Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of assault and murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Paul Smith and Richard Hickock were sentenced to death after they were convicted of the Clutter family murders on March 29, 1960. They were then held at the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, on death row until April 14, 1965, when they were both executed by hanging. Hickock died at 12:41 a.m. and Smith died at 1:19 a.m. They were both buried at the Mt. Muncie cemetery, according to records from the Garden City Police Department.
When Hickock and Smith were previously imprisoned on a different charge, a man they met told them that he had worked for Herbert Clutter before and that Clutter had a safe in his home outside Holcomb Kansas. He told them that Clutter stored a lot of stashed cash in the safe. After Paul Smith and Richard Hickock were released, they went to the Clutter home to procure the cash that was allegedly inside the house.
However, they failed to find the safe and woke Herbert up. He offered them some cash that he had and claimed that was all there was in the house. They then woke the rest of the family members including Herbert’s wife Bonnie Clutter and their two children, Kenyon and Nancy who were 15 and 16 years old respectively. After they ransacked the home to collect a total of fifty dollars in cash. They also procured a pair of binoculars and a transistor radio. They then killed all four of the Clutters and escaped from the crime scene.
48-year-old Herbert and his son Kenyon were found in the basement, bound and gagged. 45-year-old Bonnie was also found bound and gagged on her bed while Nancy was found bound. All of them were shot in the head.
What was Paul Smith and Richard Hickock’s last meal?
Paul Smith and Richard Hickock ate their last meals in separate rooms with a chaplain sitting by. They reportedly ordered french fries, garlic bread, spiced shrimp, ice cream, and strawberries with whipped cream.
Paul Smith’s last words were, “I think it is a hell of a thing that a life has to be taken in this manner. I say this especially because there’s a great deal I could have offered society. I certainly think capital punishment is legally and morally wrong. Any apology for what I have done would be meaningless at this time. I don’t have any animosities toward anyone involved in this matter. I think that is all,” Paul Smith said as his last words before he was executed.
Richard Hickock’s last words were, “No, I guess I don’t,” after which he looked at the KBI agent and said, “You’re sending me to a better place than this.” He then shook hands and said, “Goodbye.”
Paul Smith was a Korean War veteran and was entitled to a $250 veteran’s burial allowance. Hickock’s burial then cost $250 less than Smith’s.
Herbert Clutter was the founder of the Kansas Wheat Growers Association. He was also a local member of the Agriculture Department’s Price Stabilization Board. The Clutter farm and ranch almost covered over 1000 acres in one of the richest wheat areas, according to the New York Times.
The Clutter family murders became one of the most infamous crimes in the world of true crime. The story of how Paul Smith and Richard Hickock killed the Clutters and finally got caught was told in “In Cold Blood,” a book by Truman Capote that became one of the most well-known non-fiction books.
