01x02 - K*llers on the Run

[bunniefuu]

Al:
On November the 15th, 1959,

a father, a mother,

and their two teenage children
were m*rder*d.

**

Edwards: Who could have any
reason to k*ll them?

All the potential leads
just did not pan out.

Al: When we developed
the photographs,

we were able to see
a boot print

that one could not observe
with the naked eye.

They knew that there was
a potential of a second suspect.

Man: "I came out of prison
embittered, ruthless,

and emotionally unstable."

Man #2: "I'll wait till they
catch me, if they do."

**

**

Man:
The Hickock investigation

took us to Kansas City,

where we learned that Hickock
had passed a hot check

for $192 at Elko Camera Shop
back on November 21st.

He had been working
at Sand's Paint Shop in Olathe,

and we interviewed Bob Sands,
owner of the paint shop.

He told us that Hickock
had been working for him,

but didn't show up
after November 20th.

When he last seen him, Hickock
said, "See you in the morning."

On the 9th, we put out an arrest
warrant for Richard E. Hickock

for bad checks.

We also obtained
a search warrant

for the Hickock family farm.

Troutner: The Hickock family,

the parents Walter and Eunice,

were very liked
and respected in Edgerton.

But pretty early after
the Hickocks moved here,

people started
finding out about d*ck.

Being a petty thief,
being a charming con man.

Hickock was someone who could
fool you into thinking

that he was a fine,
upstanding citizen,

and then when you had
your back turned,

commit any number of crimes.

Troutner: There was
a point when Mr. Hickock,

the dad, would give a horse
to a family or a store owner

kind of payback for what
d*ck had took from them.

Crable: "We are sorry our kid
stole from you, have a horse.

Lets forget that
this ever happened."

And, so, that became [Laughs]

kind of a running gag in town.

You knew how much trouble
Hickock was in

by the number of horses
that were on his father's land.

Welch: The KBI visited
Hickock's parents

and developed
the alleged itinerary

of Hickock and Smith

that particular weekend.

Man: Mrs. Hickock told us that
her son Richard and Perry Smith

had made a trip to
Fort Scott, Kansas,

on Saturday, November 14th,

and that they were to locate
a sister of Smith's.

Mrs. Hickock told us that
Richard had not returned home

until just before lunch
on November 15th.

She claimed that she had not
seen Richard since that morning.

We told Mrs. Hickock that we'd
like to search the premises.

We found a bloody shirt
in the drawer.

Then we found something else
in the closet.

That's where Nye spots
the shotgun

that Hickock had purchased
on credit in Olathe.

I think every third Kansan
had a 12-gauge shotgun probably.

That wouldn't be surprising,

but Nye later said that
he actually felt excitement

when he picked
that shotgun up

and really felt they were
on the right trail.

**

Man: Outside Kansas City,

we interviewed Hickock's
second ex-wife,

Margaret Edna Sanders.

She described Richard Hickock
as having a violent temper

that was easily aroused.

He drinks liquor, usually
screwdrivers, and a lot of beer,

smokes Marlboro or Pall Mall
cigarettes,

likes to dance,
and is a lover of music.

The next day, we interviewed
d*ck's first ex-wife, Carol.

She said that since he's got
out of the penitentiary,

Hickock usually called the house
at least once a week.

The last contact she had
with him was on November 19th,

two days before he was
last spotted in the area.

Man #2: "I was born
June 6, 1931, in Kansas City.

We were always what you'd call
semi-poor --

never down and out,
but always on the verge of it.

Dad was a hard worker, and
done his best to provide for us.

He was always strict.

My mother was always neat, and
we had clean clothes aplenty.

Hammon:
I thought he was good-looking.

He didn't look like
an ordinary high school guy.

Troutner: He had a way with
the ladies, and men, too.

Just kind of winning them over,
getting their friendship,

their trust.

LeBert-Corbello: He excelled
at whatever he did --

basketball, girlfriends...

It wasn't until after the wreck

that he started changing.

[Thunder rumbling]

Man: "He was working with me.

I run a body and fender shop
in Gardner, Kansas,

for Rourke Motor Company,
and he was my helper."

The dad sent d*ck to Olathe
for some car parts.

Man: "Water on the highway

caused him to lose control
of his car.

He was ejected from the car."

Troutner: He landed face down
in this ditch of water,

and a passerby that had been
behind him stopped

and ran over and pulled him
out of the ditch.

He probably would've drowned.

He suffered a dislocated jaw,

and something happened
where an eye

was askew from the other one.

He had serious major head
injuries from that car wreck.

You look at his eyes,
they are not in line.

they're like...

His personality was
a little different.

It wasn't the happy-go-lucky guy
like he used to be.

Man: "I was fired,
and in the condition I was in,

couldn't find another job,

but I had met a girl
and fallen in love.

In July of '51, we were married.

All hell broke loose
from her dad

until he learned
she was pregnant,

but still he never
wished me good luck."

LeBert-Corbello: Carol married
d*ck at about 16 years old,

and she absolutely adored him.

d*ck was really good
to his wife,

and, especially,
his little boys.

Woman:
"d*ck was an excellent father.

I loved watching him
play with our boys.

But he was a womanizer.

Although he loved me, he loved
any other woman he could."

Man: "In the early part of 1957,
I met this girl by the name

of Margaret Sanders at work.

To make a long story short,

we became real intimate
in our relations.

He fathered another child
with her.

At this point in his life,
Hickock is pretty destitute

and hopeless.

He's tried playing the role

of father and good husband.

He's failed at that.

He's with the mistress,

and things are looking
very bleak.

Man: "I started drinking
real heavy after that,

and was drunk
for almost a month.

The first time in my life
that I had ever done that.

I started neglecting
my businesses,

spending more money than I
was earning, writing bad checks,

and in the end,
becoming a thief."

Crable: Hickock had stolen
some firearms,

and he tried to sell them
at a pawn shop

in downtown Kansas City.

Man: "d*ck was arrested.

He was sentenced
to Lansing Penitentiary

for 5 years."

LeBert-Corbello:
It was enough time for him

to stew over the fact
that he was poor,

and he wanted a quick way
to get rich,

to get the big score.

**

Tedrow:
It seemed like for a while,
time just went pretty slow.

Every day not knowing
what was going on,

every day something new
you would hear.

Was it true? Was it not?

Frack: That's why you're better
if you don't think about it.

You couldn't do anything
about it until we found out

who did it.

Tedrow:
There was some feeling like,

"Will anybody ever
have to pay for this?"

**

Man: "After we crossed back
into the States,

we took a bus
and hitchhiked to Barstow.

We had to lighten our load
for hitchhiking,

so we mailed
most of our belongings

general delivery to Las Vegas.

We'd pick them up COD later.

Our only purpose
for returning to the U.S.

was to pull a score big enough
to finance a trip to Brazil

where they couldn't extradite
us back to the States

if they ever caught on
to who pulled the Clutter deal.

We hitchhiked east,

made it to Iowa where we stole
a car parked in a yard.

Finally ended up back
in Kansas City, my hometown.

**

I started on one of the most
cautious check-passing sprees

that part of the country
had ever seen.

We were hotter than a p*stol
because of the checks

we passed before.

I cashed over $500
worth of checks.

How I managed to do it
without getting busted,

I can't imagine."

[Telephone rings]

Man: While agents Nye,
Church, and myself

were at the Wyandotte County
Sheriff's Office,

a call came in from the
Furniture Mart located

at 3206 Brown Avenue
in Kansas City

that a bogus check had been used
the night before to purchase

a new Olympic television set.

Went to the furniture mart
where employees

positively identified Hickock.

While we were at
the Furniture Mart,

the subjects attempted
to cash another check

at Walt's Service Station
in Kansas City.

The son of the station owner
recognized Hickock.

They had gone
to school together.

He refused to cash the check,

stating that he had
a drawer full of them.

We cruised the Kansas City area
in search for the car

or subjects
with negative results.

**

Man: On December 18th,

we interviewed
Mrs. Dorothy Marchant,

the sister
of Perry Edward Smith.

Mrs. Marchant told us that she
was afraid of Perry Smith,

and that she had
very little to do with him.

She considered he was a lot
like his father.

They both did not respect
the rights of others,

nor did they care
how they lived.

Mrs. Marchant told us that
when they were young,

they suffered severe hardships.

Man: "My father was
a farmer, trapper,

and quite a famous
Bronco rider in rodeos

during his younger days.

Our family was my brother James,
my sister Fern,

my sister Dorothy, and myself.

My mother was also
a country girl

and later became a lady champion
Bronco rider.

She was an Indian.

Her maiden name was Buckskin."

His mom was a rodeo star.

The rodeo culture
got woven into their life.

Perry's dad was Irish, and
his mom was full-blood Indian.

I guess that's why he got
along with my dad, Joe,

because they were
both half-breeds.

Man: "At some point
our family moved to Juneau

where my father was
making hooch, a bootlegger.

I believe it was during
this period my mother

became acquainted with alcohol.

I remember my mother
was entertaining some sailors

while my father was away.

When he came home, my father
threw the sailors out

after a violent struggle
and proceeded to beat my mother.

I was scared.

Mom ended up taking us kids
to San Francisco.

She ran off with dad's truck,
leaving him behind in jail,

where she had him put.

In Frisco, I run as free
and wild as a coyote.

My mother was always drunk,

never in a fit condition
to properly provide

and care for us.

There was no rule or discipline

or anyone to show me
right from wrong.

I had stole so many things
from so many stores,

I lost track of which was first.

I was sent away to school.

I wet the bed every night.

This was very humiliating,
but I couldn't control myself.

I was severely beaten
by the cottage mistress."

Back in those days,
you wouldn't want to believe

that the nuns were so mean,
but they were that mean,

they were that strict.
They were punishing.

Man: "One evening, she hit me
with her flashlight.

I still carry the scar
on my p*nis.

She almost severed it
completely off.

She was later discharged,

but this never changed my mind

about what I wished
I could have done to her

and all the people
who made fun of me."

Man: "Mrs. Marchant told us that
she was afraid of Perry Smith,

and in the event the Kansas
officers talked to him,

she requested that he not be
advised of her present address.

Ms. Marchant also told us
that she had never lived

in Fort Scott, Kansas."

That was the alibi
that they had come up with,

and of course,
that was all a ruse.

That wasn't true at all.

[Indistinct chatter]

Man: "It was agreed that
the county would conduct

a daily press conference."

Uh, I have no comment
in regards to that.

"Handling the news people
who were arriving

was a matter to deal with.

One morning, the sheriff's
secretary interrupted my gloom.

She ushered in a woman and
a short, small man

wrapped in a long scarf.

'Mr. Dewey, I am Truman Capote,

and this is my friend
Nelle Harper Lee.

She is a writer, too.'"

[Laughs]

Just right on in.

[Indistinct chatter]

Clarke: Truman had been a famous
writer since the 1940s.

He had written short stories,
which were widely read.

And because of his demeanor

and his way of doing things,
he became rather famous.

He was in the newspaper columns,
the gossip columns all the time.

Not making a whole lot of money,
but he became very well known.

Man: [Capote-style accent]
"Then, one morning

in November 1959,

while flicking through
The New York Times,

I encountered on a deep
inside page this headline,

'Wealthy Farmer,

I thought about it
all that November day

and part of the next."

Clarke:
The K*llers had not been caught,

but Truman didn't
care about that.

What he cared about
was the effect

these killings would have
on this little town,

because he knew little towns,
he'd grown up in little towns,

he spent much of his life
in a little town in the South.

He was a little nervous
about going to Kansas.

Truman looked for someone
to go along with him,

and he talked to a friend
of his.

Um, he talked to,
um, Harper Lee,

who had just written a novel
called "To k*ll a Mockingbird,"

but it had not been published.

Truman and Harper Lee
had been neighbors

in Monroeville, Alabama.

She was a year younger,
but she was sort of the boss.

Truman was too soft
for the boys,

and Nelle was too hard
for the girls.

She was very assertive.

Man: [Capote-style accent]
"She is a gifted woman,

courageous, and with a warmth

that instantly kindles
most people.

Feeling at loose ends, she said
she would accompany me

in the role of
assistant researchist.

It was twilight
when we arrived."

**

Man:
"That day was the first time

I set eyes on Truman Capote.

He said, 'What I'm here for
is to do a very special story

on the family.

It doesn't make any
difference to me

if the case is even solved.'

Well, he could've talked
all day without saying that.

It made one hell
of a difference to me."

Clarke:
He was right to be nervous,

because when he went out there,

they looked on Truman as if he
had just arrived on a spaceship

from Mars.

It didn't go very well.

They didn't want to divulge
details to strangers.

So they shut them down.

A number of people just turned
on their heels,

and said, "I don't
want to talk about it".

Well, when he came in,

he was such a little fella,
I thought,

"Well, who's
this little kid coming in?"

[Laughs]

But some don't think they
should let him in Garden City.

"Why didn't they keep him out?"

**

Edwards: "We were all looking
forward to several days

at Herbert's
this Thanksgiving.

Herbert and Bonnie had planned

for the Clutter family
Thanksgiving dinner

to be at their home
near Holcomb.

We had already received
the invitation

in the mail
before this happened."

Woman: "Dear family,
it is time we had

a family reunion long enough
to really get acquainted again.

We were all so excited,
and they were so --

Herbert was so excited.

He's going to have us
all out there.

Woman: "Activities will include
gabbing, games of all kinds,

hunting, horseback riding,
after-dinner naps,

eating, TV, football games."

So she had it
very well organized.

[Laughs]

"We will have good bed space

for 17 adults, and floor space

for all the kids
and a baby bed available."

Edwards: "There had not been
a big Thanksgiving gathering

since Grandma Clutter died
in 1954."

And I know it would
have been a great time,

and, boy, did somebody ruin it.

Woman: Yeah,
they had a family reunion,

just not the way
they planned it.

Here's something from
Truman Capote

asking to show
around the farm.

That was the only request
they've ever had.

Shields: Truman asked permission
to walk around the house,

and got permission for Nelle
and Truman

to come on the property
and come into the house.

Edwards: There was Capote
standing in front of the house,

and I just felt so angry,
like he had no business there,

and it seemed like
a real invasion.

**

Shields:
The house seemed haunted.

All that was missing
were the people.

And the rooms had been,
of course,

cleaned after the m*rder scene,

but they really had a sense of
entering into the inner sanctum.

Woman:
That was very disappointing,

very disappointing.

I understand people have
to make their living,

but it's sad that it has to come
off of somebody else's tragedy,

and I can remember them
saying at the time,

"I wish we had just
torn the house down,"

because that's not the way
you want to remember your home.

[Wind whistling]

-Do you remember that picture?
-I know.

-What year is that?
-1950.


I looked pretty good
in those days.

Too bad time
changes things.

Cullivan:
When I was in the army

back about the time
of the Korean w*r,

I was training,

and we had a fellow
who joined us

and he was almost finished
with his service.

We were bunkmates.

His name was
Perry Edward Smith

and he was an excellent
equipment operator.

He always had a smile
on his face,

but he never talked
about his family.

His mother abandoned the family,

she died of
an alcoholic overdose.

The brother committed suicide.

The sister, she probably
also committed suicide.

He did also have one sister
who was living in California

and had a real life.

He joined the army,

and this was at the time
of the height of the Korean w*r,

but he never saw much action.

He started drinking
heavily and carousing,

getting into fights.

Man: "I had many violent
bursts of anger.

I was in Korea 15 months

and finished my army service
in Fort Lewis, Washington."

Cullivan: Around Christmastime,

I decided I was
going to take home leave,

and I had a very nice
leather jacket,

and Perry asked me if he
could borrow this jacket

because he had
rented a motorcycle.

When I came back, Perry was
gone, my jacket was gone.

**

[Crashing]

[Monitor beeping]

He had slid on some sandy patch

and really messed up his legs.

He was lucky that they weren't
amputated, they were so bad.

Man: "I spent about a year
in the hospital.

Shattered left leg,
broken hip, broken left arm."

He used to take aspirin, 2 or 3
at a time, not with water,

he would chew them
to k*ll the pain.

Man: "After my accident,

I stayed with a friend
till spring."

Perry Smith was kind of
a unique part of our family.

I wasn't even born yet when
my parents first met him.

I was born
Jewell Perry William James,

and Perry was my dad's friend,
so I was named after him.

When I was about 5,
Perry showed up.

Most children have
a fear of strangers,

but even before I'd
seen him, I had this...

"Something's not right."

I closed my eyes,
I covered my ears,

I wouldn't look at him,
I wouldn't listen to him.

Something about him scared me.

Since I was named
after him,

I guess I was supposed
to be his friend.

And, so that summer,
he had bought a Model A Ford.

We all loaded on it.

We picked dandelions
out of a field,

and Perry and my dad
made dandelion wine.

It seemed to me that
he was pretty happy

with the people here, you know.

I think probably
if he stayed here,

he would have been, he'd
probably be alive yet, you know?

But he left.

You know, and we never
heard from him again.

We found out later he was
in communications

with a colleague
that was in prison with him.

Bascue: Both of them ended up
at the same prison

and developed some type
of a friendship.

During that friendship,

d*ck Hickock
had come up with a plan

that he was going to rob the
Clutter family of their money,

and that he wasn't going
to leave any witnesses.

But he didn't have, uh, the
nerve himself to carry it out.

And that's why he had enlisted
the help of Perry Smith.

Man: "Perry had told Hickock
that prior to 1955,

he had k*lled a black man
by clubbing him to death."

Bascue: It's possible that
this story was developed

to make him look
a little bit tougher

so people would leave
him alone in prison,

and d*ck Hickock
believed the story.

LeBert-Corbello:
d*ck thought that he would be

a good accomplice because
in case they needed

to k*ll someone,
he knew Perry would do it,

and he wouldn't have to do that.

Crable: They both very much
were dreamers.

That had started in that period
when they were incarcerated.

They had been feeding
each other's fantasies.

It was gonna be this big score

and then they was going to head
to Mexico and start a new life.

LeBert-Corbello:
He connected with Perry Smith,

and the two together
were a fatal combination.

There are three things that d*ck
often said after leaving prison.

He said that he was going
to get a big score,

that his family would have
no more money worries,

and he said,
"There will be no witnesses."

**

Man: "After the check spree
in Kansas,

we drove on to Florida,

got to Miami Beach on the 21st
and spent Christmas there.

Everything we got with
the checks was sold in Florida

for about a fourth
of what I paid for it.

On the 26th, we left Miami
and drove all over creation,

went to Jacksonville
where I worked half a day

digging a ditch,

then to South Carolina,
New Orleans,

Shreveport, Dallas,
and Fort Worth.

In Fort Worth, we picked up
a hitchhiker and his son

and drove them home to Corpus.

We picked up $2 worth
of soda bottles

on the side of the road
on the way there.

Then we went to El Paso,

then to Phoenix, where
we slept in the car,

and finally,
just before New Year's,

we decided we'd head
back to Vegas."

[Wind whistling]

**

Man: "By Christmas day,
we had been working

on the Wells lead
for almost three weeks,

but it wasn't gelling.

Smith and Hickock were out
there somewhere

and we weren't finding them.

It wasn't the best Christmas
we ever had at our house.

Our boys were 9 and 12,

but I didn't have
much enthusiasm

for fooling with their toys."

Paul: Mom was in many respects a
single parent much of the time.

Doing this investigation,
Dad was gone a lot,

and I always felt that
she gave up a lot for him.

**

[Birds chirping]

**

**

**

**

**

Edwards: "I don't remember
being depressed

until Nancy and Kenyon
were k*lled.

Even worse than the grief
was the chaos

that entered my mind
and my spirit.

There was no longer
any point in planning,

no reason to expect
fairness or justice,

no reason to expect
anything good

just because you worked hard
and were good to others.

I don't know exactly when
I stopped going to church,

I raged at God for a while.

Raged at him for
letting that happen

when they had done
nothing to deserve it.

What kind of God would let
something that terrible happen?

If that was what God was like,
well, I could do without him."

Man: "At Christmas
there was no big gathering

at my parents' home.

I began distancing
myself from them.

It had become the only way
I could manage the pain

I felt for them.

My pitiful parents,

conscientious,
law-abiding citizens,

shocked that their son
was a wanted man.

My first wife and I did manage
to share our presents

with my children.

As they sat with the lights
flickering

on our Christmas tree,

I decided to tell them
that Uncle d*ck

had done something wrong.

As I struggled
to find the words,

I looked at their young
and innocent faces

and wondered how hard it's going
to be for them to be Hickocks

in the state on Kansas.

**

I came to know so many people
there that I wouldn't have known

under any other
circumstance in my life

and came to like
them a great deal

and made many,
many friends there.

Truman started off on hugely
the wrong foot,

but they eventually
became friends.

Once Harper and Truman
became friends with the Deweys,

Truman was up on
the investigation.

Shields: As a result
of perseverance,

Nelle Harper Lee
and Truman Capote

were well into
Al Dewey's graces.

He trusted them, he liked them,

they were invited over
to the Deweys to have dinner,

during which a critical
phone call came.

**

Bascue: Law enforcement
in Las Vegas had received

an attempt-to-locate from Kansas

for these two subjects,
Smith and Hickock,

and they were given a vehicle
description and tag number.

Man: "It was early evening when
two local officers on patrol

happened to spot
a black 1956 Chevy

outside the post office

with plates that matched
the dispatch from Kansas."

Bascue: Smith and Hickock
had just stopped

and picked up the belongings

that they had shipped
from Mexico to Las Vegas.

Man: "Officers searched the car,
and in the trunk,

found a box from Mexico."

[Police radio chatter]

[Telephone rings]

Paul: That evening,

Truman and Nelle
were having dinner with us.

A phone call came from Las Vegas

where Dad is informed
that Hickock and Smith

had been caught.

Welch: The Las Vegas
Police Department

said "Happy New Year and Merry
Christmas and everything else,

we've got these two guys
in custody."

Shields:
Al was in a celebratory mood.

They had 'em.

He got out a big map,

put it on the dining room table,

and showed the route
that they would take

out there to Las Vegas.

And Truman wanted to go
out to Las Vegas

with Al Dewey
to bring them back,

but Al said,
"Not this time, not this time."

Man: "I asked the officer
on the phone

if they had found anything,
like boots.

He said yes.

Turns out the box they found
in the trunk contained two,

one with a cat's paw sole design

and the other one
with diamond tread.

Both were similar to the tracks
found on the cardboard box

at the m*rder scene."

They sent those boots
and other materials

to "General delivery,
Las Vegas, Perry Smith."

Thank God they did that.

Paul: If the Las Vegas police
had grabbed them earlier,

that really critical
piece of evidence

wouldn't have been found.
It was purely happenstance.

Purely happenstance.

Man: "It was at that point
that I told them to keep the men

in maximum security
until we arrived."

**

**

[Indistinct chatter]

**

[Sirens wailing]

**

Bascue: It was around the end
of December of 1959,

and Smith and Hickock were
arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Here we have mug shots
of both Smith and Hickock.

Hickock on the left
and Perry Smith on the right,

and then there's a picture
of the bloody boot print

that law enforcement took,

and the boot here is one
of Perry Smith's boots

that he wore on the night
that the Clutters were m*rder*d.

Those boots, well,
you count on good luck

falling your way
sometimes,

and that's what happened
in the Clutter case.

**

One of the strategies if you
have multiple defendants

is identifying the person
that's most likely

to engage
in a conversation.

And by golly,
it had to be Hickock.

Exactly.

Hickock's personality
was he thought he could do

a snow job basically.

He felt more comfortable
trying to engage conversation

to learn more about
what the agents knew.

**

Man: "I first saw d*ck Hickock

in jail inside
the Las Vegas Police Department.

Agent Church and myself took him
to the interrogation room."

They go into the evening
first day as I recall,

and Hickock, of course,
he's his usual,

boastful, braggadocio self,

but that evening,

Nye and Church kind of
play with Hickock.

"We started off
by going over these checks

that he had passed
in the Kansas City area --

what was obtained
through these checks,

where it was disposed of,

and then we go into his
particular activities,

along with Perry Edward Smith,

over the weekend of the 14th
and 15th of November 1959.

We asked him about the m*rder
of the Clutter family

in Holcomb, Kansas."

Bascue: To help them get
the confessions,

they had to have evidence
available to them to show that,

"Listen, we got you guys,

so it'd be in your best
interest to talk to us."

And one of the things that they
talked about was the boot print.

You know, "We have your boots.

Is there any reason
why your boot prints

should be at the scene if you've
never been there before?"

**

[Static]

**

**

**

**

**

**

**

[Feedback]

On the other side, Smith was
not really giving up anything.

Mnh-mnh.

He was very cagey.

"Don't discuss anything,

the less information out there,
the better off I am."

Definitely more adept
at avoiding answering questions

in a criminal setting
than Hickock.

Man: "I first talked to
Perry Smith on January 2, 1960.

This is at the police
department at Las Vegas.

I talked to him from 2:00
in the afternoon

until 5:00 in the afternoon.

He denied any knowledge
of the Clutter murders."

At that time, of course,
Hickock was giving

basically
a full confession.

**

**

**

**

**

**

**

[Feedback]

**

Reporter: Charges in the slaying
of the Herbert Clutter family

in Holcomb were filed
after a dramatic confession

was made in Las Vegas

by Kansas State Penitentiary
parolee Richard Eugene Hickock,

age 28, who was charged
with 4 counts of m*rder.

Hickock made his statement,

then collapsed into
the arms of law man.

The confession also implicated
parolee Perry Edward Smith.

Smith, questioned separately,

declined to confirm that he
participated in the slayings.

Both men will be returned
here later this week.

**

**

They took two vehicles,
and each suspect

was transported separately.

It was, in essence,
strategy.

So, you know, one
can't learn from the other

as to what's going on.

Man #1: "Hickock and Mr. Church
were in the lead car.

Myself, Perry, and Mr. Duntz
were following.

Before we were even
out of the city limits,

I told Perry Smith that Hickock

had given other agents
a statement.

Perry could see
Hickock in the car ahead,

and Hickock was talking."

Perry Smith had taken offense to
what was told to law enforcement

by Hickock.

Man #1: "Perry said to us,

'Isn't he tough?
Look at him talk.'

Then he said, 'Hickock had
told me if we were ever caught

that we weren't going
to say a word,

but there he is just
talking his head off.'"

**

Perry Smith, you know,
was on the trip home

when he started discussing
the actual case

with Agent Dewey.

"With a sudden burst
of anger, he said,

'Now I'm going to
tell you what happened.'"

The meltdown starts.

[Chuckles]

**

Man #2: "I got this letter from
d*ck while I was in Buhl, Idaho.

He said he had what he called
some setup that was a cinch.

**

I never would have left
if it hadn't been for this

so-called invitation from d*ck

to come down to Kansas City."

[Whistle blowing]

Man #1: "Smith said he came
to Kansas City by bus

from Las Vegas
on November 11th."

Man #2: "d*ck met me
in the bus station.

He told me all about
this 'cinch.'"

Man #1: "Smith said
that he stayed overnight

on November 13th
at the home of d*ck's parents

in the small town of Edgerton.

**

The next morning, they had
put new tires on Hickock's car

and shortly after lunch,
they left Olathe for Holcomb."

**

Man #2: "We had d*ck's shotgun

and a hunting jacket
full of shells

and extra shells.

All this in the trunk
of the car.

**

We bought some cord in Emporia.

In the store, d*ck asked
how much we would need.

I told him, 'I don't know.
Your guess is as good as mine.'

And d*ck said to the clerk,

'Well, hell,
give it all to us.'"

Man #1: "Smith
said it was enough

to tie up 12 to 14 people.

**

**

**

It was before midnight when they
pulled into a service station

inside the Garden City limits.

From there, it was a short
stretch to Holcomb."

**

Man #2: "It was discussed
if we was ever been seen

or identified.

d*ck said then that member
of the family had to go."

**

Man #1: "I asked Perry
what he meant by the word 'go.'

He said he meant to k*ll them."

**

Very envious -- I am very
envious of their ability

to get the confessions
from the two suspects.

But it would be
equivalent of winning

an $80 million lottery.

Thomas: I agree. I think
just the feeling to know

pretty much assured in your mind
that you've got the people

that's responsible would
have been very rewarding.

**

Welch: But the case
is not over yet.

You haven't yet convicted
the guilty, lying,

thieving S.O.B.,
but that will come.

**

**

**