Leopold and Loeb

Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971) and Richard Albert Loeb (June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), usually referred to collectively as Leopold and Loeb, were two wealthy students at the University of Chicago who kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks (a relative of Loeb) in Chicago, Illinois, United States, on May 21, 1924.

They committed the murder – characterized at the time as "the crime of the century" – hoping to demonstrate superior intellect, which they believed enabled and entitled them to carry out a "perfect crime" without consequences.

After the two men were arrested, Loeb's family retained Clarence Darrow as lead counsel for their defense.

Darrow's twelve-hour summation at their sentencing hearing is noted for its influential criticism of capital punishment as retributive rather than transformative justice.

Both young men were sentenced to life imprisonment plus 99 years.

Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. was born on November 19, 1904, in Chicago, Illinois, the third son of Florence (née Foreman) and Nathan Leopold Sr., a wealthy German-Jewish immigrant family.

A child prodigy, Leopold was recorded in his baby book as having spoken his first words at the age of four months and three weeks old.

Leopold began his college studies at the University of Michigan, but later returned home to study at the University of Chicago.

At the time of the murder, he had completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago with Phi Beta Kappa honors and planned to begin studies at Harvard Law School after a trip to Europe.

By many accounts, Leopold was sensitive about his appearance.

He threw himself into intellectual pursuits where he met with remarkable success.

Leopold had studied fifteen languages and claimed to speak five fluently.

He had achieved a measure of national recognition as an ornithologist.

Leopold and several other ornithologists identified nesting sites of Kirtland's warblers and made astute observations about the parasitic nesting behavior of brown-headed cowbirds, which threatened the warblers.

He maintained his interest in birds after his crime, raising birds in prison and working to help with the struggling Puerto Rican Parrot population after his release on parole.

Richard Albert Loeb was born on June 11, 1905, in Chicago, the third of four sons of Anna Henrietta (née Bohnen) and Albert Henry Loeb, a wealthy lawyer and retired vice president of Sears, Roebuck & Company.

His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic.

Like Leopold, Loeb was exceptionally intelligent.

He was an avid reader, with a passion for history and crime stories.

At age 12, he entered the innovative University High School.

With the encouragement of his governess, he completed his high school education in two years.

Though Leopold and Loeb knew each other casually while growing up, they began to see more of each other in mid-1920s, and their relationship flourished at the University of Chicago, as part of a mutual friend group.

Their sexual relationship began in February of 1921 and continued until the pair were arrested.

Leopold was particularly fascinated by Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of "supermen" (Übermenschen), interpreting them as transcendent individuals possessing extraordinary and unusual capabilities, whose superior intellects allowed them to rise above the laws and rules that bound the unimportant, average populace.

Leopold believed it was possible that he and Loeb could become such individuals, and as such, by his interpretation of Nietzsche's doctrines, they were not bound by any of society's normal ethics or rules.

In a letter to Loeb, he wrote, "A superman ... is, on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary laws which govern men. He is not liable for anything he may do."

The pair began asserting their perceived immunity from normal restrictions with acts of petty theft and vandalism.

Breaking into a fraternity house at the University of Michigan, they stole penknives, a camera, and a typewriter that they later used to type the ransom note for their murder victim, Bobby Franks.

Emboldened, they progressed to a series of more serious crimes, including arson, but no one seemed to notice.

Disappointed with the absence of media coverage of their crimes, they decided to plan and execute a sensational "perfect crime" that would garner public attention and confirm their self-perceived status as "supermen".

Leopold and Loeb, who were 19 and 18, respectively, at the time, settled on kidnapping and murdering a younger adolescent as their perfect crime.

In 1923, at the age of 17, he would become the University of Michigan's youngest graduate.

Following graduation from Michigan, Loeb enrolled in a few history classes at the University of Chicago.

Loeb was not as strictly intellectual as Leopold.

He often socialized, played tennis, and read detective novels.

The two young men grew up with their families in the affluent Kenwood neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.

The Loebs owned a summer estate (the farm part of which is now called Castle Farms and is a popular wedding venue) in Charlevoix, Michigan, as well as a mansion in Kenwood, two blocks from the Leopold home.

Loeb was murdered by a fellow prisoner in 1936.

Leopold was released on parole in 1958.

The case has since served as the inspiration for several dramatic works.