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In his book, Capote gives only the briefest account of how Agent Alvin Dewey brushed off KSP inmate Floyd Wells's claim that Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were responsible for the Clutter murders. This was an especially peculiar brevity since Wells turned out to be key to solving the case. In fact, since the day In Cold Blood was first published, both Dewey, and the KBI by way of official statements, have characterized the book as factually accurate.
While critics have long taken issue with Capote's dramatized efficiency of the KBI, many have wondered if some kind of informal pact may have been part of the deal, in which the KBI's shortcomings would either be downplayed, generously modified, or even disregarded, in exchange for the bureau's not only vigorously applauding Capote’s effort, but permitting its agents (Dewey in particular) to appear at book signings and, years later, publish a series of intimately-detailed newspaper columns about the murders and the investigation—all in service to fortifying the heroic mythology.
Further evidence of its long-standing pride over the Clutter case has been deeply etched inside the bureau, whose headquarters in Topeka boasts an elaborate glass-encased display of the actual instruments of murder involved in the Clutter crimes. Among the collage of photographs and press clippings visitors will discover the adhesive tape and nylon cord used by the killers to bind the mouths, hands, and feet of their victims; the very knife that ripped through Herbert Clutter’s throat; a Cat’s Paw boot worn by Perry Smith that was once caked with Mr. Clutter’s blood; and Richard Hickock’s Savage 12-gauge pump-action shotgun that blasted open the heads of each of the four Clutter victims. Mounted prominently above the shotgun is a hardcover copy of In Cold Blood.
Figure 51. KBI display of Clutter murder memorabilia
Photo courtesy of and © 2018 Mali Sastri. Used with permission.
In a news release announcing the state’s intention to press a lawsuit against us to prevent this book’s publication, Attorney General Derek Schmidt proclaimed, “It is important for these materials to be returned to the State of Kansas for the protection of the integrity of the records and out of respect for the Clutter family.”[198] The sensational exhibit at the KBI’s headquarters belies these lofty sentiments. The State’s hypocritical claims of sheltering the surviving Clutter family from further emotional burdens clearly extended no further than its desire to thwart our efforts out of intramural pride.
While the court ultimately affirmed our right to publish Harold Nye’s archived materials, Ron and I, for reasons discussed, decided not to release or even display the most disturbing photographs here. Yet up until their lawsuit made public the State’s deep concern for display of these images, many of the same grisly crime scene photos found in Nye’s files had long been publicly posted on, among other official places, the Garden City police department’s website.[199] Given the viral nature of the internet, they now appear on websites around the world. Many have aired in programs on A&E and SundanceTV channels and elsewhere around the world—all done with the approval and eager assistance of the State of Kansas, its impulses for compassion firmly in check.
In July 1997 KBI Director Larry Welch issued an internal memorandum to all KBI employees announcing the bureau’s cooperation with several television productions for various cases. Among those mentioned was A&E Network, which was planning a retrospective documentary on the Clutter murders for their award-winning series “American Justice.”
In December 1997, A&E Networks aired the compelling documentary, American Justice: Murder ‘In Cold Blood’, featuring many of the principals involved with the investigation, notably Harold Nye, who by that time had been long retired.
However, Alvin Dewey’s name was not mentioned even once, which rankled the KBI, who had graciously extended bureau resources to the production team.
After viewing the program, Director Welch sent a scathing letter to the producers:[200]
Before I viewed A&E’s television revisit of the Clutter case, I thought it impossible to discuss those historical murders for fifteen minutes, let alone one hour, without, at least, the mention of the name, Al Dewey.
After watching your production, I am persuaded more than ever that presumption is true.
The bad news is that you permitted one, who always refused to acknowledge Dewey’s leading role in that tragic case to dominate the narrative. [Ed. The “one” being Harold Nye.]
The good news is you have reinforced my original belief that I must never again cooperate with any movie or television KBI-related production without demanding that a KBI technical advisor be utilized.
In one of several conspicuous examples of dubious intent, Welch’s letter succinctly corroborated our belief, and thus our legal standing, that the State’s strident opposition to our project was based, in part, on the KBI’s desire to protect and perpetuate myths about the Clutter murder investigation that were developed in close alliance between Alvin Dewey and Truman Capote.
Undoubtedly the most successful recent adaptation of the In Cold Blood story was achieved in Bennett Miller’s 2005 Oscar-nominated film Capote, for which the late Philip Seymour Hoffman received an Academy Award for his performance in the leading role.
As with many productions before it, the producers of Capote reached out to the KBI for assistance. But in the wake of their “renegade” experience with A&E, the KBI flatly denied the request.
In its letter of censure, while acknowledging the KBI’s cooperation with previous productions, the Kansas attorney general’s office referred producers to a Kansas statute citing “... [the State] shall not be required to disclose...public records containing information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”[201]
An odd rationale, given that any previous “invasion of privacy” concerns were waived for other films. The letter goes on:
... we did make an exception to [two production companies] who made a film about the murders. In both cases, we stipulated our conditions for cooperation and the importance of preserving an accurate portrayal of the facts and of the KBI's involvement in this case.
Unfortunately, promises that were made were not honored by both companies and facts were not presented accurately. We regretted very much giving our cooperation in both instances. Therefore, we will not make any further exceptions to your company or other movie companies in the future.[202]
That Kansas continues to press for constraint over its own “approved” version of the Clutter murders, consistent with Capote’s book, should be of concern to anyone who values free speech and creative control. It certainly was for us—and the Court agreed when it lifted the State’s “Confidential” designation on these KBI letters and granted us permission to publish their correspondence.
Whether or not he was aware of the influence or value of his contributions, it has been well established that KBI Agent Alvin Dewey was intimately involved in the evolution of Capote’s bestselling book. And for those services, willing or incidental, Dewey and his wife Marie were generously rewarded for years to come.
Dozens of Capote’s letters to the Deweys, laid out chronologically in Gerald Clarke’s splendid anthology Too Brief a Treat: The Letters of Truman Capote,[203] exhibit the warm and genuine friendship that developed between them over the many years following Capote’s first visit to Kansas. Interspersed between the greetings and the gossip, however, numerous examples of Dewey’s having obliged Capote’s appeals for access are laid bare: Truman asking “Poppy” (Capote’s nickname for Alvin) for particular details of the investigation, with Alvin only too willing to oblige the many requests of “Coach” (Dewey’s nickname for Truman).
Denoting one of many such instances, Capote wrote to William Shawn, his editor at The New Yorker, while working on the book in Spain. In the letter Capote delights in his good fortune having acquired confidential details—the entire FBI file containing all interviews connected with the Clutter case— which was clearly provided by Dewey.[204]
The Deweys benefitted quite handsomely for their services, including parties with Hollywood celebrities like David Selznick, Jennifer Jones, and Irving Lazar; all-expense paid trips to San Francisco and Los Angeles; parties in Palm Springs, Washington D.C., and New York city, with dinners at the homes of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and socialite Gloria Vanderbilt; and, of course, that hottest ticket of all—to Capote’s famed Black and White Masked Ball at Manhattan’s Plaza Hotel in 1966.
The most indulgent perk, however, was enjoyed by Marie Dewey, who fetched a generous contract with Columbia Pictures as a “technical consultant” on the 1967 film version of In Cold Blood. For her participation Marie was paid $10,000—the equivalent of about $80,000 today—according to the terms of a 1965 contract in which Capote sold the book’s film rights to Columbia for $15,000.[205]
When questioned about accommodating Capote and Lee with their research, Alvin Dewey’s protestations were emphatic. “I never treated Truman any differently than I did any of the other news media after the case was solved... as far as showing him any favoritism or giving him any information, absolutely not.”[206] But the record shows otherwise.
On Monday, January 11, 1960, barely a week after perp walking the killers up the steps of the Garden City courthouse, and despite his earlier proclamation to the press that interviews with the suspects were forbidden, Dewey permitted Smith and Hickock to be secretly interviewed in his own office, individually, by Capote and Lee. After the killers had been taken back to their cells, Dewey shared with his special guests the full transcript of Smith's interrogation in Las Vegas.
As author Ralph Voss observed, “The KBI rules were clear to Nye; no one should share specific details about an investigation with the media, and Alvin Dewey did so with impunity.”[207]
To be fair, Harold Nye himself fell victim to Nelle’s charms, providing her with a list of items he had recovered from the stolen vehicle in which the killers were apprehended in Las Vegas. And in a 1962 letter to Capote, Nye related his activities tracking down Perry Smith’s sister in California and his father in Alaska, Reno, and elsewhere. But this was long after the killers had been convicted, and Capote—seeking just such details to flesh out his story—had persuaded Nye that, since he would figure so prominently in the book, this kind of richness was essential to ensure the factual narrative he was composing.
There is no doubt that the KBI’s guiding hand, in the person of Alvin Dewey, gave up the most to shape the story that ultimately emerged. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Mack Nations’s son, Michael, who has studied this topic deeply over many years, held firm to that opinion, saying, “‘Capote was telling the story that Kansas authorities wanted told, and Mack Nations was telling a story that they wanted to silence.”[208]
Harold Nye fostered lasting bonds with many of his colleagues in law enforcement, but none were closer to him than his KBI partner and best friend David E. Johnson, who himself served as director of the bureau from 1987 to 1989. That mutual bond was also shared by both men’s wives, Joyce Nye and Peggy Sue Johnson.
Alvin Dewey passed away in November 1987. The following month KBI staff assembled for their annual Christmas party. According to Peggy Johnson, who attended the event with her husband, KBI Director David Johnson—Marie Dewey, though still mourning her husband, felt compelled to make an appearance at the gathering, and asked if she could have the microphone to address her husband’s fellow agents. Choking back tears, Marie shocked many by apologizing to everyone in the room, saying she was “very sorry for what Alvin and she had done, and asked for their forgiveness.”[209]
Mrs. Dewey did not go into detail (nor did she need to, for her husband’s actions were by that time widely known). Harold Nye’s wife, Joyce, believed that Dewey had asked his wife to clear the air with his fellow KBI agents for lines he may have crossed while helping their friend Truman with In Cold Blood. Despite his many public denials of any impropriety, apart from evidence to the contrary, many expressed disappointment, even anger, at the access Dewey had given the author, seduced by Truman’s fame and the many generosities he allowed the couple. According to prosecutor Duane West, even Logan Sanford, head of the KBI during the investigation, “thought that Dewey was a better agent before the Clutter case.”[210]
