The Clutter Family, Robbery Gone Wrong Pt. 2

Summary

Podcast Summary: Scams, Money, & Murder

Episode: The Clutter Family, Robbery Gone Wrong Pt. 2

Hosts: Vanessa Richardson & Carter Roy
Date: December 11, 2025

---

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode is the concluding chapter in a two-part exploration of the 1959 Clutter family murders in Holcomb, Kansas—one of America’s most haunting true crimes. Vanessa and Carter take listeners beyond the shocking deaths to examine the perpetrators, their background, legal aftermath, and the lasting effects on the community and popular culture. Central to this discussion: why did this senseless, money-motivated crime happen, and what were the broader ramifications?

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Killers’ Origins & Descent into Crime

Timestamps: 04:11 – 11:55

• Richard "Dick" Hickok:

  • Once a promising youth, Hickok's life changed after a near-fatal car accident left him physically and neurologically altered. Medical bills from the accident led him to gambling and passing bad checks, eventually resulting in his imprisonment ([05:24]).
  • In prison, Hickok learned of the Clutters from fellow inmate Floyd Wells, who exaggerated Herb Clutter's wealth and the existence of a large safe at their farm—planting the seed of the deadly plan ([06:24], [07:29]).
  • Hickok became “obsessed with the Clutter family,” replaying details about their house and potential loot until he had every detail memorized ([07:29]).

• Perry Smith:

  • Smith's turbulent childhood was marked by abuse, instability, and later, a debilitating motorcycle accident that left him in chronic pain ([08:20], [09:37]).
  • He served in the Korean War, drifted across the US, and eventually turned to crime—landing in prison where he met Hickok.
  • Hickok saw Smith as a "natural killer" and a damaged kindred soul to help execute the plan ([10:43]).

Notable Quote:
“Both men were scarred, damaged and unpredictable. Prone to dark thoughts and violent outbursts. Perhaps Hickok saw in Smith a perverse kind of kindred spirit.” – Carter Roy ([10:43])

---

The Investigation Breaks Open

Timestamps: 13:30 – 19:40

• Floyd Wells’ Crucial Tip:
  • After hearing of the Clutter murders, Wells contacted authorities and implicated Hickok and Smith ([08:05], [13:30]).
• Kansas Bureau of Investigation:
  • Agent Alvin Dewey led a careful, covert pursuit, keeping the suspects unaware and the townspeople anxious ([15:45], [16:19]).
• Truman Capote and Harper Lee's Involvement:
  • Noted author Capote and friend Lee embedded themselves in Holcomb for research, gaining access via Lee's diplomatic approach and forging a key friendship with Agent Dewey ([17:15], [18:07]).

Notable Quote:
“Capote bragged...that he was, quote, practically the mayor.” – Carter Roy ([18:07])

---

Arrest, Confession, and the Truth Revealed

Timestamps: 19:00 – 24:29

• Hickok and Smith were arrested in Las Vegas for unrelated charges at first.
• Interrogators played psychological games, building up pressure and then revealing boot prints that match Smith’s boots ([20:54]).
• Presented with this evidence, both men confess, finally revealing the horrific events at the Clutter home ([21:57]).

Notable Moment:
“Hickok and Smith told the investigators everything...and the truth was more horrifying than anyone could imagine.” – Carter Roy ([21:57])

---

The Crime as Revealed in Court

Timestamps: 24:29 – 29:00

• The Night of the Murders:
  • Hickok and Smith entered the unlocked home, seeking a safe that didn't exist.
  • Herb Clutter tried to reason with them, offering his wallet and a check, but the men’s determination to leave no witnesses sealed the family’s fate ([26:05], [26:36]).
  • Disturbingly, the killers displayed strange moments of compassion—providing pillows and tucking Nancy into bed—only to then murder the entire family ([27:08]).

Notable Quote:
“It was almost as if Hickok and Smith’s better natures were fighting with their darkest impulses. But tragically, the latter won out.” – Carter Roy ([27:08])

• Aftermath:
  • Boots and tire tracks left at the scene proved instrumental in solving the case ([28:18]).
  • The jury returned a guilty verdict on all four counts after just 40 minutes of deliberation; both men were sentenced to death ([29:11]).

---

The Aftermath & Lasting Cultural Impact

Timestamps: 29:11 – 31:52

• Capote’s Role:

  • His friendship with Perry Smith and chronicling of the crime in In Cold Blood brought notoriety—and speculation about Capote’s emotional and moral entanglement ([29:11]).
  • The infamous friendship blurred the lines between observer and participant, with rumors swirling about Capote and Smith.

• Lingering Effects:

  • The crime left the town, and even the killers’ relatives, haunted:
    • Dick Hickok’s brother suffered lifelong stigma ([30:48]).
    • Larry Hendricks, the teacher who found the bodies, left Holcomb for Alaska ([30:48]).
    • Capote himself is said to have been haunted by the case until his death.
  • Scars of the tragedy persist in Holcomb, with the community forever changed by a crime emerging from “greed and darkest impulses...”

Notable Closing Quote:
“The Clutter family lost their lives because two greedy men couldn’t control their worst impulses. And the scars left from their deaths will never truly heal.” – Carter Roy ([31:52])

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. It’s not just a saying, it's a means of survival. Because in the world we're entering, trust is a trap. And betrayal is often fatal.” – Carter Roy ([01:49])
• “There was no safe. There was no $10,000. But even though there would be no big score...they were determined to not leave any witnesses.” – Carter Roy ([25:25])
• Capote embedded in Holcomb: “He was, quote, practically the mayor.” ([18:07])
• “The sheer senselessness of it all taught the people of Holcomb, Kansas, to never take anything for granted.” – Carter Roy ([31:52])

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Dick Hickok’s background and prison connection: 04:11 – 07:29
• Perry Smith’s traumatic life story: 08:20 – 10:43
• Crime’s planning and execution: 26:05 – 29:00
• Investigation and confession: 13:30 – 24:29
• Trial and sentencing: 24:29 – 29:11
• Aftermath and Capote’s legacy: 29:11 – 31:52

---

Overall Tone

Grim, empathetic, and analytical, with the hosts focused on probing not just the logistics of the crime but its human and societal costs. Vanessa and Carter alternate between measured narration and emotional insight, using direct quotes and careful detail to honor the gravity of the case and its legacy.

---

Summary prepared for easy listening reference—essential for anyone wanting to understand the depth, motives, and devastating fallout of the Clutter family murders.

Transcript

[Vanessa Richardson]

Hi Crime House community. It's Vanessa Richardson looking for another Crime House original podcast to add to your rotation. You will love Clues with Morgan Absher and Kaylin Moore. Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaelyn dig into the world's most notorious crimes, clue by clue. From serial killers to shocking murders. They follow the trail of clues, break down the evidence and debate the theories. It's like hanging out with your smart and true crime obsessed friends. Listen to clues on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Carter Roy]

This is crime house.

After the Clutter family was murdered on November 15, 1959, life in Holcomb, Kansas was forever changed. People who had never hesitated to walk right up to their neighbors doorsteps now eyed each other with suspicion. By day, once friendly interactions were short and to the point. And at night, doors that had once been unlocked were bolted shut. The people of Holcomb were surrounded by questions. And those questions aided the community like poison. Why would something so awful, so savage, happen to a family who everybody loved? Who could have done it? And perhaps worst of all, would it happen again?

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. It's not just a saying, it's a means of survival. Because in the world we're entering, trust is a trap. And betrayal is often fatal. I'm Carter Roy and this is Scams, Money and Murder.

[Vanessa Richardson]

And I'm Vanessa Richardson. Every Thursday we'll explore the story of a money motivated crime gone wrong. Whether it's a notorious con, fraud, burglary or even murder.

[Carter Roy]

From the archives of Crime House, the show Murder, True Crime Stories and Killer Minds. These are some of our favorite cases that have kept us lying awake at night wondering if money didn't make the world go round, could all this have been avoided?

[Vanessa Richardson]

And as always at Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing and following Scams, Money and Murder. Wherever you get your podcasts, Today's case.

[Carter Roy]

Comes from the archives of true crime stories. It's the second and final episode on the Clutter family and how their murder and a botched burglary shook a small town and the nation to its core. Last time we examined the Clutter family, the horrific scene of their murders and the beginning of the investigation into what happened. Today we're going to look at the other side of this crime and examine the murderers, their trial and their ultimate fate. And we'll be trying to answer the question that has haunted a small town for generations. Why did they do it all? That and more coming up.

[Marshall's Advertiser]

Marshall's buyers are hustling hard to get amazing new gifts into stores right up to the last minute. Like a designer perfume for that friend who never RSVP'd wish list topping toys for her kids who came too. Belgian chocolates for the neighbor, A cozy scarf for your boss and a wool jacket for your husband that you definitely did not almost forget. Marshalls, we get the deals, you give the good stuff, even at the last minute.

[Heidi Blake]

Phew.

[Marshall's Advertiser]

Find a Marshall's near you.

[Carter Roy]

On November 14, 1959, the morning before the Clutter family was murdered, the two men were preparing to drive 400 miles to the front door of River Valley Farm in Holcomb, Kansas. The story of their journey begins where part one of our story left off, with a prisoner named Floyd Wells and a chance encounter that would change hundreds of lives.

Shortly before the Clutters were killed, Wells was serving a three to five year prison sentence for robbery in Kansas State Penitentiary when he met a man named Richard Eugene Hickok. Known as Dick to his friends, as many criminals do, Hickok had a troubled past, although it hadn't started out that way. Even though Hickok came of age during the hardship of the Great Depression, he and his little brother Walter were able to play sports, go to school and practice marksmanship. Dick was an incredible shot and he was fond of showing off a trick where he shot a can of baby food off the top of his little brother's head.

But then, in 1950, at the age of 18 or 19, Hickok was in a car accident that came within a hair's breadth of killing him. After the wreck, his eyes were off center, his smile was crooked, and he became impulsive and irrational in ways he hadn't been before.

Following a days long hospital stay, Hickok's medical bills began piling up, which slowly led him down a path of ever riskier behavior. He began gambling and passing bad checks to cover his debts. He got married, cheated and got married again, fathering three children over two divorces before his crimes caught up with him and he found himself in the state penitentiary in Lansing, Kansas for passing bad checks. It was there that he heard the name Clutter for the very first time.

While he was in prison, Hickok was cellmates with Floyd Wells. As the two men got to know each other, Wells mentioned that he'd worked as a farmhand at a place called River Valley Farm. Wells had liked Herb Clutter and was impressed by his disciplined work ethic and his generosity. Wells would later recall that Herb was always willing to loan his employees a few bucks if they needed an advance ahead of payday. Based on that, Wells gathered that the Clutters were very rich and crucially, that River Valley Farm was never short on cash. And when Wells spent some time in a cell with Dick Hickok in the 1950s, he told Hickok about the farmer, his family, and the safe Herb Clutter allegedly kept under his desk that contained the modern equivalent of $100,000 in case cash.

According to Wells, Hickok quickly became obsessed with the Clutter family, forcing his cellmate to describe the layout of the house over and over again until he had it completely memorized. Hickok would talk about driving to River Valley Farm and robbing the place blind. Wells figured it was all talk. Hickok was eventually released, and Wells forgot about him until the day he heard on the radio that the Clutter family had been murdered.

Wells was certain that Dick Hickok was responsible for killing the Clutters. And he was certain that another former inmate, a man named Perry Edward Smith, had been in on it, too.

Perry Smith was born in 1928 in Huntington, Nevada, to violent, unpredictable parents who traveled the rodeo circuit. When Smith was 6, his parents separated, and at first he followed his mother to San Francisco. Smith's life in California was just as unstable as his life on the road, if not more so. His mother suddenly seemed no longer interested in raising her children. Smith and his siblings found themselves in and out of foster care, where he was allegedly subjected to repeated abuse at the hands of the people entrusted with his well being.

Fleeing California, Smith followed his father across the western United States as a teenager, venturing as far afield as Alaska to search for gold. In some ways, it was an obvious improvement. But Smith's father, like his son, was prone to sudden, aggressive outbursts, and any calm between the two rarely lasted. It seemed like wherever Smith went, violence and instability followed him.

At the age of 16, Smith enlisted in the military, and he went on to serve in the Korean War. Upon his discharge in 1952, around the age of 24, he settled in the Pacific Northwest. But any sense of calm he might have acquired there was shattered by a motorcycle accident that broke his legs in five places. A six month hospital stay ensued, followed by another six months on crutches and a year of rehab. But even after that, Smith's knees barely worked and the pain in his limbs was often unbearable. Smith was constantly dosing himself with aspirin, and he was particularly fond of the candy coated variety, which he would crunch between his teeth like mints. By the time Smith was sent to the penitentiary in Lansing in 1956 for jailbreak, car theft and grand larceny, he was permanently disabled.

When Hickok first met Smith behind the bars of the Kansas State Penitentiary, he didn't think too much of the other man. He thought he was too sensitive. But then one day, Smith bragged to him about Peter beating a man to death in Las Vegas. And Hickok's opinion changed. He saw Smith as a natural killer that he could use to his advantage. But perhaps he saw something else, too. Both men were scarred, damaged and unpredictable. Prone to dark thoughts and violent outbursts. Perhaps Hickok saw in Smith a perverse kind of kindred spirit. Maybe that's why, when it was time to put his plan to rob the Clutters in motion, Perry Smith was the man that Hickok called on. That was how Dick Hickok and Perry Smith wound up in a car together, barreling down the highway with a plan to steal thousands of dollars and not leave a single witness behind.

[Vanessa Richardson]

My name is Percy Jackson. Getting in trouble is like breathing for me.

[Liberty Mutual / LifeLock Advertiser]

The hit series returns to Disney plus and Hulu.

[Carter Roy]

The danger the camp is under is greater than you can possibly imagine. For the key to our survival, three of you must quest to the Sea of Monsters.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Let's go do the impossible.

I'm not gonna let you some stupid.

[Carter Roy]

Monsters stand in my way.

[Liberty Mutual / LifeLock Advertiser]

Percy Jackson and the Olympians. New season now on Disney and Hulu. Learn [e-mail] what's on?

[Carter Roy]

And Doug, here we have the Limu emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us. Cut the camera. They see us.

[Liberty Mutual / LifeLock Advertiser]

Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty.

[Carter Roy]

Liberty Liberty, Liberty Savings vary unwritten by.

[Liberty Mutual / LifeLock Advertiser]

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.

[LifeLock Advertiser]

The holidays mean more travel, more shopping, more time online and more personal info in more places that could expose you more to identity theft. But LifeLock monitors millions of data points per second. If your identity is stolen, our US based restoration specialists will fix it, guaranteed your money back. Don't face drained accounts, fraudulent loans or financial losses alone. Get more holiday fun and less holiday worry with LifeLock, save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com podcast terms apply.

[Carter Roy]

Sometime in Late November of 1959, Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent Alvin Dewey got a phone call from his boss. Logan Sanford Dewey was leading the investigation into the Clutter family murders, and Sanford was about to help him crack the case right open. He just spoken to Floyd Wells, who told Sanford all about Dick Hickok and Perry Smith. As soon as he got off the phone, Dewey tracked down Hickok and Smith's mugshots and learned everything he could about them. Hickok was still living with his parents in a town a few hundred miles away from Holcomb. Dewey sent one of his investigators over there right away. A few hours later, Agent Harold Nye was sitting in Hickok's parents living room. The couple told Agent Nye that their son had been a fine boy who'd never dreamed of hurting anyone until he was sent to prison. They claimed that people there had put violent ideas in his head. The Hickoks detested anyone their son knew from his time inside the state penitentiary, particularly that short fellow he'd brought around a few times. The one with a dark complexion and the habit of chewing aspirin like candy.

Agent Nye guided the conversation to the weekend of the 14th when the Clutters were killed. The Hickoks said that their son had left town on Saturday and returned the next day, the 15th, ravenously hungry and too tired to stay awake for a basketball game on tv. As the Hickok family talked, Agent Nye's eyes wandered over to a 12 gauge shotgun propped up in the corner of the room. Agent Nye picked it up and Mr. Hickok told him the gun belonged to his son. Returning to the conversation, Nye put the gun back where he'd found it, even though he felt certain that it was a murder weapon.

For the next several weeks, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation team, led by Agent Dewey, quietly pursued Hickok and Smith across the cross North America. The two men were hard to track, and Dewey didn't want them to know he was on their trail. Hickok and Smith had no idea they'd been identified. If they found out, Dewey feared they'd disappear completely. As he told his colleagues, the safer they feel, the sooner we'll grab them.

And so Agent Dewey kept the people of Holcomb in the dark, leaving them to speculate about the case. For the rest of 1959, the Clutter family murder was all the people in town could talk about. And that proved very useful to a new arrival in Holcomb. An author named Truman Capote. Back home in New York, the story of what happened to the Clutters caught Capote's attention, and he traveled halfway across the country to write about it. At first, the people of Holcomb didn't quite know what to make of Truman capote. He was 5 foot 4 inches and openly gay, with a high, squeaky and flashy voice. Nancy Clutter's boyfriend, Bobby Rupp, was one of the first people to talk to the author. And said that he was not the kind of person I wanted to spend time with.

Capote's companion, on the other hand, made a better first impression. Harper Lee had been a friend of Capote's since childhood. She had agreed to accompany him as a sort of research assistant. Despite having recently filed the final manuscript for her soon to be famous book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Unlike her big city companion, Lee could still easily tap into the small town mannerisms from her childhood spent in Alabama.

The people of Holcomb found Lee a little easier to talk to. And her diplomatic approach netted Capote a number of interviews. In fact, for the only interview Bobby Rupp ever gave to Truman Capote. He remembered Lee asking most of the questions.

Working together, the pair eventually worked their way into the town's good graces. They eventually got so popular, Capote bragged to a friend back in New York that he was, quote, practically the mayor. But without a doubt, the writer's most valuable friendship in town was the one he forged with Agent Alvin Dewey. That was how he was able to gain so much insider access into the investigation and the search for the two men Dewey believed were responsible for killing the Clutters. And it was how Capote and Lee wound up in the Dewey family living room. One late December night when Dewey got a call from the Las Vegas police. They had news about two men who'd been caught driving a stolen car.

Earlier that day, Dick Hickok and Perry Smith had been recognized by two police officers outside of a Nevada post office. Smith had been inside, retrieving a box he'd mailed himself, which included, among other things, an old pair of boots. When the Kansas agents arrived a few days later, Hickok and Smith still believed they were being held over a stolen car and a string of bad checks. They had no idea the agents suspected them for the Clutter family murders. And the agents wanted to keep it that way.

After splitting the two men up, Agent Harold Nye and Roy Church questioned Dick Hickok for several hours. They let him run through the events of the last several weeks, months, even years of his life. Hickok prided himself on his excellent recall of even the most minor details. And the agents were happy to let him show off. That is, until he arrived at the end of a particularly long story, and Agent Church lazily put his hands together and said, I guess you know why we're here. In his report, Agent Nye would later write that Hickok had a, quote, intense, visible reaction to being accused of killing the Clutters. And Perry Smith was about to receive a similar shock. In the interrogation cell just one room over, Smith was in the middle of an interrogation with Agents Alvin Dewey and Clarence Dunst. And just like Hickok, Smith was caught completely off guard when Agent Dunst leaned in and told him they knew he'd murdered the Clutters.

Neither suspect confessed that day, and so both men were sent back to separate cells, where the agents from Kansas were perfectly content to let them stew overnight. Agent Dewey and his team still knew that without a confession, they barely had a case. And in order to get it, they had to reveal the only physical evidence they had collected so far. For almost three hours the next day, Church and Nye circled around their point with Hickok. Once they believed the time was right, they showed the suspect two things. The first was a photograph from the crime scene showing a set of boot prints in the basement where Herb and Kenyon Clutter were murdered. The second was the pair of boots that Smith had picked up at the post office the day they were arrested. The police were able to confirm that these boots matched the prints in the basement, and they belonged to Dick Hickok. Nye and Church were taking a risk. This was the only card they had to play, showing them the Hickok was a gambler. And it paid off. Hickok and Smith told the investigators everything they admitted to killing the Clutters and what happened at River Valley Farm during the early morning hours of November 15, 1959. And the truth was more horrifying than anyone could imagine.

Close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relax. And let go of whatever you're carrying today.

[Heidi Blake]

Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh, my gosh, they're so fast.

[Rakuten Advertiser]

And breathe.

[Heidi Blake]

Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste.

[Rakuten Advertiser]

Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.

[Vanessa Richardson]

1-800-Contacts.

[Heidi Blake]

It's one of Britain's most notorious crimes, the killing of a wealthy family at Whitehouse Farm. But I got a tip that the story of this famous case might be all wrong.

[Carter Roy]

I know there's going to be a twist one day. A massive twist. At every level of the criminal justice system. There's been a cover up in this case.

[Heidi Blake]

I'm Heidi Blake. Blood Relatives is a new series from in the Dark and the New Yorker. Find it now in the in the Dark podcast feed.

[Rakuten Advertiser]

This episode is brought to you by Rakuten. The holidays are here and that means it's the most wonderful time of the year. To save with Rakuten, use Rakuten to stack cash back at your favorite stores on top of holiday sales. That's savings on savings. With Rakuten, you can get cash back on gifts for everyone on your list, from toys for the kids to kitchen gear for the person who who loves to cook to electronics for everyone. You can even save on something for yourself. Cash back is automatically added to your account as you shop and you can get paid with gift cards, PayPal or check or eligible American Express card members can choose to earn membership Rewards points. Join for free today and get a new member bonus after minimum qualifying purchases. Just go to rakuten.com, download the app or install the browser extension. Terms and conditions apply.

[Carter Roy]

In the first few weeks of January 1960, the residents of Holcomb heard the names Dick Hickok and Perry Smith for the first time when it was announced on the radio that they'd been extradited back to Kansas to stand trial for killing the Clutters. The trial began on March 22, 1960. Even though the two men had confessed, there was still the question of whether they'd be given the death penalty. The details that emerged finally helped answer the questions that had been consuming the town of Holcomb for over four months. Over the course of the trial, the prosecution revealed exactly what happened at River Valley Farm in those early morning hours of November 15, 1959. According to Hickok and Smith's confessions, when the two men arrived at the Clutters home that night, they entered through a door to Herb's office. It wasn't locked. Hickok was carrying a knife while Smith held a shotgun. Floyd Wells had been very specific about where the safe was at the back of the office behind the desk. But try as the two intruders might, they couldn't find it. There was no safe. There was no $10,000. But even though there would be no big score for Dick Hickok and Perry Smith, they were determined to not leave any witnesses.

The first member of the Clutter family to be awoken was Herb, who came to with a flashlight shining in his face. He was led into the office at gunpoint, where he explained again that there was no safe and there was no cash. He offered to give the criminals the money in his wallet and write them a check so long as they left his family in peace. But that wasn't good enough for Dick Hickok and Perry Smith.

Herb was led into the basement, where he was hog tied and laid out on the concrete floor while the rest of his family was woken up one by one. His wife Bonnie, was bound and gagged and led to the bathroom. His son Kenyon was marched downstairs to join his father before being bound and laid out on a sofa in a separate room. And Herb's daughter Nancy had her hands and feet tied while she lay in bed in her nightgown.

A strange thing began to happen, though. Once the criminals had control of the family, there were small moments where they tried to make the Clutters more comfortable. They gave Bonnie a chair. They gave Kenyon a pillow. Herb got some cardboard to lie on, and Nancy was tucked into bed. It was almost as if Hickok and Smith's better natures were fighting with their darkest impulses. But tragically, the latter won out. Hickok had always been the talker, the planner, but he wasn't much of a doer, especially when it came to violence. That was where Smith came in. Hickok had the knife, but he couldn't bring himself to cut Herb's throat. And when he hesitated, Smith took the knife and went to do it himself. But for all his bravado, Smith didn't want to do it either. But Hickok didn't intervene, and Smith took Herb Clutter's.

From there, the killers went from room to room. Next was Kenyon killed where he lay on the sofa. Then it was back upstairs where Nancy Clutter lay in bed with the covers drawn up to her shoulders. And then finally, Bonnie, having been led gently back into her bedroom, was killed in her beautiful. The two men went back outside into the night. Whatever else transpired, at least one thing had gone according to plan. They hadn't left any witnesses, but in the process, they had left behind a bloody boot print and some tire tracks. And in the end, that was all the investigators needed to catch them.

Once the defense and the prosecution had made their arguments, it only took the jury 40 minutes to make a decision. When the 12 men returned, the verdict was read by the judge. Guilty on all four counts. The sentence, death. Hickok and Smith spent the next five years appealing the decision. They received early assistance in their efforts from Truman Capote, who became almost friendly with the two men despite writing a book about their crimes. For years afterward, people would speculate about his relationship with Perry Smith, with some even whispering that it was romantic or sexual in nature. Whatever the case, it's possible that in his quest to write the story of the Clutter murders, Capote allowed himself to become a part of it. But despite the involvement of a famous author, in the end, Hickok and Smith's luck ran out. Both men were escorted to the gallows and hanged on April 14, 1965.

Even after the bodies of Hickok and Smith were taken down from the gallows, the events of November 15, 1959, continue to reverberate. To this day, people wonder whether Hickok and Smith were responsible for another crime in Florida, where a family of four were all shot at close range.

That case remains unsolved. Dick Hickok's brother would describe decades later how he was passed over for jobs and shunned by his neighbors just because of his last name. Larry Hendricks, the high school English teacher who discovered the bodies of Herb Kenyon, Nancy and Bonnie Clutter, would leave Holcomb for Alaska. And Truman Capote, who captured the story of what happened to the Clutters so beautifully in his book In Cold Blood, would die years later from complications due to alcoholism. People speculated that he drank himself to death because he was haunted by the memory of Perry Smith and how close he'd let himself become to a condemned man. Others would say it was guilt from profiting off the misery of others, whatever the circumstances were. The Story of the Clutters was his last book.

The murders of Herb, Bonnie, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter are a tragic example of how suddenly a violent crime can tear the fabric of a community. The sheer senselessness of it all taught the people of Holcomb, Kansas, to never take anything for granted. Herb and Bonnie should have grown old surrounded by their children grandchildren. Nancy and Kenyon should have gone off to college with a chance to experience the world beyond River Valley Farm. Instead, the Clutter family lost their lives because two greedy men couldn't control their worst impulses. And the scars left from their deaths will never truly heal.

Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Scams, Money and Murder. If you enjoyed this episode, you can check out more Just like it by Searching for Murder. True Crime Stories Wherever you get your podcasts, Scams, Money and Murder is a Crime House original. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, Rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Scams, Money and Murder and Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts and to enhance your listening experience, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode of Murder True Crime Stories ad free, along with early access to each thrilling two part series and exciting bonus content. We'll be back next Thursday.

[Liberty Mutual / LifeLock Advertiser]

If you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, you know having a trusted partner makes all the difference. That's why, hands down, you count on Grainger for auto reordering with on time restocks. Your team will have the cut resistant gloves they need at the start of their shift and you can end your day knowing they've got safety well in hand. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Looking for your next Crime House? Listen, don't miss Clues with Morgan Abshur and Kaylin Moore Every Wednesday, Morgan and Kaylin take you deep into the world of the most notorious crimes ever. Clue by clue, it's like hanging out with your smart true crime obsessed friends. Listen to Clues on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts.