© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Court Ruling Clears Way For The Publication Of The 'In Cold Blood' Files

A judge has decided that the son of a deceased Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent can publish his father's files from the 1959 Clutter family murders.

Shawnee County District Court Judge Larry Hendricks said in a ruling made public Monday that he made an error when he initially blocked publication of the criminal investigation files in 2012.

His decision comes in a lawsuit by the Kansas attorney general's office against Ronald Nye of Oklahoma City.

The judge ruled that Nye's First Amendment rights to publish his father's files outweigh the government's interest in maintaining the confidentiality of its investigative records.

Nye's father investigated the killing of the Clutter family and kept records at home.

Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were executed for the killings in 1965. The murders were later the subject of Truman Capote's book, In Cold Blood.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.