Editing Leopold and Loeb (section)

{{Short description|American kidnapper-murderer duo}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox criminal
|name               = Nathan Leopold
|image_name         = Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00652, Nathan Leopold.png
|image_caption      = Leopold in August 1924
|birth_name         = Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr.
|birth_date         = {{Birth date|1904|11|19}}
|birth_place        = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
|death_date         = {{Death date and age|1971|8|29|1904|11|19}}
|death_place        = [[Puerto Rico]]
|charge             = Murder, kidnapping
|conviction_penalty = Life + 99 years' imprisonment
|conviction_status  = 
}}
{{Infobox criminal
|name               = Richard Loeb
|image_name         = Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00652, Richard Loeb.png
|image_caption      = Loeb in August 1924
|birth_name         = Richard Albert Loeb
|birth_date         = {{Birth date|1905|6|11}}
|birth_place        = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
|death_date         = {{Death date and age|1936|1|28|1905|6|11}}
|death_place        = [[Joliet, Illinois]], U.S.
|cause              = Homicide (from 58 inflicted wounds from a razor attack)
|charge             = Murder, kidnapping
|conviction_penalty = Life + 99 years' imprisonment
|conviction_status  = 
}}
'''Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr.''' (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mocavo.com/Nathan-Leopold-1904-1971-Social-Security-Death-Index/14776609493099645561|title=Mocavo and Findmypast are coming together – findmypast.com|website=www.mocavo.com|access-date=March 7, 2014|archive-date=March 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323060537/http://www.mocavo.com/Nathan-Leopold-1904-1971-Social-Security-Death-Index/14776609493099645561|url-status=live}}</ref> and '''Richard Albert Loeb''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|oʊ|b}}; June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), usually referred to collectively as '''Leopold and Loeb''', were two American students at the [[University of Chicago]] who kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], United States, on May 21, 1924. They committed the murder – characterized at the time as "the [[crime of the century]]"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041113083235/http://homicide.northwestern.edu/crimes/leopold1/ Homicide in Chicago 1924 Leopold & Loeb] Retrieved July 18, 2015.</ref> – hoping to demonstrate superior intellect,<ref>{{cite book|first=Brian|last=Lane|title=Chronicle of 20th Century Murder|publisher=[[Berkley Books]]|location=New York |date=1995|isbn=978-0425146491|pages=106–107}}</ref> which they believed enabled and entitled them to carry out a "[[perfect crime]]" without consequences.

After the two men were arrested, Leopold and Loeb's families retained [[Clarence Darrow]] as lead counsel for their [[defense (law)|defense]]. Darrow's eight-hour summation at their sentencing hearing is noted for its influential [[Capital punishment debate in the United States|criticism]] of [[capital punishment]] as [[retributive justice|retributive]] rather than [[transformative justice]]. Both men were sentenced to [[life imprisonment]] plus 99 years. Loeb was murdered by a fellow prisoner in 1936. Leopold was released on [[parole]] in 1958. The case has since served as the inspiration for several dramatic works.