LEOPOLD & LOEB AND THE “PERFECT CRIME”
On
this date, May 21, 1924, the sons of two of Chicago's wealthiest and most
illustrious families drove to the Harvard School on the city's South Side and
kidnapped a young boy named Bobby Franks. Their plan was to carry out the
"perfect murder." It was a scheme so devious that only two men of
superior intellect, such as their own, could accomplish. These two were Richard
Loeb and Nathan Leopold. They were the privileged heirs of well-known Chicago
families who had embarked on a life of crime for fun and for the pure thrill of
it. They were also a pair of sexual deviants who considered themselves to be
"brilliant" --- a claim that would later lead to their downfall.
Bobby Franks
Bobby Franks
Nathan
Leopold, or "Babe" as his friends knew him, had been born in 1906 and
from an early age had a number of sexual encounters, starting with the advances
of a governess and culminating in a relationship with Richard Loeb. He was an
excellent student with a genius IQ and was only 18 when he graduated from the
University of Chicago. He was an expert ornithologist and botanist and spoke
nine languages fluently. Like many future killers, his family life was totally
empty and devoid of control. His mother had died when he was young and his
father gave him little personal attention. He compensated for his lack of
fatherly direction with expensive presents and huge sums of money. Leopold was
given $3,000 to tour Europe before entering Harvard Law School, a car of his
own and a $125-a-week allowance.
Richard
Loeb was the son of the Vice President of Sears & Roebuck and while he was
as wealthy as his friend was, Loeb was merely a clever young man and far from
brilliant. He was, however, quite handsome and charming and what he lacked in
intelligence, he more than made up for in arrogance. Both of the young men were
obsessed with perfection. To them, perfection meant being above all others,
which their station in life endorsed. They felt they were immune to laws and
criticism, which meant they were perfect.
Chicago’s infamous “Thrill Killers”, Richard
Loeb and Nathan Leopold standing on either side of their famous defense attorney, Clarence Darrow.
Loeb
fancied himself a master criminal detective, but his dream was to commit the
perfect crime. With his more docile companion in tow, Loeb began developing
what he believed to be the perfect scheme. He also constantly searched for ways
to control others. Leopold, who was easily dominated, agreed to join him in a
life of crime. Over the course of the next four years, they committed robbery,
vandalism, arson and petty theft, but this was not enough for Loeb. He dreamed
of something bigger. A murder, he convinced his friend, would be their greatest
intellectual challenge.
They
worked out a plan during the next seven months. The plan was to kidnap someone
and they would make it appear as though that person was being held for ransom.
They would write the ransom note on a typewriter that had been stolen from
Loeb's old fraternity house at the University of Michigan and make the family
of the victim believe that he would be returned to them. Leopold and Loeb had
no such plans though ---- they intended to kill their captive.
In May
1924, they rented a car and drove to a hardware store at 43rd and Cottage
Avenue, where they purchased some rope, a chisel and a bottle of hydrochloric
acid. They would garrote their victim, stab him with the chisel if necessary,
and then destroy his identity with the acid.
The
next day, they met at Leopold's home and wrapped the handle of the chisel with
adhesive tape so that it offered a better grip. They also gathered together a
blanket and strips of cloth that could be used to wrap up and bind their
victim. Leopold also placed a pair of wading boots in the car because the boys
planned to deposit the body in the swamps near Wolf Lake, located south of the
city. They packed loaded pistols for each of them and looked over the already
typed ransom note that demanded $10,000 in cash. Neither of them needed the
money but they felt the note would convince the authorities that the kidnappers
were lowly, money-hungry criminals and deflect attention from people like
Leopold and Loeb.
They
had only overlooked one thing ---- a victim.
They
first considered killing Loeb's younger brother, Tommy, but they discarded that
idea. It was not because Tommy was a family member but only because it would
have been hard for Loeb to collect the ransom money without arousing suspicion.
They also considering killing Armand Deutsch, grandson of millionaire
philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, but also dismissed this idea because Rosenwald
was the president of Sears & Roebuck and Loeb's father's immediate boss.
They also came close to agreeing to kill their friend, Richard Rubel, who
regularly had lunch with them. Rubel was ruled out, not because he was a good
friend to them, but because they knew his father was cheap and would never
agree to pay the ransom.
They
could not agree on anyone but did feel that their victim should be small, so
that he could be easily subdued. With that in mind, they decided to check out
the Harvard Preparatory School, which was located across the street from
Leopold's home. They climbed into their rental car and began to drive. As they
drove, Leopold noticed some boys near Ellis Avenue and Loeb pointed out one of
them that he recognized --- 14-year-old Bobby Franks. He was the son of the
millionaire Jacob Franks, and a distant cousin of Loeb.
Chosen
by chance, he would make the perfect victim for the perfect crime.
Bobby
was already acquainted with his killers. He had played tennis with Loeb several
times and he happily climbed into the car. Although at their trial, both denied
being the actual killer, Leopold was at the wheel and Loeb was in the back,
gripping the murder weapon tightly in his hands. They drove Bobby to within a
few blocks of the Franks residence in Hyde Park and then Loeb suddenly grabbed
the boy, stuffed a gag in his mouth and smashed his skull four times with a
chisel. The rope had been forgotten. Bobby collapsed onto the floor of the car,
unconscious and bleeding badly.
When
Leopold saw the blood spurting from Bobby's head, he cried out, "Oh God, I
didn't know it would be like this!"
Loeb
ignored him, intent on his horrific task. Even though Bobby was unconscious, he
stuffed his mouth with rags and wrapped him up in the heavy blanket. The boy
continued to bleed for a time and then died.
With
the excitement of the actual murder concluded, Leopold and Loeb casually drove
south, stopped for lunch, and then drove for a little while longer. They had
supper as they waited for the sun to go down. Eventually, they ended up near a
culvert along the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. It emptied into a swamp along
Wolf Lake.
Leopold
put on his hip boots and carried Bobby's body to the culvert. They had stripped
all of the clothes from the boy's body and then after dunking his head
underwater to make sure that he was dead, they poured acid on his face in hopes
that he would be harder to identify. Leopold then struggled to shove the naked
boy into the pipe and took his coat off to make the work easier. Unknown to the
killers, a pair of eyeglasses were in the pocket of Leopold's coat and they
fell out into the water when he removed it. This would be the undoing of the
"perfect crime."
After
pushing the body as far into the pipe as he could, Leopold sloshed out of the
mud toward the car, where Loeb waited for him. The killers believed that the
body would not be found until long after the ransom money had been received.
With darkness falling, though, Leopold failed to notice that Bobby's foot was
dangling from the end of the culvert.
They
drove back to the city and parked the rental car next to a large apartment
building. Bobby's blood had soaked through the blanket that he had been wrapped
in and had stained the automobile's upholstery. The blanket was hidden in a
nearby yard and the boys burned Bobby's clothing at Leopold's house. They typed
out the Franks' address on the already prepared ransom note. After this, they
hurried back to the car and drove to Indiana, where they buried the shoes that
Bobby had worn and everything that he had on him that was made from metal,
including his belt buckle and class pin from the prep school.
Finally,
their "perfect crime" carried out, they drove back to Leopold's home
and spent the rest of the evening drinking and playing cards. Around midnight,
they telephoned the Franks' home and told Mr. Franks that he could soon expect
a ransom demand for the return of his son. "Tell the police and he will be
killed at once," they told Mr. Franks. "You will receive a ransom
note with instructions tomorrow."
The
next morning, the ransom note, signed with the name "George Johnson,"
was delivered to the Franks, demanding $10,000 in old, unmarked $10 and $20
bills. The money was to be placed in a cigar box that should be wrapped in
white paper and sealed with wax. After
its arrival, the Franks' lawyer notified the police, who promised no publicity.
Meanwhile,
Leopold and Loeb continued with the elaborate game they had concocted. They
took the bloody blanket to an empty lot, burned it, and then drove to Jackson
Park, where Loeb tore the keys out of his stolen typewriter. He threw the keys
into one lagoon in the park and the typewriter into another. Later in the
afternoon, Loeb took a train ride to Michigan City, leaving a note addressed to
the Franks in the telegram slot of a desk in the train's observation car. He
got off the train at 63rd Street, as it returned to the city, and rejoined the
waiting Leopold. Andy Russo, a yardman, found the letter and sent it to the
Franks.
However,
by the time the letter arrived, railroad maintenance men had already stumbled
upon the body of Bobby Franks. The police notified Jacob Franks and he sent his
brother-in-law to identify the body. He confirmed that it was Bobby and the
newspapers went into overdrive, producing "extra" editions that were
on the street in a matter of hours.
One of
the largest manhunts in the history of Chicago began. Witnesses and suspects
were picked up in huge numbers and slowly the "perfect crime" began
to unravel. Despite their "mental prowess" and "high
intelligence," Leopold and Loeb were quickly caught. Leopold had dropped
his eyeglasses near the spot where the body had been hidden and police had
traced the prescription to Albert Coe & Co., who stated that only three
pair of glasses with such unusual frames had been sold. One pair belonged to an
attorney, who was away in Europe, the other to a woman and the third pair had
been sold to Nathan Leopold.
 |
Police officers search for clues at Wolf
Lake, where Bobby Franks’ body was found
|
The
boys were brought in for questioning and began supplying alibis for the time
when Bobby had gone missing. They had been with two girlfriends, they claimed,
"May and Edna." The police asked them to produce the girls but the
killers could not. Leopold claimed that he had apparently lost the glasses at
Wolf Lake during a recent bird-hunting trip. The detectives noted that it had
rained a few days before but the glasses were clean. Could Leopold explain
this? He couldn't.
Then,
two novice reporters, Al Goldstein and Jim Mulroy, obtained letters that
Richard Loeb had written with the stolen typewriter --- which had already been
found in Jackson Park. The letters matched the type on the ransom note, which
was a perfect match for the typewriter that Leopold had "borrowed"
from his fraternity house the year before.
Loeb
broke first. He said that the murder was a lark, an experiment in crime to see
if the "perfect murder" could be carried out. He then denied being
the killer and claimed that he had driven the car while Leopold had slashed
Bobby Franks to death. Leopold refuted this. Finally, the boys were brought
together and admitted the truth. Loeb had been the killer, Leopold had driven
the car but both of them had planned the crime together --- they were both
guilty of Bobby Franks' murder.
The
people of Chicago, and the rest of the nation, were stunned. It was fully
expected that the two would receive a death sentence for the callous and
cold-blooded crime.
After
the confession, Loeb's family disowned him but Leopold's father turned to
Clarence Darrow, America's most famous defense attorney, in hopes that he might
save his son. For $100,000, Darrow agreed to seek the best possible verdict
that he could, which in this case was life in prison. "While the State is
trying Loeb and Leopold," Darrow said. "I will try capital
punishment."
Darrow
would have less trouble with the case than he would with his clients, who
constantly clowned around and hammed it up in the courtroom. The newspaper
photographers frequently snapped photos of them smirking and laughing in court
and the public, already turned against them, became even more hostile toward
the "poor little rich boys."
Darrow
was fighting an uphill battle, but he brought out every trick in the book and
used shameless tactics during the trial. He declared the boys to be insane.
Leopold, he said, was a dangerous schizophrenic. They weren't criminals, he
railed, they just couldn't help themselves. After this weighty proclamation,
Darrow actually began to weep. The trial became a landmark in criminal law. He
offered a detailed description of what would happen to the boys as they were
hanged, providing a graphic image of bodily functions and physical pain. Darrow
even turned to the prosecutor and invited him to personally perform the
execution.
Darrow's
horrifying description had a marked effect on the courtroom and especially on
the defendants. Loeb was observed to shudder and Leopold got so hysterical that
he had to be taken out of the courtroom. Darrow then wept for the defendants,
wept for Bobby Franks, and then wept for defendants and victims everywhere. He
managed to get the best verdict possible out of the case. The defendants were
given life in prison for Bobby Frank's murder and an additional 99 years for
his kidnapping.
Ironically,
after all of that, Darrow only managed to get $40,000 of his fee from Leopold's
father. He got this after a seven-month wait and the threat of a lawsuit.
Leopold
and Loeb were sent to the Joliet Penitentiary. Even though the warden claimed
they were treated just like all of the other prisoners, they each enjoyed a
private cell, books, a desk, a filing cabinet and even pet birds. They also showered
away from the other prisoners and took their meals, which were prepared to
order, in the officers' lounge. Leopold was allowed to keep a flower garden.
They were also permitted any number of unsupervised visitors. The doors to
their cells were usually left open and they had passes to visit one another at
any time.
Richard
Loeb was eventually killed by another inmate, against whom he had been
reportedly making sexual advances. The inmate, James Day, turned on him in a
bathroom and attached him with a razor. Loeb, covered in blood, managed to make
it out of the bathroom and he collapsed in the hallway. He was found bleeding
by guards and he died a short time later. It was later discovered that Day had
slashed him 56 times with the razor. When Clarence Darrow was told of Loeb's
death, he slowly shook his head. "He is better off dead," the great
attorney said, "For him, death is an easier sentence."
Leopold
lived on in prison for many years and was said to have made many adjustments to
his character and some would even say rehabilitated completely. Even so,
appeals for his parole were turned down three times. Finally, in 1958, the poet
Carl Sandburg, who even went as far as to offer Leopold a room in his own home,
pleaded his fourth appeal. Finally, in March of that year, he was released.
He was
allowed to go to Puerto Rico, where he worked among the poor and married a
widow named Trudi Feldman Garcia de Quevedo, who owned a flower shop. He went
on to write a book about his experiences called Life Plus 99 Years and
continued to be hounded by the press for his role in the "perfect
murder" that he had committed decades before. He stated that he would be
"haunted" by what he had done for the rest of his life.
Nathan
Leopold died of heart failure on August 30, 1971, bringing an end to one of the
most harrowing stories in the history of the city.
Sending
Leopold and Loeb to prison, according to many people, did not bring about an
end to this macabre case, thanks to two restless ghosts that continued to walk
for many years afterward. The spirit with the most horrible connection to the
case was that of Bobby Franks, who took nearly 50 years to find peace.
During
this time, visitors to Rosehill Cemetery on the north side of Chicago often
reported seeing the ghost of a young boy standing among the stones and
mausoleums in the Jewish section of the graveyard. It is here where the Franks
family mausoleum is located, although its location is not listed on any maps of
the cemetery and employees are instructed not to point it out to
curiosity-seekers. Even so, this tomb can be discovered within the confines of
the beautiful burial ground and starting in the 1920s, maintenance workers and
visitors alike encountered the ghostly boy. Many came to believe that it was
the ghost of Bobby Franks, unable to rest in the wake of his bloody and violent
death.
Franks Mausoleum
The
boy was often seen wandering here but only from a distance. Whenever he was
approached, the apparition would vanish. These sightings continued for years
but eventually, they seemed to fade away. It's been noted that the encounters
ended at nearly the exact same time that Nathan Leopold died in Puerto Rico.
Could there be a connection between these two events? It certainly seems possible
and perhaps Bobby Frank can now find peace on the other side.
The
other ghost from this case was that of famous attorney Clarence Darrow. When
Darrow died in 1936, his ashes were scattered over the lagoon at Jackson Park,
just behind the Museum of Science and Industry. While standing on what has been
named the Clarence Darrow Bridge, many people have somewhat regularly spotted
what is likely Darrow's ghost on a veranda that spans the back of the museum.
This wide stone area is at the bottom of the steps leading into the rear
entrance of the museum. The ghost is reportedly seen dressed in a suit, hat and
overcoat and bears a striking resemblance to the attorney. The figure is
reported to stand and stare out across the water before disappearing.
Does the ghost of Clarence Darrow walk at
the Museum of Science and Industry?
Is
this the ghost of Clarence Darrow, finally making his presence known from a
world beyond our own? There are no other ghostly manifestations connected to
this site and certainly none that look like Darrow did in his last days, as he
strolled through the park admiring the "prettiest view on Earth."
The story of Leopold and Loeb – along with
dozens of other sensational Chicago crimes, ghost stories and strange
happenings – can be found in the book WEIRD CHICAGO, from the creators of the
famous tour. The book is available in print and in a Kindle edition!
