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IN COLD BLOOD (PART 2): PERSONS UNKNOWN — THE CLUTTER MURDERS, ALVIN DEWEY, AND THE HUNT FOR PERRY SMITH

The Clutter family is dead. Holcomb, Kansas is in shock. And for 6 weeks, investigators have nothing: no suspects, no motive, no real leads.

In Part 2 of Crimery’s 4-part In Cold Blood series, host Jennifer Novotney follows the story into its most unsettling section: “Persons Unknown.” This is where Truman Capote’s book stops being only about the murders — and starts becoming a study of fear, suspicion, obsession, and the men who did it.

This episode explores the horrifying discovery of the Clutter family murders, the collapse of safety in Holcomb, KBI investigator Alvin Dewey’s desperate search for answers, and the 6-week stretch where the killers remained unknown. Then the story turns: a prison tip changes everything, and the hunt for Perry Smith and Dick Hickock begins.

But this episode goes deeper than the investigation. It also explores why Capote made Perry Smith the emotional center of In Cold Blood — and why that choice still disturbs readers today.

In this episode:

• The discovery of the Clutter family murders
• Why Holcomb, Kansas stopped trusting itself
• Alvin Dewey and the weight of a case with no answers
• Floyd Wells, the prison tip, and the break that changed everything
• Perry Smith’s childhood, trauma, and the controversy around Capote’s sympathy
• Dick Hickock, the planner behind the crime
• Why “Persons Unknown” is one of the most psychologically unsettling sections of In Cold Blood

If you’re reading along, this episode covers Part 2: “Persons Unknown” and sets up Part 3: “The Answer.”

Host: Jennifer Novotney
Show: Crimery
Website: crimery.show

Buy the "In Cold Blood" here: https://amzn.to/4sCZUj2

KEYWORDS
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, Clutter family murders, Persons Unknown, Perry Smith, Dick Hickock, Alvin Dewey, Holcomb Kansas murders, Herbert Clutter, Nancy Clutter, Kenyon Clutter, Bonnie Clutter, Floyd Wells, true crime podcast, literary true crime, Jennifer Novotney, Crimery

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Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised.

©2025 CRIMERY. All rights reserved.

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In this special Crimery series opener, host Jennifer Novotney is back and takes you inside In Cold Blood — the true crime classic that changed American storytelling forever. This is Part 1: The Last to See Them Alive, covering the 1959 Clutter family murders in Holcomb, Kansas, the quiet wheat-town world they lived in, and the writing genius that made Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood one of the most important true crime books ever published.

Before the killers are fully known, before the investigation unfolds, this episode focuses on the victims: Herb Clutter, Bonnie Clutter, Nancy Clutter, and Kenyon Clutter — and the final ordinary day before everything was destroyed. Jennifer breaks down the opening structure of In Cold Blood, Capote’s “nonfiction novel” approach, and why this first section remains one of the most studied openings in true crime and American literature.

If you’re searching for:
In Cold Blood podcast, Truman Capote true crime, Clutter family murders, Holcomb Kansas murders, true crime book analysis, or Jennifer Novotney Crimery, this episode is for you.

What you’ll hear in this episode:
How Truman Capote turned the Clutter murders into a literary landmark
Why Holcomb, Kansas mattered so much to the emotional power of the case
Who the Clutters really were before they became victims
How Capote used suspense, crosscutting, and characterization to reshape true crime writing
Why In Cold Blood still influences modern podcasts, documentaries, and crime storytelling today

This is Part 1 of a 4-part Crimery series on In Cold Blood.

Host: Jennifer Novotney
Show: Crimery

Website: www.crimery.show

Buy "In Cold Blood" https://amzn.to/4sCZUj2

Support the show

CRIMERY

Tip line & inquiries: crimerypod@gmail.com

If you found this episode valuable, follow, rate, and review in your podcast app it really helps others find the show.

Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised.

©2025 CRIMERY. All rights reserved.

Send us Fan Mail

Four young men disappear in Bucks County, Pennsylvania after setting out to buy marijuana. What police called a drug deal gone wrong soon turns into one of the most disturbing true crime cases in Pennsylvania history.

In this episode of Crimery, host Tim Novotney goes deep into the Cosmo DiNardo case, the murders of Jimi Patrick, Dean Finocchiaro, Tom Meo, and Mark Sturgis, and the terrifying question at the center of it all: was this really just a failed weed deal, or was something much darker happening on that 90-acre family farm?

This is the case of the Pig Roaster Murders — a wealthy Bucks County family, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic son with dozens of police contacts, a missed warrant, a backhoe, a burn tank, and four victims who never should have died.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How Cosmo DiNardo lured four young men to his family’s Bucks County farm
• Why the official “drug deal gone wrong” theory doesn’t fully explain the killings
• The role of Sean Kratz and the confession tapes that shocked Pennsylvania
• How a missed gun warrant may have changed everything
• Why this case says as much about money, privilege, and system failure as it does about murder

If you follow true crime podcasts, Pennsylvania murder cases, Bucks County crime, or the Cosmo DiNardo murders, this episode is for you.

Host: Tim Novotney
Show: Crimery
Website: www.crimery.show

Music: "No Copyright True Crime Investigation Music"
Artist: Soundridemusic
https://youtube.com/@soundridemusic

Cosmo DiNardo, Sean Kratz, Bucks County murders, Pig Roaster Murders, Bucks County horror, Pennsylvania true crime, Jimi Patrick, Dean Finocchiaro, Tom Meo, Mark Sturgis, Solebury murders, Bucks County farm murders, Crimery podcast, Tim Novotney, Pennsylvania murder case, wealthy suburb murder, drug deal gone wrong

Support the show

CRIMERY

Tip line & inquiries: crimerypod@gmail.com

If you found this episode valuable, follow, rate, and review in your podcast app it really helps others find the show.

Legal: Everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Content may include descriptions of violence. Listener discretion advised.

©2025 CRIMERY. All rights reserved.