The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-01
Confessions Of Two Mil. IiOnaires' Sons Clear
 Mystery

CHICAGO. May 31--YOlthful sons of two Chicago millionaires today con- fessed the Kidnapping and saayimg ten days ago of Robert Franks 1S-year-Od son of Jacob Franks. another mIllIOn- aire, according to State's Attorney Crowe-
 Rhe boys who confessed are Nathan Leopold, Jr. and Richard Loeb, both university students, and bOsh residing within few haoekS of the Franks home in a fashionable sOuthzlds residential district
 They kidnapped the hoy @s he walked home froE school. struggled him tn their automobile. uOnceaEed his body and demanded a S1OO00 rznsom frum the parents, according tO Mir CFOwe-
 Were Nearly .HeBsMsed
 4 pair of spectAcses led to their ar rest, and the chance remark of ehauf- feur resulted in their breakd8wn and confession when the authorities. after hours of questioning. were virtually convinced the youths had estAhlished alibis and were considering releasing them-
 Their motire was a pwzue, States Attorney Crowe declared that they wanted excitement and the $10-00O ran- som, while friends asserted they could not need the money and doubted the truth of the confession Both youths have records as brilliant SrldemtS. one being the youngest ever graduated fFUm the literary class of lesdi- midwest ern university, and the cther doing spe- cial work at a university here
 Leopold is the som of Nathan Leo pold, Sr-, wealthy paper box @anufae- turer, and Loeb is the som of Albert Loeb, vice president of q Chicago mall order house At Ome tIme- aerarding to MT. Crowe, the boys said they con Eidered Kidnapping a relative of Julius this mail order firm
 Clears saysse4y
 The boys confession. the Sa1aFeiS at- torney belieres, cleans up Ome of the most mysterious crimes in Chieag0's history. Robert Franks dizarpeared on the afternoon of May 21. as he was going from a private school to hix home a few blocks distant That night a man posing as -GeOrge Johnson" tele- phOned the boys mother tbat her sun was being held for ransom and the next day the father received a lettsF demanding $1OI0OO for the boys re- lease and inEtTuctinS him further or ders would follow In the afternoon came a telephone eAll to Franks frU2 Johnson inStEUc1ing him to take the money. which he had ready to a drug store, the address of which Franks did not understand A few minutes after ward the nude body of a boy, found stuffed into q eulrert nm a SOuthziae swamp, was identified as his som
 According to the x4ate's attorney. Leopold and Loeb said they o0neslved the plan to kidlaP some one and hold them for A ransom of $10l000 last November. They selerted the Franks boy, whom they knew, as a victim on the spur of the moment. vhem tkey saw him walking home from school
 Inviting him int0 a rented awt0mO- bile, they sRid, according to Mir CFUwe, that they struck him Orer the head with a chisel when he resisted and then Strangled him. The chisel- anSMed frum their automobile, was found later and is part of the evidence against them For hours they drOve about the city with their victim huddIed i'm the tom neau of the car and c0vered by a robe.
 That night they said according to MT. Grove, they disrObed their victim. applied acid to the face i'm am effort to make Identification impossihAe. and drove 10 the swamp where they com cealed the body in the caHveru-
 Burn clsEhes
 They then burned the csOthing at Loeb's home, according to their eNn- fession, disposed of the Khoes and at on A prairie and rode about the city f D a time, finally returning home whsC\ Loeb notified the Franks family thSR Robert was held for ransom while Le0A pold prepared the ramsom letter Them they threw the tyneEFiter on wkirh the ransom EAs prepared im a Ises0m and when their plans to collect ram som miscarried, because Franks did not understand their insrEwctioms Loeb pretended to assist the police in find ing the drug store frum Whlch he made one of the calls to FHanks
 Spectacies Only Clme
 The only clue on whSch the authoEi- ties had to work was q pa1r Of spec-
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