Why does perry kill the clutters

When she died an alcoholic, choking on her own vomit, Smith was He and his siblings were then placed in a Catholic orphanage. He later claimed that he was abused there as well, both physically and emotionally, for his chronic bedwetting.

He was also in a Salvation Army-run orphanage, where, he also claimed later, one attendant tried to drown him. His brother committed suicide at an early age, as did one of his sisters. His other sister married, had a family and completely broke off all contact with him.

At the age of 16, he joined the Merchant Marine. He later joined the U. Army, and served in the Korean War, earning a Bronze Star , but never being promoted.

Even though he racked up a record for getting into fights with other soldiers and Korean civilians, he was honorably discharged in After getting a job as a car painter whilst living with an Army friend in Tacoma, Washington, Smith used his first paycheck to buy a motorcycle, which he crashed the same year due to bad weather.

Barely surviving, Smith spent six months in a hospital recovering and when he was released from its care, he suffered chronic leg pains and became addicted to aspirin. In March of , Smith was sentenced to five to twelve years in prison after being found guilty of breaking and entering and was sent to serve the sentence at the Kansas State Penitentiary.

Smith's above and Hickock's below mugshots taken by the FBI. They misconstrued his story, believing Clutter kept a vast amount of cash in his house. Together, they made a plan to rob Mr. Clutter and flee with the money. After Smith was paroled on July 6, , a few years early of his sentence, he awaited Hickock's release. This indicates that, despite the paranoia and grief that befell the town, there is not a lynch mob mentality or any sensation of rage directed towards either the suspects or their families.

Instead, the people of Holcomb recognize that there is enough sadness and regret to go around, but everyone is entitled to kindness and understanding. That the Clutters were known especially for their kindness and generosity magnifies the tragedy, and further demonstrates how unimaginable this crime was to these people.

Perry repeats his motivation for committing the murders several times, but he sometimes alters it. Sometimes, Perry is motivated by showing Dick was he is capable of; other times he is motivated by his rage towards his family and caregivers. In truth, Perry's motivation to kill the Clutters seems to remain a mystery to him. He wonders aloud to Don Culliver why he did it, and he admits that Dick didn't do it.

While reporters, investigators, doctors, and the court finally get the answers they seek, Perry never does. And his lack of self awareness and insight makes Perry a tragic figure. Yes, Perry harbors resentment about his childhood, but he has no real self-pity and he never alludes to his upbringing as cause for his actions, only for his own personal pain and deep desire to be liked, to be loved.

The lengthy sections regarding the psychological analysis of Perry as well as other killers who do not have clear motives for their crimes reflect Capote's effort to leave no rock unturned. The legal opinions, personal writings, and extensive interviews of the killers do not completely suffice to bring a conclusion to the story, or as close as one can get in such a case. But the introduction of scientific evidence and psychological theories brings about both authenticity and a sense of finality to a writing that is both nonfiction and literary.

Capote makes a case not only for the cause of the murders, but also for the existence of a new book genre. The final line in the section, which tries to explain this kind of violence, supports this assertion: "So it would appear that by independent paths, both the professional and the amateur analyst reached conclusions not dissimilar. After Dick and Perry are convicted and sent to death row to await their fate, Capote reintroduces them as "the Clutter murderers.

The passages immediately following their arrival on death row is peppered with morbid and dark imagery: "Coffin-shaped edifice"; "black as widow's veil"; "doomed"; "scream.

Like Perry, Andrews created a separate identity, that of a gangster, instead of accepting himself as he was. Perry's most evident alter ego is that of an educated person. But the arrival of Andrews creates an environment where Perry is no longer able to indulge in his fantasy. He is no longer the most well-read or the most educated of his peers.

Andrews even corrects Perry's speech, the way Perry used to correct Dick's. When Andrews is executed, he leaves behind a poem for Dick. Dick is able to believe that Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard could have been written by Andrews, but Perry purports to have been the poet. Perry feels, at times, that he is living "deep underwater," which harkens back to his initial desire to go skin diving and find buried treasure. He also sleeps all day and is quoted as saying, "I pretend I'm a tiny little baby that can't keep its eyes open.

Their crimes pale in comparison to George and James' killing spree, and their cold-heartedness does not measure up to that of Andrews, whose victims were his own family. The "Clutter killers" are now part of a community, and they are not even the most significant members. The context in which they live throughout the book continues to define them more than their own actions.

Continuing with his writing style of foreshadowing and offering revelations after the fact, Capote indicates the death of the two men by Alvin Dewey reading about it in the paper. The impression is that Dewey had stopped being so intimately involved with the killings, and as a result he didn't even realize that they had been executed. However, the next section begins, "Dewey had watched them die," revealing that he is still deeply connected with the case and did know about the executions before reading about them in the paper.

On December 30, Alvin Dewey is called out of the shower to answer a phone call. As his wife wonders why he is dripping water everywhere, he suddenly hugs her. He has not taken a minute off from the case since it began in mid-November. A police officer in Las Vegas spots the killers' license plate, just after Perry picks up the memorabilia he mailed from Mexico City to his old hotel.

Nye has the flu. The prisoners believe they are being questioned for passing hot checks. Nye and Church question Dick, who is cocky and reminds them that he has been questioned before.

They lead up to the hot check spree in Olathe, and Dick tells them that they went to Fort Scott, failed to find Perry's sister, and spent the night with two prostitutes. Dick takes pride in recounting the exact addresses of every place the pair stayed in their cross-country travels. Finally, Nye comes to the point, and accuses Dick of the murders. He denies them but is visibly shaken.

Meanwhile, Dewey and Duntz question Perry. They repeat the process used with Dick, with the same result. Perry is very upset, and afterward lies troubled in his cold cell, as does Dick.

The next day, Dick breaks. Sometimes, Capote's writing suggested that even the killers themselves didn't know why they chose this family to kill. But here, finally, a motive surfaces — robbery. Dick Hickock was misled into believing there was a safe on the Clutter property. This is one of a series of small, seemingly insignificant details that contributed to the fate of the Clutter family.

Al Dewey learns about Dick and Perry and the potential that they are the murderers, but he decides not the reveal details about the pair to the public or media. He is cautious because of the lack of physical evidence connecting Dick and Perry to the crime. What's more, Dewey believes, even if robbery was the motive, the lack of money in the Clutter household would not be enough to cause Dick and Perry to murder the whole family.

Regardless, Dewey receives files on Dick and Perry, including photographs of the men. Dewey's wife recoils upon seeing the two men, convinced that they were the last people the Clutters saw. Herbert Nye resolves to track down Dick and Perry. Nye visits the homes of their families and the pawn shops where Dick had been hocking stolen goods but not the Zenith radio , and he comes to a hotel where the pair had been staying — where Perry's box of journals and memorabilia was being kept for him. Nye visits Perry's sister, who remains pleasant but holds nothing back in her description of Perry as someone she fears, while at the same time someone she deeply loves and worries about.

Perry and Dick get picked up by a driver — the perfect target for them to murder in order to steal the car. But at the last possible second the driver picks up another hitch-hiker in what Perry calls a "goddamn miracle. Despite the threat of being discovered, Perry and Dick then decide to return to Kansas City because they believe it to be the best place for Dick to con his way into more money. While Perry remains worried about being so close to the crime scene, they make their way to the town, where Dick runs his scam and gets some money, and the two of them leave without incident.

By returning and again leaving Kansas without incident, Dick and Perry become convinced that they will never be connected to the Clutter murders. As they continue their journey westward, they pick up a boy of about twelve and his grandfather.

The four of them make a slow journey through the dessert, picking up empty soda bottles to turn in for cash. The arrest occurs in Las Vegas on December 30, Dick and Perry are captured by Las Vegas police, based on the license plate number of the stolen car they were driving. Al Dewey is informed of the arrest as his wife is preparing for a party.