1959day.year
Four members of the Clutter family are murdered near Holcomb, Kansas, by Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, a crime later detailed by Truman Capote in his 1966 non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.
The brutal murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, shock the nation and inspire Truman Capote’s landmark true-crime novel.
On November 15, 1959, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock broke into the Clutter family home in rural Kansas and executed four members of the family.
The seemingly motiveless crime stunned the local community and garnered widespread media attention.
Investigators quickly identified the perpetrators, leading to their arrest within weeks.
Author Truman Capote later chronicled the case in "In Cold Blood," a pioneering work of literary journalism.
The novel’s publication in 1966 brought renewed scrutiny to the events and the complexities of criminal psychology.
The Clutter murders remain a defining moment in American true-crime history.
1959
Four members of the Clutter family are murdered
Holcomb, Kansas
Perry Smith
Richard Hickock
Truman Capote
non-fiction novel
In Cold Blood