This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Radioed mercy and murder on death row in Kansas
McAtee recalls policy turning point when inmates on death row asked for radios with headphones, Capote and Lee visiting permissions, and Capote later lobbying leaders to access Smith and Hickock. The piece recounts Kansas executions of Hickock and Smith in 1965, Capote’s film adaptation, and McAtee views on capital punishment. It weaves personal memories, literary links, and debates over the death penalty.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Anderson
Kansas
McAtee
Capote
New York
New York Times
Hickock
Smith
Anderson
Topeka
Neil Harper Lee
Holiday Inn
Lee
Tall Clover
Truman
Senate
Smith and Hickock
George Docking
Lansing
Docking
Earl Wilson
Bobby Joe Spencer
Lowell Lee Andrews
George R. York
James D. Latham
Fort Hood
Death
McAfee
Thoreau
Man
Nature
Perry Smith
Hickocks
Clutters
Perry
Kansas University Medical Center
Earth
Central Casting
Mount Muncie
Allen County
Big City
Robert Brooks
Scott Wilson
Robert Blake
Holcomb
Clutter Farm
Statehouse
Brooks
Blake
California
Benny Lee Bailey
Washburn University
U.S
FBI
J. Edgar Hoover
Gary W. Kleypas
Michael Marsh
Gavin Scott
Stanley Elms
Reginald Carr
Jonathan Carr
John E. Robinson Sr
Lawrence
Damien C. Lewis
Mr. McAtee