Perth Amboy evening news., 1924-07-25
0NFERENCE At
CHICAGO TRIAL
Report that State May Finish
Case Today-WitnesS
List Cut Down
CHICAGO. July rs (By The Asso-

CHICAGO, July 25 (By The Asso-
ciated Press) The weaving of
1imsy threads of circumstantial evil
dence into the finely meshed web
which holds Nathan Leopold, Jr.,
and Richard Loeb guilty of the kid
naping and murder of Robert
Franks, was recounted today by wit
nesses who helped bring the wealthy
young college students to "the
mercy of the court
Police officers. newspaper report
|. ers and friend of one of the boys
were called by the state in the hear
! ing before Judge John r. Caverly to
tell of the first hint of suspicion
directed against the pair and of the
| development OF the chain of accusa-
tive evidence which led eventually
to the confession and guilty pleas.
Howard Mayer. a Chicago report
| er and student at the University OF
! Chicago with the two defendants
! told of Loeb's effort two days after
| the murder to give him a scoop
by suggesting the probable course
of the kidnapers In collecting the
ransom money from Jacob Franks,
father of the slain boy.
Don't use my name in the story
Loeb exclaimed to another reporter,
to whom he had given ''hot tip"
Loebs cue to him on May 23.
| Mayer testified, suggested that he
go to the drug store to which the
ransom letter was written to the
elder Franks directed the parents to
call for MIR. Johnson" who would
give him Instructions for depositing
of the ransom moey.
"Whoever committed that crime
should be strung up" Loeb told AL
vim Goldstein, reporter for the Chi
! cago Daily News. on the day young
Franks body was found, the latter
! testified.
Two friends, of Leopold earlier
described birding expeditions" in
| the vicinity of the culvert with Leo
| pold and other students of ornithol-
{ ogy, which was Leopolds hobby.
| Another officer told of the defen-
dants leading a searching squad to
Hessville. Ind. where shoes, belt.
buckle and class pin, all previously
| identified by the parents as the be-
lingings of Robert, were found.
Fourteen state witnesses were ex-
amined at the morning session bring
! ing to 81 the total called In two days
/ and half of court procedure.
/
witness stand that luncheon recess
| came half an hour ahead of sehedul-
ed time, to permit the state to pre-
pare additional witnesses for the af-
| ternoon session.
Loeb and Leopold fingered in court
! for few minutes exchanging assur-
ances with relatives.
Leopold spoke briefly with his
| aged father.
Leopold. his arm across his bro
| theirs shoulders, while the latter
| clasped the defendants waist, whis-
| pered for several minutes then nod
| ded and patted his brother on the
back as he TUNED to submit himself
| to the custody of his jailor.
Jacob and Allan Loeb, uncle and
I brother of Richard, and Nathan
! Leopold, Sr., and Foreman Leopold,
| father and brother of Nathan. who
| have missed nothing Of the proceed
| ings since their Inception, were in
| their seats promptly at the usual five
minutes before court opened.
A conference of attorneys, called
at the request of Robert e. Grove.
states attorney, took place in cham
| bers just before the hour set for re-
sumption of evidence. Clarence s.
Darrow and Benjamin Bacharach
attended for the defense.
The circumstance gave rise to a
rumor that the state might finish to-
day. 1t was learned that the prose-
cution list of witnesses had been
| trimmed down so that only thirty
remained. More than that number
were heard yesterday.
Court was called to order prompt
ly at 10 o'clock.
Frank Blair, diver, who fished the
Underwood portable typewriter from
the Jackson Park lagoon. was the
first witness. 1t was the machine on
which the Franks ransom letters
were written.
Blair said the type keys were gone
when he found the machine. The
defendants confession stated they
pulled these off with pliers to make
difficult tracing of the ransom letters
in case the machine was found.
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