Clutter Murder Summary

In July of 1960, an article was released by The American Journal of Psychiatry, that explored why criminals committed horrible crimes like murder. They found that they could split up their findings into two separate categories; the insane and sane. The sane killers all had motives for their actions, whether it be revenge, greed, or the belief that they needed to defend themselves. On the other hand however, the insane group was much more complex. These killers were characterized by having no remorse for their wrongdoings, and usually no prior relation to the victim before they died. The authors of the 1960 article proposed that one reason behind these insane killers could be due to the environments they experienced growing up. Throughout his

When Dewey is conducting his investigation in the Clutter murders he visits Dick’s hometown and questions many of the citizens nearby. One of the women he questions uses words like “devil” and “steal” when describing Dick, only to go on and describe how his parents however were “fine”, “plain”, “honest” people (168). The extreme contrast between the negative words when describing Dick, to then conceding by describing his parents in a positive way, exemplifies how even though Dick grew up in such a healthy environment, he grew up to be the essential opposite of his parents because of his unique genetics that were beyond his control. This gap between Dick and his parents is further explored when outside the courtroom, Mrs.Hickock questions “Where did I go wrong?”, and how although she had done everything she could to give Dick the best most enriching childhood, and yet he still grew up to become notorious for his obscene part in the murder of the Clutter family (FIND PAGE NUMBER). Dick, however is not the only murderer to fit into this category. When describing death row inmate Lee (BLANK) Andrews, Capote talks about how “inside the quiet young scholar there existed a second, unsuspected personality, one with stunted emotions and a distorted mind through which cold thoughts flowed in cruel directions” (312).

While the trial was taking place one of the (JURORS OR OBSERVERS) poised against Dick and Hickok, points out how he had a hard life of his own, yet he “sure as hell never killed four people in cold blood” (306). By including this detail, particularly the book's title, Capote is able to emphasize a crucial argument in the novel. How could Dick and Perry blame their crimes on “bad environments”, when for one, Dick grew up in a positive environment, and two, there were plenty more people who grew up in harsh environments like Perry who had not killed other, than who had? They couldn’t, which explains why it did not take long for the jurors to give Smith and Hickock the maximum punishment. After receiving the death penalty the two are taken to death row where they meet Ronnie York and John Latham. Latham was like Perry in the sense that he undoubtedly had a rough childhood. York, however, aligned clearly with Hickok, as Capote described how he “had a pleasantly comfortable home life, and Ronnie, overpraised by his parents and and a worshipful younger sister was adored at the center of it.” (322). Including facts about how Ronnie was not only well-off and nourished, but also about how he had all the attention he always wanted, only serve to further display how Ronnie was again, another inmate who could