Provides an account of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb's killing of fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks, their celebrity, and their ultimate emergence as folk heroes.
Author: Hal Higdon
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252068297
Category: Social Science
Page: 380
View: 282
Provides an account of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb's killing of fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks, their celebrity, and their ultimate emergence as folk heroes.Reprint of first and only edition. The Loeb-Leopold case was one of the most fascinating and sensational trials of the twentieth century.
Author: Alvin Victor Sellers
Publisher: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.
ISBN: 9781584773382
Category: Law
Page: 321
View: 425
Reprint of first and only edition. The Loeb-Leopold case was one of the most fascinating and sensational trials of the twentieth century. On May 21, 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb confessed to the thrill killing of fourteen-year old Bobby Franks. Clarence Darrow led their defense team. Robert Crowe, the prosecutor, was an equally skillful adversary. What is more, both attorneys called alienists to the stand who offered conflicting assessments of the defendants' mental states. Though their guilt was beyond question, Darrow hoped to save them from the electric chair. His successful twelve-hour plea, one of the greatest courtroom speeches in history, moved the presiding judge to tears.It was a crime that shocked the nation: the brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience.
Author: Simon Baatz
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9780061828843
Category: History
Page: 560
View: 618
It was a crime that shocked the nation: the brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were intellectuals—too smart, they believed, for the police to catch them. When they were apprehended, state's attorney Robert Crowe was certain that no defense could save the ruthless killers from the gallows. But the families of the confessed murderers hired Clarence Darrow, entrusting the lives of their sons to the most famous lawyer in America in what would be one of the most sensational criminal trials in the history of American justice. Set against the backdrop of the 1920s—a time of prosperity, self-indulgence, and hedonistic excess in a lawless city on the brink of anarchy—For the Thrill of It draws the reader into a world of speakeasies and flappers, of gangsters and gin parties, with a spellbinding narrative of Jazz Age murder and mystery.Worldwide press coverage reflected the public fascination with the case in what was then called “the trial of the century.” The story became a media circus: Chicago’s six daily newspapers battled vigorously for readers, two Daily News ...
Author: John Theodore
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 9780809327775
Category: True Crime
Page: 203
View: 159
In 1924, fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks was abducted while walking home from school, killed by a chisel blow to his head, and later found stuffed in a culvert in a marshy wasteland at the Illinois-Indiana state line. Acid had been poured over his naked body. Evil Summer examines the shocking kidnapping and murder of Franks by two University of Chicago students, Nathan “Babe” Leopold and Richard “Dickie” Loeb, both from families of privilege. In this new examination of the crime, author John Theodore takes readers into the minds of the two criminals as he focuses on three months in 1924. Theodore covers the killing, the confessions, the defense, and the sentencing surrounding the horrific murder, placing the killers’ actions and Clarence Darrow’s historic defense into the context of 1920s Chicago. Theodore deftly investigates the psychological dimensions of the crime, revealing the murderers’ fantasies, relationships, sexuality, and motives. The author examines the killers’ past, outlining Loeb’s obsession with detective fiction and crime and his editorial on random killing—written at age nine—and Leopold’s nightly master-slave fantasies and fascination with Nietzsche. Evil Summer, which includes twenty-three illustrations, meticulously traces the murder from inception to confession, including such details as the special-delivery ransom letter sent to Jacob Franks and the discovery of Leopold’s horn-rimmed eyeglasses lying on a railroad embankment near Bobby’s dead body. Theodore re-creates such scenes as the convergence of hundreds of people in front of the Franks home, Bobby’s body lying in a small white casket in the library, and Loeb being voyeuristically drawn to the home while Bobby’s classmates carry the casket to the hearse. Worldwide press coverage reflected the public fascination with the case in what was then called “the trial of the century.” The story became a media circus: Chicago’s six daily newspapers battled vigorously for readers, two Daily News cub reporters became part of the story, and the Chicago Tribune carried a voting ballot asking readers whether radio station WGN should broadcast the courtroom spectacle. The changing drama was delivered to Chicagoans every morning and evening, and the public feasted on every press run. More than a crime story, Evil Summer illuminates the dark side of American life in the 1920s, including the excesses of privileged youth, the troubled childhoods, the random victimization, the anti-Semitism, and the sexuality.This true crime story is as relevant today as it was to the family of young Bobby Franks in 1924 when he was murdered by the depravity of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold.Join Bruce M. Caplan and Ken Rossignol for this great trip back into ...
Author: Ken Rossignol
Publisher:
ISBN: 1301911623
Category:
Page:
View: 888
The legendary Clarence Darrow slipped them off the hangman's gallows into prison for life. With all the details of today's modern documentaries the very words of the killers themselves will spellbind the reader and have all parents noting the whereabouts of their children. Danger lurks at all times, often from those who know your child. This true crime story is as relevant today as it was to the family of young Bobby Franks in 1924 when he was murdered by the depravity of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold.Join Bruce M. Caplan and Ken Rossignol for this great trip back into the murder files of Chicago.Looks at the trial of teenagers Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, who abducted and murdered a teenage boy, discussing the investigation, the trial, and the sentence.
Author: Simone Payment
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 0823939707
Category: History
Page: 64
View: 365
Looks at the trial of teenagers Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb, who abducted and murdered a teenage boy, discussing the investigation, the trial, and the sentence.Danger lurks at all times, often from those who know your child. This true crime story is as relevant today as it was to the family of young Bobby Franks in 1924 when he was murdered by the depravity of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold.
Author: Bruce M. Caplan
Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub
ISBN: 1481128914
Category: True Crime
Page: 120
View: 941
One of the most sensational crimes of the twentieth century took place when two wealthy young men decided to commit the perfect crime. Travel back in time to learn of how they planned their dastardly deed. From the carefully laid out plans for ransom and the brutal murder of a young boy, these two young men chose path which weaved through the Cook County courtroom with America's most famous attorney who slipped them off the hangman's gallows into prison for life. With all the details of today's modern documentaries the very words of the killers themselves will spellbind the reader and have all parents noting the whereabouts of their children. Danger lurks at all times, often from those who know your child. This true crime story is as relevant today as it was to the family of young Bobby Franks in 1924 when he was murdered by the depravity of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold.As with any work of fiction, some creative additions are made when telling these stories, usually within the conversations between the personalities involved.
Author: Alan R Warren
Publisher: House of Mystery Publishing
ISBN: 1989980201
Category:
Page: 286
View: 205
The Killer Queens is a new series of historical fiction books based on true stories. Sources, such as police reports and newspaper articles, are examined to gather as many facts as possible surrounding each case. As with any work of fiction, some creative additions are made when telling these stories, usually within the conversations between the personalities involved. The various sources are the basis of these conversations and hopefully, make them come alive for the readers to help understand what was meant by those words. Book 1 of the series focuses on what has been called "The Crime of the Century" in 1920s United States. At the center of this murder case were Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb - two wealthy University of Chicago students who, in May of 1924, kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks. With Leopold and Loeb, both males, the dominance shifted from one to the other. Regardless of who held it, the result was the same. They were both very interested in crime and pushing the envelope for the next thrill. The vicious "thrill kill" of Bobby Franks was the bloody result of an intense and unhealthy co-dependent bond between the murdering duo. As you read the exploration of the case in this book, ask yourself: Would these young men be as vulnerable to their manipulations today? If they couldn't have harnessed and used shame as a control tactic, would they have been as successful at recruiting a criminal counterpart? Finally, to what degree can we hold the prevalent homophobia of this era accountable as a force to bear on this tragedy?Leopold and Loeb: The History and Legacy of One of 20th Century America's Most Notorious Crimes and Trials chronicles the shocking crime and the trial that followed.
Author: Charles River Editors
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 1983545562
Category:
Page: 72
View: 888
*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the crime and trial, including the confessions *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "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." - Richard Loeb There has been no shortage of shocking crimes and trials that generated frenzied coverage across America, but few can lay claim to "crime of the century" like the murder carried out by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb in 1924. While studying as young adults at the prestigious University of Chicago, Leopold and Loeb devised a meticulous plot to kidnap and murder a child while managing to get away with ransom money, thereby perpetrating what they considered a "perfect crime." On May 21, they put their plan in motion and targeted 14 year old Bobby Franks, who had the misfortune of being acquainted with Loeb. Franks was lured into a vehicle and brutally murdered before Leopold and Loeb dumped his body 25 miles away. When attempts at ransom went awry almost immediately, Leopold and Loeb tried to cover their tracks, only to have a special set of eyeglasses link Franks' murder back to Leopold. Barely less than a week after the murder, the "perfect crime" completely unraveled when Leopold and Loeb were brought in for formal questioning and confessed. The crime was horrific enough, but the trial brought even more attention to the case, and it touched on several crucial issues. Both young men cited the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche as a motivation for attempting to commit the crime and prove they were better than the common man. As Leopold told his own attorney, "The killing was an experiment It is just as easy to justify such a death as it is to justify an entomologist killing a beetle on a pin." Moreover, in addition to the killers' families hiring renowned defense lawyer Clarence Darrow, the crimes took place at a time when various forms of media were becoming ever more popular, particularly radio and film. Thus, the trial generated more coverage than just about any before it on the way to being billed as the "Trial of the Century," and Darrow did his best to prevent the boys from suffering the death penalty by citing other factors: "This terrible crime was inherent in his organism, and it came from some ancestor... Is any blame attached because somebody took Nietzsche's philosophy seriously and fashioned his life upon it?... It is hardly fair to hang a 19-year-old boy for the philosophy that was taught him at the university." Ultimately, the boys were given life sentences + 99 years for the kidnapping, which would lend its name to a memoir written by Leopold. For his part, Darrow would use his increased prestige to participate the following year in the famous Scopes Trial. Leopold and Loeb: The History and Legacy of One of 20th Century America's Most Notorious Crimes and Trials chronicles the shocking crime and the trial that followed. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Leopold and Loeb like never before, in no time at all.