Richard Loeb Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Richard Loeb
OCCUPATION: Murderer
BIRTH DATE: June 11, 1905
DEATH DATE: January 28, 1936
EDUCATION: University of Chicago
PLACE OF BIRTH: Chicago, Illinois
PLACE OF DEATH: Joliet, Illinois

Best Known For

Richard Loeb, of Leopold and Loeb, is best known for murdering 14-year old Bobby Franks with Nathan Leopold in an attempt to carry out the 'perfect crime'.

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Richard Albert Loeb

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Richard Albert Loeb. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 03:52, May 23, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/richard-loeb-227821.

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After depositing Franks’ body in a culvert at nearby Wolf Lake, they delivered the ransom note to the boy’s father, Jacob Franks.

Trial and Sentencing

Unbeknownst to Leopold and Loeb, Jacob Franks had contacted the police, and Bobby Franks’ body was found and identified before the ransom was delivered. Leopold and Loeb were interrogated by police and eventually Loeb admitted the murder, claiming that Leopold had been the driving force behind the plan and that he had struck the fatal blow on Franks. Leopold claimed the opposite was true. The families hired Clarence Darrow, the country’s foremost criminal defense lawyer, to represent the pair at trial. On September 24, 1924 Leopold and Loeb each received a life sentence for the murder, rather than the death penalty, and an additional 99 years each for the kidnapping.

While serving his sentence in Joliet Penitentiary on January 28, 1936, Loeb was viciously attacked and killed by his cellmate, James Day, who claimed that Loeb had made sexual advances to him.