Infamous Kansas prison where 'In Cold Blood' killers were executed to open for public tours

A fabled Kansas prison where the killers in Truman Capote's nonfiction novel "In Cold Blood" were executed is now slated to be a tourist attraction , opening to the public as soon as this week.

On Friday, Former wardens and corrections officers at the now-shuttered facility are expected to lead two-hour tours of the building, which is located in Lansing, a small city just 27 miles northwest of Kansas City.

The prison, which originally opened in the 1860s, according to The Kansas City Star, was originally called the Kansas State Penitentiary, but after the newly constructed Lansing Correctional Facility opened in 2020, the building was rendered innate.

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It was eventually placed under the control of the Lansing Historical Society and Museum, which revamped it into the historical monument it is today.

"We're expecting the prison to open up to large crowds who want to know what went on inside those walls," Debra Bates-Lamborn, the president of the society, said after she was handed the keys by state prison officials this week.

There will even be a car show later in the month, it was reported. But the main event will be a delve into the history of Richard "Dick" Hickock and Perry Smith were executed by hanging in April 1965 — nearly six years after they slaughtered four members of the Clutter family on Nov. 15, 1959, near the family's home in Holcomb, Kansas.

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They were among the last people executed by hanging. The wooden gallows were disassembled and are under the state's custody. Visitors will not be able to see that, but they will see where Hickock and Smith spent most of their time.

Capote, the author, reportedly ventured to the prison with his close friend and fellow writer Harper Lee to conduct research for his book about the killing.

Another spot on the tour will be Chow Hall, where country music legend Johnny Cash performed in the 1970s for inmates.

"Johnny Cash has always said that audiences in prisons are the most enthusiastic audiences he's ever played to," Bates-Lamborn said.

There's a similar prison tour in Missouri that the Kansas prison tour is modeled after, Bates-Lamborn said. It was just around a year ago that a state lawmaker approached the Lansing Historical Society and Museum and asked them to preserve the prison and convert it into a tourist attraction. The Missouri State Penitentiary near Jefferson City, which has been open for tours since 2009, was the model.

"Afterwards, I thought ours is a shoo-in, and we're so much better," she said. Tours are slated to be held Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and are now scheduled to run until Oct. 26, then resume in the spring — the facility has no electricity or heat, so tours will have to stop over the winter.