Evening star., 1924-06-01
Chauffeur Accidentally Con-
tradicts LeopoId's Story of
Whereabouts of Auto.
POLICE ARE CHECKING UP
ON CONFESSION DETAILS
loeb Collapses-Millionaires' Sons
Face Noose-Speedy Court
Action Planned.
By tht Associated Press.

By tht Associated Press.
CHICAGO, May 31.-YouthfuI sons
of tvs Chicago millionaires today
confessed the kidnapping and Staying.
ten days ago. OF Robert Franks,
thirteen-year-ol son Of Jacob Franks.
another millionaire, according to Rob
ert E. Grove, states attorney.
The boys who confessed are Nathan
Leopold, jr- and Richard Loeb, both
university students and both residing
within a few blocks Of the Franks
home in fashionable South Sid
residential Gis.*ict.
They kidnape: the boy as he walked
home from schaol, strangled him IL
their automobile, concealed his body
and demanded $4,000 ransom from
the parents, according to Mr.. Grove.
Chance Remark Brings Confession.
A pair of spectacles led to their
arrest, and the chance remark OF q
chauffeur resulted In their confes-
sion when the authorities. after hours
of questioning. were virtually con-
vinced the youths had established
alibis and We're considering releasing
them.
Their motive was { puzzle, Statc'E
Attorney Grove declaring that they
wanted excitement AMI the s10,0nn
ransom, while friends asserted the,
| could not need the mones and doubtc.'
the truth of the confession.
Both Brilliant stadentx.
Both youths have records as br,,-
liant students. one beins the young
est ever graduated from the literary
college Of leading midwestern uni
versity, and the other doing special
| work at a university here.
Leopold is the son of Nathan Leo
| facturer, and Loeb Is the son of
Albert Loeb, vice president Of Sears.
Roebuck and Company. a Chicago
mail order house. At one time, ac-
cording to Mr.. Grove, the boys said
they considered kidnapping a relative
of Julius Rosenwald, multi million
aire head of the firm.
Clears Up Strange Crime.
The boys confession, the states at
| torney believes, clears up one of the
| strangest crimes in Chicago's his
tory. Robert Franks disappeared on
the afternoon of May q as he was
going from a private school to his
home, a few blocks distant. That
| night man posing as George John
| son" telephoned the boys mother
that her son was held for ransom.
and the next day the father received
a letter demanding $4,000 for the
| boys release and instructing him
| that further orders would follow.
In the afternoon came a telephone
| call to Franks from johnson" in
structing him to take the money.
which he had ready. to a drug storV
the address Of which Franks did no
understand. A few minutes after
ward the nude body of a boy, found
stuffel into a culvert in a South Side
swamp, was identified as his son.
| According to the states attorney.
| Leopold and Loeb said that last No
vember they conceived the plan to
kidnap some one and hold him for a
ransom of $4,000. They chose the
! Franks boy, whom they knew. as a
| victim on the spur of the moment
when they saw him walking from
school.
Lured Into Auto.
Luring him into a rented automo-
bile In which they were riding, they
said, according to Mr.. Grove, that
they struck him over the head with a
chisel when he resisted, and then
| strangled him. The chisel, tossed
from their automobile, was found
later, and is a part of the evidence
against them.
with their victim huddled in the ton
neau of the car and covered by a robe.
That night, they said, according TO
Mr. Grove, they disrobed the body,
applied acid to the face in an effort
| to make Identification impossible. and
drove to the swamp, where they con-
cealed the body in THE culvert. They
| then burned the clothing at Loebs
home, according to their confession.
disposed of the shoes and belt on Il
prairie and rode about the city for
time, finally returning home, where
Loeb notified the Franks family that
Robert was held for ransom, while
Leopold prepared the ransom letter
Then they threw the typewriter on
which the ransom letter was prepared
In q lagoon, and when their plans to
collect ransom miscarried. because
Franks did not understand their in
| structions, Loeb pretended to assist
the police in finding the drug store
from which he made one of the calls
| to Franks.
Traced by Spectacles.
The only clue on which the author
tiles had to work was a pair of spec
tacles with tortoise shen rims and
| of peculiar make. Identification OF
the owner Of the glasses in a city Of
100000 assumed the proportions of
looking for needle in a haystack.
but the police, realizing that their
only hope of solving the mystery lay
in finding the owner Of the glasses.
set to work canvassing every
optician, optical supply and manu-
featuring house in Chicago. eventu.
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