Murders at the "In Cold Blood" House

Clutter family farmhouse.

This year is the 60th anniversary of the brutal murders of the Clutter family in Kansas.

One of the best-selling crime books of all time is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. This author spent six years researching this horrific crime.

Truman Capote at the Farmhouse.

A film, of the same name, was released in 1967, based upon Capote’s book. I saw this film when I was young. The scene at the end when the heartbeat stops, freaked me out--- not that I had or have any sympathy for the murderers.

Herb Clutter, his wife Bonnie and two of his four children, Nancy, 16 and Kenyon, 14 were asleep when two drifters broke into their farmhouse outside Holcomb, Kansas, in 1959, intending to rob the family.

Herb, Bonnie, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter.

These two thugs, Richard “Dick” Hickok, and Perry Edward, traveling across Kansas had heard a rumor that a wealthy wheat farmer had $10,000 stashed in his house.

But once inside the Clutter home they realized there was only fifty dollars.

The two murderers.

Enraged the two men then proceeded to shoot each family member with a shotgun. Bonnie and Nancy were killed in their beds, and Herb and Kenyon were bound and killed in the basement.

Each family member was shot point blank in the head. Mr. Clutter’s throat was slit as well.

Kansas State Prison gallows
where they were hanged.

Six weeks after these two murders, the two men were arrested when a “jailhouse snitch” told on them. They were tried and convicted, and after five years of appeals, they were both executed by hanging.

Since the Clutter family deaths, two other families have owned the farmhouse. In 2006, the house was put up for auction, but there were no takers.

Local witnesses claim the house is actively haunted. They believe the ghost present is Nancy, Herb’s youngest daughter. Her spirit is seen, after dark, wandering the home and property off Oak Avenue.

A short excerpt in Joanne Austin’s book, Weird Happenings, True Tales of Ghostly Places states something else odd happens at this farmhouse.

A bloodstain believed to be Herb Clutter’s blood remains on one basement wall. Over the years, regardless of how many times it has been scrubbed or painted over –it returns.

Photograph of the bloodstain.

The last family to own this house gave tours for a fee. But after being accused of making money off this tragedy, they stopped. The farm is private property, and trespassing is not allowed.

Fort Leavenworth

This fort is located in Leavenworth, Kansas near Kansas City’s airport. According to the military magazine Soldiers Fort Leavenworth is the Army’s most haunted base.

Fort Leavenworth, 1873

This fort was built in 1827. It was first used to protect travelers along the Santa Fe Trail. Its military units were involved in the Mexican-American war and the Indian wars.

The famous Buffalo Soldiers originated at Fort Leavenworth. But the fort became known for its notorious military prison—the old Disciplinary Barracks.

Disciplinary Barracks

Parts of this prison were torn down in 2004 but several buildings still stand including the guard towers.

A fort volunteer involved in haunted tours, Lessu Wojtkum states that almost every building on the base has a ghost story connected to it.

During World War ll a prison riot broke out. Afterwards, 14 men were hanged as punishment. The gallows didn’t have enough space so an elevator shaft in the prison administration building was also used.

Since, military police who patrol this area have heard screaming coming from this shaft when no on is close by.

Tower 8

An eerie story is told about one of the old watchtowers. Tower 8 was closed and never used again after a soldier killed himself with a shotgun there. Several witnesses have seen an apparition in this tower.

One sighting involves a soldier going through basic training in the late 1990s. He was assigned the swing shift in Tower 10. He saw a person moving about in Tower 8. Knowing no one was supposed to be in there he felt some one was playing a prank.

He called his command and stated, “Knock it off.” He was told the tower was abandoned and locked. Thinking his mind was playing tricks he eliminated several possibilities—it wasn’t a tree limb or a trick of the light—no it was definitely a person.

He called control again. This time the radio was handed to the commander of the new prison who happened to be there. The MP told him “I see someone in there. Who’s in Tower 8?” The commander told him firmly no one was there.

The soldier continued to see the figure moving about so he thought maybe it was Tower 7 playing the prank but he received a negative response. At the end of his shift his relief told him the story about the guard’s suicide.

This soldier told him in stride that what he saw was a ghost.

Leavenworth cemetery

The most famous ghost seen at Fort Leavenworth is Catherine Sutler. I tell this story here. Catherine’s ghost is seen at night wandering around with a lantern at the fort’s cemetery and on the adjacent golf course.

This story over the years has been embellished so much it has become legendary. Tragically, it is believed Catherine is still looking for her two lost children.

People are told if they encounter her ghost that they should tell her that her children are safe and she can rest.

The Rookery

The Rookery is the oldest occupied home on the base. Since the early 1900s it has been used as a family residence.

One ghost seen at this location is more aggressive. The story goes a lady was at the post while her husband was out on a cavalry patrol. Indians attacked the fort and this wife was tortured and killed.

She is known as the Lady in White since she wears a white dress. She has grey tangled hair. Witnesses who have encountered her state she screamed and then ran after them.

Carlos Munoz and his family once lived on one side of the Rookery duplex. One day while driving back from Fort Scott his wife startled him when she exclaimed, “Oh, my God.”

He looked around expecting to see something blocking their car. His wife was waving a book she had bought in his face. “This is who I saw in the basement.”

It was a picture of Major Ogden. He oversaw the construction of Fort Riley in 1853. While quartermaster he lived at the Rookery. He died during a cholera outbreak.

Mr. Munoz’s wife had seen his apparition. She stated he wore a western-style shirt and vest and rough cloth pants. Munoz and his children later saw this apparition as well.

While living at the Rookery the Munoz family also heard constant noises. Mr. Munoz was able to debunk some sounds others remained a mystery. By the time the family moved out he was convinced the building was haunted.

Before they left he called in a paranormal team that intended to stay the night. This team left after only 2 hours. They told Munoz that four ghosts were in residence and that Ogden had told them arrogantly to “get out.”

Kansas’s Bloody Benders

A small community of spiritualists and farmers came together in Osage township in the early 1870s. This area in west Kanas was located along the main trail that headed further west. This location also attracted a family that saw it as an opportunity to increase their finances--but not by farming.

Bender store and inn

A man by the name of John Bender and his supposed son John Jr. claimed 600 acres adjacent to this main trail. They built a cabin, corral, and well. His wife Kate known as “Ma” and her daughter Kate joined them later, and these two planted two acres of vegetables and an apple orchard.

Kate "Ma" Bender

John "Pa" Bender

The Benders * ran a small general store and inn on the homestead--called the Wayside Inn. This inn was seedy at best. 

Ma quickly gained a reputation among the neighbors as being unfriendly. She became known as the “she-devil.” Pa Bender barely spoke English, and when he spoke, it was in guttural tones. The neighbors were given the impression Ma could not speak much English either--but she actually could.

John Jr. was considered handsome with his red hair and mustache, but his constant laughter gave him the reputation as being a “half-wit.” The daughter Kate was pretty and claimed she had psychic ability. She also claimed she was a “healer.” The family used her to lure their victims to the inn.

John Jr.

Kate Bender

The Benders racket was to Kill travelers with means and then steal their property. They did this by seating them at the head of the table in the inn. Pa then would approach them from behind and hit them on the side of the skull with a hammer. Then either Ma or Kate would cut the victims throat to ensure they were dead.

They then pushed the body down through a trap door below the chair into the home’s cellar. Later they stripped the body and disposed of it. One body was found in the Drum Creek by a passer-by but most of the bodies the Benders buried on their homestead.

So many people disappeared in the area between 1871-73 that travelers began to avoid it. A local vigilante committee arrested several people that they suspected only to find they were mistaken. 

They didn’t suspect the Benders because they were a part of the community and the two adult children attended the local church, etc.

The Benders were finally exposed when a relative of one of the victims traveled to the area and started asking questions. He even questioned the Benders. 

Knowing they were about to be exposed, they left the area quickly. But it wasn’t until a month later the community became aware the Benders had abandoned their homestead and store.

When the hammers the Benders used to kill their victims and the bloody foul-smelling cellar were discovered, the homestead was then searched. The home was even moved so the earth beneath it could be dug up, but nothing was found.

Later, over eleven bodies were unearthed, including a large number of body parts. Most were found buried in the orchard. One female child was found. She had no marks on her body, so it was speculated that she had been strangled or buried alive.

Bodies of Bender victims

The Benders were never caught. One story stated that were tracked down and killed, and another said they boarded trains and then disappeared into the west, but these were just speculation.

As the story of the Bender’s escape spread, many joined the effort. This search continued for the next fifty years.

By 1886, the cabin the Bender’s had lived in was reduced to just a hole. Souvenir seekers had carried off every last remnant of the building--they even took the stones that lined the cellar.

This area would have been left to just dark memories except for the fact it is haunted.

Stories started to circulate the ghosts of the Bender’s victims haunted the ruins of the house, and what was left of the cellar. Many people who visited the old homestead to collect a gruesome relic reported being frightened off by glowing apparitions.

Witnesses stated they heard moaning and keening sounds that came out of nowhere. Even today, this spirit activity is still reported. Apparitions are seen wandering the mounds near where the cabin once stood. People avoid the area at night.

A legend states that one ghost that haunts the old homestead is Ma Bender. It is believed she is doomed to haunt the desolate land where she took so many lives. 

Click to enlarge

* The Benders neighbors believed them to be German immigrants. John “Pa” Bender’s real name was John Flickinger, he was born in Germany or Holland. 

John Jr.’s real name was John Gerhardt, he also was born overseas. He was not Kate’s brother. In fact, many at the time felt the two were actually married.

Kate “Ma” Bender was born in the Adirondack Mountains--her real name was Almira Meik. She was initially married to a man by the name George Griffin with whom she had twelve children. Kate--whose real name was Kate Griffin-- was one of her daughters from this marriage. 

Ma was married several times, all her former husbands died from head injuries.

Leavenworth’s Mad Catherine

Like many American families in the late 19^th century the Sutler’s packed their wagon with everything they owned and left their home in Indiana hoping to make a new and better life in Oregon Territory. In the summer of 1880 they left behind everything familiar and like so many before them faced the unknown bravely.

The trail they traveled was kind at first. Early that fall they reached Leavenworth, Kansas, a major stop along the way west. They planned to stay a few extra days before taking the Oregon Trail because they had relatives at the fort.

But it was here a major tragedy befell the family--one that assured they would never go further west than Leavenworth.

As morning light welcomed their first day at the fort Mrs. Sutler was cooking breakfast as her son and daughter emerged from their tent rubbing their eyes. Without taking her eyes off the food she prepared she ordered than both to go find firewood.

The two obediently headed toward the bank of the Missouri River to do their mother’s bidding.

Catherine’s husband Hiram was making repairs on their wagon when his wife called him to breakfast. The couple waited for their children, Ethan and Mary to return but when they didn’t they started to search.

Having no luck by midday they were worried. By sundown they were desperate. Early the next morning a search party was formed to help. For the next week these searchers looked from dawn to dusk but it quickly became apparent that the Sutler’s young children had probably been swept away by the Missouri River’s rapid waters.

Hiram at first was in a state of shock. Catherine refused to believe her children were gone. She spent her days searching the fort, the cemetery, the banks of the river and the surrounding area for her children.

Old Fort Leavenworth

The locals at the fort often watched with concern as she searched. Even the dark did not prevent her quest. She was seen clutching a cloak tightly to her as she raised a lantern to light her way at night. Her shouts of “Ethan, Mary” were heard repeatedly.

Fall passed to winter and still Catherine searched. Her husband tried to reason with her stating that there was no possibility that the children were still alive but she scoffed at his attempts and replied in madness, “Can’t you hear them calling?”

As the first snow fell, Catherine weak and thin relentlessly continued. Regardless of what Hiram tried he could not dissuade her. Desperate he requested the authorities at the fort lock her up but his request came too late.

Catherine was found unconscious lying in the snow near the riverbank. Sick with a high fever she died of pneumonia shortly after. Hiram took his wagon and headed back to Indiana.

But this tragedy didn’t end here.

The following spring a soldier from Fort Leavenworth arrived at his new farm to inform him his children had been found. The children had fallen into the Missouri River and had been swept downstream many miles. A group of Fox Indians spotting them fished them out--saving their lives.

Hiram rode back to Fort Leavenworth with the soldier to reunite with his children. As they traveled he now knew Catherine had been right after all, the children were alive.

Unfortunately, this fact appears to be of little comfort to Catherine for her spirit still wanders Leavenworth and the surrounding areas in search of her children.

Countless witnesses over the years have seen her ghost walking along the banks of the Missouri River holding a lantern. She is also seen in the cemetery holding her lantern.

Her cries of, “Ethan, Mary” are still heard today.

The Trails West Golf Course was built on land that was once a farm located at the fort. Witnesses have seen Catherine's ghost on this course.

Catherine is seen wearing the clothes she wore while alive. She is described as very pale and her eyes are vacant--it seems she is still mad. Her gaze has startled more than one witness.

Ghost Stories of the Old West, Dan Asfar

Atchison’s Sallie House

Today this haunting is very well known but when the American television program Sightings first aired a series of stories about it in the 1990s it caused a sensation. 

Recently, another television program, Paranormal Witness did an episode about the Sallie House haunting but the Sightings shows made this story famous.

These shows entitled “Haunted Heartland” that Sightings* produced, over a period of one year, are all compiled in the YouTube video below. If you have not seen this video --it is a must-see. 

The Sallie House today is considered the most haunted house in Kansas. This reputation is backed up with some very compelling evidence. 

The home has been haunted since 1906. At this time a local doctor, in Atchison, Charles Finney lived in the home that was to become the “Sallie House.” It is said that a mother brought her very ill young daughter Sallie late one night to the house to ask the doctor for help.  Sallie then died in the home.

A photo the Pickman's took.

In the 1990s, a young couple Tom and Debra Pickman with their young son moved into the Sallie House. Several photographs they took had strange misty forms in them. Lights started to flicker on and off. Their son's toys were moved and the couple felt electrical shocks. 

It became apparent to them the house was haunted. Then Tom saw the ghost of a little girl in the home. Items in the home started to appear as if something had burnt them. Framed pictures in the home were found hanging upside down.

The activity specifically targeted Tom. He was often physically attacked. At first, he was yanked out of bed but then the entity started to scratch him, often drawing blood. 

Sightings sent in a parapsychologist, Kerry Gaynor, and a psychic, Peter James ** to investigate the home. They also used half a million dollars in equipment to try and help the family determine what was happening.

This show investigated Sallie and the doctor’s story. They proved that Tom was being attacked by an entity. The crew and Kerry Gaynor saw firsthand Tom being attacked and they captured several of these attacks on film. 

This show was also one of the first to use a computer where viewers could send in questions live to be answered.

Sightings also interviewed other people besides the Pickmans who had first-hand experience with this haunting.

* When Sightings went off the air many of the people that worked on this show then worked on Unsolved Mysteries. 

** James states there is a second entity in the home. Future investigations confirmed this. Another psychic in recent years stated she felt that Sallie isn't the negative energy but instead another adult entity also haunts the home and is the negative energy that is present.

Here is the series of shows Sightings produced. Peter James has since passed on may he rest in peace.