In Cold Blood Study Guide

The Clutter family – Herbert and Bonnie, and their teenage children, Nancy and Kenyon – lead a prosperous and principled life on their farm in Holcomb, a small rural settlement in western Kansas. They are prominent and respected members of the community, in both Holcomb and the neighboring Garden City, and Herb Clutter is known to be a generous employer. Their life is disciplined, but pleasant and well provided for. The narration follows the Clutters through the events of November 14th, 1959, which is ominously referred to as the family’s “last.” In another part of Kansas, two men on parole from the Kansas State Penitentiary, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, are planning a “score,” which includes a 12-gauge shotgun, rubber gloves, rope, and black stockings. Over the course of the day, they make their way in the direction of Garden City by car, making various stops along the way. They arrive shortly after midnight, and proceed to the Clutter farm.

On the morning of November 15th, two friends of Nancy Clutter’s arrive at the house and find Nancy upstairs, dead from a shotgun blast to the head. The authorities, in turn, find three more bodies: all four Clutters have been brutally murdered, the children and Bonnie with a shotgun, and Herb Clutter with a knife to the throat. The police find very little evidence at the crime scene: only two sets of boot prints, and the materials used to bind the victims. The residents of Garden City and Holcomb are shocked and deeply troubled by the murders, and many speculate that the killer or killers may be among them.
An investigation is launched, led by Alvin Dewey. The team also includes Special Agents Clarence Duntz, Harold Nye, and Roy Church. Perry and Dick are already far away in Kansas City, reading about the crime in the newspaper and wondering about the likelihood that it will be traced to them. While the detectives begin their search for physical evidence and witness testimonials, the fugitives head for Mexico, pausing