In Cold Blood Death Penalty

Part four, T​he Corner,​of Truman Capote’s novel I​n Cold Blood,​depicts the executions of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock. The two were found guilty of murdering the entire Clutter family “in cold blood”. In this part, Truman Capote goes into great detail to describe their six drawn out years on death row. The passage portrays the scene when Dick gets executed. Perry’s execution is depicted directly after the passage.

In Missouri during 1993, Christopher Simmons, a 17-year old, committed capital murder after he instigated two other juveniles (Benjamin and Tessmer) to conspire to kidnap and murder an innocent woman named Shirley Crook. It was never completely determined why exactly Simmons wished to murder Crook, however, he did later admit that Crook was involved in a previous car accident with Simmons. At approximately 2 a.m. on the night of the murder, Simmons and his two friends met up to break into the home of Crook, but Tessmer left before Simmons and Benjamin decided to go through with the heinous crime. Simmons and Benjamin broke into the home of Crook, entered her room, covered her eyes and mouth using duct tape, and bound her hands together. The

In Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the author confronts the reader with the discussion of the need for the death penalty, by presenting the issue through the characters of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. He writes, “Our state provides that the punishment for murder in the first degree shall be imprisonment for life or death by hanging. That is the law. You, gentlemen, are here to enforce it. And if ever there was a case in which the maximum penalty was justified, this is it.” (27-31) The Prosecuting Attorney Logan Green uses the law as a justification of the death penalty. This statement clarifies the penalty and proves the necessity of its use. The Attorney views this to be the prominent solution, in which anything less would be too fair to the murderers. He then states, “So gentlemen, what are you going to do?

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood presents a striking argument within the text; was the trail for Edwards and Hickock air and objective? After thoroughly researching and interviewing the convicts as well as the case, it was evident that Capote strongly opposed the death penalty given to Perry and Dick. Capote depicts the unjust trial taken upon the convicts, evoking sympathy from the audience without sacrificing the objectivity of the book. He effectively demonstrates strong usage of rhetoric to prove his argument.

In Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel In Cold Blood, the Clutter family’s murderers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, are exposed like never before. The novel allows the reader to experience an intimate understanding of the murderer’s pasts, thoughts, and feelings. It goes into great detail of Smith and Hickock’s pasts which helps to explain the path of life they were walking leading up to the murder’s, as well as the thought’s that were running through their minds after the killings.

The moral and ethical debate on the sentencing and enforcement of capital punishment has long baffled the citizens and governing powers of the United States. Throughout time, the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and the vast majority beliefs of Americans, have been in a constant state of perplexity. Before the 1960s, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Many argue that capital punishment is an absolute necessity, in order to deter crime, and to ‘make things right’ following a heinous crime of murder. Despite the belief that capital punishment may seem to be the only tangible, permanent solution to ending future capital offenses, the United States should remove this cruel and unnecessary form of punishment from our current judicial systems.

Truman Capote’s use of form in his novel In Cold Blood really grabs the reader’s attention. His manipulation of form makes the reader feel as if they are part of the investigation that occurred after the unforgettable night at the Clutter house. He places the information that he gathered from the research in the book in a very interesting sequence that leaves the reader in a state of confusion. The way he jumps from the investigation to the killers within the book adds a sense of dramatic irony but never gives away why or how these cruel men murdered the family. What confuses the reader even more is that Capote leaves us feeling sorry for one of these vicious men, Perry. How Capote utilizes form makes the reader build an emotional

Kirk Bloodsworth was 22 when he spent eight years in prison, two of those on death row. He was wrongfully convicted. A 9-year old girl was raped and killed on July 25, 1984. Two boys had seen her walking with a man before she suddenly disappeared. The boys described the man to the police and the police came to the conclusion that the murderer was Bloodsworth. He repeatedly claimed he was innocent but he was found guilty and sentenced to death on March, 1985. After 8 years he finally proved he was innocent through DNA testing. He was released from prison on June 1993. He was paid 300,000 dollars (“Correcting”). The US should not institute the death penalty everywhere in the country because it would put us at risk of executing innocent people, costs us millions of dollars in administering the penalty and there is a better way to help the families of murder victims.

In the book, “In Cold Blood” by Truman Capote he describes to us all the events that took place before, during, and after a murder that happened in Holcomb, Kansas. Mr. Clutter, who was the owner of River Valley Farm and husband to Bonnie Clutter, and the father of four children, two whom had survived due to them not living at the Clutter residence anymore. The fatal event of the family hit the whole town hard which led one man, detective Alvin Dewey, determined to find and take whoever did such actions to trial to be sentenced.

“Murder begins where self-defense ends.” This quote from Georg Buchner can be used to describe the tragic deaths of three little boys who were rendered defense-less against their attackers. On May 5, 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas, three young second-grade boys, by the names of Christopher Byers, Steven Branch, and Michael Moore, were brutally murdered after being beaten and hogtied by their own shoelaces. A year later, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were convicted and sent to prison for this heinous crime. Even though the three men were convicted for the crime, there is still great controversy as to who actually killed the three boys. Throughout all this controversy, evidence, testimony, confessions, and more point towards the three men known as the “West Memphis Three”, to be the real killers.

Smith’s parents had attended his trial after his arrest. Green told the jury the evidence showed Hickock master minded the crime. Dick said in his statement he just wanted to rob the Clutters, not kill them. "I knew what the verdict would be before

“Dick was carrying his shotgun, and how he described how Smitty took my shotgun and just blew that man's head off,' And he says, 'Dad, I ought to have grabbed back the gun and shot Smitty dead. Killed him 'fore he killed the rest of that family. If I'd done it I'd be better off than I am now” (164). I am using this quote to explain how Perry just suddenly snapped or blacked out and killed the entire Clutter family. This quote proves that they are in fact guilty of brutally killing the entire Clutter family and that they are mentally

In Oklahoma, Greg Wilhoit serves as an inspiration to end the infamous capital punishment. His wife was viciously murdered in Tulsa, Oklahoma on the 1st of June. Greg was alleged for the death of his spouse, and was found guilty when the bite marks found on his wife’s body matched his teeth. He was then put in jail and was sentenced to death in 8 years. However it was proven wrong and he successfully won the case, but he didn’t win the nightmarish trauma that strongly affected his mentality during those forlorn 8 years of false accusation. It led him to depression and eventually his miserable demise. Greg’s case is an example of an inaccurate and flawed judgment of death penalty. Everyone deserves a second chance, less allegations which cause wrong executions, and reverence to human rights.

sentence is up to five to ten times greater in cases with white victims than

Bright, Stephen B.: "The death penalty as the answer to crime: costly, counterproductive and corrupting"; 35 Santa Clara Law Review 1211 (1995)