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Capote's research

On November 16, 1959, The New York Times published an account of the murders, which began:

Holcomb, Kan., Nov. 15 [1959] (UPI) -- A wealthy wheat farmer, his wife and their two young children were found shot to death today in their home. They had been killed by shotgun blasts at close range after being bound and gagged ... There were no signs of a struggle, and nothing had been stolen. The telephone lines had been cut.
—The New York Times^[4]

This 335-word article interested Capote enough for him to travel to Kansas to investigate the murders. Capote brought his childhood friend, Harper Lee, who would later win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, with him to help gain the confidence of the locals, who mistrusted Capote. Capote did copious research for the work, ultimately compiling 8,000 pages of notes.^[5] After the criminals were found, tried, and convicted, Capote held personal interviews with both Smith and Hickock. Smith especially fascinated Capote; in the book he is portrayed as the more sensitive and guilt-ridden of the two killers. Rumors of a romantic and even sexual relationship between Smith and Capote still linger to this day.^[4] The book was not completed until after Smith and Hickock were executed.