In Cold Blood (miniseries)

In Cold Blood is an American true crime drama television miniseries directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Benedict Fitzgerald. It is based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Truman Capote, which reconstructs the 1959 murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. The miniseries stars Anthony Edwards, Eric Roberts, and Sam Neill, with Leo Rossi, Louise Latham, Gwen Verdon, Bethel Leslie, L. Q. Jones, Gillian Barber, and Kevin Tighe in supporting roles.

In Cold Blood received critical acclaim and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Miniseries. Roberts was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for his portrayal of mass murderer Perry Smith.

Plot
At the end of the 1950s, in a more innocent America, a brutal, meaningless slaying of a Midwestern family horrifies the nation. While in prison, Dick Hickock, 28, hears a cellmate's story about $10,000 in cash kept in a home safe by a prosperous farmer. When he's paroled, Dick persuades ex-con Perry Smith, 31, to join him in going after the stash.

On a November night in 1959, Dick and Perry break into the Holcomb, Kansas, farmhouse of Herbert Clutter and his family. Enraged at finding no safe, they wake the four sleeping Clutters and brutally kill them all. The bodies are found by friends who come by before Sunday church. The murders shock the small Great Plains town, where doors are routinely left unlocked. Detective Alvin Dewey of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation heads the case, but there are no clues, no apparent motive, and no suspects.

Release
The two-part miniseries aired on CBS on November 24 and 26, 1996.