The Murder Of Nathan Leopold And Richard Loeb

On the fateful day of May 21, 1924, two brilliant and wealthy young men, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, committed a crime that would go down in history as the first true crime of the century. After confessing to committing murder just for the thrill of it, they were put on a trial that captivated the nation.

From the outside looking in, Leopold and Loeb didn't exactly seem like two men who would commit murder. Nathan F. Leopold and Richard A. Loeb were both born into very prominent families, and grew up in the wealthy Jewish neighborhood of Kenwood on the South Side of Chicago (Baatz). They were both exceptionally brilliant; Leopold graduated from college at the age of 18, and Loeb at just 17 years old (“Leopold and Loeb”). The two first

The two were imprisoned in Stateville Penitentiary in Illinois (Baatz). However, just 12 years into his sentence, Richard Loeb was stabbed by fellow inmate James Day, and died of his injuries soon thereafter (Baatz). Day claimed that Loeb has been making homosexual advances towards him (“Leopold and Loeb”). Leopold, however, lived a more peaceful life while behind bars. As Linder wrote, “Leopold managed to keep intellectually active in prison. He taught in the prison school, mastered foreign languages, worked as an x-ray technician in the prison hospital, reorganized the prison library, volunteered to be tested with an experimental malaria vaccine, and designed a new system of prison education.” After 33 years in prison, Leopold was allowed parole in 1958, and moved to Puerto Rico to work as a hospital technician. He married a widow in 1961, and died of a heart attack 10 years later in 1971 at age 66 (“Leopold and

The trial of Leopold and Loeb quickly became the first real trial of the century (Baatz). It became a sensation both in Chicago and around the county; the fact that two brilliant, wealthy young men had kidnapped and murdered their acquaintance just “for the fun of it” was simply unheard of during the time period (Baatz). Warren was correct when she wrote, “The boy had vanished into a car rented under a phony name by two University of Chicago graduate students. Ten days later, there would not be man, woman or child in Chicago who did not know the names of the murderous lads: Leopold and