 The "Jenson"/"Narrator" characters are based on the author himself,  Truman Capote (qv). Capote went to Kansas soon after the murders  to cover the manhunt and to interview those who knew the Clutter  family. After the apprehension and conviction of killers Perry Smith  and Dick Hickock, Capote became a major part of the killers lives  while they were on death row, forming a particularly close bond with  Smith. Smith gave most of his belongings 