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The Leopold and Loeb case, a century Later

In the summer of 1924, the Leopold and Loeb murder case triggered a media frenzy and a debate over whether anyone can truly know what’s inside the mind of a cold-blooded killer

Smithsonian editor Meilan Solly introduces us to teens Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb and their botched, but still deadly, effort to perpetrate “the perfect crime.” What happened next was also surprising: After confessing to the abduction and murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks, they were spared capital punishment thanks to their famed attorney Clarence Darrow. One of the really haunting details from the case is that Leopold and Loeb just went out and bought sandwiches and root beer while Bobby’s body was just in the car and didn’t seem particularly affected by the fact that they had just murdered this young boy. Darrow also emphasized the Nietzschean Supermen theory that Leopold had really embraced, the one about how they were above the law and above others, and he was one part blaming Nietzsche, saying they really drew on this philosophy, and they may have completely misunderstood it, but this is what drove them to do this and it shouldn’t be something that they are held personally responsible for.

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