- Alvin Dewey: Someday, somebody will explain to me the motive of a newspaper. First, you scream, "Find the bastards." Till we find them, you want to get us fired. When we find them, you accuse us of brutality. Before we go into court, you give them a trial by newspaper. When we finally get a conviction, you want to save them by proving they were crazy in the first place.
- Jensen: All of which adds up to one thing: you've got the killers.
- Perry: It doesn't make sense. I mean what happened. It had nothing to do with the Clutters. They never hurt me. They just happened to be there. I thought Mr. Clutter was a very nice gentleman... I thought so right up to the time I cut his throat.
- Perry: It's true! Really true! We're on our way and never coming back. Never! And no regrets.
- Dick: For you. You're leaving nothing. What about my old man... and my mother? They'll still be there when my checks start bouncing.
- Perry: It's nice the way you think about your folks.
- Dick: Yeah! I'm a real thoughtful bastard.
- Perry: [quoting his father] Look at me boy! Take a good look! Cause I'm the last living thing you're ever gonna see!
- Perry: Do you have any aspirin? They took my aspirin away.
- Alvin Dewey: Fellin' bad?
- Perry: My legs do.
- Prosecutor: Mercy for them. The killers. How fortunate that their amicable attorneys were not present at the Clutter house on that fateful evening. How very fortunate for them that they were not present that evening to plead mercy for the doomed family, because otherwise, they would have found their corpses too. If you allow them life imprisonment, they will be eligible for parole in 7 years. That is the law. Gentlemen, 4 of your neighbors were slaughtered like hogs in a pen by them. They did not strike suddenly in the heat of passion, but for money. They did not kill in vengeance, they planned it for money. And how cheaply those lives were bought. $40. $10 a life. They drove 400 miles to come here. They brought their weapons with them.
- [picks up a shotgun]
- Prosecutor: This shotgun.
- [picks up a knife]
- Prosecutor: This dagger.
- [picks up a rope]
- Prosecutor: This is the rope they hogtied their victims with.
- [picks up a vial of blood]
- Prosecutor: This is the blood they spilled. Herb Clutter's. They who had no pity, now ask for yours. They who had no mercy, now ask for yours. They who shed no tears, now ask for yours. If you have tears to shed, weep not for them, weep for their victims.
- [picks up a copy of the Holy Bible]
- Prosecutor: From the way the Holy Bible was quoted here today, You might think the word of God was written only to protect the killers, but they didn't read you this: Exodus 20:13: "Thou shalt not kill." Or this: Genesis 9:12: "Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."
- Dick: [to Perry] I'm SICK of it, maps, buried treasure, ALL OF IT! So ship it, burn it, get RID of that ton and a half of garbage! There AIN'T no buried treasure, and even if there WAS, boy, hell, you can't even swim!
- Perry: When you hit the end of the rope... your muscles lose control. I'm afraid I'll mess myself.
- Prison Guard: It's nothing to be ashamed of. They all do it.
- Reporter: They say Nancy's boyfriend is the prime suspect.
- Alvin Dewey: Is that what they say?
- Reporter: Well, he was the last one to see them alive.
- Alvin Dewey: Except for the killers.
- Dick: Welcome back to Kansas buddy. The heart of America. The land of wheat, corn, bible, and natural gas
- Tex Smith: Boy, you take your punishment with a smile. I didn't raise you to steal, so don't expect me to cry, just because you got it tough behind the bars.
- Dick: Forget it. Black stockings are a waste of time. No one's gonna remember us because we're leaving no witnesses.