0:00

Due. To the graphic nature of

0:02

this crime, listener discretion is

0:05

advised. This episode includes discussions

0:07

of murder, violence, sexual abuse,

0:09

and suicide. We advise extreme

0:11

caution for children under thirteen.

0:19

Almost sixty five years ago,

0:21

a heinous crime ended the

0:24

lives of for people and

0:26

change the true crime genre

0:28

forever. In this bonus episode

0:31

of Serial Killers we detail

0:33

a true story captured in

0:35

Truman Capote. Ease in cold

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1:55

we're covering the clutter

1:57

family murders committed by

1:59

dig Let's

2:02

go back to the highways of Kansas on

2:04

November 14, 1959. 28-year-old

2:08

Richard Hickok

2:11

drove his black 49

2:13

Chevrolet straight to the clutter home in Holcomb. A

2:17

former cellmate told him Herbert Clutter kept a

2:19

safe full of valuables hidden in his

2:21

house. Dick

2:24

enlisted his prison buddy, 31-year-old Perry Smith, to help

2:27

him nab the cash. Dick

2:30

was intrigued by Perry. He seemed

2:32

quiet and sensitive, but

2:34

Perry swore he'd once murdered a man

2:37

with a chain. Dick hoped

2:39

Perry still had ice in his veins because he didn't intend on

2:41

leaving any witnesses alive in

2:43

the clutter house. While

2:47

Dick drove, Perry idly played his guitar. After

2:51

they secured the safe, the two were

2:53

supposed to head down to Mexico. Perry couldn't

2:55

wait to swim in the ocean and chase women. Dick,

2:59

on the other hand, was only focused on the task ahead. In

3:03

his words, he was in it to splatter the walls with

3:05

hair. The

3:15

Clutter household was asleep when Dick

3:17

and Perry arrived at midnight. They

3:20

let themselves in through an unlocked

3:22

door armed with a knife and

3:24

a single 12-gauge shotgun. Using

3:26

a flashlight, they searched the office downstairs.

3:29

There was no sign of the safe. The

3:32

men went upstairs to wake 48-year-old

3:35

Herbert at knife point. Dick

3:37

demanded to know where the safe was,

3:39

but Herbert swore he had no idea

3:42

what Dick was talking about. Next

3:44

up was Herbert's wife, 45-year-old

3:47

Bonnie, who also claimed

3:49

the family didn't have any secret

3:51

safe. Perry could tell they

3:53

were telling the truth, but Dick

3:55

was still stubborn. He insisted

3:58

on turning the house upside down. down.

4:01

But before they could search for the

4:03

money, they needed to account for every

4:05

member of the family. The

4:09

men tied up 15-year-old Kenyon

4:11

at his sister's 16-year-old Nancy.

4:14

Dick told Perry he was going

4:17

to rape Nancy before they left,

4:19

but something in Perry changed. He

4:21

suddenly became frustrated and

4:23

confrontational. He refused to let Dick

4:25

do that to Nancy. Yet he

4:28

had no problem helping Dick murder

4:30

the entire family before they left.

4:33

Once it was all over, Perry

4:35

considered killing Dick too and putting

4:37

the entire night behind him. Instead,

4:40

the two men got back in the

4:42

car together and drove off. Their

4:45

entire haul was one radio, a

4:48

pair of binoculars, and between $40 and

4:50

$50. The

4:54

next morning, members of the Holcomb

4:56

Church noted Herbert Clutter's absence during

4:59

the morning services. When

5:01

Susan Kidwell arrived at the home,

5:03

she could tell something was horribly

5:05

wrong. It was far

5:08

too quiet. She went inside

5:10

and discovered Nancy's body. Shock

5:13

and terror spread throughout the

5:15

Lonesome town and soon to

5:17

the entire country. The

5:19

public demanded justice for such a

5:22

gruesome crime. On

5:34

November 14, 1959,

5:37

Dick Hickok and Perry Smith murdered

5:39

four members of the Clutter family

5:41

in their home. Afterward,

5:44

the murderers headed to Kansas

5:46

City before rejoining later to

5:48

drive straight for Mexico. Sometime

5:51

that fall, a prisoner named Floyd

5:53

Wells heard about the Clutter murders

5:56

and realized his old cellmate Dick

5:58

must have been involved. Floyd

6:00

was the inmate who told Dick about Herbert

6:03

Clutter in the first place. He'd

6:05

given Dick the layout of the

6:07

Clutter home, along with a tall

6:09

tale about the non-existent safe. He

6:12

told authorities he had information about

6:15

the murders, which eventually reached 47-year-old

6:18

officer Alvin Dewey. Alvin

6:21

and Herbert Clutter had been friends. Now

6:24

Alvin was leading the investigation into

6:26

the murders. When he

6:28

heard about Floyd's tip, he agreed that

6:30

Dick and his former prison buddy Perry

6:33

made excellent suspects. He

6:35

withheld their names from the public, hoping

6:37

that the two men would slip up if

6:39

they thought they'd gotten away clean. On

6:43

December 30, 1959, Alvin finally got the call

6:45

he'd been waiting for. Las

6:50

Vegas police tracked a stolen

6:52

vehicle's license plate and arrested

6:54

Dick and Perry. The

6:56

killers were driving back to Kansas City when

6:58

the cops picked them up. Both

7:01

had concocted an alibi for the night of

7:03

the home invasion, claiming they were in a

7:05

cabin with two sex workers. When

7:08

police hinted that they had a witness who

7:10

said otherwise, Dick realized Floyd

7:12

had ratted him out. He

7:15

admitted the alibi was made up

7:17

and claimed Perry had murdered all

7:19

four of the victims. Perry

7:22

meanwhile blamed Dick for the entire

7:24

scheme at first. But

7:26

not long afterward, he changed his

7:28

confession and said that he had

7:31

actually murdered all four Clutters.

7:34

He claimed he took the blame to

7:36

spare Dick's mother the heartache. Then

7:40

everything changed again. Before

7:43

their trial began, Perry

7:45

had an unlikely visitor,

7:47

35-year-old writer Truman Capote.

7:50

Capote had read about the crime in the New

7:52

York Times and found the case intriguing.

7:55

Despite His big city attitude and recent success

7:57

in fiction, He said that he had been.

8:00

For the high Plains of Kansas to cover

8:02

the. Story. To assist

8:04

him with interviews and research, he

8:06

enlisted his childhood. Friend: Thirty three

8:08

year old Harper Lee. Well.

8:11

Capote sometimes came off as smog.

8:13

Lee was grounded and friendly.

8:15

She was instrumental in securing interviews

8:18

and helped for Poti with

8:20

the writings. Li also got to

8:22

Poti close to lead investigator

8:24

Alvin Do We. To.

8:27

Podium bet it himself into the

8:29

case. Covering the events as they

8:32

unfolded Capote, he decided that he

8:34

needed to get to know the

8:36

killers to understand the reasons behind

8:38

the senseless violence. While. Dick

8:41

remained standoffish and distance. Harry opened

8:43

up to the right earth,

8:45

revealing deep truths about himself and

8:47

the night of the murders. In.

8:52

Court Perry and Dick were.

8:54

Both found guilty and sentenced

8:56

to death. while Dick maintained

8:58

is tough exterior, During his

9:00

time on death Row, Perry was

9:03

plagued with guilt. He started to

9:05

miss Dick. The two. Men

9:07

tried to have their convictions

9:09

repealed, but without any success.

9:11

On April Fourteenth, Nineteen Sixty

9:14

five, Dick and Harry were

9:16

set to hang. Harper

9:18

Lee and Co Poti were

9:20

invited me declined to show.

9:23

Both Dick and Harry had made

9:26

peace with each other and their

9:28

seats dig even shook albums hand

9:30

before he was hanged. Perry.

9:33

Was next who awkwardly apologized for

9:35

what he'd done. According to at

9:38

least one account Capote, he grew

9:40

six from the demonstrations. He and

9:42

Perry had grown close over there,

9:45

years of interviewing and correspondence. They

9:47

had more in common than. He

9:49

expected. Perry's.

9:52

Das deeply wounded

9:54

Cody. Capote,

9:58

His seminal book. Cold Blood

10:01

was published in Nineteen Sixty

10:03

Six. The so called non

10:05

fiction novel was an immediate

10:07

sensation. Although he dedicated the

10:09

book to Harper Lee, he

10:11

didn't acknowledge her health and.

10:13

It's creation. the text

10:15

elevated true. Crime into a

10:18

popular and artistic genre. For

10:20

couple the the story was

10:22

an exploration of the complex

10:24

human drama surrounding of violent

10:26

act. It wasn't a tale

10:28

of bad men hurting innocent

10:30

people, but how for shotgun.

10:32

Blasts ended Six

10:35

Minds. Thanks.

10:45

For listening to Serial Killers a

10:47

Spotify podcast. Were here with a

10:49

new episode every Monday. Be sure

10:51

to check us out on Instagram.

10:53

add Serial Killers Podcast and we

10:55

love to hear. From. You So if you're

10:57

listening on the spot, a sigh app swipe up

10:59

and give us your thoughts. Stay

11:03

safe in their. Serial

11:06

Killers is a spotify podcast.

11:08

This episode was written by

11:10

Daniel William Gonzalez with writing.

11:12

Assistance by Terrell Wells, fact

11:14

checked by Cheyenne Lopez and

11:16

sound design by Alex. Buttons

11:18

are head of programming. Is Julian.

11:21

Burrow are had a production. Is

11:23

Nick Johnson and Spencer. Howard is

11:25

our post production supervisor. I'm

11:27

your host Vanessa Richardson.