The last of the trio of scenes examining the framework of a meaningful design is the execution of Hickock and Smith, depicting events at the Kansas State Penitentiary on April 14, 1965, after five years of legal appeals. As preparation for the events to come, Capote depicts the execution of Lowell Lee Andrews, a Death-Row friend of Hickock and Smith. According to Capote's narrative voice, Smith is allowed to speak a condemned man's customary last words: "'I don't believe in capital punishment, morally or legally. Maybe I had something to contribute, something—."' While journalist Philip Tompkins quotes others close to the scene who stated that these words were not spoken, Capote depicts Smith as both penitent and critical of the state. In interviews after the publication of In Cold Blood, Capote echoed Smith's own sense of.....
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