The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1924-09-10

for the crime except 1.-The adventure
OF it" were given attaches Of the
States attorneys office as dawn was
breaking on the morning of May 81.
They told Of the boys desire to
commit the perfect arime," of
their longing for a thrill, of their
careful plans, OF their search for a
victim, and finally OF how they en-
ticed Robert Franks into a rented
automobile, beat him over the head
with a chisel, took the body to a
remote place on the south side, I'M
dressed it, poured acid on the, face
TO prevent identification, hid the
body under the culvert, and then
addressed the ransom letter to the
victims father.
Unique Ransom Plan
Their plan for collecting the $10,-
900 ransom in itself was unique.
Franks was to place the money in a
cigar box, board a certain train on q
ceptain day, sit in a specified seat,
find a further note of instruction In a
telegraph blank receptacle, proceed
to the rear platform Of the train
and when he reached a specified ad-
vertising sign some distance from
Chicago was to throw the money
off. The boys planned to be waiting
nearby, seize the package AID es-
cape. They planned a trip to Eu-
rope. Franks was preparing to fol-
low these instruction when he found
his son had been slain.
After several weeks attorneys and
members of the two families decided
Nathan and Richard We're unfit to
nflngle in society and decided to
make no attempt to set them free.
This decision, however, was not
made public until July q when the
attorneys were called before Chief
Justice John r. Caverly to enter
preliminary motions. Then it was
that Darrow sprang his great sur
prise. changing the boys pleas from
not guilty to guilty. In so doing
Darrow admitted the boys were le-
gally sage and his efforts were con-
fined to saving his clients from the
gallows. and the insane asylum.
BY the boys pleas OF guilty, q
jury WIS not necessary and upon
Judge Caverly alone rested the fate
Of Leopold and Loeb. He ordered
attorneys for the State and defense
to present evidence 'in aggravation
and in mitigation" Of the punish
ment.
States Attorney Grove, insisting
that the slayers should be hanged for
what he termed "Chicago's direst
murder" placed more than ninety
witnesses on the stand, relating in
detail the murder and the comics
slous that followed.
Darrow, arguing only that Leopold
and Loeb should be sent to prison.
called a group Of noted aHenists and
psychiatrists to the stand in an at
tempt to show that the boys-al-
though legally sane-were mentally
irresponsible"
Bitter Legal Battle
Only after a bitter legal battle with
States Attorney Grove was Darrow
allowed To enter this medical
testimony lin mitigation OF punish
ment' for the two slayers. In ad-
hitting the experts testimony
Justice Caverly ruled that they
would not be permitted to testify
relative to the sanity of the defend
ants, but could tell of any con
ditions Of the mind" which might
be considered in mitigation.
DIR. William A. White of Wash.
ington. D. c., was the first Of the
defense alienists. He told of his ex-
aminations Of Leopold and Loeb and
declared his opinion was that both
were mentally diseased.
Leopold. according to DR.. White,
was far more intellectual than Loeb
His favorite fantasy was that OF the
king and slave" in which he most
often was the slave and Loeb the
king. He felt Loeb was greatly
superior in many ways to him.
self.
r. 1t was the combined result of
these fantasies. DIR. White said.
which caused the murder OF Robert
Franks. Loeb suggested the crime
Leopold consented to assist him as a
dutiful slave.
Following DR.. White on the wit
ness stand was DR.. William Healy OF
Boston, who corroborated in detail
the testimony and conclusions of the
Washington alienist.
DR.. Bernard GIuecR OF New York
City vas the third defense alienist
He likewise corrpborated the testi
mony Of DR.. White, and said the
boys, in his opinion, were suffering
from split personalities" He ex
planned this by saying that in both
cases their intellect and their emo
tional powers were at such great
disparity that the personality was
diseased. or split"
Last Expert
DR.. Harold S. Hubert of Chicago,
who with DIR. Karl NJ. Bowman OF
Boston, conducted the first and most
thorough examinations of the two
boys, was the last aefense expert
witness. Following closely the out.
line Of the Hubert Bowman re oort,
which had been submitted to the