Perry Smith Timeline and Summary

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• Although we only know Perry for the six years between the murders and his execution, we know a lot about his past, from the recollections of family members, former acquaintances, and Perry himself.
• Perry is born on October 27, 1928 into a poor family of rodeo performers who are constantly on the move.
• His mother runs away because of domestic violence and takes Perry and sibs to San Francisco.
• He bounces around orphanages and foster homes after his mother starts drinking. He suffers horrible physical and emotional abuse there.
• He goes back with his father for several years, goes to school occasionally, and develops a lifelong resentment about his lack of opportunity and education.
• He joins the Merchant Marine at 16, and then enlists in the Army, where he does OK.
• After being discharged, he has a serious motorcycle accident and recuperates in a friend's home.
• He reunites with this father in Alaska, where they try and fail to open a hunting lodge.
• After a falling out with his father, he travels around the country doing odd jobs.
• He gets picked up hitchhiking by a guy who decides it would be a good idea to rob a store. At this point, his petty fighting and general lack of direction escalate into criminal behavior.
• He ends up in jail, breaks out, and is re-arrested and sent to prison.
• After he's paroled, he runs into Dick Hickock and gets involved in Dick's "score." He goes along only because he wants a ride to Kansas to meet a friend.
• When the friend isn't there, he goes along with Dick's plan and brutally murders four members of the Clutter family.
• He escapes with Dick to Mexico but they run out of money and return to Kansas.
• Perry and Dick are captured, tried, and sentenced to death. After five years on death row, Perry is executed on April 14, 1965.