In Cold Blood

The classic 1965 nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, by New York reporter Truman Capote, describes the grisly story of the shotgun murder of a family of four in rural Kansas in 1959.

While in prison, Dick Hickock had heard his cellmate, Floyd Wells, speak of his former employment by the wealthy Clutter family. Wells remembered seeing something that resembled a safe in Mr. Clutter's office. Immediately after his release, Hickock teamed up with a friend, Perry Smith, and made plans to rob the Clutter house. The two carefully planned their crime and entered the Clutter home—only to discover that the “safe” was actually a filing cabinet with no valuables in it. During the robbery, Hickock decided to murder the terrified family because they were eyewitnesses.

The story ...