Infamous America - LEOPOLD & LOEB Ep. 2 | “Bobby”

Episode Date: August 19, 2020

In May of 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb kidnap 14-year-old Bobby Franks and carry out their ruthless murder plan. They believe they are supermen who are above the law. They believe they have committed the perfect crime. But they soon realize they’re not as smart as they thought, and they quickly become the prime suspects. 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

A listener note. This series in this episode contains some sexual and violent material that some might find disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. The 14-year-old was stuffed into the drain pipe head first. He was supposed to fit. Unfortunately, he didn't. His feet were still sticking out. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb pushed furiously until success. The water flowing through the pipe would decompose the body, and with no evidence remaining, they'd get away with murder. On the way back to their car,

Richard carried his partner in crime shoes and jacket up the embankment. Then he stopped. He swore he heard something fall to the ground. Richard checked for his wallet and keys. He had him. He asked Nathan if he'd heard the noise or had dropped anything. Nathan said he hadn't. Richard pulled out his flashlight to triple check.

He saw nothing unusual. It must have been a tree branch or something. The minor noise was forgotten. Their mission was complete. It was time for the jubilant drive back to Chicago. And Richard opened some gin to celebrate. Everything had gone according to plan. They were not only geniuses, but quite possibly the two best criminal minds in America.

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From BlackBarrell media, this is Infamous America. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer. In this season, we're telling the story of two of the most notorious teenage murderers in American history. This is Chapter 2, Bobby. day, May 21st, 1924. After months of careful planning, this was it. 19-year-old Nathan Leopold and 18-year-old Richard Loeb had been dreaming about this day since they'd robbed the Michigan frat house back in November. But that crime hadn't been challenging. This would be a way to prove they were smarter than everyone. They would prove they were supermen. Every detail of the kidnapping to come had been

meticulously checked, rechecked, and rehearsed. They were in their green Willie's Knight car that they'd rented under a fake name after opening a fake bank account. They had their ransom note and a variety of weapons packed, a chisel, some rope, and a bottle of ether, in case they needed assistance in overpowering their victim. The rope was the key. Without it, their roles in the crime would be muddled. Leopold and Loeb planned to wrap the rope around their victim's neck and each pull at the same time to share the guilt of the murder 50-50. But this was more to honor their obsessive need to plan the perfect crime. It would never actually come into play in a courtroom because they'd never get caught. Lastly, they both carried loaded revolvers

because you just never knew what might happen. As the two teens drove around the posh streets of the Kenwood section of Chicago, they still had one last thing to figure out, who to kidnap. They brainstormed potential targets. Armand Deutsch was 11 and an excellent candidate. His rich father would have no trouble paying the ransom. But Armand was the grandson of the president of Sears Roebuck. Richard Loeb's father was a vice president at Sears, so Armand Deutsch was out. Nathan suggested a nine-year-old, Johnny Levinson, who was in the same class as Richard's younger brother. Johnny's dad was one of the wealthiest lawyers in Chicago.

The ransom would be a drop in the bucket for him. There was also Samuel Harris, a 14-year-old whose father was a building contractor and worth a fortune. It was now 2.15 p.m. The Harvard School would let out in 15 minutes, and they hadn't made a decision. But maybe someone's face would spark a connection. They circled back and decided on Johnny Levinson. He would be playing baseball on 49th Street. After the game, when Johnny was walking home, they would abduct him.

But then the pair realized they'd be seen watching the game, and they could be easily linked to the crime. That wouldn't work either. Finding a victim was tougher than they thought. They drove around aimlessly for another two hours. It was now 4.30 p.m. and they were about to give up. They'd do one more lap around the area. If they didn't spot a suitable possibility, they'd have to postpone the kidnapping.

And then they saw a 14-year-old boy with chestnut brown hair walking home. Richard mumbled that he knew the boy. It was his second cousin, Bobby Franks. The Franks family lived across the street from the lobes. Richard didn't just know him. He'd played tennis with Bobby at Bobby. Bobby's house yesterday. Bobby's father had hit it big in the stock market and was worth at least $4 million. The $10,000 ransom would be nothing. Bobby Frank seemed to check all the boxes,

and the boys didn't really want to take a rain check on their big day. The car pulled up next to Bobby. Richard shouted from the rear window and asked Bobby if he wanted to ride home. Bobby said no, he was fine. He was practically home anyway. Then Richard said the words that would ultimately change all of Chicago that year. Come on in the car. I want to talk to you about the tennis racket you had yesterday. I want to get one for my brother. Bobby still wasn't sold.

Richard introduced Nathan, who was up front in the driver's seat. If Bobby wondered why one of the young men was up front and the other was in the back, he pushed the question assigned. Bobby Franks got into the front seat of the car. Bobby felt comfortable in the green rental car. Richard leaned up from the back seat and asked his second cousin if he minded if they drove him around the block. Bobby said that was fine. As the car passed 49th Street, Richard reached for the chisel.

He and Nathan had taped up the blade so the handle could be used as a club. Richard didn't waste any time. After another block or so, he reached over the seat with his left hand and covered Bobby's mouth. With his right, he clubbed Bobby on the head with the handle of the chisel. Bobby remained conscious. He twisted around and tried to protect himself from more blows. Bobby was now facing Richard, and Richard hit him once and then twice on the forehead. The fourth blow did the most damage.

It opened a large gash in Bobby's forehead, and he crumpled to the floor of the car. Richard assumed Bobby was dead, but then he saw the boy was somehow still conscious. Richard pulled Bobby's body into the back seat and stuffed a rag down his throat, pushing it so far down Bobby almost swallowed it. Then Richard taped Bobby's mouth shut and waited a minute as Bobby Franks died. The murder was complete, but it obviously hadn't gone according to plan. They'd spent all that time devising the system with the rope and then they hadn't used it. In any case, they still had to dispose of the body in the drain pipe near the Indiana border.

But they would have to wait until the sun went down. So Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb did what you would expect a pair of teenage murderers to do when they had a dead body under a blanket in the backseat of their car. They stopped for hot dogs and root beers. When they finished eating, it was dark enough to dispose of the body. Bobby Franks was wrapped in a blanket. Nathan held one end, Richard held the other, and they wandered down the embankment toward the culvert and the drain pipe.

At the drain pipe, they stripped off Bobby's clothes. Nathan poured hydrochloric acid over the dead boy's face and groin so he would be unidentifiable. Then they shoved Bobby Franks, head first, into the drain pipe. But the pipe was too narrow. His feet were still sticking out. After some pushing and kicking, the body was completely inside. Now the water flowing through the pipe would decompose the body, and, with no evidence remaining,

they'd get away with murder. Nathan asked if Richard could bring his shoes and jacket up from the embankment. As Richard Loeb walked up the slope, he heard a faint noise, as if something had fallen to the ground. He pulled out his flashlight and looked around but couldn't see anything. Richard asked Nathan if he'd heard anything. He hadn't. Richard assumed it must have been his imagination. On the drive back to Chicago, Richard opened some gin to celebrate.

But there was still a lot of. of work to do. They stopped at a drugstore in the city so Richard could look up the Frank's house number and Nathan could address the ransom note. If they mailed it by 10 p.m., it would arrive at the Frank's house by 8 a.m. tomorrow. Then it was back to Richard's house to burn Bobby's clothes in the basement furnace. But wait, there was only one sock. The other one must be back at the culvert. Nathan flipped out. But Richard wasn't worried about one lone sock. He never seemed to worry about anything. At 10.30 p.m., they drove to the drugstore.

Nathan called the Franks' house, posing as Mr. Johnson, to tell them their son had been kidnapped, and they should expect a letter in the morning with details of the ransom. Richard and Nathan drove back to Nathan's house and hung out with Nathan's father. Just hours after murdering a young boy from the neighborhood, they behaved as nonchalantly as if they just returned from a Cubs game. Mr. Leopold was always happy to see Richard. He believed Richard was an excellent influence on his son.

Thursday, May 22nd, 1924. The morning after the murder started out identical to all other mornings for Nathan Leopold. Like clockwork, he woke up at 7.15 a.m. But then he phoned a friend to see if he could cover from in class. Nathan would be tied up with other things. The rental car was in no condition to be returned. The Green Willy's night still had remnants of blood, skin, bone fragments, brain matter, and vomit. So he and Richard began cleaning the vehicle in Nathan's driveway.

The Leopold chauffeur, Zvene, lived in an apartment above the garage. He stared out the window and was perplexed. He'd never before seen Nathan lift a finger, but now Nathan was doing manual labor. Zven ambled down the stairs and looked at the car. Nathan quickly lied to him. He said they'd spilled a bottle of wine on it. He claimed they'd been out bootlegging and didn't want his parents to find out, so he told Zven to say nothing about it.

Nathan asked his chauffeur for some stronger soap. Zven reluctantly gave it to him, but warned that it might damage the paint. They ignored him and used it anyway. It was more important to get rid of what was left of Bobby Franks than to worry about any exterior issues. And more than worrying about the car, Richard was worried about the chauffeur. Richard never worried about anything, so this was a new and strange condition. Nathan insisted the man could be trusted. After the teens restored the car to respectable shape, they needed to contact the father of Bobby Franks.

By now, Jacob Franks must have received the ransom letter they'd mailed the night before. The letter contained detailed instructions that should end with Jacob T. taking the 3 o'clock Michigan Central train so he could throw the cigar box with $10,000 out the window at the designated time. The first directive for Mr. Franks was to stop at a litter bin at the intersection of Pershing and Vincennes. There he would find a note telling him to drive to a specific drugstore. He was instructed to wait at the rear next to a phone booth. A call would come with additional steps. Unfortunately, something as simple as attaching a.

a piece of paper to a litter bin was impossible that day. No matter how many times Nathan and Richard tried, the tape wouldn't stick to the surface, and they couldn't take a chance on leaving it there. It would blow away. Their complex ransom plan was backfiring. They couldn't be sure that Jacob Franks would find the note that would send him to the drug store so he could go to the phone booth so he could receive the instruction to get on the 3 p.m. train.

have to improvise. They called Mr. Franks and told him which train to get on and how to find his next clue. Then Richard Loeb boarded the train in a disguise of black-rimmed glasses, a black hat, and a heavy overcoat. He placed a letter in the telegraph box and got off the train completely unnoticed. The plan seemed to be back on schedule, until the boys saw the new issue of the Chicago Daily Journal. There was already an article about a naked kid's body that was found in a culvert near the Indiana border. A Polish immigrant had discovered it. He'd spotted the feet sticking out.

Now, trying to collect the ransom was pointless. It was always supposed to be an exercise in camouflage, but if Jacob Franks didn't know it already, he'd soon find out that his son was dead. One day later, everyone in Chicago was talking about the horrible murder. Bobby Frank's body was identified almost immediately. The hydrochloric acid hadn't worked. There was only a little disfigurement

and some slight discoloration of the boy's face and groin. A few of Richard's friends were journalists. As a group of them discussed the death, Richard called Bobby Franks arrogant, spoiled, and selfish. Then Richard said, If I was going to murder anybody, he was just the kind of cocky little son of a bitch that I would pick. None of Richard's friends believed he was serious.

And even as the murder was the focus of the city's attention, there was still evidence to dispose of. Nathan and Richard needed to work fast. They grabbed some pliers and tore off all the keys from the Underwood typewriter they'd used to write the initial ransom letter. They drove to the harbor and threw the typewriter in the water. They threw the keys and threw the keys and, to a lagoon. Richard was going to burn the blanket along with Bobby's clothes in his furnace.

But the blood would have attracted attention, so Nathan found a vacant area in town to do it. Now, all the evidence was destroyed or at the bottom of a lake. They were in the clear, until detectives found a pair of eyeglasses near the body. Sunday, May 25, 1924. Four days after the murder, there was a knock on the body. the Leopold's front door. It was the police. They wanted to take Nathan down to the station to answer some questions. He went without a lawyer because his parents thought it was ludicrous that their teenage son would be considered as suspect. He was obviously innocent, and this was just some policemen doing their due diligence. At the station, Nathan was asked if he knew the area where

Bobby Franks had been murdered. He said yes, he was familiar with it, but only because of all of his bird watching. The police believed him. With the interview complete, it was time for Nathan Leopold to focus on more pressing matters. He was taking the entrance exams for Harvard Law School that week, exactly a week after he and his friend murdered Bobby Franks. Soon, the police settled on a suspect, one of Nathan's former teachers, Mr. Mitchell. Mitchell was rumored to be a homosexual, and police were starting to believe the crime stemmed from pedophilia. Mitchell and two other teachers at the Harvard Prep School were held without a warrant for five days and beaten. Thursday, May 29th, 1924, eight days after the murder.

Nathan Leopold had plans that afternoon to take a group of schoolchildren to Wolf Lake, the scene of Bobby Frank's murder, for a birdwatching expedition. But three police officers showed up at his house with other ideas. One of the officers asked Nathan if he wore glasses. Nathan said yes. The officer asked if Nathan had lost them. Nathan said no. He said they were around there somewhere,

and he offered to look for them. But the officer said there was no time for that right now. They had to take Nathan to a meeting with Cook County State Attorney Robert Crow. Crow was waiting to question him downtown, but not at the police station. Instead, the interview would take place at a luxury hotel, the Hotel LaSalle. At the LaSalle, Nathan was again asked about the missing eyeglasses. He was confident if he was permitted to drive home he could find them. The state's attorney allowed him to return to his house and look.

Nathan found the eyeglass case, which was empty, and hid it. That evening, while Nathan stayed at the hotel, the police searched the Leopold resident. officers went through Nathan's bedroom and study. The eyeglasses were missing, and they found two unexpected items, an unlicensed 32-caliber automatic handgun, and a letter from Nathan to another young man named Richard Loeb. State's attorney Robert Crowe read the letter in his office. It was instantly obvious that two young men were more than just friends.

They were lovers who'd had a fight. Now Crowe wanted to talk to Richard Loeb. In the meantime, he moved Nathan from the luxury hotel to the criminal court building. Crow confronted Nathan about the glasses. The attorney held them out for Nathan to see. There were only three pairs of tortoise-shell glasses with these distinctive hinges in the Chicago area, and one of them belonged to Nathan Leopold. Nathan admitted they were his, but he went back to his bird-watching alibi.

He said he happened to be in that area four days before the murder observing sandpipes. The glasses must have fallen out of his pocket. Besides, he had an airtight alibi for the day of the murder. He'd gone to his classes, then picked up Richard Loeb, then they'd eaten lunch at a department store. Then he went bird watching in Lincoln Park. Then he and Richard cruised around and tried to pick up girls. While Nathan was spinning his tail, the police questioned Richard separately.

Their alibis matched exactly. all their rehearsing had paid off. Richard and Nathan said they'd made the girls walk home after they'd refused to have sex. That was a red flag for Crow. Why would they be interested in girls if they were both homosexual? Of course, if the girls could be found,

Richard remembered their names as May and Edna, that might be a different story. But for the moment, the state's attorney decided to keep both young men in custody. Friday, May 30th. 1924. Nine days after the murder. Reporters flocked to the Kenwood neighborhood.

The state's attorney might have caught the murderers. Nathan Leopold's father thought otherwise, and he invited some journalists into his house. He assured everyone his son was not involved. They knew the Frank's family personally. It's ridiculous, he said. When reporters asked about Nathan's eyeglasses at the scene of the crime, Nathan Sr. had the same explanation as his son.

Nathan Jr. had been birdwatching in the area, and it was a coincidence. At the Loeb residence, the reaction was the same. Richard's mother insisted her son was blameless. She said that connecting the boys to the crime was absurd. The families believed it was so absurd that they made grave mistakes. They allowed their sons to be questioned without the presence of a lawyer. More evidence poured in. and each successive item dismantled Nathan and Richard's alibis.

Nathan's eyeglasses had been found near the body. Nathan's handwriting matched the envelope of the ransom note. The police had obtained typed legal notes from Nathan that matched the typed ransom letter, which proved the same typewriter had been used for both documents. And in addition, Richard and Nathan had an intimate connection. Nathan had now been in custody for close to 36 hours. But despite the mounting evidence, his parents remained unwavering in his innocence. Zvene England, the family chauffeur, told Nathan's father that Nathan couldn't have kidnapped Bobby Franks

since his car was in the garage all day. Zven said he'd spent most of the afternoon working on the brakes. Nathan's dad breathed a sigh of relief and asked Sven to tell his story at the criminal court building. The chauffeur repeated his story to one of the state's attorney's assistants. but then, unprompted, he added a new detail. A second car had pulled into the driveway that day. It was dark green. Nathan's father assumed this story would help his son.

In fact, it destroyed Nathan's alibi that he and Richard had been driving around all afternoon in his red car. State's attorney Crow now knew he had the boys nailed. He just had to figure out which one would break first. It was nearly 1 a.m. Richard Loeb had been held in isolation, so he wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he knew enough to ask for a lawyer. Crow ignored his request

and grilled Richard about the car and the chauffeur. Richard Loeb wouldn't budge. He said the chauffeur was either lying or mistaken in his memory of the day. Saturday, May 31st, 1924, 10 days after the murder. Richard Loeb sat in the interrogation room alone. It was late.

Robert Crowe entered and noticed Richard had been crying. Richard asked the state attorney why he was being held. Crow replied, Because Leopold is the owner of those glasses, and you said you were with Leopold all day on the day of the murder. Crow repeated the other evidence. It was overwhelming. Richard, with tears streaming down his cheeks,

rocked back and forth in his chair and said, I will tell you all. Richard spilled his guts to prosecutors. Half an hour later, Crow sat with Nathan Leopold in another room just down the hall. Nathan wanted to speak to Crow to ask him a hypothetical question. Suppose someone from a wealthy family, as rich as his own, had committed the murder.

What chance would that person have of beating the murder charge? Crow was incensed. He thought Nathan might be offering him a bribe or suggesting he'd simply bribe the jury if it came to trial. Either way, Crow didn't like the question. He snapped back. Nathan was about to find out. Crow was going to charge him for the murder of Bobby Franks.

Nathan thought Crow was bluffing and just trying to intimidate him. Then Crow told Nathan the big news. Richard Loeb had cracked. He told him every detail of the murder. The cocky look on Nathan's face faded away. He knew he was in big trouble. There was only one thing left to do. Put most of the blame on Richard Loeb.

Nathan said it was Richard's idea. It was Richard who got Bobby in the car. It was Richard who hit Bobby with a chisel. And at the same time that was happening, Richard was down the hall putting all the blame on Nathan Leopold. He said Nathan was driving. driving the car, and Nathan had struck the victim with the chisel and stuffed a rag in his mouth. Nathan was the brains behind it all.

Richard said, I am fully convinced that neither the idea nor the act would have occurred to me had it not been for the suggestion and stimulus of Leopold. Furthermore, I do not believe that I would have been capable of having killed Franks. A little before 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, May 31st, Robert Crowe stood at in the main hallway of the criminal court building to speak to some journalists. He proclaimed, we have the murderers in custody. Next time on Infamous America, Leopold and Loeb

need a lawyer, and there's only one man for the job, Clarence Darrow, one of the most famous lawyers in the country. The biggest question of the upcoming trial would be, could they avoid the death penalty? 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. Members 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-Barrell Media on Twitter. And you can stream all our episodes on YouTube. Just search for Infamous America Podcast. Thanks for listening.