Quote:
Originally Posted by Cliffie
This may or may not be true. Especially if it turns out that Smith and Hickock were on a multi-state kill spree, and the Clutter killings weren't just a fluke or an attack of jealous rage after all:
‘In Cold Blood’ killers’ DNA doesn’t match Florida murdersÂ* - NY Daily News
Honestly, I never thought the "Perry killed the whole family because Dick wanted to rape Nancy Clutter" theory really held water. All it did was get them in hotter water with the police than they would have been in if they had just left with egg on their faces. After the Clutters all died, Smith and Hickock went on to adventures all over the place, and Dick was with at least a couple of other sex partners with Perry's full knowledge. Perry never turned a hair about those people, now did he? |
I agree with your thoughts pretty much.
I never read anything that suggested Smith and Hickcock went on a multi-state killing spree, but I think there's a real possibility they could have; spree killers didn't get any coordinated attention from multi-state agencies back then like they do now.
If they hadn't been caught, the probability that they would have gone on to kill other families is true enough in my mind.
Capote got one big essential about the pair's relationship right, I think- that alone, neither may have not been capable of killing. But together, each became a couple that could, and did, commit murder. Hickcock certainly understood the bottled up rage in Smith could be switched on to commit murder, and killing the Clutters was his idea.
History shows other pairs like this; Leopold and Loeb are a close example.
To me, Hickcock is exactly like a gang leader who loves the power of holding life or death in his hands, and can always find someone to do the job for him and manipulate them into losing whatever reserve they may have.
Smith, once he had killed the family, would have gone on to kill others. The last shred of his internal reserve disappeared once the killings began, and for once in his life, he was the top dog, the destroyer. A person has to look at photos of Smith to understand this- his broken legs made him freakishly short; above the waist he looked like a person of average size, but below the waist, he looked like a dwarf. And he had a severe limp.
We will never really know what went trough Capote's mind, but one thing was for sure; writing the book destroyed him just as much as the killers who were the book's center.
The project took far longer than he anticipated, and for all the years between the trial, the appeals, and the execution, Capote, who was trapped by his own ambition, lied to Smith, the guy he found himself in love with.
He had to lie to keep his access to the pair, which was really remarkable, as no outsider today would have gained so much time alone with them, and he could not interfere with the certain outcome, as that would have left so much work, done for such a long time span, unfinished.
By the time of the executions, excerpts from the book had already been published, and Capote had a big commitment from his publisher to deliver. The public was eager and salivating to read the book after the excerpts.
In Cold Blood made him a far richer man than any other of his works. At the same time, the writing plunged him into very dark places he had never gone before and would never go again, and Capote could never go back to his old themes and inspirations.
Smith got his revenge on life with a shotgun. Capote got his revenge with a pen sharp as a knife, dipped in pretty poison.
They shared a lot in common, and Capote came to realize that, and it paralyzed him forever. it was a lot easier for him to become alcoholic and spend the rest of his life in superficial celebrity than attempt to find a new book inside him.
I always admired Ann Rule's objectivity. She could get as close to her subjects as Capote, but she was always very clear-minded; she knew who her villains were and always put up a strong internal boundary between them and her.
She also understood herself very well. She had the patience to let an unfinished work rest until there was a conclusion, and went to work on another project when one needed the rest. She was better at letting all the natural drama unfold without over-coloring it as well, but Capote's natural flamboyance forced him to be more colorful, even if he had to make things up to get it.
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best book that gets into the minds of criminals the most
