Herbert Clutter had his throat slit, and the rest of the family members were shot dead by Perry Edward Smith when he and an accomplice, Richard Eugene Hickcock attempted a robbery of ten thousand dollars out of the family safe. The money, however was not in a safe Clutter's home as he carried out all his transactions by check. As they didn't want to leave any witnesses and their plan had already gone poorly, Smith killed the family after some short deliberation. They were later caught and sentenced to death 5 years later.
Capote spent a lot of time trying to understand the killers and what made them commit such a terrible crime. Their poor upbringing and time in prison where they met seems to have had an impact on this.
"Perry — his feelings of inadequacy, his ambiguous sexuality, and his anger at the world and at his family because of his bad childhood. Dick plays the role of true outlaw, but the impact of the killings weighs heavily on him, and his own role in the murders remains unexplained and unclear." - https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/i/in-cold-blood/book-summary
In Cold Blood is quite different to most true-crime novels. It specifically focusses on the effects on the community and the criminals themselves rather than the details of the crime/weapons used etc.
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