Richard Hickock “I just want to say I hold no hard feelings. You people are sending me to a better world than this ever was.”- Hickock’s last words before execution

Background His second marriage also ended in divorce Born: June 6, 1931 in Kansas City, KS Died: April 14, 1965 Born to farmworker parents Attended Olathe High School and was a popular student athlete Graduated high school in 1949 Face was left disfigured after a serious car accident in 1950 Wanted to go to college but family could not afford it Forced to work as a mechanic Got married and had three sons with his first wife Had an affair during his first marriage and left his wife to marry his mistress His second marriage also ended in divorce Following his second divorce, started committing petty crimes to make ends meet

Crimes Accused of Committing Date Victim Punishment Convicted of using Fraudulent Checks January 1956 none Small prison sentence Convicted of Burglary 1958 Maximum of five years at Kansas Jail Def: Check Fraud- Def: Burglary- refers to a category of criminal acts that involve making the unlawful use of checks in order to illegally acquire or borrow funds that do not exist within the account balance or account-holder's legal ownership entry into a building illegally with intent to commit a crime, especially theft ** While in prison met partner in crime

Most Recent Crime (1959) Richard and partner (Perry Smith) broke into the Clutter home on November 15, 1959 in hopes of finding a safe with cash. Both were charged with first degree murder as all four members of the Clutter family were found killed Def: First Degree Murder- unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated

Evidence Against Criminal Previous fellow prisoner (Floyd Wells) ratted out Richard and told police how Richard knew about Clutter family and had created a plan to steal from them while being incarcerated When captured, a boot was found that matched a bloody footprint found at the crime scene Cord used to tie up members of the Clutter family matched the type of cord that was found on Richard Car stolen near crime scene was found in Richard’s possession Confession by Richard Hickock

Sentence Found guilty and sentenced to death row Executed by hanging on April 14, 1965 at the Kansas State Penitentiary

Theory that Explains Behavior Anomie theory best explains why Richard committed these deviant behaviors. This is because Richard Hickock had a certain set of goals but lacked the opportunity to reach these goals. For example, once he graduated high school he had every intention of attending college and finding a decent job. However, his family did not have the financial means to send him to college so he had to go right to the workforce. As a result, he became a mechanic and struggled to make ends meet. Since he could not make enough money legally, he was forced into illegal activities to achieve his goals of earning good money. Also, he turned to innovation in order to try to meet the cultural goal of becoming wealthy and having success. In his most recent crime, Hickock’s first intentions for breaking into the Clutter home was to steal money from their safe. Once he realized that there was no safe and no money, his goal of becoming wealthy over so he became outraged. This theory also explains why Richard Hickock committed petty crimes before the Clutter family murder. Such as using fraudulent checks and stealing. In essence, the anomie theory explains Richard Hickock’s deviant behavior. It proves that because he did not have the means to achieve his cultural goals legally he turned to illegal acts to try and achieve these goals.

Cultural References Film: 1967 movie In Cold Blood and 2005 movie Capote Books: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote TV Shows: none