In the quiet farming community of Holcomb, Kansas, Herbert William Clutter, a 48-year-old White male, lived a respected life as a prosperous farmer. This idyllic existence was shattered on November 15, 1959, when he and three members of his family were brutally murdered in their home. The other victims were his wife, Bonnie Mae, 45, and their two teenage children, Nancy, 16, and Kenyon, 15. The discovery of their bodies the following morning sent a wave of shock and fear through the small town.
The crime was perpetrated by two ex-convicts, Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith, who had been paroled from the Kansas State Penitentiary. Hickock had learned from a former cellmate that Herbert Clutter supposedly kept a large sum of cash in a safe at his farmhouse. Believing they were on the verge of a "perfect score," the pair drove over 400 miles to the Clutter residence with the intention of robbing the family and leaving no witnesses. They entered the house through an unlocked door in the early morning hours while the family was asleep.
Upon waking the Clutters, Hickock and Smith's plan quickly unraveled when they discovered there was no safe and very little cash in the house. Herbert Clutter was known to conduct his business primarily by check. Despite the failure to find any significant amount of money, the intruders proceeded with their grim plan. They bound and gagged the family members in different parts of the house. In the basement, Herbert Clutter's throat was slit before he was shot in the head. Kenyon was also killed in the basement, shot in the head. Upstairs, Nancy and Bonnie were each killed by a single shotgun blast to the head. The killers fled the scene with a portable radio, a pair of binoculars, and less than $50 in cash.
A thorough investigation was launched by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The breakthrough came when Hickock's former cellmate, Floyd Wells, heard about the murders and informed the prison warden of Hickock's plan. This tip identified Hickock and Smith as the prime suspects. After a nationwide manhunt, the two were arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 30, 1959, six weeks after the murders.
Extradited back to Kansas, Hickock and Smith stood trial in Garden City. On March 29, 1960, a jury found both men guilty of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced them to death. Following a series of appeals, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were executed by hanging at the Kansas State Penitentiary on April 14, 1965.
