Reviewed by Dan Richard Beto
Huntsville, Texas
The Franks Case Revisited
For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Crime that Shocked Chicago. By Simon Baatz. Collins Publishers, New York, 2008, 541 pp., $27.95.
It is a story that has been told a number of times before, but perhaps not quite as well as in For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Crime that Shocked Chicago. Author Simon Baatz holds a joint appointment as associate professor of history at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.
Most persons interested in criminal justice, the courts, and high-profile cases of the 20th century are familiar with the 1924 senseless kidnapping and murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks by two remorseless homosexual lovers—Nathan (Babe) Leopold, Jr., and Richard (Dickie) Loeb—all three members of affluent Chicago families. The two killers—both college students and exceptionally bright—set out to commit the perfect crime. Unfortunately for them, the victim’s body was found almost immediately, and because of mistakes made in part due to their own youthful arrogance, they became suspects and later confessed.
Following a highly charged trial that pitted two exceptional lawyers (Clarence Darrow, lead attorney for the defense, and Robert Crowe, chief prosecutor), the defendants were spared the gallows and each was sentenced to serve life in prison for murder plus an additional 99 years on the kidnapping charge. On September 12, 1924, just two days after sentencing, Leopold and Loeb underwent processing at the Joliet Prison. Less than 12 years later Loeb was stabbed to death by another inmate. Leopold adjusted to prison life and, by most accounts, was a model prisoner. In March 1958, after spending more than 33 years in custody, Leopold was paroled to a job in Puerto Rico, where he subsequently married a widow. He was released from parole in 1963 and on August 29, 1971, he died of a heart attack.
For the Thrill of It is divided into three parts. The first is devoted to the crime, where the author provides a more than satisfactory introduction to the two killers, the victim, and their prominent families; likewise, he offers a detailed description of the crime, along with how it was detected and successfully solved by police and prosecutors.
In the second part of the book the reader is introduced to the legendary trial lawyer Clarence Darrow, who was educated at the University of Michigan Law School, and State’s Attorney for Cook County Robert Crowe, a Yale Law School graduate and former Circuit Court judge. In the two chapters that comprise Part Two, Baatz provides brief but sufficiently comprehensive biographies of these two courtroom combatants; likewise, he offers insights into their contrasting philosophies on the causes of crime and the treatment of offenders.
Part Three is devoted to the court proceedings, trial tactics, expert testimony, closing arguments, and sentencing. This section is the most interesting part of the book, due to the author’s meticulous attention to the closing arguments. Also included in this section is a chapter that describes life for Leopold and Loeb after sentencing.
Baatz concludes with chapters dealing with “Leopold and Loeb in Fiction,” the “Author’s Note,” and a discussion of the sources he used in researching his subject. Also provided are endnotes from the chapters and an index.
In For the Thrill of It, the author has done a commendable job of producing a well-researched book on one of the more celebrated trials in the early part of the 20th century. In addition, he possesses a writing style that makes this book an easy read. Persons interested in crime, criminal behavior, and the courts will find reading this book enjoyable and enlightening.