The abduction and murder of Bobby Franks broke the Chicago newspapers on May 23, 1924. Two days pervious to this, Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold were responsible for the crime. It quickly became known as “the crime of the century” and retained that dubious designation throughout the seventy-five years left in that spectacularly violent time span.1 This case was viewed upon so drastically because it was just so different from any others during this time. It was relatively unheard of, for men of such high society standards to do anything of this sorts. Bobby Franks was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and his murder had no reason and no motive other than Leopold and Loebs perplexing relationship. The 1920’s was a period of expansion
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The abduction and brutal killing of a rich young boy in an exclusive neighborhood provided grist for this mill. Public preoccupation with murder and murder trails was in large measure a phenomenon of the press. With the single exception of the lindbergh flight, virtually every sizable paper has its largest circulation during intensive murder trail coverage. Chicago newspaper stood to gain from covering the Franks murder closely.8 The very close scrutinizing public eye on this case not only sparked the interest in the case it self but it also helped to solve it. The image of “Leopold and Loeb”, as a crime, the fused character of joint killers, or distinct personalities of two individuals has become a fixture of American culture. Since the breaking on public consciousness in front-page headlines during the summer of 1924, it has provided source material for novels, histories, plays, movies, a popular musical and even comic books.9 Part of what makes the Leopold-Loeb case so historically significant is the manner in which the crime and its perpetrators were represented by the press and the public essential to understanding the social tensions that made the case so sensational and so captivating.10 This murder was exceptionally strange since before that day people of such high statue in society had no reason to kill, and would not kill. Gangster murders were all over Chicago at that time but an unexplained death of a rich boy in a fashionable neighborhood caught the public eye. The police and state’s attorney devoted many resources to this investigation, it was at the time called one of the worst crimes in the history of the
The abduction and brutal killing of a rich young boy in an exclusive neighborhood provided grist for this mill. Public preoccupation with murder and murder trails was in large measure a phenomenon of the press. With the single exception of the lindbergh flight, virtually every sizable paper has its largest circulation during intensive murder trail coverage. Chicago newspaper stood to gain from covering the Franks murder closely.8 The very close scrutinizing public eye on this case not only sparked the interest in the case it self but it also helped to solve it. The image of “Leopold and Loeb”, as a crime, the fused character of joint killers, or distinct personalities of two individuals has become a fixture of American culture. Since the breaking on public consciousness in front-page headlines during the summer of 1924, it has provided source material for novels, histories, plays, movies, a popular musical and even comic books.9 Part of what makes the Leopold-Loeb case so historically significant is the manner in which the crime and its perpetrators were represented by the press and the public essential to understanding the social tensions that made the case so sensational and so captivating.10 This murder was exceptionally strange since before that day people of such high statue in society had no reason to kill, and would not kill. Gangster murders were all over Chicago at that time but an unexplained death of a rich boy in a fashionable neighborhood caught the public eye. The police and state’s attorney devoted many resources to this investigation, it was at the time called one of the worst crimes in the history of the