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Back We Were Killers Once Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty–one
  25. Twenty–two
  26. Twenty–three
  27. Twenty–four
  28. Twenty–five
  29. Twenty–six
  30. Twenty–seven
  31. Twenty–eight
  32. Twenty–nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty–one
  35. Thirty–two
  36. Thirty–three
  37. Thirty–four
  38. Thirty–five
  39. Thirty–six
  40. Thirty–seven
  41. Thirty–eight
  42. Thirty–nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty–one
  45. Forty–two
  46. Forty–three
  47. Forty–four
  48. Forty–five
  49. Forty–six
  50. Forty–seven
  51. Forty–eight
  52. Forty–nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty–one
  55. Fifty–two
  56. Fifty–three
  57. Fifty–four
  58. Fifty–five
  59. Fifty–six
  60. Fifty–seven
  61. Author’s Note
  62. Acknowledgments
  63. Also by Becky Masterman
  64. About the Author
  65. Newsletter Sign-up

Smith confesses to killing two of the Clutters, but later changes his confession to say he killed the whole family. When questioned, he says it’s because he feels sorry for Hickock’s mother, “who is a sweet woman.” No one, not Capote or Special Agent Alvin Dewey, questions the motivation for this reversal. The men at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation are so happy to finally find the killers they don’t care about the fine points of their confession.

While Hickock and Smith are incarcerated, it’s discovered that they were in the area of Osprey, Florida, at the exact time that the Walker family was killed. That was late December, just about a month after the Clutter killing. Prime suspects, they’re polygraphed, which is thought to confirm their innocence. Despite some witnesses reporting them in the area, and considerable physical circumstantial evidence, such as scratch marks on Hickock’s face that could have been made with a high heel, the state doesn’t press its case. This is nuts. Maybe the state doesn’t want to delay hanging them, and the Clutter case is enough to accomplish that goal.

Subsequently, they’re convicted only of the Clutter murders, and executed in 1965. In Cold Blood is published shortly after.

Now here’s the thing that has always intrigued me.

It’s not news that there are discrepancies in Capote’s telling. This is well established. For example, there is no proof that “Willie Jay,” said to be a religious mentor of Perry, and an early cellmate of Dick’s, existed. Invented by Capote, or invented by Perry Smith? I often wondered if it was because most of Capote’s interviews were with Perry Smith, and all he got was Smith’s account of the events. What we get from that account is that Smith is a poor victim of childhood misfortune and abuse. Sensitive. Liked to paint and play his guitar. A TV series they made once had him crying and wetting his pants.

Hickock, on the other hand, comes across as a sociopath, stupid and cruel. Smith painted him as the ringleader who kept insisting “they would leave no witnesses.” A pedophile who wanted to rape Nancy Clutter until Smith bravely stopped him—by killing her himself.

But if you go to the Kansas Historical Society Archives you see a different Dick Hickock. This one has been reading law during his five years on death row prior to his execution. He’s writing letters that show a degree of articulation and intelligence unlike the man portrayed by Capote. Sure, that he’s a murderer, and a cold-blooded one, that cannot be denied, but the man has more depth than what we read about him in Capote’s account.

Was Smith telling the whole truth? And if not, why not? Was it to weave a sympathetic portrait of himself with just enough villainy to titillate an author like Capote?