Should murder houses be demolished?
“On 15 November 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, a wealthy farmer, his wife and their two young children were found brutally murdered. Blood all over the walls, the telephone lines cut, and only a few dollars stolen.” — The blurb of Truman Capote’s 1966 novel ‘In Cold Blood’ in which he explores the horrific murders of the Clutter family in their home. A home which still stands today and attracts many people to Holcomb as a macabre tourist attraction.
Surely the site of such a horrific crime should be demolished, right?
Apparently not. The Clutter family home not only still stands, but the same Chinese elm’s line the drives and three of the four original bedrooms (in which two of the murders took place)are still used by the current owners of the house. Creepy, I know.
In fact, the current owners (Donna and Leonard Mader) have now resided at 611 Oak Avenue for longer than the Clutter family did, so surely it is just as much their.
Still something still feels a bit icky to me.
Especially considering the fact that so many tourists have flocked to the 9-acre property that the owners have had to put private property signs up to deter visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the site of one of the most horrific murders America has seen. Not that it is effective as many true crime buffs still visit each year, some even being brave enough to proceed beyond the edge of the grounds.
Seemingly, the best option would have been to demolish the original house and replace it with something else — something that would not attract crime fanatics and would allow for the Clutter family to rest in peace.
This is very much the case in England as it is much more common for murder and horror houses to be demolished once the investigation has been closed and the trial is over. Such is true for 25 Cromwell Street — the address of Fred and Rose West, two of the most notorious British serial killers of recent history. Fred and Rose West raped, tortured and murdered at least 12 people, many of whom were buried beneath their cellar floor. A truly horrific series of crimes and the West’s murder house only served as a reminder to the Gloucester community of all that had happened.
So it was demolished, and in its place now lies a public footpath surrounded by shrubbery, with no sign that the West’s horror house once stood there.
However, the demolition of the house did nothing to dissuade true crime fans from visiting the site where the house and its hidden graveyard once stood. The house may be long gone, but the memory of the horrors of the West case is still alive and well and fuels the the dark tourism industry and is one of the most visited crime scenes in the UK, with thousands travelling for miles every year to catch a glimpse of the infamous West home.
So there we have it, two very different series of murders, two very different stories, over 7000 thousand miles apart but with the same result. Which begs the question: Is it worth the expense to demolish the site in order to respect the victims and their families or should we embrace our macabre history and allow for the dark tourism industry to thrive.
