,Who were they?
Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb, usually referred to
collectively as Leopold and Loeb, were two wealthy students at the University
of Chicago who kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks in Chicago,
Illinois, in May 1924. They committed the murder – characterized at the time as
"the crime of the century" – hoping to demonstrate superior intellect, which
they believed enabled and entitled them to carry out a "perfect crime" without
consequences.
, Early Life of Loeb
Richard Loeb was born on June 11, 1905, in Chicago, the second of four
sons of a wealthy family. Loeb was very intelligent. He was an avid reader,
with a passion for historical novels and crime stories. At age 12, he entered
the innovative University High School. With the encouragement of his
governess, he completed his high school education in two years. He was
the University of Michigan's youngest graduate at age 17. Following
graduation from Michigan, Loeb enrolled in a course in constitutional
history at the University of Chicago Law School.