E59 | In Cold Blood | Part One of the Book Series

E59 | In Cold Blood | Part One of the Book Series

From The Veil by Brevity Studios

September 6, 2026 · 43 min · Season 1 · Episode 61

About this episode

This episode explores the events surrounding the Clutter family murders and the creation of Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood'.

On a Monday morning in November 1959, Truman Capote found a three hundred word wire story deep inside the New York Times. A wheat farmer, his wife and two of their children had been found bound and shot in their farmhouse in western Kansas. Nothing had been stolen. Capote went to Kansas with Harper Lee, stayed six years, and wrote the book that made true crime respectable. This episode tells both stories at once: what happened to Herb, Bonnie, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter, and what happened to the facts on their way into In Cold Blood. It ends with the two daughters who survived, and the letter they sent to everyone who asked.   IN MEMORY The Clutters are buried at Valley View Cemetery, Garden City. A shelter at the Kansas State 4-H camp at Rock Springs Ranch, a stained glass window at the First United Methodist Church in Garden City, and the Garden City Co-op building are dedicated to the family. The 1959 murders of Cliff, Christine, Jimmie and Debbie Walker at Osprey, Florida, remain an open investigation with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.   A NOTE ON SOURCING Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were convicted of all four murders on 29 March 1960 and hanged on 14…

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Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: In Cold Blood

Places: Kansas, Valley View Cemetery, Garden City, Rock Springs Ranch, First United Methodist Church in Garden City, Garden City Co-op

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