Leopold and Loeb Trial - The Clarence Darrow Collection

Leopold and Loeb, not knowing that Bobby Franks’ body had been found and identified,
believed that Jacob Loeb had taken the cab to the drugstore. When Leopold and Loeb left
to go to the next location where they would call Jacob Franks at the drugstore, they
noticed a headline in a newspaper. Leopold describes this in his confession: “We chanced
to see a newspaper lying on the stand with headlines, ‘Unidentified Boy Found in
Swamp.’ We deliberated a few moments as to what to do, Dick thinking the game was
up. I, however, insisted it could do not harm to call the drug store. This I did, but was told
that no Mr. Franks was in the building.” Leopold was scheduled to hold an ornithology
class that day but he called a friend, George Lewis, who agreed to lead the class.
“a cocky, little son-of-a-bitch”
On Friday, Loeb visited the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house at the University of Chicago
and ran into an acquaintance named Howard Mayer. Mayer was working as a campus
correspondent for Hearst’s Evening American newspaper. Loeb discussed the crime with
Mayer and talked Mayer into doing a little investigating to see if they could figure out
which drug store on 63 rd Street Mr. Franks was supposed to wait at for instructions from
the kidnapper. Mayer declined because it was raining and he had to study. But soon they
were joined by two reporters from the Chicago Daily News, Alvin Goldstein and James
Mulroy. Loeb pitched his idea to the two reporters and they gladly accepted and talked
Mayer into driving. After checking some drug stores and asking employees whether
anyone had called the day before for a Mr. Franks, they did find the right store. Loeb,
acting surprised, seemed very excited about the discovery. Loeb’s fascination with
detective stories no doubt added to his excitement.
On the drive back from the drug store, Mulroy asked Loeb what Bobby Franks was like
and if he was the kind of boy who would have struggled with the kidnappers and scared
them into killing him. Loeb responded with the audacity of someone who thought he had
pulled off the perfect crime: “If I was going to murder anybody I would murder just such
a cocky, little son-of-a-bitch as Bobbie Franks.”
Saturday, May 24
Leopold and Loeb were shocked that Bobby Franks’ body had been discovered and
identified so soon. They were anxious and worried to learn from the newspapers that a
pair of eyeglasses had been found near the body. Leopold had quickly concluded they
were his glasses. Despite these setbacks, they still thought they had pulled off the perfect
crime. But they still had some evidence to get rid of. Around 2:00 a.m. on Saturday they
set out to get dispose of the Underwood typewriter and the automobile blanket with
Bobby Franks’ blood on it. They drove to Jackson Park and took pliers and pulled the tips
of keys off the typewriter and threw them off a bridge into the water. They drove further
and threw the typewriter into the water. Finally, they stopped at an area by South Shore
drive and soaked the robe in gasoline and set it on fire.
Very soon after Bobby Franks’ body had been identified, reporters swooped into the
Kenwood area looking for anyone who could offer news bites about the crime or the
16