Chicago, 1924.
On May 21, 1924, 14 year old Bobby Franks was walking home from Harvard School. It seemed like a normal afternoon, the sun was up, the weather was warm, and Bobby had almost reached home. His parents were waiting for him, but Bobby never arrived.
WHAT HAPPENED TO BOBBY?
Bobby's parents, Flora and Jacob Franks were worried when Bobby didn't come home that night. They looked everywhere for Bobby, even going to his school and asking people if they had seen the poor boy. His parents stayed restless until they received a phone call that night from an unknown caller. The caller informed the worried parents that their son Bobby was okay, and that if they were to inform the police about this incident, Bobby would simply be killed. Jacob and Flora were only to follow their orders.
The next morning at 8 AM, a letter arrived at the Franks' house and at the top was written 'Dear Sir', and signed form a 'George Johnson'. The letter continued to explain how it would prove fatal to Bobby if they contacted the police, and detailed instructions of how Jacob would carry a ransom amount of money in a bag and board a train to Michigan, Indiana. In the train, Jacob was supposed to go to the back end of the train, and throw the bag of money when he saw the train passing 'CHAMPION' factory.
Jacob had trouble believing that his son had been kidnapped, and he was unable to comply to the letter because of the news. Earlier that day, news had reported a body of a boy was found near Wolf Lake whose features sounded similar to Bobby, but a pair of glasses were also found by the boy's body.
Bobby didn't wear glasses, so it couldn't have been him... right?
As there were rumors of Bobby's disappearance, the police contacted the Franks to ask if they could possibly identify the body. Both Jacob and Flora couldn't bring themselves to go to the morgue, so Bobby's uncle went instead. Moments after Bobby's uncle went to the morgue, he called his brother, Jacob and said, "It's him."
Bobby Franks' body was found on May 22nd, 1924. His face, abdomen, and genitals had been poured with hydrochloric acid in an attempt to hide his identity, and fortunately the concentration of acid the killer had used wasn't high enough to serve its purpose.
Bobby's head had been bludgeoned with a chisel several times, before a rag was shoved down his throat and taped shut - he died of asphyxiation. The police also found a pair of glasses next to Bobby's body that didn't belong to him.
With Bobby's disappearance no longer in question, what's left to ask is only;
Who killed Bobby Franks?
WHO DID IT?
The glasses that didn't belong to Bobby was the police's first piece of evidence. It had been patented by Almer and Coe, and only 3 pairs were ever made. One of which belonged to Nathan Leopold, a 19 year old law student at the University of Chicago.
Leopold was the son of a wealthy, German-Jewish family. He had a love for bird watching. He had written several papers about bird watching, even quite recognized as a professional ornithologist. When police interrogated the young man, Leopold said it must've slipped out of his pocket when he was bird watching near Wolf Lake. He even demonstrated how easy it was for the glasses to slip out of his front pocket as he bent down to the police.
The police had no other evidence against Leopold, but the young adult seemed to enjoy talking to the police. He was a little arrogant, too.
"If I were to murder anybody, it would be just such a cocky little son of a bitch as Bobby Franks." - Nathan Leopold.
Leopold once said, despite claiming he didn't know Bobby in the beginning. This led the police to think that Leopold wasn't telling the truth.
It wasn't long until the police found Leopold's link to Bobby Franks. That link, was a person called Richard Loeb, his lover and Bobby Franks' cousin. Loeb was 18 years old when brought in for questioning.
Loeb was just as intelligent as Leopold. He graduated from high school at the age of 14, spoke 5 languages, and also enrolled in University of Chicago, then transferred to University of Michigan. Though his years in university weren't as smooth sailing as Leopold's, he still graduated in 1924.
While Leopold denied all claims brought against him killing Bobby Franks, Loeb confessed to everything.
'THE PERFECT CRIME'
Before Bobby, Leopold and Loeb had done several criminal acts. Just six months before they murdered Bobby, the lovers had robbed Loeb's fraternity house but the results weren't quite satisfactory.
Loeb had always had an eye for dangerous acts. Together, they had committed several robberies, arson, etc., but none of their devious acts had been reported in the news and Loeb wasn't satisfied. Loeb wanted to commit the perfect crime, a crime that would be in the news headline of Chicago. That was when he had the idea of kidnapping a child, and then asking their parents for money. It was the thrill of trying not to be caught that got that excited him.
On the afternoon of May 21, 1924, Leopold and Loeb was out on a drive in their rental car. They were waiting for Armand Deutsch, a 11 year old boy who was the grandson of one of the most richest people in Chicago. However, they couldn't find Deutsch and decided to look for another child for them to kidnap.
After a while of driving, Loeb saw a boy walking on the sidewalk by himself. That boy was Bobby Franks, Loeb's cousin. The pair pulled over and Loeb invited Bobby to come into the car with them, said they'd give him a ride. Bobby refused at first, he could walk by himself and he wasn't far from home. But when his cousin started talking about tennis, Bobby couldn't help but be interested in the topic and he climbed in the car.
The three of them drove around the block, not getting to Bobby's house, when suddenly Loeb reached towards the back with a chisel in his hand, and repeatedly smashed it into Bobby's skull. Somehow, Bobby hadn't died yet, he was still struggling for his life while blood gushed out. Bobby was whining and crying, so Loeb took a rag and shoved it down Bobby's throat before taping it shut. It seemed to do it, because Bobby stopped moving quite some time after that.
They moved Bobby's body to the trunk while they drove. Before disposing Bobby's body, Leopold and Loeb even had time to grab a hotdog along the way. Bobby's body was disposed at Wolf Lake, several miles out of Chicago. But as they did, Leopold's glasses fell out of his pocket without him noticing.
Ten days after the murder, Leopold and Loeb confessed to the crime.
THE AFTERMATH
In trial, the matter at hand was the punishment for these two young men who think they're immune to the law. The two had shown up to court in fancy suits, showing their wealth, and their lawyers were some of the best. There was no defending these two young men that they did - they confessed, but their lawyers did an immense job of getting them out of death sentences by pointing out their mental, physical, and ethical well being.
The prosecutor argued that in other states, similar murders had occurred, none even as well planned as Leopold and Loeb's, but the murderers were still sentenced to death regardless of their age.
This, however, did not shake the court's decision of only sentencing Leopold and Loeb to only 99 years of prison due to their age. While the sentences served weren't death sentences, it was still a win for the defendants because it meant they had the chance to appeal.
When asked why they killed Bobby Franks, the answer was simple.
"As they might kill a spider or butterfly; for the experience." Said their lawyer, Clarence Darrow.
In 1936, a prisoner stabbed Loeb in the shower and he died of his wounds at the age of 30.
Leopold on the other hand, served for 33 years in prison until he won parole in 1958. All TV medias wanted an interview with him, but all he said was he wanted to live a simple, humble, little life. He moved to Puerto Rico, and got married. He returned to Chicago often to see friends and the graves of his parents, until he died of a heart attack at the age of 66 in Puerto Rico.
All the while little Bobby Franks would never come home.
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Do you think Leopold and Loeb deserved their sentences?