Blame Game
Lutheran minister Simon Peter Long gave a sermon expressing his belief in the reason behind the Franks murder:
“These boys were taught that the intellect is all important. They came to worship a brain god and because they were unusually brilliant they believed they were great…To me the difficulty seems to be in high training of the intellect without encouraging belief in the Deity. This murder is the logical outcome of overdeveloped intellects without belief.”
He hoped some good would come out of the murder: in that it would encourage people away from atheism.
Psychiatric Examinations
Leopold and Loeb were given physical examinations by Hulbert, Bowman, and new doctors Paul Dick and J. J. Moore. According to one newspaper, they were denied breakfast as the doctors would be testing their basal metabolisms.
Reporter Conversations
Helen Fox, a reporter from New York, went to visit the pair and gave her impressions in a long article. She went first to Leopold:
“What is an intellectual?” he asked. “What is an artist? What is a genius?” His voice was mildly ironic. He smiled a smile that did not seem to trouble to be superior.
I offered a definition-something about an intellectual liking a picture after he discovered it had merit, artist looking for its merit after he found that he liked it.
“Rather ingenious,” conceded Leopold. I searched hard for sarcasm.
“I am no more logical than others of my sex, you see,” I said taking the first personal singular keynote from Leopold himself.
“Ah!” said Leopold with a gallant little bow “That is what makes women so adorable,” and the report has been that Loeb was the ladies man and Leopold something of a mysoginist.
“Few women,” he continued, “from the fund of experience of 19 years, have a scientific turn of mind. Few women are great mathematicians. A woman is essentially illogical for that reason beloved of man.”
Leopold has been described innumerable times. His high forehead and ready flashing smile, arrogance and egotism, but winning personality has always been attributed to his weaker colleague Loeb. While at times Leopold’s cocksureness was not a little irritating, He can be charming if he likes. When chatting with the ‘boys’ he was natural and no less witty than when trying to impress the newbie.
And now for the lady killer, the half shy boy who will talk to reporters of the fair sex only. Loeb is an attractive youngster in spite of several gold crowns on his teeth. His eyes are black and vivacious. His features regular and sensitive.
“I’d like to talk about it,” Loeb of course referred to the killing of the Franks’ boy, “and I don’t think it would affect our case one way or the other. But I gave my word I wouldn’t.” “No, I’m afraid I never had any artistic inclinations.” Loeb’s black eyes smiled. He was less loquacious than Leopold, the conversation was a dilletante one, the kind that may be heard at any pink tea.
Once or twice we skated on thin ice-when we said everybody was slightly pathological. “It is just a question of degree.”
“Yes,” he answered shortly, and discouraged any continuance of the subject.
Photos
Leopold with doctors and his lawyer. One doctor holds an oxygen tank, to be used in the upcoming examination.
Sources
- Bulletin of the Catholic Layman’s Association of Georgia, June 14, 1924
- Chicago Daily Journal, June 15, 1924
- Chicago Herald and Examiner, June 14, 1924
- Mansfield News Journal, June 15, 1924
The Lives and Legends of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold 
Fuck leopold, it’s either loeb is playing the helpless victim of Leopold really well or (hear me out) leopold was the one whose really in control, because no way in hell that mf was the weak shy boy depicted in drama/books. Side note I’ve seen this old post on tumblr saying that they saw on a blog someone saying that loeb would get insanely jealous when leopold would like hang out with other friends other than him, is that true? I mean it did say they both would get jealous of each other, but jealous of what?
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Haha, yes I don’t think Leopold was the weak shy boy depicted in media, but I also don’t think either Leopold or Loeb were victims of each other. I think they were two guys with few morals who matched each other pretty well. So that jealousy thing I think comes from the interview Abel Brown did with Hal Higdon, the notes from that are: “at frat it bruited about that dick sweet on babe; think dick jealous that [Abel] had babe to frat for lunch, which did about once a week.] So that’s just speculation and I don’t put much stock into Abel’s memory because he was extremely biased.
We don’t get too much information about Leopold and Loeb being jealous of each other’s friends. The psychiatrists said that Leopold was jealous of Loeb, but not what he was jealous of. Other people? Loeb’s social abilities? It’s unclear.
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They also said Loeb was jealous of Leopold but never say about what, it’s kinda annoying. But I always thought Abel was in love with leopold, he just too positive that he was good man and kinda worshipped him.
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Haha now there’s a theory! It’s funny, because I have no idea how close they actually were pre crime, Abel also didn’t really stay close to Leopold after the arrest, he just resurfaced in the 50s to throw his support behind him. Reading the letters they exchanged they don’t seem very close, but Abel does come across as very opinionated: when he liked someone or something he was super positive about them, if he disliked someone (like his ex wife or loeb) they became these huge evil villains in his mind. An interesting guy for sure.
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Wasn’t Abel the guy that leopold planned to tour Europe with? And I think in ur book there was letter like from 1927; can’t remember really, and that letter really got me questioning everything cuz it felt like he was worshipping him.
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So that’s an interesting thing that trip. I’d always heard they had planned to go to Europe together, but looking at thier passports that wasn’t true. I believe Abel was already in Europe during the murder, and he went with his mom. So maybe they had planned to meet up while they were both over there, but they didn’t plan to spend the entire trip together.
And yeah, I think there’s one or two letters from Abel before the 50s, one written after a visit and that letter is super gushy. I’m not sure why he’s like that, haha. It could be he had feelings for him, it could have been he was being overly cheerful and positive after seeing the conditions Leopold was living in, could be a lot of things. I’d love a novel from Abel’s pov as he watches his crush fall for someone else and, from his perspective, get corrupted and turn to the dark side. You could probably do the same thing for Loeb with Lorraine, as there’s all those quotes from her about Leopold infecting Loeb.
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It explains why he hated loeb so much and maybe the hatred loeb had for him.
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It would explain that, yup
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