Analytical Essay: The Murder Of Leopold And Loeb

Leopold and Loeb One fateful day in May of 1924, the people of Illinois and then of the entire United States were caught off guard by a murder, a murder of a fourteen-year-old boy. However, the crime would come crashing to the ground because of a tiny mistake that would haunt the killers for the rest of their lives. 1920s America was booming. It was prosperous, and World War I had just ended. Everyone in the country was tired of war, violence, and bloodshed. So therefore the people of the United States turned to the economy and the factories to improve their way of life and try to maintain peace in the world so there would never be another Great War. That was until Leopold and Loeb murdered Bobby Franks. All three boys were from families who

The police were able to catch Leopold and Loeb rather quickly and easily. Leopold and Loeb were able to take care of the evidence extremely easily, they hid Franks’ shoes in a bush, threw the chisel out of a car window, threw the typewriter they used to write the ransom note away, cleaned the Rent-A-Car and burned his clothes (Grant 175). However they missed one crucial thing, Leopold dropped his glasses near the body. When a group of railroad workers found Franks’ foot sticking out of the drainage ditch they found the glasses not far from it. Once the police gained possession of the glasses they could track down the company that made them due to the special hinges. These hinges were specific to the Optical Company of Rochester, New York (Grant 172). The company had told them the glasses were one of only three pairs. The police found that one pair belonged to a man out of the country at the time, the second pair belonged to a woman who was able to prove she had possession of them, and the final person was Leopold who upon not being able to show the glasses was arrested. However they had created an alibi: If they were caught before one week they would say they were at Lincoln Park with a couple of girls, if they got caught after one week they would say they didn’t remember where they were or what they did. Leopold did use

This would put the decision of whether or not Leopold and Loeb got the death penalty or not up to the judge. The defense argued that Leopold and Loeb should not get the death penalty due to them being mentally ill and they argued that Leopold was a schizophrenic. The prosecution on the other hand argued that they should be given the death penalty because it was the law, Illinois State Attorney said: “The Death Penalty had been ordained by the legislature, which was elected by the people of Illinois” (McLynn 145). Darrow ended his argument by saying that the death penalty should not be given to Leopold and Loeb because it did not stop them in the first place. Leopold and Loeb were sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping and murder of Bobby