Perry Smith (murderer)
| Perry Edward Smith | |
|---|---|
Kansas State Penitentiary - March, 1960
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|
| Born |
October 27, 1928 Huntington, Elko County, Nevada |
| Died | April 14, 1965 (aged 36) Lansing, Kansas |
| Occupation | Criminal, seaman, soldier |
| Criminal charge | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death by hanging |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Parent(s) | Florence Julia Buckskin and "Tex" John Smith |
Perry Edward Smith (October 27, 1928 – April 14, 1965) was one of two ex-convicts convicted of murdering four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas, United States, on November 15, 1959, a crime made famous by Truman Capote in his 1966 non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. Along with Richard Hickock, Smith took part in the home invasion of the Clutter family farmhouse.
Perry Edward Smith was born in Huntington, Nevada, a now-abandoned community in Elko County. His parents, Florence Julia "Flo" Buckskin and John "Tex" Smith, were rodeo performers. Smith was of mixed Irish and Cherokee ancestry (from his father's and mother's side, respectively). The family moved to Juneau, Alaska, in 1929, where the elder Smith distilled bootleg whisky for a living. Smith's father abused his wife and four children, and in 1935 his wife left him, taking the children with her to San Francisco. Smith and his siblings were raised initially with their alcoholic mother. After Smith's mother died from choking on her own vomit when he was thirteen, he and his siblings were placed in a Catholic orphanage, where nuns allegedly abused him physically and emotionally for his lifelong problem of chronic bed wetting, a result of malnutrition. He was also placed in a Salvation Army orphanage, where one of the caretakers allegedly tried to drown him. In his adolescence, Smith reunited with his father and together they lived an itinerant existence across much of the western United States. He also spent time in different juvenile detention homes after joining a street gang and becoming involved in petty crime. Perry's father, Tex, moved to Cold Springs, Nevada, circa 1964-1967, where he lived to the age of 92 before committing suicide, distraught over poor health.
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