For those of us who grew up in the shadow of the Kansas State Penitentiary, we remember quite well the night—60 years ago—that Richard Hickok and Perry Smith swung from the gallows. It was a rainy night, and the earth was still, but when it came time to put the noose around their necks, the neighborhood dogs began to bark. It was no longer a quiet evening.
Their journey to the gallows began in 1959 when they murdered four members of the Clutter family. Acting on a hot tip, these two ex-convicts went to Holcomb, Kansas, believing the farmer kept a safe with $10,000 in cash. When they discovered it was a hoax and there was no money, Perry Smith took his anger out on the family.
Dick Hickok, who always claimed he never laid a hand on anyone, was still guilty—for going along with it and not stopping it.
The murders made it onto a back page of The New York Times that week. But it was enough for Truman Capote to take notice. Once he started digging into the story, he knew there was a book there. And of course, the rest is “His Story.”