutter, about his property and family.

Hearing Wells' stories, Hickock decided to go to the Clutter's property and to kill and rob the family, believing that Mr. Clutter had thousands of dollars in a safe which he kept in his office. As soon as Hickock and his ex-cellmate, Perry Smith, got probation, they made plans to rob the Clutter household. When they arrived in the house, they bound all the four members, but soon they found out that there was no safe or anything more valuable than one pair of binoculars, a portable radio, and 42 dollars.

And yet, before leaving the house, Hickock and Smith shot the family dead and the next week fled to Mexico, while the whole nation was left shocked. After four weeks or so, the police received a call from Floyd Wells who told them about his cellmate Hickock and how he got interested in robbing Mr. Clutter. Soon after his call, Smith, and Hickock were arrested in Las Vegas, on the 30th of December, 1959.

At the trial, the chief investigator in the case, Alvin Dewey, testified that in his confession, Hickock asserted that Smith performed all the killings, while Smith claimed that Hickock was the one who killed the women. However, later, Smith argued that he shot all the family by himself. After their convictions and several appeals, Smith and Hickock were hanged on the 14th April 1965, for first-degree murder.
Read another story from us: The children of Edward IV, Princes Edward and Richard were killed and buried beneath a stone staircase in the Tower of London
That's the clear story about two cold-blooded murders who were hanged for what they've done. But Capote elaborated their personalities, their histories, and their lives. And as much as they appear reprehensible, they are also frighteningly human.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
In Cold Blood: The real murder case behind Capote's masterpiece

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Back in the 1960's, the whole state of Kansas was shaken and traumatized by the quadruple murder when four members of the Clutter family had been killed.

# data[].attributes.headline
"I didn't want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat." - Perry Smith

# data[].attributes.subject
"I didn't want to harm the man. I thought he was a very nice gentleman. Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat." - Perry Smith

# data[].attributes.body
Statement by Perry Smith to the police

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
TRUMAN CAPOTE DISCUSSES WRITING "IN COLD BLOOD" 1968 interview

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On November 15, 1959, the Clutter family-Herb and Bonnie, their daughter Nancy, and son Kenyon-were brutally murdered in their Holcomb, Kansas, home. Convicted of the crime were Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock, who were sent to the Kansas State Penitentiary. Soon after, the killers became the subjects of Truman Capote's non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood. Capote conducted a number of interviews with the inmates before they were executed by hanging on April 14, 1965.

The Kansas Historical Society recently released Smith and Hickock 's inmate case files-593 pages and 727 pages, respectively-which include their criminal histories, warrants, legal correspondence, and notes to and from Capote. Here are a just few details from the files that shed light on their lives behind bars.

1. During his first stay in prison, Smith was busted for contraband.

A search of Cell 228 on March 6, 1957, when Smith was behind bars for burglary, revealed:

1 Box in the making, with drawer.
Some sandpaper.
1 New 12 inch ruler.
1 Pair pliers.
1 piece of band saw blade.
1 Piece of file.
1 Jar of glue.
2 pieces of rubber innertube.
1 roulette game.
1 stinger.

Smith pleaded guilty to having the items, but told officer E. Golden that he was "of a creative nature and likes to build things ... The roulette wheel was for his own amusement in order to figure out percentages." Though it was the first report for Smith in the year that he had been in prison, the document filed by the custodial officer continued, "[he] appears to be an unstable individual who follows his own impulsive nature without weighing the consequences." Smith was sentenced to indefinite isolation, followed by 30 days restriction.

2. During his first stint in prison, Hickock worked at the tag factory.

His duties included "taking paint off the machine and placing it on the conveyor, also is an extra operator when one is needed," reported E.G. Peters, supervisor of the tag factory, on May 27, 1959. "This man requires little supervision. His quality of work, dependability and attitude is above average." His work was good enough that earlier that year, Hickock had been given a raise, and made 20 cents a day.

3. Smith went on a hunger strike in the first year of his second sentence.
Kansas Memory
After going on a "self-induced starvation diet for five (5) months" that left him weighing just 108 pounds, Smith's doctors recommended he be sent to Larned State Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. In a Special Progress Report dated October 13, 1960, that request was denied: "It would be difficult to transfer the patient that distance due to deterioration caused by self-starvation and due to maximum security measure involved in commitment to a medical institution." (Later records in the file show that Smith was taken to a hospital.)

4. During his second sentence, Hickock took courses on the Bible.

Because he was on Death Row, Hickock couldn't go to church-so instead, he participated in Bible Correspondence courses, according to a Special Progress Report from October 7, 1960.

5. Hickock was a college football fan.

Kansas University, specifically. In a letter to Warden Tracy Hand dated August 15, 1960, Hickock wrote, "It is that time of year when football season is just around the corner. I am quite an ardent fan of the University Kansas ... The first game of the season is the 17th of September. Would it be possible for the game of the University of Kansas to be put on the speaker on top of the jail, Saturday afternoon?" Hickock's request was granted.

6. When Capote interviewed Hickock and Smith in 1962, he also got a tour of the institution.
Kansas Memory
Capote's requests for an interview were initially denied; though the inmates had given interviews to reporters before, the prison decided "interviews with condemned inmates serve no constructive purpose." Eventually, though, Capote got his interview-and a tour.

The author visited and interviewed the inmates many times. In a September 1964 letter included in both Smith and Hickok's files, Capote wrote Warden Sherman Crouse informing him that he planned to visit Smith and Hickock once again. "Please do not bother to answer this request by letter," Capote wrote, "as I will telephone you well in advance."
Kansas Memory
Crouse forwarded the letter to Stucker, acting Director of Penal Institutions, describing Capote as "a rather well known author who is writing a book on the Clutter murder case. ... Perhaps I should alert you to the fact if a man about 5 feet tall, approximately 50 years of age, and with a walk and voice such as you have seen and heard many times during your prison career, comes to your office it almost undoubtedly is Mr. Capote."

Crouse went on to explain that Capote attended the trial and kept in touch with the two inmates since that time. "I have been informed Hickock will request that Mr. Capote attend his execution, if and when it takes place," he wrote. "It is understood Mr. Capote is holding up the completion of his book until the fate of Hickok and Smith is finally settled."

7. Harper Lee wanted to correspond with Smith.

Nelle Harper Lee-yes, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird-helped Capote with his research for In Cold Blood. She also visited Hickock and Smith in jail with Capote, and tried to correspond with Smith. In a March 20, 1962 letter to Colonel Guy C. Rexroad, Director of Penal Institutions, lawyer Clifford Hope wrote that Lee "was advised that Perry Smith would like to correspond with her. I trust that this privilege could not be granted unless Smith himself would make a request for it. I understand Miss Lee's letters have been returned undelivered."

In his reply, Rexroad made clear that "it is not possible to grant this request." The rules of the institution mandated that inmates were only allowed to correspond and visit with members of their immediate families. "Inmates without immediate relatives, [sic] may request permission to have a friend or more distant relative approved as a correspondent. This exception cannot be applied in [Smith's] case, since he has a father. ... I am sure that the need for uniformity in the administration of the Penitentiary rules will be clear to Miss Lee and hope that she will understand the reasons that make it impossible for this office to grant her request." (According to another document, Smith was permitted to have a 5x7 photo of Lee.)

8. Hickock told his life story to someone other than Capote.

That person was Mack Nations, who wrote an article, "From the Death House A Condemned Killer Tells How He Committed American's Worst Crime in 20," that was published in the December 1961 issue of Male magazine. When he discovered that Hickock was also speaking to Capote, Nations was incensed-and sent letters to that effect. "Richard Eugene Hickock granted to Mack Nations exclusive rights to any and all of [his life story] forever," he wrote to Warden Hand on January 23, 1962, just a few days before Capote conducted one of his interviews. "In the event that Richard Eugene Hickock violates that contract, verbally or otherwise, with or by giving interviews concerning his life to Truman Capote or any other person, then Richard Eugene Hickock automatically forfeits forever the one-half interest the contract calls for him to receive of any and all moneys from the sale of the story by Mack Nations." Nations, who asked the warden to pass this information along to Hickock, also threatened to sue the inmate.

9. They really, really wanted radios.
Kansas Memory
Smith and Hickock repeatedly requested radios for the five men on death row at Kansas State Penitentiary. "Music is soothing to anyone's nerves," Hickock wrote in a 9-page letter to Robert J. Kaiser, Director of Penal Institutions, on September 12, 1963. "It keeps the mind off one's troubles-family, financial, death, etc. A radio is the answer to our mental depression." Smith even sent clippings of advertisements hawking radios to warden Crouse. Their requests were denied, both because of Death Row's proximity to a segregation area, where inmates weren't permitted to listen to radios, and because there weren't funds to purchase radios with headphones.

10. Capote sent Smith magazines.

In a September 20, 1964 letter, Smith wrote to Capote "I finally got around to making a perusal of Bogdanovich's article in the Sept. issue of Esquire which you sent recently. ... Thank you for sending along the two outdoor mags ... they are much appreciated. But please don't send me any more ... We get many of them here sometimes and it's a waste of $$-and the outdoor, automobile and sports don't interest me in the least anymore. ... Instead of some of the magazines you have been sending, you may, if you would, send a TIME; U.S. News & World Report; or Newsweek."

11. Smith wanted to paint a portrait of the warden.

In a bizarre letter to Crouse dated October 13, 1964, Smith asked how the warden and the Christmas spirit were "making out," and went on to say, "(smile) I thought that I would like to paint a portrait or two of you if permitted to, and finish some others too, should the art material privileges be returned :(it has been five (5) months now). ... Funny thing how the Christmas spirit grabs hold of ya sometimes-but when it does, it usually puts on in a benevolent frame of mind, especially around this time of year." (Enclosed with this letter were the aforementioned ad clippings of radios.)

Crouse passed the letter and clippings on to Nova Stucker, acting Director of Penal Institutions, and noted, "I am sending these to you ... to let you know there is still some humor left on death row; also to relay part of the attitude of a man who has been on death row for over four years and is about at the last stage of legal help. In my opinion, he would kill anyone without a thought if he saw an opportunity to make a break."

Smith's request for art supplies was denied.

12. They read ... a lot.

Smith's reading list included Freud Dictionary of Psychoanalysis, You and Your Handwriting, Man's Presumtuous Brain, Life Pictorial Atlas of the World, Born Under Saturn, The Clouds, The Brain, Thimm's Spanish, and more. Hickock, meanwhile, read Gents and Motor Trend magazines, and books like One Hundred Million Dollar Misunderstanding, Never Love a Stranger, Stiletto, Where Love Has Gone, and The Origin of Species, among others.

13. Smith sent a telegram to Capote the day before his execution.
Kansas Memory
"Am anticipating and awaiting your visit," the telegram, sent at 1:16 p.m. on April 13, 1965, read. "Please acknowledge by return wire when you expect to be here." But Capote never showed: According to an interview prison director Charles McAtee gave the Lawrence Journal-World in 2005, the author called at 2 p.m. that day to say he wouldn't be coming because "the emotional buildup to the execution would be too much to bear." (Capote's name, written in his own handwriting, was on the authorized witness list for Smith's execution, however.)

14. At least one letter sent to Smith arrived too late.

Smith corresponded with Donald E. Cullivan, whom he knew from his time in the military, for much of the time he was in prison. On April 11, 1965, Cullivan sent out another letter. "I appreciated your last letter very much," he wrote. "I too have enjoyed your friendship and I hope I hear from you again."

The response he got was not the one he wanted. "Dear Mr. Cullivan," Warden Crouse wrote. "Your letter ... arrived too late. The execution was carried out, as scheduled, early on the morning of April 14, 1965. Very truly yours, S.H. Crouse."

15. They had the same last meal.

It included shrimp and strawberries.
We didn't make it through every piece of information in these files. If you'd like to check them out yourself, head over to Kansas Memory.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
15 Details from the In Cold Blood Killers' Case Files

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On November 15, 1959, the Clutter family-Herb and Bonnie, their daughter Nancy, and son Kenyon-were brutally murdered in their Holcomb, Kansas, home. Convicted of the crime were Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock, who were sent to the Kansas State Penitentiary. Soon after, the killers became the subjects of Truman Capote's non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith were in prison when they heard from another prisoner that Herb Clutter was very wealthy and he had money stashed in a safe in his house. This prisoner, who told Hickock and Smith this, had previously worked for the Clutter family. After being re leased from prison, Hickock and Smith immediately drew up plans to get their hands on the stashed cash.

They went to the Clutter home outside of Holcomb, Kansas when four of the six family members happened to be home. Once entering the home, they realized that there was not a safe which contained money, they awoke Herb Clutter. Mr. Clutter gave them the little cash he had and said the re was no more. They aroused the remainder of the family and again searched the house, confirmed Clutter's story for themselves. They ransacked the entire house getting no more than roughly fifty dollars, a pair of binoculars and a transistor radio. Once the two had all they could find and assuming that Herb Clutter wasn't volunteering the information of where the cash was stored, executed in cold blood all four family members.

When officers arrived, Herb Clutter, 48, lay sprawled on a mattress in the basement, stabbed, his throat slashed and a shotgun charge fired to his head. He wore pajamas. His hands were bound and his mouth was taped shut. On a couch in an adjoining room was 15-year-old Kenyon Neal Clutter, bound, gagged and shot in the head. In separate upstairs bedrooms were the bodies of Mrs. Bonnie Mae Clutter, 45, and Nancy Mae Clutter, 16. Mrs. Clutter was bound and gagged, Nancy only bound. Each had been shot in the head.

Garden City Police Department Chief Mitchell Geisler was one of the first officers to arrive to the horrific scene. Accompanying him was Assistant Chief Ritch Rohleder. Rohleder was an expert photographer and used his skills to photograph the crime scene. Although technology wasn't nearly to the level it is today, it was through Rohleder's photographs that the discovery of a bloody footprint remained from Smith. This footprint was not visible to the naked eye. A photograph was also taken of a tire track left in haste by the murders.

Alvin Dewey, of the Kansas Bureau of Investigations (KBI), lead the investigation with help from four other KBI investigators working under him. He also solicited the support of other governmental agencies to develop evidence and leads.

Immediately following the murders, Hickock and Smith fled to the Kansas City area where Hickock wrote a series of hot checks. After overstaying their welcome, they decided to flee to Mexico where they lived for a short period of time. There, they pawned the binoculars and eventually hitchhiked their way through California enroute to Omaha, Nebraska. After a short stay in Omaha, they made their way to Iowa where they stole a car and returned to the Kansas City area. From Kansas City, they eventually travelled to Florida and Nevada. It was in Nevada where Dewey and the KBI eventually caught up with them on December 31, 1959.

The time Hickock and Smith spent canvassing the country, Dewey and the KBI were able to piece together evidence which was corroborated by a fellow prisoner (Floyd Wells) who ratted out the murders for some ransom money being offered at the time. As karma goes, the prisoner that ratted out Hickock and Smith was later killed himself in a prison break in Mississippi.

When Hickock and Smith were captured in Nevada they were still driving the stolen car they had acquired in Iowa. They also had in their possession the boot which made the bloody print. Once word got out that they had been captured, Dewey and three other KBI investigators flew to Nevada to solicit a confession from the two men. After the confession, they were flown from Nevada to Garden City where they stood trial in Finney County District Court for the murders. On March 29, 1960, a jury of all men returned a verdict of guilty and recommended the death penalty. For the next five years they lived on death row at the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas (just north of Kansas City). They were executed by hanging on the gallows of the grounds of the prison with very little fan fare on April 14, 1965. Hickock died at 12:41 a.m. and Smith at 1:19 a.m. The State paid for the burials but Smith's would cost $250 less than Hickock's. Smith, an honorably discharged Korean War veteran, was entitled to a $250 veterans burial allowance. They were buried in Mt. Muncie cemetery.

The last words of Smith were, "I think it is a hell of a thing that a life has to be taken in this manner. I say this especially because there's a great deal I could have offered society. I certainly think capital punishment is legally and morally wrong. Any apology for what I have done would be meaningless at this time. I don't have any animosities toward anyone involved in this matter. I think that is all."

The last words of Hickock were, "No, I guess I don't." But then he motioned for KBI Agent Roy Church, who played a major role in the arrest of the two men, to come to where he (Hickock) was standing. "You're sending me to a better place than this," and added that he did not bear any grudge against Church for his role in the case. He then shook hands and said, "Goodbye."

As Hickock waited for the trap to spring beneath him, the prison chaplain, Rev. Edgar Meissner, read a portion of the 23rd Psalm. As Smith waited, the Rev. James Post, former prison chaplain prayed quietly, "The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed is the name of the Lord. May the Lord have mercy on your soul." Later the Rev. Mr. Post said Smith had not wanted anything read over him. "I cheated him a little bit, " the former chaplain added.

Hickock and Smith ate their final meal in separate rooms, each with a chaplain sitting by. They had ordered spiced shrimp, french fries, garlic bread, ice cream and strawberries with whipped cream.
Clutter family funeral

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith were in prison when they heard from another prisoner that Herb Clutter was very wealthy and he had money stashed in a safe in his house. This prisoner, who told Hickock and Smith this, had previously worked for the Clutter family.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On this day in 1959, the entire Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, was murdered in their own home. The murders drew the attention of novelist Truman Capote, who investigated the case for his much-publicized "non-fiction novel," In Cold Blood. Reviewing the book in The Nation in February of 1966-and it's hard not to see the title of this review, "Sob-Sister Gothic," as homophobic-Sol Yurick, author of the novel The Warriors, delivered a mixed verdict of the result.

In Cold Blood is not a bad book. It is better than the usual police reportage, fast moving, melodramatic, suspenseful in the way of its genre, even a little artful. But it is impossible to dissociate In Cold Blood from the claims its author and publisher are making for it: that it is a new art form and, as such, represents a higher objectivity.... It turns out that what we are really witnessing is a kind of morality play: the conversion of Truman Capote, who, turning asway from the sinful, the decadent, the tumid prose pathologic, comes into the clear and healthful air of the world of objectivity and, at the same time, throws open new markets of opportunity by the example of his redemption. He also manages to save the moribund novel which has priced itself out of the market with too much exotic experimentation....

It is the middle class which is responsive to and outraged by that violent dislocation, by that apparent unmotivation of certain acts which it is stylish to call irrationality or absurdity in literature. The very words argue the exception that tests a pervasive condition, an everyday state of being. And, after all, it is the middle class which has created a social medium whose very nature is shored up by an ideology that stresses personal volition, cause-effect, reason, logic, historicism. Anything that appears to violate this order is shattering, outrageous, deserving of the death penalty; the very presentation, the very special pleading, of In Cold Blood implies the unusualness of the murderer's act and so becomes diversion, entertainment in case history, and tries to persuade us that what are in fact common patterns of behavior are aberrations. But the poor, for instance, live in a world of violent and criminal dislocations, casual unmotivated brutality which no police force tries seriously to stop, so long as it doesn't spill over. It is a world whose inhabitants are not too strongly programmed in the ethics of cause-effect, and kill without much feeling, who do not find such behavior absurd, but expected. How few Capotes put their obsessed talents to dramatizing such worlds.

November 15, 1959

To mark The Nation 's 150th anniversary, every morning this year The Almanac will highlight something that happened that day in history and how The Nation covered it. Get The Almanac every day (or every week) by signing up to the e-mail newsletter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
November 15, 1959: The Clutter Family Is Murdered in Holcomb, Kansas, Later the Subject of Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On this day in 1959, the entire Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, was murdered in their own home. The murders drew the attention of novelist Truman Capote, who investigated the case for his much-publicized "non-fiction novel," In Cold Blood.