In Chicago in 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb abducted and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks. The murder ignited a national backlash against what they saw as a morally bankrupt Jazz Age, and a furor over the two wealthy, psychopathic murderers who killed an innocent child just for the thrill of it. This is part 1 of the 2 episodes that cover “the Trial of the Century.”

Sources:

1924: Leopold and Loeb. The Chicago Historical Homicide Project. Accessed July 16, 2021. https://homicide.northwestern.edu/crimes/leopold/. 

“The Leopold-Loeb Case: Biographies of Key Figures.” CrimeArchives. http://www.crimearchives.net/1924_leopold_loeb/html/bios.html. 

Barrett, Nina. Leopold and Loeb: 90 Years Later, Finding the Truth. CrimeReads. (2018, August 1)https://crimereads.com/leopold-and-loeb-90-years-later-finding-the-truth/. 

deFord, Miriam Allen. Superman's Crime: Loeb and Leopold in True Crime: An American Anthology. Edited by Harold Schechter. New York, NY: The Library of America, 2008. pages 557-577.

Hoermann, Simone, Ph.D., Corinne E. Zupanick, Psy.D., & Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. DSM-5: The Ten Personality Disorders: Cluster A. MentalHelp.net https://www.mentalhelp.net/personality-disorders/cluster-a/

Linder, Douglas O. “Leopold and Loeb.” Famous Trials. UMKC School of Law. Accessed July 16, 2021. https://famous-trials.com/leopoldandloeb.

Lybarger, Jeremy. “Reopening the Case Files of Leopold and Loeb.” The Paris Review, July 26, 2018. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/07/26/reopening-the-case-files-of-leopold-and-loeb/. 

 O'Connell, Cathleen, director. The Perfect Crime. PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/perfectcrime/.  

Sellers, Alvin Victor. The Leopold Loeb Case: With Excerpts from the Evidence of the Alienists and Including the Arguments to the Court by Counsel for the People and for the Defense. Brunswick, GA: Classic Publishing Co., 1926. 

Music: Dellasera by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com