Editing Holcomb, Kansas (section)

==History==
Holcomb took its name from a local [[hog farmer]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=4720 | title=Profile for Holcomb, Kansas | publisher=[[ePodunk]] | access-date=10 June 2014}}</ref>  The city was a station and shipping point on the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]].<ref name="Kansas_Cyclopedia">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o8X5krq3fP8C | title=Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. | publisher=Standard Publishing Company | author=Blackmar, Frank Wilson | year=1912 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o8X5krq3fP8C/page/n858 862]}}</ref>  The first post office in Holcomb was established in December 1909.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county:FI |title=Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived) |publisher=Kansas Historical Society |access-date=10 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009124908/http://www.kshs.org/geog/geog_postoffices/search/county%3AFI |archive-date=9 October 2013 }}</ref>

===1959 murders===
{{Main|Clutter family murders}}
The town of Holcomb was thrust into national and, eventually, international notoriety after November 15, 1959, when four members of the prominent Clutter family (father Herbert, 48; his wife Bonnie, 45; their youngest daughter, Nancy, 16; and son Kenyon, 15) were found bound and shot to death in various rooms of their home, on the family's River Valley Farm on the outskirts of Holcomb.

Two ex-convicts, [[Richard Hickock|Richard ("Dick") Hickock]] and [[Perry Edward Smith|Perry Smith]], were arrested, tried, and convicted of the killings. It started when both Hickock and Smith were released from prison and, acting on jailhouse information by a cellmate of Hickock's named Floyd Wells (who had worked for Mr. Clutter in 1948), made plans to rob the Clutter household under the mistaken belief that Mr. Clutter, according to Wells, kept thousands of dollars in cash in a safe at the residence. There was no Clutter safe, nor was there any substantial amount of cash in the home. Upon this discovery, and after killing the captive family to eliminate any witnesses, the pair fled with around $42 ({{Inflation|US|42|1959|fmt=eq|r=-1}}), a portable radio, and one pair of binoculars. They were arrested on December 30, 1959, in [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]], after possibly, although not likely,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lush |first1=Tamara |title='In Cold Blood' killers' DNA not linked to Fla. quadruple murder |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cold-blood-killers-dna-not-linked-fla-quadruple-murder-flna6c10911107 |access-date=March 15, 2024 |work=NBC News |agency=NBC |publisher=NBC |date=Aug 13, 2013}}</ref> having [[Walker family murders|murdered another family]] in Florida. Following their convictions and several appeals, Hickock and Smith were hanged for first-degree murder on April 14, 1965.

The murders, arrests and convictions of Hickock and Smith were the basis for author [[Truman Capote]]'s book ''[[In Cold Blood (book)|In Cold Blood]]'', which was serialized in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' magazine in 1965 and first published in book form in 1966. Capote actually began work on the book several days after he read a news article in a New York paper in 1959 about the murders.

The best-selling book, in turn, spawned several filmed versions of the story: director [[Richard Brooks]]' theatrical feature film ''[[In Cold Blood (film)|In Cold Blood]]'' in 1967 starring [[Robert Blake (actor)|Robert Blake]], [[Scott Wilson (actor)|Scott Wilson]] and [[John Forsythe]], and a two-part [[In Cold Blood (miniseries)|1996 TV miniseries adaptation]] starring [[Eric Roberts]], [[Anthony Edwards (actor)|Anthony Edwards]] and [[Sam Neill]] that aired on network TV in 1996. Portions of the 1967 theatrical film were shot on location in and around Holcomb and nearby [[Garden City, Kansas|Garden City]], including the actual house where the crimes took place.

The 2005 movie ''[[Capote (film)|Capote]]'', directed by Bennett Miller, is also about the author Capote, and the crimes in Holcomb. The 2006 film ''[[Infamous (2006 film)|Infamous]]'', starring [[Toby Jones]] as Capote, covers much of the same material.