1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

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

7. 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.

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