Richard Eugene Hickock (June 6, 1931 - April 14, 1965) was one of two ex-convicts convicted of murdering four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15, 1959, a crime made famous by Truman Capote in his 1966 non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.Along with Perry Edward Smith, Hickock took part in the burglary and multiple murder at the Clutter family farmhouse. Alvin has just gotten word that Dick and Perry are the main suspects in the Clutter killing. Smith later changed his confession and, because he "felt sorry for Dick's mother", claimed that he did indeed all of the Clutters, but because both refused to testify in court, no official testimony of who the women exists. No. Hickock tells police about hearing a "gurgling noise" when Smith slit Herb's throat before killing him with a shotgun blast to the head. Hickock & Perry In Cold Blood introduced the world to Dick Hickock & Perry Smith, who were all but dead criminals in 1966 when Capote dropped his most famous work. But 50 years ago today, after his life had zigzagged, Hickock led his gimpy buddy, Perry Smith, into a 14-room farmhouse on the Great Plains, expecting to find a safe stuffed with cash. "I grew to know Dick Hickock and Perry Smith as human beings more so than murderers," McAtee said. 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. Floyd Wells is an inmate at the local prison, serving several years for theft. Did Perry and Dick carry out their plan against Mr. Bell? They have carried out other offenses in their time such as check fraud and theft. Based on stories from a cellmate who worked for the Clutters that Mr. Clutter went through thousands of dollars every month, the killers had expected to find a very full wall safe in the house. The death penalty for both Perry Smith and Dick Hickock was for the best. Analysis Wells is a former employee of Herb Clutter, one of the family members murdered in a robbery gone wrong. Why did the prosecution refuse to accept Mr. Hickock's assertion that Dick was always a pleasure and changed after the accident? 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. In his story In Cold Blood, by giving the reader an insight into the past and the minds of both Dick and Perry, a likeness can be observed between them and the psychological profiles of thousands of other cold-blooded killers since the murder of the Clutter family. They pass the lie detector test. 10. The American Dream is ultimately responsible for pushing both Dick and Perry to commit the cardinal sin and inadvertently cause irreparable damage to their own selves. Hickock declared that he would find the farm, rob the Clutters, and kill all witnesses, adding that his former cellmate Perry Smith would be just the man to help. To pay back the world for everything they done to him Explain the comparison Perry makes when describing the Clutter murders and the duty of soldiers. How did Dick and Perry obtain money to get to Mexico? They didn't realize Mr. Clutter did all his business by check and the money he was referring to was the value of the crops and labor. Dick's calm. He is a practical man who excludes confidence and cruelty, but in reality he is not a ruthless or as brave as he seems. Click to see full answer. Both killers were found guilty and sentenced to death. Pg 92 In his dreams, he is always in some kind of trouble and a "sort of parrot" ends up saving him just in the knick of time. The pair have agreed upon an alibi for the night of November 14th, which they confidently present to . Dick waits for him outside and thinks of the ways in which he plans to rid himself of Perry. Richard (Dick) Hickock and Perry Edward Smith, the cold blooded killers of the Clutter family in In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. He wore paja mas. Smith and Hickock killed the four members of the Clutter family Nov. 15, 1959, in the family . 8. Neither one, back in the stolen Chevrolet, notices the police car pulling up alongside them. Members of the Clutter family are still around." Hickock and Smith weren't the only people hanged on that gallows. This is because the Clutters portrayed everything Dick and Perry wanted out of their life: wealth and prosperity. Herb Clutter's former hired hand dismissed Hickock's plan as a fantasy, but he came forward when he heard of the murders. Smith later changed his confession and, because he "felt sorry for Dick's mother", claimed that he did indeed kill all of the Clutters, but because both refused to testify in court, no official testimony of who killed the women exists. Said him and Perry was gonna go out there and rob the place, and they was gonna kill all witnesses—the Clutters" (161). But Dick wanted to look around more. (although Dick was still legally culpable without pulling any triggers) Check Writing Quality. Explain the comparison Perry makes when describing the Clutter murders and the duty of soldiers. The criminal justice system plays a very important role in the novel In Cold Blood. Pg 97 Dick and Perry got money by writing hot checks for items, then selling the items later when they needed the money. Hickock had heard from a fellow prisoner, who had once worked for the Clutters, that there was a safe . Why did Beverly Clutter and Vere Edward English go ahead with their wedding? I believe that Perry Smith killed all four of the Clutters. The murders were committed by two ex-convicts out on parole, Perry Smith and Edward Hickcock. This is because the Clutters portrayed everything Dick and Perry wanted out of their life: wealth and prosperity. Why did Perry Smith kill? (1967) In Cold Blood Watch on Two ex-cons recently paroled from the Kansas State Penitentiary went hunting for a safe in the Clutter farmhouse. Most of the jurors were from the Holcomb community and as Capote introduced us to the Clutter family, the Holcomb community appreciated their charity. 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. Josephine Meier, the undersheriff's wife, offers him some food when he arrives, but Perry is silent and doesn't have an appetite. On November 15, 1959, Clutter and three other members of his family were brutally murdered in a robbery/homicide that would gain infamy thanks to Truman Capote and his book In Cold Blood. The process takes hours. As soon as Hickock and his ex-cellmate, Perry Smith, got probation, they made plans to rob the Clutter household. Perry is the first man to ever be held in the "ladies' cell," which is built into the kitchen of the Sheriff's Residence (an apartment in the courthouse). However, I believe that the sentenced should be the same for both, Dick and Perry because both of them killed. Describe the scene at the Garden City Courthouse on the day that Perry and Dick arrive. Said him and Perry was gonna go out there and rob the place, and they was gonna kill all witnesses—the Clutters" (161). Perry Edward Smith (October 27, 1928 - April 14, 1965) was one of two career criminals convicted of murdering the four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, United States, on November 15, 1959, a crime that was made famous by Truman Capote in his 1966 non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. He thought these would help him get inside someone's house as a hunter so that they could rob or kill the people. Describe Perry's recurring dream. When they didn't find it, Perry wanted to leave. In Cold Blood. Smith later changed his confession and, because he "felt sorry for Dick's mother", claimed that he did indeed kill all of the Clutters, but because both refused to testify in court, no official testimony of who killed the women exists. Dick had Penny's guitar, a shotgun, apparel, and hunting gear when he picked up Perry. Dick wants to rape Nancy, but Perry threatens to kill him if he does. Out of hatred and jealousy, Dick had decided to rob and kill the Clutter family. On a couch in an adjoining room was 15-year-old Kenyon Neal Clutter, bound, gagged and shot in the head. Answer (1 of 2): Throughout his life Truman Capote maintained that In Cold Blood was "immaculately factual," most notably when he made the claim in a January 1966 New York Times interview. On November 15, 1959 at 2:00 am, Perry Smith (Robert Blake) and Richard 'Dick' Hickock (Scott Wilson) break into the isolated Holcomb, Kansas farmhouse of Herbert Clutter (John McLiam) and systematically bind, gag, and then murder Clutter, his wife Bonnie (Ruth Storey), and their teenage children Nancy (Brenda Currin) and Kenyon ().The movie follows the murders, the search for Smith and . Both killers were found guilty and sentenced to death. Why did Perry Smith kill? He wonders aloud to Don Culliver why he did it, and he admits that Dick didn't do it. The Clutters were shot and killed by Richard Hickock and Perry Smith during a botched robbery at their Holcomb, Kansas, farm on Nov. 15, 1959. Floyd Wells is an inmate at the local prison, serving several years for theft. Unwilling to leave any witnesses, Dick and Perry kill the four members of the Clutter family and flee to Mexico. Floyd Wells hears news of the Clutter murders over the radio while reclining in his jail cell. Why did Perry really kill the Clutters? Which left, still living at home, the boy, Kenyon, who, at fifteen, was taller than Mr. Clutter, and one sister, who was a year older—the town darling, Nancy. Invited were made, People were there, church was reserved . Why did Perry really kill the Clutters? His hands were bound and his mouth was taped shut. 9. There were 19 altogether—15 by the state and four by the U.S. military. Perry Smith was convicted of premeditated murder because the two planned the home invasion and,. Along with Perry, Richard (Dick) Eugene Hickock was one of the two murderers of the Clutter family. Why did Perry Smith kill? Smithlater changed his confession and, because he "felt sorry for Dick's mother", claimed that he didindeed killall of the Clutters, but because both refused to testify in court, no official testimony of who killedthe women exists. The Clutter Murders. He shows his wife the photographs, and Marie considers their faces. However, after their stories were told, the two became much more than murderers. He then expresses his fear than an . Omaha. At this point in Truman Capote's account of the true story, In Cold Blood, two ex-convicts, Perry Smith and Richard Eugene 'Dick' Hickock, have intentionally driven 400 miles . There is a question of whether or not Dick actually killed Nancy and Mrs. Clutter, but it remains unanswered. Where was Mr. Bell heading? In truth, Perry's motivation to kill the Clutters seems to remain a mystery to him. Many theories of crime can be examined in the text to try to explain why Dick and Perry committed such murder. He never thought Dick Hickock, his former roommate, would go through with his plans. But, there is way more to them as people than just that, they are similar and they are very different. Dick had thought that Clutter had a large safe. 8. Perry had read about that case in the paper and figured it was a copycat killing of theirs. Why is in cold blood a banned book? About a month earlier, Smith and Hickock slaughtered the four-member Clutter family in Kansas, creating the tragedy that was immortalized in author Truman Capote's 1966 true . Wells, a former River Valley Farm employee, told Hickock of the Clutter fortune, and Hickock bragged that he and Perry would steal it. Soldiers get medals for killing, but he is being punished for killing people Analysis. And his lack of self awareness and insight makes Perry a tragic figure. Dick grew up in Kansas, was married twice, and was jailed for passing bad checks. The thief thought they did. Click to see full answer. The jurors were biased in the trial and did not give Dick and Perry a fair trial. Perry Smith and Dick Hickock were charged with first degree murder after killing the Clutter family of Garden City, Kansas. The family is unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of this fury, but they are by no means its source. Along with Dick, Perry Edward Smith was the . It tells them to make money through any means necessary and allows mental illness to fester, all culminating in their final downfall, the death of the Clutter family and the . When you describe them like that, they seem one and the same, they're murderers. Having them dead meant peace to the public and justice for their crime. Hickock tells police about hearing a "gurgling noise" when Smith slit Herb's throat before killing him with a shotgun blast to the head. What projects caused Mrs.Clutter despair and why? Both killers were found guilty and sentenced to death. The murders, it seems, were not inspired by a literal hatred of this specific family, but by misdirected frustration and resentment that finds a symbolic object in the Clutters and the values that they represent. When Dick Hickock and Perry Smith murdered the Clutter family many parts of the community were affected, but also played a role in their arrest. The detectives initially withhold any mention the Clutter case, and allow Dick and Perry to assume they are being held for parole violation. The Clutter family was murdered because of Perry daring Dick to complete what he had started, but this became a frenzy of activity in which Perry seems to have acted alone. They would . The Clutters were shot and killed by Richard Hickock and Perry Smith during a botched robbery at their Holcomb, Kansas, farm on Nov. 15, 1959. Out of hatred and jealousy, Dick had decided to rob and kill the Clutter family. Capote spent a great deal of time interviewing the accused murderers, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Why is in cold blood a banned book? Floyd Wells eventually tells the investigators who the killers of the Clutter family were after being offered $1,000 and early parole. They wake and tie up the entire family. Dick and Perry are requested to take a lie detector test concerning another murder case in which four members of a family were killed in Florida around the time they were in the area. Truman Capote's "nonfiction novel" In Cold Blood, published in 1966, told the story of Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, two murderous drifters who, in the course of a pathetically nonlucrative . In Cold Blood Summary and Analysis of Answer, Part 2 (215-248) Interrogation of the two suspects begins.