It was 1924 and it was dubbed “The Trial of the Century.” Nineteen-year-olds Nathan Leopold and Richard Loab were charged with the kidnapping and murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks. Leopold and Loab were, by all accounts, exceptional kids. Leopold was a child prodigy. He was said to speak his first words at 4 months old. He reportedly had an IQ of 210. By 19, Leopold had already graduated college Phi Beta Kappa and was enrolled in law school at the University of Chicago. He studied 15 languages and spoke four fluently. His accomplice, Richard Loab, was the youngest graduate in the history of the University of Michigan. He was in the process of enrolling at Harvard Law School.

Both Leopold and Loab were from the south side of Chicago. Though they began with small crimes, such as petty theft, it wasn’t long before they began to consider more serious and violent crimes. These culminated in the kidnapping and murder of Bobby Franks. Read More→