All 4 Uses

attribute
in
In Cold Blood
(Edited)

Dewey himself, did not believe the boy had "anything to do with it"; still, it was true that at this early stage of the investigation, Bobby was the only person to whom a motive, however feeble, could be attributed.
Chpt 2 *

attributed = credited (pointed to as the cause of something)
Twice now he'd been told, and the two versions were very much alike, the only serious discrepancy being that Hickock attributed all four deaths to Smith, while Smith contended that Hickock had killed the two women.
Chpt 3

attributed = credited (pointed to as the cause of)
And yet this was at least a partially inaccurate impression, for now and again the prisoner glimpsed him as he paused to talk to other men, joke with them and laugh, and then he seemed carefree, jovial, generous: "The kind of person who might see the human side"-an important attribute, for the man was Roland H. Tate, Judge of the 32nd Judicial District, the jurist who would preside at the trial of the State of Kansas versus Smith and Hickock.
Chpt 4 *

attribute = characteristic
Except for the latter, these men were offered as "character witnesses"-persons expected to attribute to the accused a few human virtues.
Chpt 4

attribute = credit (point to as having the stated characteristics)

Definitions:

(1) (attribute as in: It is an attribute of...)
a characteristic or feature (of something or someone)
(2) (attribute as in: I attribute it to...)
to credit (a source for something)
in two typical senses:
- "I attribute it to her work." -- to say who or what made something happen
- "Remember to attribute any quotations in your paper." -- indicate the source of a quotation or idea
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)