Infamous America - LEOPOLD & LOEB Ep. 1 | “Crime of the Century”

Episode Date: August 12, 2020

Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb are young and rich. They’re highly intelligent. And they’re about to become cold-blooded killers. They meticulously plan a murder that will rock the city of Chicago during the height of the Jazz Age and the Roaring 20s. It will be called, The Crime of the Century. Join Black Barrel+ for bingeable seasons with no commercials : blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This series in this episode contains some sexual and violent material that some might find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. Chicago in the 1920s wasn't the safest place in America. Gangs were rampant, guns were common, and prohibition was largely ignored. But in the Kenwood section on the south side of town, affluence was everywhere, and peace and quiet reigned.

Two teen boys, one 19, the other six months younger, needed some rope, and they needed it now. Their entire summer depended on it. The younger of the two boys walked into a hardware store and purchased an ample supply. After all, money was no issue. They both lived in mansions, and each had a governess which was a kind of combination of a mother, a maid, and a tutor.

One of the young men even had a family chauffeur. The boys believed the rope was the key piece of the puzzle. It was the great equalizer, because when it was wrapped around their victim's neck, they would each pull the rope at the same time. It would be a kind of tug-of-war in which, technically, there would be three losers. But with this strategy, if they ever did get caught for strangling someone to death, the two boys would share it in the guilt equally.

Anyway, all that was just to precaution every measure, a murder pre-nup, if you will. There was no way they were getting caught. They were both way too smart for that. They were borderline geniuses after all. Things didn't quite work out the way Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb expected. From BlackBarrel media, this is Infamous America. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer.

In this season we're telling the story, story of two of the most notorious teenage murderers in American history. This is chapter one, the crime of the century. Perhaps no city in America personified the roaring 20s more than Chicago. The Great War was over, and that meant peace and prosperity, an extra dose for the wealthy sections of town. Despite prohibition, booze flowed freely and speakeasy seemed to be on every corner. Jazz dominated the clubs. Women felt a new sense of liberation. The 19th Amendment had passed,

and now they finally had the right to vote. Beyond that, many were smoking and drinking and had thrown off their restrictive corsets in favor of sleeveless tops and provocative knee-length dresses. They'd been nicknamed flappers. They also traded their long hair for chin-length bobs,

and for the first time, cosmetics weren't only for prostitutes. America was coming out of its shell, and the spring of 1924 offered nothing but promised to the windy city. The Leopold family lived in a majestic three-story mansion. Nathan Leopold Sr. was a businessman who had inherited a shipping company from his grandfather, who had immigrated from Germany in 1846. Shortly thereafter, the grandfather had purchased a steamship to carry grain to mining towns.

His instincts were flawless. Nathan Sr. wanted to prove he didn't owe his affluence to his family, so he went out and made his own fortune in aluminum cans and paper box manufacturing. It seemed everything Nathan Sr. touched turned to gold, including his wife Flora, the daughter of a wealthy financier. With the marriage, the Leopolds were now connected to Chicago's most powerful bankers. In just one generation, they'd become one of the ones. wealthiest families in the city. The Loeb family may have been even wealthier.

Albert Loeb was a vice president at Sears Rowbook. His wife Anna was a member of the prestigious Chicago Women's Club. By 1920, Albert was worth more than $10 million. To put that in perspective, that same year, Babe Ruth, the highest paid American athlete, had a salary of $20,000. Just down the street from the Loeb's mansion was the Franks Mansion. Unlike the Leopold's and the Lobs, the Franks weren't Jewish, at least not anymore. They had recently converted to Christian science. Jacob Franks had made his fortune by opening a pawn shop in 1884 and then investing in a gas company. He sold his stock for a million dollar profit.

By 1924, Mr. Franks was worth at least $4. million dollars. Even more remarkably, the Franks and the Loeb's were actually related. 14-year-old Bobby Franks was second cousin to 18-year-old Richard Loeb. Bobby Franks was one of the most popular kids in the neighborhood. He was a formidable athlete, particularly at tennis and golf, but he also loved baseball. His drive and ambition were contagious. He told everyone he planned to attend Dartmouth and study law. While Bobby was a freshman at the Harvard School, which was a prestigious college prep school in Chicago at the time, he'd won an emotional debate on capital punishment.

He was vehemently against it. Bobby argued that the state had no right to take another man's life, especially because there was a direct link between criminality and mental illness. Sometimes a person's behavior was just out of their control. In mid-May of 1924, the Leopold's, Loebobes, and Franks had everything going for them. In a matter of days, the lives of all three families would never be the same. Nathan Leopold was a genius. He was said to have had an IQ of 200.

Nathan claimed to speak 15 languages and to have spoken his first words at four months old. He loved to study, and he spent most of his time immersed in either books or birds. Nathan was an amateur ornithologist who often led groups to identify birds and was considered one of the nation's leading experts on the Kirkland's Warbler. His bird collection contained over 2,000 specimens, all of which he stored at home. Although he may have been the brightest kid in school, he was also among the least popular.

He was bullied constantly, and as a small, frail kid, he was an easy target. At 15 years of age, Nathan Leopold was all of 5 foot 3 inches tall and 110 pounds. Making friends was impossible for Nathan. For those who did try, Nathan monopolized the conversation so there was little incentive for second attempts. If there was an election for least popular person, Nathan Leopold would win in a landslide. But the criticism by Nathan's fellow students wasn't necessarily unfair. Nathan was arrogant. He was godless. He had no athletic skills. He believed he was smarter than everyone. Much smarter. Laws and rules didn't apply to Nathan Leopold. Those were for the common man. He was obsessed with German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche.

Even though it would be another 15 years before Siegel and Schuster invented Clark Kent, Nathan Leopold believed he was a Superman. Nathan's mother contracted a mysterious illness while she was pregnant with her second son, Nathan. She was an invalid for his entire life. Nathan often blamed himself for her poor condition. Due to his mother's physical limitations, Nathan spent the bulk of his time with his governess. Matilda was an attractive German woman in her mid-30s, who'd been working for the Leopold since 1911. But unbeknownst to Nathan's parents, Matilda was having sex with Nathan's older brother Samuel, who was just 17 at the time.

And allegedly, the governess didn't stop there. According to Nathan, she became sexually intimate with him as well, possibly even raping him. He was 12 at the time. Being violated by Matilda may have been partially responsible for Nathan's most frequent sexual fantasy. that of a king and a slave. He saw himself as the slave 90% of the time, completely submissive. Nathan was at the top of his class in every subject, but he was anxious to move on. Other than a few acquaintances he met while bird watching, he lived a lonely existence.

So he skipped his senior year of high school and enrolled at the University of Chicago when he was 15 years old. In the summer of 1920, he met him. Richard Loeb. Richard was six months younger than Nathan, but he'd already been at the university for a year. While they were both smart, rich, and well-educated, they had many differences. Richard was a natural leader.

Nathan was a devoted follower. Richard was better-looking, and he enjoyed drinking and socializing. Nathan's goal was to finish college and graduate as quickly as possible. Despite their many differences, by the spring of 1921, it was official. Nathan Leopold was in love with Richard Loeb. Richard Loeb was addicted to crime novels and detective mysteries. He admired criminals who could get themselves out of dangerous situations they'd created.

To Richard, life was a series of puzzles in which a person needed to lay out a plan that was superior to the plan of the opponent. The more detailed you were, the greater the chance of getting away with the crime. even murder. With the exception of also possessing a razor-sharp intellect, Richard Lowe was the polar opposite of Nathan Leopold. Richard was extroverted, outgoing, good-looking, popular, funny. He wasn't gifted at sports, but compared to Nathan, he was Jim Thorpe. Richard graduated from high school in 1919,

just a few days past his 14th birthday. He then started taking classes at the University of Chicago, where he was half a decade younger than most of his fellow students. Richard Loeb owed much of his accelerated education to his governess, Emily. She pushed him to his limits. No matter how much he accomplished, no matter how much he studied or how high his grades were, it was never good enough. If she had seen him wasting his time, reading a single crime novel or detective mystery,

he would have been in trouble, which was why Richard had to read them on the slide. Emily may have taught Richard discipline, but she also inadvertently taught him dishonesty. In order to get around Emily's tough rules, Richard began to rebel. Later, Richard would say, to get by her, I formed the habit of lying. Once he left for college, there was no need for a governess, and Emily was fired. Without her guidance, Richard went completely off the rails. He went on minor crime sprees. He set fires.

He smashed storefront windows, and there was nothing tangible to gain except adrenaline. But he was still getting bored. He wanted a sidekick, an accomplice in crime. Nathan Leopold fit the bill. Richard grabbed a brick and smashed the windshields of parked cars as Nathan waited in his bright red Willie's night as the getaway driver. They soon graduated to stealing cars,

and it wasn't like they were stealing cars. to sell them to make money. They were rich. They had healthy allowances from their fathers. It was all for the thrill and the rush, at least for Richard. Nathan had a different motivation. He didn't care about the act or the action of stealing cars. If he agreed to go along, he received sexual favors from Richard.

And the favors were often contingent upon committing a crime. Oddly, Richard never thought of himself as a guest. but rather asexual. He was indifferent to sex. He got all of his excitement from the crime. At the end of the school year, Nathan received the most devastating news of his life. Richard Loeb was leaving the University of Chicago

and transferring to Michigan to finish his degree. Nathan was losing his best friend, possibly his only friend, his partner in crime, his partner in bed. There was only one thing he could do. Nathan transferred to Michigan. But Ann Arbor wasn't kind to Nathan Leopold.

Richard joined a fraternity and its members advised him to stay away from Nathan, because Nathan was suspected of being a homosexual. Richard obeyed the fraternity and shunned his friend. Nathan was distraught, in fact, that he left Michigan and transferred back to the University of Chicago. If their relationship had ended then, their lives might have turned out a lot better. A lot of lives would have. But Richard was addicted to crime, and Nathan was addicted to Richard, and the boys planned a rendezvous. In November of 1923, the pair drove six hours from Chicago to Michigan to rob Richard's fraternity

the night after a big football game between the Wolverines and the Marine Corps. In the dead of night at the Zeta Beta Tau frat house, they snuck around with flashlights and went through coats, stealing about $74. The only other item of note they stole was an Underwood typewriter. On the drive back to Chicago, Nathan wondered, why spend 12 hours in a car to take some pocket change in a typewriter? It didn't seem like a good use of time.

On the other hand, if he didn't commit crimes, Nathan wouldn't get anything from Richard. Now both boys wanted to take things to the next level, for very different reasons. On the drive home from Ann Arbor, Richard got restless. Yes, their burglary was a rousing success, but it was too easy. They needed to up the ante and commit the perfect crime,

something worthy of a detective novel. They needed a crime that was so elaborately planned that no clues would be left behind and the police would never know who did it. It would remain unsolved forever. The two teenagers began brainstorming the next big thing. Richard proposed kidnapping a child. Nathan recommended that the victim be a girl,

and he requested that he'd be able to rape her before they killed her. Richard said no to that idea. Richard felt that no kidnapping was complete without a ransom note. Of course, they'd probably have to kill their first. victim, otherwise there was always the potential of being identified. In any event, they would think it over and revisit the specifics after New Year's. So in January 1924, Nathan resumed his law courses at the University of Chicago, and Richard resumed his graduate seminars in history at Michigan. Nathan was 19, and Richard was 18. Their plan slowly began to take shape. They arrived at a $10,000

ransom. Again, the money was unnecessary, but it would add an additional layer to their unsolvable puzzle. The list of specifics grew. Almost to show off their sophistication, they would request that the money be $2,000 in $20 bills and $8,000 in $50 bills. And all the money must be old. Any new or marked bills would invalidate the agreement. They would also need a hiding spot for the bond. and Nathan knew of the perfect place. It was near the Indiana border where he'd often led his bird watching groups. There was a drainage culvert there. They could stuff the corpse inside the pipe,

and the drainage water would help decompose the body. The main problem that needed to be sorted out was, how would they equally share the responsibility of the crime? Richard suggested strangling their victim. If they each pulled on opposite ends of a rope, they would both share equally in the murder. But of course, this was just a technicality for the legal system. They were going to commit the perfect murder, and they'd never be caught, so it wouldn't matter. Richard and Nathan decided that after the designated family received the ransom note,

they'd telephone the victim's father and instruct him to go to a drug store adjacent to a train station. There, he would wait for a second phone call. This call would come just before the train reached 63rd Street. The victim's father would then board the train, walk to the rear of the car, and look in the telegraph box for a letter. The letter would instruct him to throw the ransom money, which was to be carefully wrapped in a cigar box, out of the train five seconds after he passed the water tower. If all went as planned, and why wouldn't it, the money would arrive in the vicinity of 74th Street, where Nathan and Richard would scoop it up and get away.

As meticulous planners, they needed to test the strategy. They did a rehearsal. Richard rode the train. He counted to five at the appropriate time and tossed a parcel out the window. It landed right on 74th Street where Nathan was waiting. They had confirmed their plan was foolproof. The last thing that needed to be addressed was Nathan's vehicle. It was a bright red Willie's Knight sports car.

It was way too recognizable. They would need to rent a car. But to do that, they'd need a fake identity. On Wednesday, May 7, 1924, Nathan Leopold walked into the Hyde Park State Bank. He opened an account with $100 under the name of Morton, Martin D. Ballard. That same day, Richard Loeb walked into the lobby of the Morrison Hotel and secured a room, also under the name of Morton D. Ballard.

This was just in case anybody checked Nathan's fictitious mailing address. The plan was in place. They knew how the murder would happen. They knew where the body would be disposed of. They knew how the ransom would work. And they knew how to hide their identities. Now all they needed to do was set a date. They decided on Wednesday, May 21st, in the afternoon,

just as the kids of the Harvard Prep School were walking home. Tuesday, May 20th, 1924, one day until the kidnapping. There was still a lot of shopping to do. Nathan walked into a drug store and asked the pharmacist for a pint of hydrochloric acid and a half a pint of ether. When the pharmacist asked Nathan why he needed the acid, Nathan answered for experimental work in a science lab at the university. The pharmacist believed him and handed him a glass bottle filled with hydrochloric acid. It cost 75 cents.

The truth was that the acid was to burn the victim's face and genitals beyond recognition. If the police couldn't identify the body, it would be impossible to pin the murder on the two young men. the ether was to help render their victim unconscious. Meanwhile, Richard went to a hardware store to buy some rope to strangle the victim. He also bought a sharp-edged chisel in case they had to knock out their victim first, even though Nathan had just bought ether for the same purpose. Now they had to write the ransom letter. Nathan bought some writing paper and envelopes at a stationary store.

But what exactly should the notes say? Richard showed Nathan a recent issue of Detective Story magazine. In it was a story about the kidnapping of a banker's wife by two ex-cons. Nathan and Richard decided to use the ransom note in the story as a template. Nathan wrote out the note in longhand first before he moved to the typewriter. And that typewriter was the underwood that he and Richard had stolen from the Michigan frat house six months earlier. Nathan never learned to type, so he pecked out the letter with the letter. a single forefinger. It read, Dear Sir, as you no doubt know by this time your son has been

kidnapped. Allow us to assure you that he is at present well and safe. You need fear no physical harm for him, provided you live up carefully to the following instructions, and such others as you will receive by future communications. Should you, however, disobey any of our instructions, even slightly, His death will be the penalty. There were no typos. Everything was perfect. It was a good omen for their big day tomorrow. Now the two kidnappers needed their sleep.

On the morning of the crime, Nathan Leopold was doing what few criminals did before a kidnapping. He was sitting in a college classroom. He had an hour to kill before his 10 o'clock lecture on agency and torts, so instead of stepping outside for a cigarette, he impulsively decided to sit in on a romance literature course. Nathan barely paid attention in the class. He was, understandably, distracted.

Nathan had one other class to attend that day. To take his mind off his busy afternoon, he called Susan Lurie to remind her about their date that weekend. They were going to a dance together. At 11 a.m., Nathan met Richard on campus at the University of Chicago. Richard reminded him that they needed to drive back to Nathan's house to pick up their supplies. The chisel, adhesive tape, the bottles of hydrochloric acid and ether, some scraps of cloth to gag the victim, a searchlight, some hip boots, the rope, and the automobile blanket to wrap all their essentials in.

A half an hour later, at 11.30, they were at the Leopold residence. They stuffed everything into Nathan's flashy red sports car, and drove off to a rent-a-car place to get their crime vehicle. They now also each carried a loaded revolver, just in case. The rent-a-car clerk stared at Nathan's fake ID and asked if he wanted a Ford or a Willie's Knight. The Willie's Knight was slightly more expensive, but they chose that one. Unlike Nathan's car, it was a less flashy color, dark green, and it wouldn't attract as much attention.

There was just one more step before the first. could go cruising for a victim. Nathan had to drop off his car at home. Sven England was the Leopold family chauffeur. While he was working on the engine of a Packard for Nathan's father, he spotted Nathan pulling up in his red Willie's night. That was normal. What wasn't normal was the second Willie's Knight that pulled up behind him. It was dark green and driven by Richard Loeb. Nathan lied to the chauffeur and told him he was having major problems with his brakes. He said they'd been squeaking a lot, and he asked the chauffeur to fix them that afternoon. Zven and Gland agreed. Then Nathan carried the large bundle of items, wrapped in the

automobile blanket, from his bright red car to the dark green car. His chauffeur watched from the driveway, believing it all seemed a little bit odd. But the two teens seemed pleased. Everything was going smoothly. It wasn't even 1 o'clock yet. They were way ahead of schedule, which was a very good sign of just how meticulous their plan was. The Harvard School didn't let out until 2.30. They had an hour and a half to kill before everything was set in motion. Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold were ready for their big crime. Now, they had to choose their victim. Next time on infamous America, Leopold and Loeb decide who to kidnap. their plan goes a step further.

When Chicago learns of the shocking crime, no one suspects the rich, Jewish, intellectual college kids, and it looks like they'll get away with it. But some sloppy clues left behind show that they might not be as smart as they think. That's next week on Infamous America. And if you're a member of our Black Barrel Plus program, you don't have to worry about next week. receive access to each new season in full every episode, one week before the season begins for the general public. And members receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up at our website, blackbarrelmedia.com, or the link in the show notes. This season was researched and written by

Brian Frazier, audio editing and sound design by Dave Harrison. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. Find us at our website, Blackbarrelmedia.com. or our social media channels. We're BlackBarrel Media on Facebook and Instagram and B-Barrel Media on Twitter. And you can stream all our episodes on YouTube. Just search for Infamous America Podcast. Thanks for listening.