Capote’s In Cold Blood details real life murder

This book tells the story of the murder of four members of the Cutter family in rural Kansas in 1959. At first thought to be the deed of someone in the small community, it turns out the killings were carried out by strangers who had no real motive other than robbery. Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, a couple of ne’er-do-wells, came in the middle of the night, killed the mom, dad, and high-school aged daughter and son, and fled back to home before anyone was aware of the crime. Turns out Dick had previously shared a jail cell with someone who had once worked at the Cutter farm, and told stories of the family’s wealth. Dick and Perry thought they’d get rich, but found there was no cash on the premises at all. Still, they killed the whole family. They then fled to Mexico, leaving a cold trail for the cops.

If they had stayed in Mexico, the case would probably never have been solved. Instead, low on money and no real way to make any there, they came back north and committed more crimes across the midwest, down to Florida, and finally back out west to Las Vegas, where they were finally apprehended. Capote alternates the short sections of the book telling their happenings, as well as the cops in Kansas during the investigation. Once the pair are in custody, the case against them builds quickly, and faced with all the facts, they each finally do confess. Confession in hand, the trial plays out, with a sentence of death by hanging handed down.

This first year takes up much of the novel, but the final 4 years go by quickly, with the pair spending their time in jail while appeals play out in the courts. Finally though, their time is up, and the duo is hanged in April, 1965.

Capote did indeed do a lot of research for this book, criss-crossing Kansas for interviews with all involved (with the help of his friend and fellow acclaimed writer, Harper Lee, to whom this book is dedicated). He talked to friends and family of the victims, people in the community, but also friends and family of the perpetrators. He also writes convincingly about the possible mental health problems faced by Smith and Hickock, which, while not forgiving their crimes, would at least give a possible reason. Capote does all of this in a novel form rather than a documentary-style, so you have to applaud the creativity. Still, not the most captivating for me, for the reasons above.