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Now purchase necessary if we were privited 22 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:03.840 by loss he terms and conditions eighteen plus. 23 00:01:11.079 --> 00:01:14.480 You are now listening to true Murder The most shocking 24 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:17.599 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 25 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:24.959 written about them. Gasey Bundy Dahmer The Nightstalker VTK Every 26 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.680 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 27 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:32.959 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your 28 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.799 host journalist and author Dan Zufanski. 29 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:48.159 Good Evening. Nearly one hundred years ago, two wealthy and 30 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:52.599 privileged teenagers, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loewe, were charged and 31 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:55.079 convicted in a gruesome crime that would lead to the 32 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:59.200 original trial of the century, even in jazz age Chicago. 33 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:02.480 The murder was uniquely shocking for the motive of the killers. 34 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:06.200 Well to do Jewish scions full of promise, had killed 35 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.879 fourteen year old Robbie Franks for the thrill of it. 36 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:12.280 The trial was made even more sensational by the revelation 37 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.280 of a love affair between the defendants and by defense 38 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:18.439 attorney Clarence Darrow, who delivered one of the most famous 39 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:21.400 defense summations of all time to save the boys from 40 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:24.639 the death penalty. The story of their mad folli adeaux, 41 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:29.039 with Loeb portrayed as the psychopathic mastermind and Leopold as 42 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:33.639 his infatuated disciple has been endlessly repeated and accepted by 43 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.759 history as fact, and none of it is true. Using 44 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:41.400 twenty first century investigative tools, forensics, and a modern understanding 45 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:44.439 of the psychology of these infamous killers, Nothing but the 46 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:47.800 Knight turns history on its head. While Lobe has long 47 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.960 been viewed as the architect behind the murders, King and 48 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:55.039 Wilson's new research points to Leopold as the dominant partner 49 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:58.919 in the deadly relationship, uncovering a dark obsession with violence 50 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:02.879 and sex. Nothing but the Night pulls readers into the 51 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:06.719 troubled world of Leopold and loebe revealing a more horrifying 52 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:11.560 tale of passion, obsession, and betrayal than history ever imagined. 53 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.840 The book that we're featuring this evening is Nothing but 54 00:03:13.960 --> 00:03:17.000 the Night, Leopold and Lobe and the Truth behind the 55 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:22.080 murder Trial that rock nineteen twenties America, with my special guests, 56 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:26.000 historians and authors Penny Wilson and Greg King. Welcome to 57 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:28.000 the program, and thank you so much for this interview. 58 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:29.840 Penny Wilson and Greg King. 59 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:32.400 All Right, thanks Dan, thanks for having us. 60 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:35.680 Thank you very much. Let's start off as you do 61 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:39.719 in the book, May twenty first nineteen twenty four, Chicago 62 00:03:40.199 --> 00:03:43.919 and the Harvard School for Boys and the children were 63 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:50.360 just let out of classes and one of the instructors, JT. Sas, 64 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:53.360 was ready to play a baseball game with some of 65 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:56.800 the boys. Tell us what happens on May twenty first, 66 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:00.000 and what is observed? What happens that afternoon? 67 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:03.759 Well, it was a pleasant afternoon. The weather had not 68 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:08.159 been particularly good for a while, so taking advantage of 69 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:12.479 the spring weather, the teachers decided to organize some pickup 70 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:16.839 baseball games. And I believe there were three of them, 71 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:22.240 scattered throughout the schoolyard and local parks and a field. 72 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:25.879 And one of the boys playing that afternoon was fourteen 73 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.839 year old Bobby Franks. He was a big baseball fan 74 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:33.480 on this particular day. Though he wasn't playing, he was 75 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:37.560 umpiring one of the games. You know. He's a relatively 76 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:43.439 normal fourteen year old boy, popular among his schoolmates, talented 77 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:47.720 at public speaking, the son of a very wealthy real 78 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.319 estate developer, the youngest in his family of three. He 79 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:53.759 had a brother who was just a year older and 80 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:56.480 a sister who was two or three years older than that. 81 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.920 So he went out with his friends. He's playing baseball. 82 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:03.000 The game wraps up and he starts to walk home. 83 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:07.959 One of his schoolmates is walking behind him and is 84 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:12.279 momentarily distracted by some flowers on the side of the 85 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:14.920 road that one of his teachers had asked him to 86 00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:18.639 pay attention to, and when he looked back, Bobby was gone. 87 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:22.399 Tell us about Bobby and some of his You talk 88 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:24.839 about a debating team that he was on in just 89 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:29.360 weeks earlier, he had debated a particularly interesting subject matter. 90 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:30.360 Tell us about that. 91 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:35.720 Right well, Bobby had a reputation for actually being quite 92 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:41.560 thoughtful about things, and a few weeks before May twenty first, 93 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:44.519 he had been on a debate team and the subject 94 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:49.560 had been the death penalty, and Bobby had argued that 95 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:54.879 the death penalty served no purpose, that someone who committed 96 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:59.160 a crime should be studied, not punished, in the hope 97 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:03.079 that somehow society could learn from that and prevent it. 98 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:06.040 So it was somewhat ironic that he was opposed to 99 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:07.560 the death penalty quite strongly. 100 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:11.079 Tell us about the Lobe family, Richard Loeb and his 101 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:14.519 father Albert. Tell him about the family and the proximity 102 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:19.800 of Bobby Frank's home to the Lobe family and their relationship. 103 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:25.160 Albert Loeb was the former vice president of Sears Roebuck. 104 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:29.639 He was immensely wealthy at the time. He had had 105 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:34.439 to retire a few years earlier given poor heart that 106 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:37.759 he was suffering from, but he had built in the 107 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:43.079 Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago in immense Elizabethan style mansion that 108 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:49.439 reflected his wealth and pretension, and ironically, just across the street, 109 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:54.600 Bobby Frank's father had built his own mansion. It wasn't 110 00:06:54.920 --> 00:07:01.519 quite so odd because Bobby's mother and Albert Loeb's wife, 111 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:05.800 Anna were actually first cousins, so there was a family 112 00:07:05.839 --> 00:07:09.279 connection that was involved there. Although the two families didn't 113 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:10.839 tend to socialize very much. 114 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:15.160 What was their religious backgrounds both families, the Lobes, were. 115 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:21.480 Jewish and the Franks were Jewish. However, the situation was 116 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:24.800 never quite as clear cut as the press of the 117 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.639 day made it out to be. Anna Lobe, Albert's wife 118 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:34.240 retained her Catholicism on marrying her husband, so she never converted, 119 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:39.199 and the Franks, who were both Jewish, had actually converted 120 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:45.560 to Christian Science about nineteen oh five, and so while 121 00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:49.959 the press tended to lump them all together as being Jewish, 122 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:53.040 They really weren't practicing jewsuph time. 123 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:59.199 Richard Loeb was popular young man, but he was a 124 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:03.120 from a healthy family. But also he had a prestigious 125 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.360 reputation himself. What was that reputation for. 126 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:12.439 Well, his reputation was well for being quite brilliant despite 127 00:08:12.439 --> 00:08:15.439 his young age. It's really difficult to tell at this 128 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:19.240 sort of distance of time what his brilliance actually was. 129 00:08:19.800 --> 00:08:24.439 But with relatively little else to do because his governess 130 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.800 wouldn't permit him to do anything else except study, he 131 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:33.399 did exceedingly well in his classes, graduated number one several times, 132 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:37.440 skipped grades, ended up at high school at a very 133 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:44.519 young age, graduated high school at fifteen. At fifteen, and 134 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:47.679 then he was off to the University of Chicago, where 135 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:51.440 he was to meet another young man very much like himself. 136 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:54.799 Let's get back to May twenty first, nineteen twenty four. 137 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:58.799 There's kids pouring out of school and up and down 138 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:02.240 these streets and include Ellis Avenue where Bobby Franks and 139 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.879 the Lowe family live. But tell us what happens to you. 140 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:10.080 We last left off when somebody a classmate, had seen Bobby, 141 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:12.679 and then when they looked again, they didn't see him, 142 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:15.639 and then they saw a touring car speed by him, 143 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:18.960 and another witness had also said that they had seen 144 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:23.759 a touring car and seeing Richard driving. What happens with 145 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:28.000 Bobby Franks in terms of this disappearance. 146 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:31.720 Well, yeah, there were several witnesses who saw a peculiar 147 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:35.559 car sort of cruising up and down Ellison around the 148 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:39.200 area of the Harvard School for Boys. Richard Loeb had 149 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:42.879 been out that day as the school got out, several 150 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:46.879 people saw him. He followed several of the students around, 151 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:50.080 asked them what they were doing. That wasn't particularly strange 152 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:54.240 because his younger brother Tommy attended Harvard and he spoke 153 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:59.879 to him that afternoon too. But several people who scattered 154 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:04.159 as the afternoon went on saw this sort of car 155 00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:07.320 that they thought was a Winton model. And at the 156 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:12.000 time the cars had something called side curtains, which were 157 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:15.759 sort of canvas panels in the back that could be 158 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:20.200 pulled up, and they had sort of plasticcene window. And 159 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:22.840 on that day the car attracted a lot of attention 160 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:25.440 that was cruising up and down the avenue because it 161 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:27.559 was a warm day and yet someone had pulled up 162 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:30.600 the side curtains, and people noticed this car going back 163 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:34.399 and forth. And the boy who was walking directly behind 164 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:38.639 Bobby Franks on his way home saw this car. Another 165 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.759 person saw Richard driving what they thought was the same 166 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:45.720 car a few minutes before Bobby disappeared. And then this 167 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.240 boy stopped and looked at the flowers and he picked 168 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:51.799 up his head. Suddenly the car was gone and Bobby 169 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:52.200 was gone. 170 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:55.919 Now he doesn't show up for supper, so the family 171 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:59.159 gets worried. The father, Jacob, calls a friend, which is 172 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:02.840 a state Senator, Samuel Errolson, and then they concoct a 173 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:07.440 plan to go search in various places. But while they're gone, 174 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:12.000 at ten thirty, his wife, Flora gets a call. Bobby's 175 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.320 mother gets a call. What's said in that phone call? 176 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:15.720 Who calls? Well? 177 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:21.279 A man identifying himself as George Johnson. George Johnson was 178 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:25.279 on the telephone and he told Flora that they had 179 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:29.799 Bobby and that she was to expect a letter with 180 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:34.080 instructions on how they were to pay a ransom and 181 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:39.159 recover Bobby safely. When she heard that on the phone, 182 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:43.879 Flora fainted, and her daughter and her maid you know, 183 00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:46.240 helped her get it together. Helped her get back up, 184 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:48.799 and at that point they just took a seat and 185 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:52.279 waited until Jacob and the Senator returned. 186 00:11:53.399 --> 00:11:59.480 That night, a watchman named Bernard Hunt is doing his 187 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:03.039 duty and he hears something, a metal object dropped from 188 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:06.679 a vehicle, and he inspects, investigates. What does he find 189 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:08.519 on the ground and what does he do with that. 190 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.159 He walks over to where he hears this clink at 191 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:16.960 about one am in the morning as he's on his rounds, 192 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:22.399 and he looks down and there's chisel laying in the 193 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:25.600 side of the street, and he picks it up and 194 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:28.240 he looks at it and he notices that it's covered 195 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:32.480 with something that looks like dried blood, and so he's 196 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:35.519 a bit concerned about that, but not concerned enough to 197 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:38.559 act directly. He waits until he gets off in another hour, 198 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.679 and then he takes it to the police station and 199 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.320 says he thinks this was thrown out of a passing 200 00:12:43.399 --> 00:12:45.840 car at about one point thirty in the morning, and 201 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:47.879 since it looks like it has blood on it, he 202 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:49.159 thinks the police should. 203 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:51.799 Have it now. In the next day while they have 204 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:55.200 a super uncomfortable evening. No doubt, there's a letter that 205 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:59.440 arrives with special printed on the envelope. What's the contents 206 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:00.759 of this this letter? 207 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:04.840 That was the actual ransom letter that the kidnappers had 208 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:09.960 sent to Bobby Frank's family. In it, they were quite specific. 209 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:15.679 They asked for ten thousand dollars. They gave instructions not 210 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.960 to contact the police, which by this time the Frank's 211 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:25.159 family had actually already done. But the letter outlined a 212 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:29.120 number of things that were supposed to be done. They 213 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:32.559 assured the family that Bobby was safe and that he 214 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:36.080 would be returned. All they wanted was the money, and 215 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:38.960 they said that they would make contact with the family 216 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:39.799 a little bit later. 217 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:45.080 Now they the family with the advice of Senator Errolson. 218 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:48.600 They wanted to cooperate with these kidnappers, and so they 219 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.799 wanted to keep this thing secret. But rather than keep 220 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.039 it secret, somehow the press found out, didn't he. 221 00:13:55.559 --> 00:13:58.399 Yes, they did. I think the press operated a little 222 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:01.759 bit differently then than they do now maybe, And at 223 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:05.600 this particular time, a couple of stringers for the big 224 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.519 Chicago newspapers were also students at the University of Chicago, 225 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:13.240 and two of them happened to run into Richard Loebe 226 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:17.399 in a common room or a common area on campus, 227 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:22.279 and one of them knew that Richard lived very close 228 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:25.399 to the boy who had been kidnapped, and so they 229 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:29.840 started a conversation, and that's kind of how the first 230 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:31.600 members of the press got looped in. 231 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:35.159 We have to go back just before that, because earlier 232 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:42.039 in the day a man out near this area discovered 233 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:45.440 something in this culvert, and so we went to investigate 234 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:49.080 what's found in that culvert and what's the response. 235 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:53.120 Well man got off work, he worked night shift, and 236 00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:56.320 he was walking home early in the morning out in 237 00:14:56.360 --> 00:15:01.480 an area sort of southeast of Chicago, a fairly deserted, 238 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:05.639 kind of marshy area, and he was walking along the 239 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:09.480 set of railroad tracks and there was a drainage ditch 240 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:12.200 to the side, and he happened to look down as 241 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:16.639 he passed near the railroad tracks which ran over this ditch, 242 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:19.559 and there was a culvert beneath the tracks, and looking down, 243 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:22.759 he saw a pair of feet sticking out of the culvert, 244 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:26.360 and he raced down and looked and saw that there 245 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:29.559 was a body inside. He managed to flag down some 246 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:34.519 passing railway workers at the time, and they managed to 247 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:36.679 get the body out of the culvert and dragged it up, 248 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:40.159 and it turned out to be naked body of a 249 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:40.799 young boy. 250 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:44.559 What else was found at the scene and what was 251 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:47.600 the more so, what was the condition of the body? 252 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:52.720 Well, what else was found at the scene was some eyeglasses, 253 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:56.440 which become very pivotal in the case later on. Also 254 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:00.600 some pieces of clothing that to the three men thought 255 00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:05.879 it possibly belonged to the boy, including a sock. And 256 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:10.440 the state of the body itself wasn't looked like he 257 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:15.480 had had some corrosive material poured on his face. 258 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:20.200 And down alongside his abdomen and his genitals as well, 259 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:23.399 so he was sort of disfigured at that point, but 260 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:23.840 it was. 261 00:16:23.799 --> 00:16:26.960 Still fairly easy to tell that he was quite a 262 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:28.200 young adolescent boy. 263 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:32.960 Now, Greg explain how Jacob Love is looking along with 264 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:36.679 Arrolson and waiting, looking and waiting for something to happen 265 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:41.240 with and instructions for these for people that took his son. 266 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:44.519 But at the same time there are reports leaked through 267 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:49.840 this James Mulroy and again this intimate association with police 268 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.919 and even in the families and the media. And what 269 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:58.919 happened is that they were privy to information and Jacob 270 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:02.320 Frank's at that time, or at least thought that his 271 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.440 son was already dead. Can you explain that. 272 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:08.599 Well, Jacob had been waiting for the instructions. When the 273 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:11.759 ransom note arrived, he went downtown and got the ransom 274 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:17.240 money and was waiting for information. When he returned back 275 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:20.599 to his house, he found reporter waiting outside on the sidewalk, 276 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:25.440 and because he wanted to keep Bobby's kidnapping quiet, he 277 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:28.240 actually asked the reporter to come inside and wait, so 278 00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:33.319 he wasn't standing around attracting attention. And the reporter happened 279 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:37.279 to be in touch with another reporter, and that's how 280 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:40.319 he learned that the body of a young boy had 281 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:44.680 been found. And as I sat there waiting to hear 282 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:47.720 something else from the kidnappers, they got to talking and 283 00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:50.880 it was suggested, well, what if this body that was 284 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:56.440 found is actually Bobby Franks. And so what Jacob did 285 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:00.039 was he arranged for his brother in law to go 286 00:18:00.319 --> 00:18:03.359 with the reporter to the morgue where the body had 287 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:07.519 been taken. And his brother in law walked into the 288 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.079 room and saw the body and saw without doubt that 289 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:14.920 it was indeed Bobby Franks. And so he telephoned to 290 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:18.640 Frank's house and let Jacob know that his son was dead. 291 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:20.799 And at that point they were still waiting to hear 292 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:24.200 back from the kidnappers with instructions on how to deliver 293 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:24.799 the money. 294 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:27.839 When they did get that call, what did they do 295 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:32.079 despite knowing that most likely his son was dead. 296 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:36.880 Well, Jacob went ahead and there a sort of an 297 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.720 elaborate set of instructions that he was supposed to follow. 298 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:42.680 A cab was going to be sent to his house. 299 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:45.839 He was supposed to get in. He was supposed to 300 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:49.599 go to a drug store several miles away and wait 301 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:53.200 by a payphone which would ring, and then the call 302 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:57.640 would direct him to go to a nearby railway station, 303 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:00.920 where he was to board a train, take the box 304 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:03.119 of money that he had. He was to travel a 305 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:06.359 certain distance, look for a factory, row the box off 306 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.359 of the train into the bushes as they passed. So 307 00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.880 Jacob planned to do all of this even though he 308 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:14.880 knew his son was dead, because he thought that there 309 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.559 was a chance they could go ahead and find the 310 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:21.559 kidnappers along the route. But the cab driver didn't know 311 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:24.240 where to take him, and someone had forgotten to write 312 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:26.680 down the exact address of the drug store to which 313 00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:30.119 Jacob was supposed to go, so he ended up not 314 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:33.039 knowing where to go and simply returned home without having 315 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:37.400 embarked on the sort of circuitous route to deliver the 316 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:38.279 ransom money. 317 00:19:39.079 --> 00:19:42.519 Right now, you say, you write by May twenty second, 318 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:46.680 by the evening, neighbors, reporters, and a curious gather outside 319 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:51.880 Bobby Frank's home, and Bobby's second cousin, Richard Lowe, wanders 320 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:54.599 across the street from the mansion to join the crowd, 321 00:19:54.920 --> 00:20:00.160 and reporter Alvin Goldstein was there and knew Richard from 322 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:02.839 the University of Chicago. And that's what you had mentioned, Penny, Yes, 323 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:05.920 and they had both attended the University of Chicago. And 324 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:09.240 Richard was quoted as saying it was a terrible crime 325 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:13.000 and a perpetrator deserved punishment. He deserved to be strung up. 326 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:17.839 And you also write that immediately headlines such as kidnapper 327 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:21.920 slay millionaire son as ten thousand dollar reward weights This 328 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:25.039 is a Chicago Herald and Examiner. May twenty third, you 329 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:27.480 say that this kidnapping was rare at that time, and 330 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:30.720 the story exploded in the city's papers. How was it 331 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:32.400 depicted in the city's papers. 332 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:36.680 Well, kidnapping was rare, but to have the kidnapping of 333 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:43.119 a prominent local citizen millionaire, that was extraordinary. Kenwood was 334 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:48.359 sort of seen as a safe enclave for the privileged, 335 00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:51.880 and crime had struck right in the heart of that community. 336 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:56.000 No one knew who was responsible for Bobby's death. No 337 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:59.599 one could figure out what had happened. Had he been kidnapped, 338 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:04.079 something gone wrong and then they had abandoned the ransom attempt, 339 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:07.680 or had the ransom note simply been a cover story 340 00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:10.480 because somebody had grabbed him and molested him and tried 341 00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:14.200 to cover it up. So there was a lot of 342 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:18.559 speculation in the press. The story from the very beginning 343 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.960 seemed so bizarre, and no one really had any idea 344 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:25.240 what was happening, so speculation replaced facts. 345 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:29.319 Yes, you write that. On May twenty third, a reporter 346 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:34.440 for the Chicago Evening American Howard Meyer, dropped by the 347 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:38.680 Zeta Beta how fraternity at the University of Chicago, and 348 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:43.920 Loeb interestingly shared his theories about the murder. What did 349 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:45.359 he have to say to this reporter? 350 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:52.359 Amazingly, Well, he was convinced that because part of the 351 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:57.880 story of the ransom and what Jacob Franks had supposedly 352 00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:00.680 been supposed to do to get the rand some to 353 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:04.119 the kidnappers had been printed in the papers. Richard suggested 354 00:22:04.359 --> 00:22:06.680 to his reporter friends, Hey, let's go out in the 355 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:08.480 car and see if we can find the drug store 356 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:12.440 that Jacob was supposed to have been sent to and 357 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:15.680 have awaited the call. And so Richard led them out 358 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:19.240 and they tried several drug stores and finally they ended 359 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:21.359 up at one of the drug stores, and it turned out, 360 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:24.039 after they asked if there had been any calls for 361 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:27.839 mister Franks there the previous day, that they hit the 362 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:33.759 right drug store, And Richard seemed absolutely delighted to point 363 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.880 this out to his journalist friends and claimed that this 364 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:40.640 was because he read a lot of detective stories, so 365 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:42.000 he knew how to solve things. 366 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:45.400 Hello, it is Ryan, and we could all use an 367 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:47.720 extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we just to 368 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:50.599 make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, 369 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.359 counting or steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. 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Interestingly, he's 379 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:25.640 questioning residents near Wolf Lake where the body was found, 380 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:29.160 and he visits a man named Oscar staff In, the 381 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:32.720 deputy game warden for the area, and he had asked 382 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:35.599 them if there was any frequent visitors to the area 383 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:39.640 that he noted, and one of them was Nathan Leopold 384 00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:44.079 bird watching apparently, yes, what does the investigation in terms 385 00:23:44.119 --> 00:23:47.480 of Now Richard is making some comments. There is a 386 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:51.400 funeral of Bobby Franks that none of the Lobe family attends. 387 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:55.640 How do police proceed with this Nathan Leopold lead. 388 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:00.240 Well, they went on over to the Leopold house and 389 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:05.240 asked to speak with Nathan with the intention of asking 390 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:09.519 him there had he seen anything untoward or anything that 391 00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:11.960 had caught his attention when he was last out there? 392 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:14.920 Bird watching. He went bird watching quite a lot. He 393 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:20.119 also taught classes on bird watching, and he was actually considered, 394 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:23.720 even at the age of eighteen or nineteen, an extreme 395 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:27.839 expert on one particular bird, and had written some articles 396 00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:31.440 for the Audubon Society. So all of this of course 397 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:35.160 fed Nathan's ego. And when the police showed up at 398 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:38.039 the door, you know, he attempted to dodge that he 399 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:41.119 had stuff on. He was, you know, not willing to 400 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:44.480 get up, YadA YadA. But he did eventually come downstairs 401 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:47.920