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In Cold Blood Journal 3

After the murders are revealed it goes into the trial of the case. The trial was held at the Finney County Courthouse. It kind of was an unfair trial becasue the judge and jury new all of the victims. It goes into the the lawyers and the courtcase. The prosecution of the trail was based on the confessions that Perry Smith had given to the police. Also all of the evidence that was found was a huge break in the case. The police found eveidence such as footprints from the killers and stolen items that they had taken from the Clutter house.
Smith and Hickock tried to pled temporarily insanity. But a court doctor had proved that the two men were legaally sane. According to Kansas law this meant they understood right from wrong while committing their crimes. They even broufght in expert witnesses to testify against the men. They said that they were sane while committing the crimes. Smith and Hickocks lawyers filed appeals and wanted thme to be admitted into a psyscheatric hospital but that was quicly denied.
They were sentened to death row, and just five years after they were in prison both of the men were executed by being hanged from the gallows, for the murders againts the Clutter family. The men even had a last meal and both of them requested to eat shrimp, french fries, garlic bread, ice cream and strawberries with whipped cream. Both of them dieing at a young age. Hickock was 33 years old at the time of his death and Smith was 36.

posted by myles @ 5:05 PM 1 comments

in cold blood journal 2

A large part of the book involves the psychological relationship of the two felons that committed this senseless crime.
Two ex-convicts on parole from the Kansas State Penitentiary committed the robbery and murders of the Clutter family. They had heard from a fellow prisoner, Floyd Wells, who had once worked for the Clutters, that there was a safe at the ranch where Herbert Clutter kept large amounts of cash. They belived it was up to thousands of dollars in cash. The things that were told to these two men was absolutly wrong, becasue Herbert did all of his business in checks.
The two killers were Richard Hickock and Perry Edward Smith. Richard Hickock was a life time conman. He was very intelligent and had an excelletn memory. He was basically a man with the gift of gab. He could please anyone with his words. His childhood was pretty much normal with good parent but theye definatly not the wealthiest they were quite poor. Growing up it was obvious that he was a sociopath. He treated his family and friends horrible. Subjecting them to a lifetime of misdeamenors. Ironically he always returned home for acceptance, and a job for a normal chance at life. But he kept going back to his old ways. Richard Hickock was know for of fordging checks and petty theft. It got to the point where that way of life was just normal to him.
Perry Simth grew up in a good family and his parents were rodeo performers. He was half Cherokee Native American and half Irish American.He was short and dark and also partialy injuerd from a motorcycle accident and in constant pain from the damage done to his legs. As a result of his accident, he became addicted to aspirin and did not see the seriousiness of his addiction. He was also very intelligence, artistically and musically. Early in his childhood his mother took him away away from his father and they moved to San Francisco. Because Perry's mother was a single mother and had a hard time raising her childeren he did not receive a very good education.UNfortantly perr's mother became a huge alcholic and later died becasue of her addiction. Soon after that perry's other siblings had commmited suicide and was soon forced to move in an orphanage. Growing up people did not accept him and he suffered from constant rejection. He blamed others for his misfortune and soon put his anger towards others.

posted by myles @ 4:28 PM 0 comments

In Cold Blood Journal 1

In Cold Blood starts out with the setting. The innocent and humble county of Holcomb, Kansas. Which is a consistantly dull town in western Kansana. In Holcomb everyone knows everyone and everything about each other due to the small town atmosphere. Holcomb is a place where people seldom remember to lock their doors at night or just dont care to do it because of the false sense of security they feel they have in their small town.
Then we go into the specifics on the memebers of one of the ordinary families of Holcomb, the Clutters. The Clutters were not the richest family in Holcomb but had no finacial prolems of any sort. The clutter familiy consisted of four members, the husband, wife, one daughter, and one son. Mr. Cuttler was a well natured man of good status and statrure. He was very loyal to his community, church and family. He was a clean man never smoked or drank achol in his life. He was also very handy owning a farm and built the house they lived him from scratch. Herbert Clutter's wife was a very well spoken, clean cut housewife. But unfortunatly she had a round of seroius little nervous spells. She had been having these health problems for up to 6 years. The family was well known of her little condition but no one ever really mentioned it to each other.
The Clutter's farm was a very successful business and had quite a few workers and handymen that helped out with the livestock and the grounds of the farm. Becasue of this the workers got to know the Cutter family very well over he past months they had been working for them. They found out that the clutter family was very wealthy and had money in a safe at their house.
By this point the author, Truman Capote gets into the detail of the family and how the farm works and how the workers play a large part of the plot. The workers of the farm are the ones who visciously moruder the Clutter family. Capote starts to get into the complicated minds of the two parolees who together commit a mass murder, an act they never would have been capable of individually. The murders that are committed play a huge effect on the Holcomb community.

posted by myles @ 1:44 PM 0 comments