Posted: 3/21/2013 8:25:17 PM EDT
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Many times in the past, in various threads about home defense, it has happened that someone will opine that "you must live in a bad area" if you have a tactical rifle or two in a state of immediate readiness for home defense.
Such comments reveal a misconception which many if not most of us - myself included - have fallen victim to at one time or another: i.e., the absurd notion that serious, heinous crime only takes place in economically depressed inner city areas. Conversely, many if not most of us are also victim at times to another common fallacy: that rural areas are always wholesome and peaceful, and serious "big city" crime does not affect them. I always think back to the horrific murders of the Clutter family when I come across these misconceptions. They are a sobering reminder to us all that heinous crime can, and does, happen anywhere. Herb Clutter was a successful and wealthy farmer, who had been a delegate to the 1952 Republican Convention for Eisenhower. The crime scene which greeted investigators when they entered his home was enough to sicken even the most hardened lawmen of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. For most, it was the most horrific thing they had ever seen. No matter where you live - urban, suburban, or rural - be ready to defend yourselves and your loved ones from a home invasion. 
IN COLD BLOOD: A Legacy In Photos |
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Thanks for posting this '6winchester2'...a somber reminder that safety is a tenuous event. My family and I live on the outskirts of a city, nice community...a little "Stepford-ish", nice neighbors, etc. We also realize that we are just down the road from a rather large county detention facility and they have had the occasional escapee. We wholly understand that we are ultimately responsible for our individual safety. SOP for security is practiced by all, we have a mildly anti-social German Shepherd and firearms are safely (and discreetly) available to any of us if the need arises. Including a 12ga, HD shotgun and an AR. Stay alert, stay alive. Keep The High Ground, G |
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The first time I ever heard the phrase "that's not supposed to happen here" was when a housewife in a Mercedes was being interviewed by a tv station after picking up her child from the Hubbard Woods school, the site of the Laurie Dann school shooting.
She thought that money would insulate her from evil. She was wrong. I knew it then and still do. |
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Little tid bit of history, nothing significant. Grandfather was Chief of Police in Olathe Ks. back when the movie was made. He met Robert Blake and drove him in his squad car. My Grandfather was in the movie, in the car driving around the corner ( maybe a 5 second clip )...lol He witnessed Smith and Hickock hang in Lansing Ks. I believe it was, and told my mom that "He" shit his pants with a smirk. He, meaning Hickock I believe, when he was hung. |
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A very good example OP!
My sheriff told me and a couple other people, at our first grass roots meeting to fight the antigun crap here, that he has "one deputy for every thousand people in our county. You will be on your own for a while." That's an exact quote and not a paraphrase. (emphasis mine) Funny how conservatives will accept that, and plan accordingly, while liberals tend to throw a hissy fit and demand satisfaction/attention. Btw he fully supports and armed citizenry, is very NFA friendly and is part of the Colo. Sheriff's Association that's been in the news. Off topic, I've always wanted to read the book although I've seen the movie a couple three times. It occured about three weeks before I was born, they edge hanged when I was 5 and Newcomb is only 4 or 5 counties south of my hometown. This incident and the Starkweather/Fugate murder spree edge the talk of the town when I was knee high to a grasshopper. http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/starkweather.htm |
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The Clutter family murder happened only 60miles away from where I lived.
My parents used to tell me that until that murder happened, no one ever locked there doors at night. I got to meet the prosecuting attorney Duane West. Good guy. And for the record, he hated Truman Capote. |
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Quoted:
The first time I ever heard the phrase "that's not supposed to happen here" was when a housewife in a Mercedes was being interviewed by a tv station after picking up her child from the Hubbard Woods school, the site of the Laurie Dann school shooting. She thought that money would insulate her from evil. She was wrong. I knew it then and still do. The Tate/Labianca murders. |
As I thought about this some more today, I asked myself, what kind of inhuman monsters could hold a shotgun to the head of a trembling 16 year old girl like this...
...and pull the trigger, snuffing her life out in an instant? And then, just a short while ago, I saw the headline on Fox News about the heartless scum in Georgia who robbed a mother at gunpoint while she was pushing her baby in his stroller, and then shot the baby in the face because she said she did not have any money to give them. 
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if i remember correctly, the farmer guy was rumored to have a safe with money in it. some lowlife career criminals heard the 'rumor' (if it was a rumor) and ended up doing a home invasion and killing the entire family.
there is a similar story where i live, the mathews murders. a man and his wife, both doctors, were murdered. eventually some folks were charged with the murders. they were convicted but eventually the convictions were overturned. i happened to watch some of the trials back in the day. ever seen the movie 'blue velvet'? these guys that were charged could have been the basis for the redneck mofia in that movie. bottom line, its not smart to let anyone know you have a safe in your house, or see the safe. |
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When In Cold Blood was first shown on TV I was Absolutely Blown Away. I saw the trailer for the movie in the theater but didn't go see it. I now wish I had.
In the next few months I dug up everything about the movie, the novel and the crime I could. Hitchcock wrote a piece about the crime for a Mens magazine. True Male December 1962 if memory serves. I mean I looked up everything from the Life magazine article about the making of the movie to everything Capote wrote. Including the 4 parts that were published in The New Yorker magazine. If it was possible for me to look something up I looked it up. In 1979, for the 20 year anniversary of the crime, The New York Times interviewed many of the people involved in the book. They wrote about what happened to them since that November evening. Awesome book and movie. It isn't difficult to understand why Capote never wrote another book for the rest of his life. With what he put into it I don't anybody else could either. 
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Quoted:
The Clutter family murder happened only 60miles away from where I lived. My parents used to tell me that until that murder happened, no one ever locked there doors at night. I got to meet the prosecuting attorney Duane West. Good guy. And for the record, he hated Truman Capote. It's my understanding everyone who ever met Capote hated him. |