Confessions
"Perhaps I had better Start with the Twentieth of May...."
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The confessions were taken down and then, when Leopold and Loeb were brought together, they were read aloud. Thus Loeb made comments after Leopold's confession and vice versa. Occasionally during the re-reading, State's Attorney Crowe would interject questions and comments. The Statement of Loeb was read. It was taken by Mr Sbarbaro, who asked the questions. "State your full name." "Richard Albert Loeb." "Where do you live, Mr Loeb?" "5017 Ellis Avenue." "What is your occupation?" "Student." "Where are you a student?" "University of Chicago." "How old are you?" "Eighteen." "You know that you are in the office of the State's Attorney of Cook County?" "Yes sir." "And you want to make a statement, of your own free will?" "Yes." "Calling your attention to the 21st day of May, just tell us in your own words if you know of anything unusual relative to the disappearamce of Robert Franks?" "On the 21st day of May Leopold and myself-" "What is his full name?" "Nathan Leopold, Junior, and myself intended to kidnap one of the younger boys from the Harvard School." Mr Crowe asked, "Mr Loeb, when you say Leopold, do you refer to this young man here?" "Yes." "Where had you planned this kidnapping?" "You mean what?" "Where had you discussed it first?" "Oh I don't know. I don't remember. I don't remember when it first came up." "Well approximately how long before the 21st of May had you discussed it?" "Oh a month and a half or two months." "All right. Go ahead." "It was broached, the plan was broached by Nathan Leopold, who suggested that as a means of having a great deal of excitement, together with getting quite a sum of money." "An adventure, as you would say?" "Yes. We planned the thing quite carefully, every detail was planned. His car-" "What kind of a car does Nathan Leopold have?" "Willys Knight sport model, red in color. His car is very conspicuous, and for that reason we deemed it inadvisable to use it, and therefore decided to get a car- rent a car from the Rent -a-Car people. Also in view of the fact that such a car, if obtained under a false name would not be incriminating, were it to be discovered in connection with the crime." "So what did you do in connection with the car?" "So in order to assume a false name and a real identity, we went and Leopold deposited $100 at the Hyde Park State Bank under the name of Morton D Ballard from Peoria. Following out the same plan, I went down to the Morrison and registered under the name of Morton D Ballard, carrying with me a suitcase, an old suitcase containing some books." "Where did you get the books?" "From the University of Chicago Library." "And the purpose of taking those books in that suitcase to the Morrison Hotel was to lead them to believe that you really intended to live there?" "Yes." "And had clothing of some kind?" "Yes. We addressed several letters to the Morrison Hotel inder the name of Morton D Ballard." "So that you might receive them?" "So that we might recieve them; and on the following day I went in and got those letters." "That is, you would call for those letters on the following day?" "Yes, the day after that, and I am practically certain that is what it was, it was the third day- the day after we went-pardon me, down to the Rent-a-Car people." "For the purpose of fixing the time, that was about when?" "About eleven o' clock in the morning." "I mean, about the twentieth day of April?" "Yes. I am not sure of the time, I mean the date. I wouldn't swear to that. The twentieth of April, how long is that?" "Just about a month before." "Yes, about a month. Leopold went in alone with four hundred dollars in his pocket, which I had drawn from my account in the Hyde Park State Bank, and with the letters sent to Morton D Ballard at the Morrison, as with also his check book- not check book, his bank book from the Hyde Park State Bank. He told the Rent-a-Car people that he was a salesman new on the route, that was the first time he had covered this district, he was a salesman from Peoria, and that the only person he knew in Chicago was a Mr Louis Mason. He told them this, because the Rent-a-Car people demand three in town references, in order to take out a car. However, he wanted to persuade them to give him the car, anyhow, in view of the fact that he was new, and that Mr Louis Mason would vouch for him, and also because he would be willing to deposit $400 there if necessary in order to get the car. I was posted in a little restaurant or cigar store on Wabash Avenue. Do you want the exact name?" "Yes, if you recall the address?" "This cigar store is a little bit north of 16th street on the west side of Wabash Avenue. I went in this cigar store and sat near the public phone booth whose number Leopold had, and he told them this was the number of Mr Louis Mason. The Rent-a-Car people called up, and I immediately answered the phone and told them that I was Mr Louis Mason." "You are in this cigar store now, or in the vicinity of 16th Street, near the Rent-a-Car people?" "Yes." "And you placed yourself at the booth?" "Yes. The phone rang, and I immediately answered the phone and the Rent-a-Car people asked me if I was Mr Louis Mason. I said, "Yes". They asked me if I knew Mr Morton D Ballard of Peoria; I said "Yes", They asked me if he was dependable. I said "Absolutely dependable." That was the end of the conversation." "You were then posing as Mr Ballard?" "No, I was posing as Mr Louis Mason; Leopold succeded in getting the car and told the Rent-a-Car people to forward the identification card which they demand as necessary to get a car any time without the trouble of getting references over again and everything, he asked them to forward this identification card to the Morrison Hotel. We took the car out that morning at eleven and returned it at four. Then we went down to the Morrison Hotel and I went inside to check out. I went up to the room, and found the suitcase had disappeared from the room." "You have reference to the suitcase which you had taken in there when you registered?" "Yes. I realized then that the maid must have gotten suspicious due to the fact that the bed had not been slept in either night, and with her suspicions aroused that she had opened the suitcase and found only those books in the suitcase. Therefore, I immediately left room and left the hotel. We then phoned the Rent-a-Car people and told them to forward the identification card to the Trenier Hotel." "That is located where?" "At the corner of Oakwood Boulevard and Grand." "Did any mail come forth from the converstation?" "No. In order to assume some sort of an identity there, Leopold went in and told them that he was Morton D Ballard, that he had intended stopping at the Trenier but that he was not going to and that if any letters came for him there, they should hold them at the Trenier Hotel. We mailed two letters at the Trenier Hotel, to Morton D Ballard at the Trenier Hotel, in order that the clerk would think that there was someone expecting mail there so that when the card came from the Rent-a-Car people it would be safe. However, neither the card from the Rent-a-Car people nor curiously enough, our own letters, which we knew we had mailed to the Trenier hotel, arrived there." "Now on the twenty-first day of May, 1924, just tell where you met Leopold and what happened? State it in your own words." "On the 21st of May I met Leopold out of school at eleven o'clock-wait a minute, perhaps I had better start with the 20th of May." "Very well." "On the 20th of May Leopold and I purchased at two hardware stores on Cottage Grove Avenue some rope-" "In what vicinity was that?" "Cottage Grove Avenue. Both of the hardware stores I believe-although I am not certain-were somewhere out there shortly north of 43rd street. The hardware store where we purchased the rope was further north than the hadware store where we purchased the chisel. I purchased, myself alone, both the chisel and the rope. We then proceded down the street to a drug store, where Leopold tried to purchase hydrochloric acid. He was unsuccessful at that drug store so went a little bit further south. I don't know the exact number where he succeded in purchasing a bottle of hydrochloric acid." "Where did you get the gags?" "The gags were at Leopolds house." "You didn't get them on the same day that you purchased the chisel and thehydrochloric acid and the rope, did you?" "We got them ready at his house." "All right. After purchasing these different articles what did you do?" "We proceeded to his house where we got everything in readiness; some ether that he had at his house, the ropes and the rags to be used as gags, the chisel which he bound with adhesive tape on the sharp end and some hip boots that I believe belonged to his brother." "Where did you get those hip boots?" "I believe they belonged to his brother. They were at his house." "This is all, now, with reference to the twentieth day?" "Yes, everything was gotten in readiness. I believe also that on that day the various notes and telephone messages--pardon me, the various notes, were written on the typewriter for Mr Franks." "Did you see him write any notes in the typewriter?" "Yes, I saw him write all of them." "What notes do you have reference to?" "I have reference to the note demanding the ten thousand dollars in ransom." "What kind of a typewriter was that?" "An Underwood Portable typewriter." "On a Underwood Portable typewriter?" "Yes." "And what was the essence of that note?" "The essence of that note demanded ten thousand dollars and told Mr Franks that his son was safe; specified a certain way in which that money should be wrapped, in a cigar box, told Mr Franks that everything would be all right , the son would be returned to him within six hours if he obeyed our instructions, if he disobeyed any of the instructions, that his son would be killed." "Now who composed that note?" "The note was composed jointly." "And it was typed by Leopold?" "Yes." "Do you recall the words used in that note? To the best of your recollection, what were they?" " 'Dear Sir; You no doubt know by this time that your son has been kidnaped. Please follow our instructions carefully, and nothing will happen to him. If you don't follow our instructions to the letter, you will never see your son again.' Then there was a number 1, and 'Go down to the bank and get ten thousand dollars-- no, that wasn't it, wait a minute. The number 1 was; ' Do not communicate with the police; if you have already done so, please do not mention this letter. 'Number 2. Go down to the bank and get ten thousand dollars in old bills. Be sure that the bills are old.' " "Did you specify any denominations?" " Yes. 'Any new or marked bills will be noticed.Get two thousand dollars in fifty dollar bills.' '3. Be home by one o 'clock. Do not let the phone be used.' "Is that all?" "There was at the end, I don't remember." "Do you recall any other note that was written that day?" "I think the other two notes were written on that same day." All the notes and the telephone messages had been written in a rough draft some days before that, so that all that was done on Tuesday, as I remember, was to copy those things. I dictated while Leopold typewrote. Proceeding to the twenty-first, I met Leopold at school at eleven. We--" "That is on the twenty first day?" "Yes. We went downtown." "In whose car?" "In his Willys Knight, parking the car on 16th street, just east of michigan boulevard, on the south side of the street. Leopold went to the rent-a-car people again, carrying his letters supposedly to Morton D Ballard, and sufficient money. " "the purpose of the letters was to show he was identified?" "Yes. He told the Rent-a-Car people that he had not recieved the identification cards, but that he would like to take out the car. They offered no objection, so after a short time he received his car, which was a Willys Knight five passenger touring car, blue in color, with no further identifying marks. In other words, there were no windshields. In other words, the car was equiped only with standard equipment. He passed by me down 16th street, no, pardon me. I saw him coming in the car, and as pre-arranged, jumped into his car and went to Kramers restaurant at the corner of 35th and Cottage." "And what did you do with Leopold's car?" "We parked both cars at Kramers, and proceeded to put up the side curtains on the Willys-knight." "That you had rented from the Rent-a-Car people?" "Yes. We ate lunch at Kramer's, and left Kramer's--" "About what time was it when you left Kramer's?" "About one." "And you left in whose car?" "We left with both cars." "And the curtains up on the Willys-Knight that you had gotten from the Rent-a-Car people?" "Yes." "And where did you go from there?" "We parked Leopold's car at his garage, which is situated in back of his house, I driving the Rent-a-Car Willys. He joined me immediately after having disposed of his car, and we went out to Jackson Park, where we parked for I should judge between three quarters of an hour and an hour, because we wanted to wait until the Harvard School let out before starting any operations. At about two fifteen we left Jackson Park and drove in the Willys to Ingleside Avenue, where we parked just south of an alley on the east side of the street." "Did you have at that time in the car you were riding, and which you parked down by the alley sround Ingleside there, the hydrochloric acid and the boots, rope and chisel?" "Yes sir; we had all that. I think, now that I come to think about it, that when we went to the garage to dispose of his car, I followed him there in the other Willys, and we changed the contents of his car- just took the contents from his own Willys Knight to that one." "Meaning the hydrochloric acid, boots, rope, gag and chisel?" "Yes. To the Rent a car people's car." "Now you are down there on Ingleside Avenue, waiting for the kids to come out of the Harvard School?" "Yes, I walked over to the Harvard school to reconnoiter." "And that is about what time?" "Just about two thirty." "You are over there for the purpose of reconnoitering? "Yes sir." "Go ahead." "I talked to a fellow by the name of Seass." "Who is this man Seass?" "He is the tutor who takes out the children." "After classes?" "In the afternoon, to supervise their play. I talked to him for a few moments, and then talked to a young boy by the name of--" "What did you talk to Seass about?" "I don't remember." "Then you talked with who else?" "With a little boy by the name of Levinson, John Levinson, whom I knew. I just asked Levinson about his baseball game and so forth and so on. I left the Harvard School, then, that is, I left--pardon me, I left the back, the playground where I had been talking to Seass and Levinson, and went out in front of the Harvard School, where I met my little brother who attends that school. I talked to him for a short time, and then Leopold came down Ellis Avenue on the west side of the street and whistled for me to come over. We walked down the alley leading to Ingleside, same alley near which the car was parked, and told me that there were some children playing on InglesideAvenue that he thought may be possible prospects." "For kidnapping?" "For kidnapping, yes. We decided, however, not to get them, and walked down Drexel Boulevard to where we saw a group of children playing on a vacent lot at the corner, the southeast corner of Drexel and 59th Street. We watched these boys and noticed that Levinson was amongst them." "What is his first name, John Levinson?" "I think so. We went back to the car, got the car and drove to the west side of Drexel, opposite to where the children were playing.We looked to see if we could recognize them from that distance, but it was very difficult, so we walked down to 50th street, and around 50th street through an alley where we could watch them more closely. Even from there, however, it was impossible to watch them very closely unless we showed ourselves, so we decided to go back to his car,drive over to his car and get a pair of bird glasses." "You mean field glasses?" "Well, yes, field glasses, and watch the children through the field glasses. This we did. While he was getting the field glasses, I went to a drugstore at the corner of 47th and Ellis where I looked up the address of Mr Levinson, so that we would be able to tell where John lived. I incidentally bought a couple packages of Dentyne chewing gum at that drug store. I picked Leopold up immediately after that with the field glasses, and we went over to the same place on Drexel Boulevard. We watched the children some more through the field glasses, and noted that Levinson with a group of some of the other children went down the alleyway out of sight. We didn't think that he had gone home, so remained watching. But when, after quite a while, he didn't show up we came to the conclusion that he might have gone home. I went to look for him in the alley, but didn't see him, and saw Seass leaving with the rest of his children. We then went to a corner lot at the corner of 48th and Greenwood, the northeast corner, where John Coleman and Walter Baer's sons were playing baseball. We watched them for a little while, then went down to see if Levinson had gone home, passed his house and found that he was not there or playing on the street. We returned down Lake Park Avenue, passed the lot where the Coleman boy was playing, and went into Leopold's house to watch the children play from one of the windows there. We didn't stay there long, but left, and drove down Drexel to go past this lot where Levinson had been playing, turned and went down Hyde Park Boulevard, turned and went north on Ellis Avenue. At this time I was driving. We proceeded north on Ellis Avenue until we caught a glimpse of Robert Franks coming south on the west side of Ellis Avenue. As we passed him, he was just coming across or past 48th Street. We turned down 48th Street and turned the car around, Leopold getting into the back seat. I drove the car, then, south on Ellis Avenue, parallel to where young Franks was, stopped the car, and while remaining in my seat, opened the front door and called to Franks that I would give him a ride home. He said, No, he would just as soon walk, but I told him that I would like to talk with him about a tennis racket, so he got in the car.
"What time was it?" "This was around five o' clock, I don't know the exact time. At this time Leopold grabbed Franks and carried him over back of the front seat and threw him on a rug in the car. He then took one of the rags and gagged him by sticking it down his throat, I believe. We proceeded down Dorchester, and then at Leopold's direction drove into the country. I think we drove either out Jeffery Road or South Shore Drive, I think it was Jeffery Road, I am not acquainted with the district out there, and drove slowly at his directions, and that plus the fact of my excitement accounts for my not being able to tell any of the places where we drove. However, we drove until we were at a deserted road which led off the main road somewhere before the Indiana line. We turned down this road, but it was only for-- it was only a road for a short distance, and ended in a blank. This Leopold knew, but wanted to take it, because it was so deserted. We turned around, and as we turned around, he seeing that Franks was unconscious, climbed into the front seat. Up to that time he had been watching him from the back seat. He had covered him up with the robe that we had brought along, the robe also belonging to Leopold. We then drove further south on the main highway, until we turned at a road which I believe leads to Gary. We went down this road a ways, and then turned off the road on another deserted road, this deserted road leading north. We followed that for only a short distance, then turned down another deserted road, leading west. We stopped the car, got out, removed young Franks' shoes, hid them in some bushes, and removed his pants and stockings, placing them in the car. We did this in order that we might be saved the trouble of too much undressing him later on. We also left his belt buckle and belt with his shoes, not in the same place, but very near there. We then proceeded to drive around back and forth and back and forth." "Waiting for it to get dark?" "Waiting for it to get dark. We stopped at a little sandwich shop on the road, and Leopold got out and purchased a couple of red hot sandwiches, and two bottles of root beer. We then kept driving more and more, until it was fairly dusk. Then Leopold wanted to make a phone call. The phone call had nothing to do with the Franks case. He made this phone call from a drug store situated on the northeast corner of one of the intersecting streets meeting this main highway, the name of which I do not know. The important thing is that I parked the car on this side street facing west, parallel to the tracks. The driver's seat is on the left of the car. Therefore, I was nearest to the drug store. He got out of the car, went to the drug store and made his phone call. In returning, he came straight to the car, so that he hit the door that I was sitting at, rather than the door next to the vacant seat, and he said, "Slip over and let me drive for a while' which I did. He drove the car. We again proceeded down the thoroughfare, waiting for it to get dark. I remember we turned up one road which he said led to Indianapolis, and then back again, and finally he drove the car to a place he knew, which was near this culvert. We had both investigated the culvert on a previous journey out there some weeks before." "When you had planned it, you mean?" "We dragged the body out of the car, put the body in the road (robe) and carried it over to the culvert. Leopold carried the feet, I carried the head. We deposited the body near the culvert,and undressed the body completely. Our original scheme had been to etherize the body to death." "Where did you pour the hydrochloric acid on him?" "Right there. The scheme for etherizing him originated through Leopold, who evidently has some knowledge of such things, and he said that that would be the easiest way of putting him to death, and the least messy. This, however, we found unnecessary, because the boy was quite dead when we took him there. We knew he was dead, by the fact that rigor mortis had set in, and also by his eyes, and then when at that same time we poured this hydrochloric acid over him, we noticed no tremor, not a single tremor in his body, therefore we were sure he was dead. Leopold put on his hip boots, taking off his coat in order to do this, and took thebody and stuck it in head first--" Captain Shoemacher asked, "Was it dark at that time?" "Yes. Stuck it head first into the culvert. I might say that at this time it was fairly dark, but still not pitch black, so that we were able to work without a flashlight." Now Mr Sbarbaro had a question. "How far did you have to carry the body, from the time you got off the machine until you dropped it into or near the culvert?" "I should say about a city block and a half, I don't know." "How did you carry it, in this blanket?" "In the blanket, yes. That is, we had the blanket in sort of, as you might use a stretcher." "Well, then, you put the body right down into the culvert?" "Yes." "And you poured your hydrochloric acid on it?" "Before we put it down into the culvert." "And then what did you do?" "Then I went to the opposite side of the culvert, where the water runs out and where you can get at the water very easily, where I washed my hands, which had become bloody through carrying the body." "The head had bled very freely?" "Yes, the head had bled quite freely, I wouldn't say very freely, but quite freely. There was quite a bit of blood; the blanket or robe was quite saturated with blood. We then left, taking the robe we used, as also the clothing of young Franks, and we started homeward, and Leopold stopped to call up his folks, and to tell them that he would be slightly detained. This, I should judge, was about nine o' clock. We then stopped at a drug store somewhere in the neighborhood where I looked up the address of Jacob Franks and the telephone number and at the same time Leopold printed the address upon the envelope. We then proceeded toward home--" "You drove out to Gary, did you, before you got to the culvert?" "No sir, I don't think we ever entered Gary." "Well, near Gary." "Near Gary." "But it was near Gary, though when you hid the shoes, and his pants and stockings?" "Yes." "In what vicinity were you when Leopold made this first phone call?" "I think we were in the town of Hammond. The road we were on led north and south, I am practically positive." Mr Crowe asked, "All the ocurrences that happened here, where the boy was hid and so on, happened in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois?" "The boy was hid?" Richard asked. "Yes," said Crowe, getting it in the record that the crime was commited in Cook County. "Yes," acknowledged Richard. "Yes," said Leopold. The reading of Loeb's statement continued. "I am not sure whether we posted the letter before or after destroying Franks' clothing. However, what we did was to go over to my house, where we burned the clothing in the furnace." "Did you burn the blanket, too, in which you had the clothing wrapped?" "No, the blanket was placed in a little hiding place near the greenhouse at my house. After having burned the clothing, we proceeded to get a pail, soap and brush, and to the best of our ability in the dark to try to wash out the car of the blood stains. The car at this time when we were washing out the blood stains, was parked on 50th street, near the greenhouse. I think that we probably mailed the letter, the ransom letter to Mr Franks, before we burned the clothing-- no, I don't know, at that." Captain Schoemaker asked, "Where was it mailed at?" "The letter was mailed right opposite from the Hyde Park post office, and I think was mailed, in fact I am quite sure was mailed before the clothing was destroyed." "When would that be, about?" "That would be about ten o'clock, or a quarter to ten, at the Hyde Park station. Immediately after having destroyed the clothes, washed the car and hid the blanket, we proceeded to a drug store on the northwest corner of either Greenwood or Woodlawn. On 47th Street, where Leopold phoned Mrs Franks, telling her that her son had been kidnaped. We then parked the car just north of where Leopold lives, on Greenwood avenue, on the west side of the street, and entered the Leopold home. Leopold took home his aunt and uncle , Mr and Mrs Schwab. I sat with Mr Leopold for a while, until Leopold came back. Then we drank a while, played cards, and then we left, he taking me home in his own car, when he had taken from the garage in order to take his aunt and uncle home." "What time was it about, then?" "About ten thirty, I should judge. On the way home, we threw the chisel out of the car on Greenwood avenue, some place between 48th and 50th. He took me home. The next morning he came over to my house around eleven thirty." "Was that the day that you disposed of the other articles, like the Underwood ?"
"Was that Leopold's garage?" "Yes. Leopold's chauffeur came out, and we told him that we were washing out marks of wine from the car." "You had reference to the red blood stains then didn't you?" "Yes. Upon leaving Leopold's, we proceeded downtown in both Willys-Knights, I driving the Rent a Car Willys Knight. We stopped at the corner of Oakwood and Vincennes; we both of us got out of the car and went to the corner of Pershing Road and Vincennes, where there is a Keep the City Clean box. We left a note in this Keep the City Clean box, reading to this effect, that Mr Franks was to come--was to go immediately to the Bogert de-Rose or something drug store at the corner of 63rd and Blackstone, and wait there in a specified phone booth for a phone call. However, the letter did not stick to the Keep the City Clean box, with the stickers we had provided for it; and fearing that it might blow away or somebody might open the box and have it blow away, we decided that the best thing to do was to entirely omit this letter from our calculations; and when we phoned Mr Franks, instead of telling him to go to the Keep the City Clean box where he would recieve a note telling him what further to do, to phone his house, telling him to immediately go to the Bogerd de Ross drug store on 63rd Street. After having placed the letter in the Keep the City Clean box, we proceeded down town in both cars. We parked Leopold's Wilys Knight on Wabash Avenue, near 16th street, and proceeded to the Illinois Central station in the Rent a Car Willys Knight. We stopped there, and I went out and purchased a ticket to Michigan City, and a berth, wearing glasses, in order to disguise myself, and also the black hat and overcoat. At two-thirty, the three o'clock train which runs on the Michigan central as far as Boston is made uo. (?) Therefore, at two thirty, I went down to the train, got on the train and left a note which we had prepared, in the box provided for telegraph blanks. This not instructed Mr Franks to go immediately to the back platform of the train, to watch the east side of the track, and to wait until he had entirely passed the large red brick factory with a water tower on top of it, with the word "Champion" written on the water tower. After he had completely passed the water tower of this factory, he was to count five quickly, and throw the package as far east as he could. At the same time, while I was placing the letter on the train, Leopold was phoning the Yellow Cap Company to send a cab to Franks and also telling Mr Franks to go to the Bogert de Ross drug store." Richard interrupted the reading of his statement here with a correction. "That was at two thirty." Mr Ettelson elaborated. "The two thirty central time, three thirty our time." "Yes," Richard said. "It was then two thirty three standard time." "Three thirty Chicago time," said Mr Ettelson. The reading of Richard's statement continued. "We jumped in our car immediately. It was then about two thirty three.We drove quickly to 67sh Street and Stony Island, parking the car on the southwest corner of 67th and Stony Island. We got out of the car and noticed a news stand that was there where papers were on sale, showing that an unidentified nude boy had been found out around 121st and Railroad avenue at the Pennsylvania tracks. We had intended phoning Mr Franks from the Walgreen drug store at the southeast corner of 67th and Stony Island. We had intended phoning him to the Bogert de Ross drug store, telling him to get on thi train, to purchase a ticket to Michigan City, and to look in Car 507 for the communication which would tell him or which would give him further instuctions. We debated then what we should do in view of the boy's body having been discovered. I was not very anxious to go on with the matter; but Leopold persuaded me to go ahead with the thing. So he phoned Mr Franks at the Bogert de Ross drug store, and finding out that Mr Franks was not there we went to another drug store further south on Stony Island, where we again phoned the Bogert de Ross drug store, again finding that Mr Franks was not there. We then realized that the body had been identified as that of Robert Franks, and that any further attempt to get the money would only result in failure. We therefore immediately went down town to the Rent a Car place, and Leopold took the car. I stayed outside, in the Willys-Knight--in the red Willys-Knight which had been parked there. I then returned home, got home about five, and was told of the Franks murder by our chauffeur, who showed me one of the newspapers. Nothing else transpired of importance until Saturday night. Late Saturday night, around two o'clock, I met Leopold at a restaurant next to the garage, the fashion garage at the corner of 51st and Cottage Grove. We had this car, and we took his car in which he had placed his typewriter, the Underwood portable typewriter, upon which the letters had been written, and we took the typewriter out of the back trunk, brought it into the front seat, and I took a pair of pliers and pried off the keys, just the very tips of the keys where the imprint would show. We threw these keys in a little bundle, and threw them off the bridge in Jackson Park, situated near the golden statue of Liberty. Then we took the typewriter intact with case, and threw it off the bridge leading to the outer harbor. In other words, the bridge, the big stone bridge with the pyramid effect at all four corners of the bridge. It is the bridge leading to the outer harbor. The typewriter was thrown on the east side of the bridge. The robe was then taken from its hiding place. We went over to Leopold's garage and got some gasoline, took the robe out on South Shore drive, on a little side street connecting with the south shore drive, and saturated the robe with gasoline and set fire to it. That is all I have to tell about the murder of Robert Franks. "And this statement that you just made has been made of your own free will?" "Yes. I just want to say that I make no excuse, but that I am fully convinced that neither the idea nor the act would have occured to me, had it not been for the suggestion and stimulus of Leopold. Furthermore, I do not believe I would have been capable of having killed Franks. This statement is made of my own volition." Captain Schoemaker asked, "Is that true?" Loeb said "Yes." "Everything that he read there is true, is it?" Schoemaker asked. "Yes sir." I have some corrections," Leopold said. "In the first place, the date as given by Mr Loeb is about a month or two at the most before the crime took place. As I remember it quite distinctly, we started planning this thing as early as November 1923. In the second place, the suggestion was his, not mine. In the third place, the Rent a Car is at 14th and not 16th Street. The little restaurant to which he refers is also at 13th, not 1538 Wabash. The hardware store to which he refers is not at 47th, but between 55th and 56th, on Cottage Grove Avenue. I did not mind the chisel with tape; he did. The hip boots were not my brothers but mine. The place that he mentioned getting the car was at 14th and not 16th street. At the time the Franks boy entered our car, I was driving, not Mr Loeb and Mr Loeb was in the back seat. It was Mr Loeb who struck him with the chisel, and not I. The phone call to my father's I think was made at nine forty five. "Where did you phone from," asked Mr Savage. "At 104th and Ewing Avenue. Mr Loeb I think went home at one o' clock, instead of ten thirty as he seems to think." "No, I never said that; I said I went to your house at ten thirty," snapped Loeb. "Then I misunderstood. And as far as that suggestion is concerned, again, I am sure it was Mr Loeb that made it, and it was his plan, and it was he who did the act. "Outside of that, the statement is correct?" asked Crowe. "Correct."
Leopold's statement was read. Mr Savage began. "What is your name?" "Nathan F Leopold Jr." "And your address?" "4754 Greenwood Avenue." "And your business?" "Student." "Student at what school?" "University of Chicago Law school." "And you have attended the University of Chicago Law school for how long?" "For nine months." "Prior to that time what school did you attend?" "University of Chicago. "And for how long during that period?" "For a year." "And prior to that?" "University of Michigan for a year., prior to that University of Chicago for a year, prior to that Harvard school for five years, prior to that Douglas School for four years and prior to that Spade school for two years." "How old are you Nathan?" "Nineteen." "What is the date of your birth?" "November 19th 1904." "Have you any brothers, Nathan?" "I have two brothers." "What are their names?" "Forman and Samuel Leopold." "And you have one other-" "I have a cousin who lives with us, Adolph Ballenberger." "Your father's name?" "Nathan F Leopold." "What is his business?" "Morris Paper Mills." "Now, Nathan, I just want you to go on in your own way and tell us the story from the beginning, tell us the whole thing." "When we planned a general thing of this sort was as long ago as last November I guess at least, and we started on the process of how to get the money, which was the most difficult problem. We had several dozen different plans, all of which were not so good for one reason or other. Finally we hit upon the plan of having money thrown from a moving train, after the train had passed a given landmark. The landmark we finally chose was the factory of the Champion Manufacturing Company at 74th Street and the I.C. Railroad tracks. The next problem was the system of notification to the father. We originally planned a number of relays, in other words the man was to receive a special delivery letter telling him his son had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom, then to secure ten thousand dollars in fifty-dollar bills and two thousand dollars in twenty-dollar bills. He was to get old, unmarked bills whose numbers were not in sequence, and these he was to place in a cigar box, securely tied, wrapped in white paper, the ends were to be sealed with sealing wax. The reason for this was to give the impression that the box would be delivered personally to a messenger of the real executives of the plan. He was then to receive a phone call at about one or two o'clock in the afternoon instructing him to proceed to a ‘Help Keep the City Clean' box whose location was to be definitely given. Then he was to find another note which would instruct him to proceed to a drugstore which had a public phone booth. He was to be called at this phone booth, the drugstore being very near the I. C. track, and given only just enough time to rush out, buy a ticket and board a through train without allowing him enough time to instruct detectives or police as to where he was going. In the train he was to proceed to the rear car, look in the box left for telegraph blanks for another letter. This letter instructed him to go to the rear platform of the car, face east and look for the first large red brick factory adjacent to the tracks which had a black water tower bearing a white inscription ‘Champion.' He was to count two or three after that and then throw the box as far to the east as he could. "The next problem was getting the victim to kill. This was left undecided until the day we decided to pick the most likely-looking subject that came our way. The particular case happened to be Robert Franks. Richard was acquainted with Robert and asked him to come over to our car for a moment. This occurred near 49th and Ellis Avenue. Robert came over in the car, was introduced to me and Richard asked him if he did not want to help him." "Richard who?" "Richard Loeb. He replied no, but Richard said, well, come in a minute. I want to ask you about a certain tennis racket. After he had gotten in, I stepped on the gas, proceeded south on Ellis Avenue to 50th Street. In the meantime Richard asked Robert if he minded if we took him around the block, to which Robert said, no. As soon as we turned the corner, Richard placed his one hand over Robert's mouth to stifle his outcry, with his right beating him on the head several times with a chisel, especially prepared for the purpose. The boy did not succumb as readily as we had believed so for fear of being observed Richard seized him, and pulled him into the back seat. Here he forced a cloth into his mouth. Apparently the boy died instantly by suffocation shortly thereafter. We proceeded out to Calumet Boulevard in Indiana, drove along this road that leads to Gary, being a rather deserted place. We even stopped to buy a couple of sandwiches and some drinks for supper." "Where?" "On Calumet Boulevard at I guess 132nd Street; the body was covered by an automobile robe which we had brought along for the purpose. We drove up and down this road until dark, then proceeded over the path which leads out towards Hegewich, from 108th and Avenue F to the prearranged spot for the disposal of the body. We had previously removed the shoes, trousers and stockings of the boy, leaving the shoes and the belt by the side of the road concealed in the grass. Having arrived at our destination we placed the body in the robe, carried it to the culvert where it was found. Here we completed the disrobing, then in an attempt to render identification more difficult we poured hydrochloric acid over the face and body. Then we placed the body into the drain pipe and pushed it as far as we could. We gathered up all the clothes, placed them in the robe and apparently at this point the glasses fell from my pocket. I carried the robe containing the clothes back to the automobile, a distance of some 300 yards, and one of the socks apparently dropped from the bundle. We then proceeded north to 104th and Ewing Avenue from where I telephoned my folks telling them I should be a trifle late in arriving home. We drove to 47th and Woodlawn and from there I telephoned the Franks' home. I spoke to Mrs. Franks and told her that my name was George Johnson and that her boy had been kidnapped but was safe, and that further instructions would follow. In passing 55th Street we had mailed a special delivery letter which had been completed except for the address which I printed on it. After taking my aunt and uncle home I returned to my home and after my father had retired, Richard and I proceeded to his home where we burned the remaining clothes, hid the robe and washed the more obvious blood stains from the automobile. Then I parked the automobile near my home. The next day at 2:30 Central time or 3:30 Chicago time we were down at the Illinois Central station at 12th Street. Here Richard bought a ticket to Michigan City on the three o'clock train , entered the train, and deposited the letter in the telegraph blank box. In the meantime I called the Franks' home and told Mr. Franks to proceed immediately to the drugstore at 1465 East 63rd Street and to wait at the easterly of the two public phone booths for a telephone call. I told him a Yellow cab would be at his door to take him. I repeated the number twice and he asked if he couldn't have a little more time, to which I replied no, it must be immediately. About the time I was phoning, Richard had returned from the train and we started out south intending to call the drugstore from Walgreen's store, 67th and Stony Island. We chanced to see a newspaper lying on the stand with headlines "Unidentified boy found in swamp." We deliberated a few moments as to what to do, Dick thinking that the game was up. I, however, insisted that it could do no harm to call the drugstore. This I did, but was told that no Mr. Franks was in the building. We then went to 68th and Stone Island, another drugstore, and again telephoned; we met with the same reply. Then we gave it up as a bad job and returned the car to a place where it had been rented. Our original plan had included a relay which was to send Mr. Franks to a "Help Keep the City Clean" box at the corner of Vincennes and Pershing but we had difficulty in making the envelope stick as we intended, and hence decided to eliminate this relay. Thursday, immediately after dinner, we drove the car to our garage and started to clean up the rest of the blood stains. Our Chauffeur, Sven Englund, noticed us and came out to help. Whereupon Richard told him it was merely some red wine which had been spilled." "Who did clean it up?" "Dick did most of it and I helped him." "Is there anything else you can think of at this time?" "No." "Your original plan when you were thinking it out as late as last November, Nathan, did you have anyone at that time that was to be the victim?" "Nobody in particular. We had considered Mr. Clarence Coleman, also Mr. Walter Baer, Walter Baer, Jr., as the victim and Clarence Coleman's son." "When was the plan finally effected whereby you considered the Franks boy?" "When we saw him on 49th by pure accident." "At that time were you waiting for someone else?" "We had been cruising around watching several groups of boys playing, waiting for somebody to start home." "You had been doing that for how long, Nathan?" "From about three o'clock in the evening until about five." "And you did not have any boys prior to that time?" "No." "This day in particular you stayed out with the idea in mind of getting the boy that day, is that it?" "Yes, sir." "What time did you meet Richard Loeb that day , Wednesday, May 21st, 1924?" "At eleven o'clock." "Where did you meet him?" "At the University." "What did you do after that?" "Drove down in my car to the Rent-a-Car people." "Where is that?" "That is at 1408 or 10 Michigan Avenue." "Then what did you do?" "Rent a Willys Knight." "At that time?" "Yes." "Under what name." "Morton D. Ballard." "Had you ever rented a car there before?" "Yes, sir." "Under what name?" "The same." "When did you rent a car there?" "About three weeks previously." "And you used it for what purpose?" "Merely so we would have no difficulty in getting the car next time." "Is that the letter you typed?" "Yes." "Will you look at that, Nathan? Is that the letter you addressed?" "Yes." "They handle Willys-Knights and Fords?" "Willys-Knights and Fords." "Willys-Knights and Fords exclusively, is that right?" "Yes, sir." "What did you pay over there?" "Seventeen cents a mile for Willys-Knights and 15 cents a mile for Fords." "You could keep the car over night?" "Yes, we made that arrangement Wednesday." "After you got the car what time did you get the car down there that day?" "At 11:30." "Do you remember who you talked to there, Nathan?" "It was one of two men, I don't remember." "Can you remember the names?" "No." "You would know them if you saw them?" "Yes." "If I came over there for a car would they require any security?" "Yes. The first time they made me deposit fifty dollars and the last time thirty-five. I was supposed to have an identification card of some sort, but I never received it, so I had to look up my old lease number and give that as reference." "What address did you give, Nathan?" "Originally the Morrison Hotel, went down and rented a room and left a suitcase in it, and sent some mail there for the purpose of having mail addressed to that address. When we went down to get our mail on the subsequent day the suitcase had been taken. Apparently the fact the beds had not been used was noticed and some suspicion occurred. The suitcase had been apparently confiscated and I therefore telephoned the Rent-A-Car people we had changed our address to Oakwood and Grand." "You phoned over immediately that that was your new address?" "Yes, sir." "Did you ever get your suitcase, Nathan, from the Morrison Hotel?" "No." "Did you register at the Morrison Hotel?" "I did not; Richard did." "Under the name of?" "Morton D. Ballard." "What day was that, do you remember, Nathan?" "That was just prior to us getting the first car, I would say two or three weeks before." "Whose suitcase was it?" "Dick's." "You never applied for the suitcase after that?" "No, I figured the suitcase was worth less than we owed." "What kind of a suitcase was it?" "It was a dilapidated suitcase, I could not describe it very well." "Did you have anything in it?" "I think there were some library books in it." "You went then to this--what is the name of that hotel?" "The Trenier Hotel. I had expected to stop there, but changed my plans and asked them to hold mail coming for Morton D. Ballard. I stopped there on a number of occasions after that. I would say as much as half a dozen times, and never did get any mail from there. This seemed very peculiar inasmuch as Richard addressed two letters to the Trenier Hotel." "Did you get the letters back?" "No, no return address on them." "Went in the dead letter office?" "I do not see why they should have. We followed them up two days afterwards." "You say you did stop there several times after that?" "Yes, sir, a number of times." "You stopped, went over for the mail?" "Yes." "You did not register there?" "No." "At no time you registered there?" "No." "Did you ever register in any other hotel, Nathan, during this period?" "No. I further opened a bank account in the Hyde Park State Bank at the corder of 53rd and Lake Park." "Under the name of Morton D. Ballard?" "Yes, sir." "How much money did you deposit there?" "One hundred dollars." "Have you drawn that out since that time?" "Yes." "Was it a checking account?" "Checking account." "And you have no balance in the bank now?" "No, sir." "That was opened up there during your negotiations with the deal on Michigan Avenue?" "Yes, sir." "What was that name again?" "Rent-a-Car." "That was for the purpose of--?" "Having a good identification." "This day you went down there for the car, who drove it?" "I did." "Where was your car at that time?" "Dick had my car just east of Michigan Boulevard." "When you left there what did you do?" "We drove up together, or rather we each one--we each drove one car up to Kramer's restaurant at 35th and Cottage." "Kramer's restaurant at 35th and Cottage Grove?" "Yes, sir." "That was on Wednesday, the 21st?" "Wednesday, the 21st." "May 21st, 1924?" "Yes." "Kramer's restaurant is where?" "35th and College Grove Avenue." "What did you do at that time?" "Had lunch there and put up the side curtains on the rented car." "About what times was that?" "I imagine we got here about 12:15." "What time did you leave there?" "It must have been one or a little later." "When did you put up the side curtains?" "Just before coming, before coming into there to eat." "After you came out, what time did you come out of there?" "We left after one." "Then what did you do?" "We drove to my home and I put my car in the garage, then we drove over to Ingleside Avenue just south of a blind alley south of 47th Street." "What time did you put your car in the garage that day?" "I should say at about one-twenty or one-thirty." "In the afternoon?" "Yes." "And where was the other when you put your car in the garage?" "The other car was right back of mine because we wanted to fill it with gas." "In the driveway?" "Yes." "You brought that in and filled it with gas, did you?" "Yes." "And left your car there?" "Yes, sir." "Then what did you do?" "Then we drove over to Ingleside Avenue, which is south of the alley south of 47th Street." "While you were filling the car up with gas, did you see anyone around the garage there?" "I don't remember if Sven came down then or not." "Did you see Mr. Sven or Mrs. Sven there?" "Mr. and Mrs. Englund. I am under the impression that Mr. Englund was there. I am not sure." "You talk about the brakes being bad on that car?" "Yes, on my car. It was on that occasion that they squeaked, and he put on oil and he warned me about going out after they had been oiled." "After you filled the car with gas what did you do?" "I drove to this spot on Ingleside Avenue." "About what time?" "It must have been about a quarter to two." "Then what did you do--you drove where, you say?" "To a point just south of the alley, south of 47th Street, Ingleside." "You drove to a point which is south of the alley, south of 47th Street?" "Yes. I waited in the car." "On Ingleside?" "On Ingleside." "What is there, anything?" "Apartment buildings. I waited in the car there while Dick went through the alley to a place where he could either command a view of Harvard School, or if he saw any likely looking children he could start playing with them. After some time, I should say around three, several of the groups of boys playing in the afternoon with the so-called tutors had left for a vacant lot on 49th and Drexel. We followed them up there, I having made a stop at home for my field glasses in the meantime." "And what time was that?" "Around three or three-fifteen and we parked on the opposite side of Drexel Boulevard and watched these children at play. We also sneaked around on foot to the front, behind a lot, where we could observe without being seen. We also had another group of boys spotted in a lot just across the street from my home, 48th and Greenwood. We waited around until a quarter of five, when the gangs broke up, but one of the boys had run down the alley, as we thought merely in play, and would be back. Apparently they had greatly disappointed us. We missed our opportunity of following any of them home. We then went down Lake Park to 41st Avenue, where an acquaintance of Richard Loeb's had a son who might be expected home at that time." "Do you remember the name?" "Levinson." "Do you know the address?" "No, it is Sol Levinson, a lawyer, 41st and Lake Park. We repassed the lot on Greenwood, 48th and Greenwood, came over 48th Street to Ellis--no, we came over 49th Street to Ellis, it was 48th Street to Ellis, and here Dick spied Robert Franks. He was at that time north of 48th Street on Ellis Avenue, on the west side of the street." "You sure it was on the west side of the street?" "Positively, walking south on the west side of the street." "Then you were where at that time?" "We were at 48th and Ellis." "On 48th or Ellis?" "On 48th." "Facing what direction?" "West." "On what side of the street would that be, on the east side?" "We were driving down there, we immediately turned around and about the time that we had turned around and given Robert a chance to get a sufficient distance from another pedestrian on the street he was almost at 49th Street. It was here that we picked him up." "You turned your car and started South on Ellis Avenue, is that it?" "Yes, south on Ellis Avenue." "On the west side of the street?" "On the west side of the street." "Robert Franks was at 49th?" "He was almost at 49th." "On Ellis?" "Yes." "Was he on the northwest corner, approximately?" "Not quite." "You hadn't had a chance to cross?" "No." "And you drove up alongside of where he was?" "Yes." "And what happened?" "Then Dick opened the front door and yelled, ‘Hey, Bob.' He came over to the car and Dick asked him if he couldn't give him a lift home. He declined, but Dick said, ‘Come in a minute. I want to talk to you about a tennis racket.'" "That was the time he got into the car." "Yes." "Where were you sitting at that time?" "I was sitting at the driver's wheel. Dick was in the rear seat." "What time was it, approximately, Nathan?" "Between five and five-fifteen." "That was when you proceeded on your journey?" "Yes." "You went south then to 50th Street?" "South to 50th." "And east on 50th?" "East on 50th to I believe, Dorchester or Blackstone." "When was the first time that Richard struck Robert with a chisel, do you know?" "Between Ellis and Greenwood on 50th." "Had he become suspicious of anything when you returned for him at that time?" "No, because Richard asked him if he minded if we took him around the block, to which he replied no." "That was the original plan, to take him so no one would see him?" "Yes, sir." "And after you made this trip out in the country and came back, what time did you get back?" "Get back to where?" "To your home?" "Ten-thirty." "You still had the car that you had rented from the Rent-a-Car Company?" "Yes, sir." "Was that the car that you drove your folks home in?" "No." "What did you do with that rented car?" "I parked it on Greenwood Avenue just north of our drive way." "On Greenwood Avenue?" "On Greenwood Avenue." "And your had your car in the garage?" "I got my own car in the garage and drove around to the side it was." "Then what did you do with your other car when you came back?" "When I took Dick home--let me see, God, I think they were in my car, because that chisel was thrown from my car, wasn't it? How could that have been accomplished? I am not quite clear on that point. But what he must have done was take the bundle--no, we didn't do that either, because I remember washing the other car." "That was the car that you rented?" "Yes, we must have taken the rented car." "You must have taken the rented car and driven out 50th Street? In other words, that was after you came back?" "Yes. I was around there until one o'clock." "That was after you got back?" "Yes. I was around there until one o'clock." "Where did Richard wait for you?" "At my home." "What did you do with the rented car then?" "Washed it fairly thoroughly there." "When, that night?" "One-thirty, yes." "Whereabouts?" "On 50th Street, at the gate to Loeb's." "What did you wash it with?" "We found a bucket with some water and a brush and some soap." "Where?" "In Loeb's basement" "Then you came out and washed it?" "Yes, sir." "You were unable to get all the stains off?" "Well, it was at night and we didn't want to be monkeying around too much." "Where did you take your car to get some of the blood stains off?" "No place." "You drove the car in some place to get some of the blood stains off?" "No, that was the next day in our garage. It was still Wednesday night you see." "What did you do with the rented car that night?" "I drove it back to the place previously occupied, which is just north of our driveway, and stood it in front of an apartment house." "That was at one-thirty?" "One-thirty." "After you drove your aunt and uncle home in your car and came back what did you do in the house then? Richard Loeb was in the house?" "Went in and had a few drinks, sat and talked with Dad." "About what time was that?" "That must have been about eleven o'clock." "Then what did you do?" "Dad retired about eleven-thirty or twelve, and we had a few more drinks and left about one o'clock." "Did you play cards while you were there?" "Yes, sir, I think we played two games of casino for fun." "Well, what did you do after that?" "We went over to Dick's house with the clothes." "The clothes in the rented car?" "Yes, sir." "And those were out in the rented car all the time?" "Yes." "In a robe?" "In a robe." "When you got to Dick's house what did you do?" "We went in the basement and burned the clothes. We intended burning the robe, but it was too large to fit in and would have caused an awful stench. Right after making that phone call to Franks, we were in the rented car, we drove over to Loeb's then in the rented car, burned the clothes, washed the blood stains, then took the rented car to my house and left it there, then I got my car out and took the folks home in that. Then after I got back to my house I still had that car, when I took Dick home it was in that car, and it was then we threw the chisel out." "When you took Dick home you took the rented car, or your car?" "My own car." "What actually happened when you came in the first time?" "We had disposed of the clothes." "You had disposed of the clothes in the car?" "Yes, sir." "And left the robe hidden in the car?" "No. I had left the robe hidden in some brush there." "You mean outside?" "Outdoors, yes." "And Dick had the chisel in his possession?" "Yes, sir." "And when you changed cars he just took it from one car to another car?" "Yes." "Did he leave that in the car or not?" "I don't believe so, no." "Where did he throw the chisel out at?" "It was over there between 48th and--or between 49th and 50th I think, on Greenwood." "After you left Richard there and came back, you put your car in the garage, did you?" "Yes, sir." "Then what did you do?" "I turned off the parking light on the parked car and went to bed." "Then what did you do?" "The next morning I got up and went to school as usual at eight o'clock. I met Dick at eleven." "Where?" "At the University." "You had made arrangements the night before to meet the next day?" "Yes, sir, we drove down to my house, and it was then that we drove the rented car to the garage to clean it up more thoroughly." "In your garage?" "Outside of my garage, but in my driveway." "What did you clean up with?" "With soap and water and some gasoline and a brush." "Did anyone help you clean it up." "Sven tried to, but we told him it was all right, that we were all through." "Was there any remark made then with reference to the blood stains in the car?" "Yes, Dick was afraid that possibly Sven had seen these blood stains and he said it was some red wine." "He told the chauffeur that?" "Yes, sir." "Who drove the rented car downtown?" "I drove the rented car downtown." "And Dick drove your car, did he?" "Dick drove my car." "Then you went down, and how much did you pay, do you remember, for the use of the car?" "This was Thursday, was it?" "Yes." "Wait just a moment. We cleaned the car out. I have forgotten where we ate, we stopped some place for lunch and we didn't have my car until we both drove the rented car." "You didn't have your car at all?" "No, my car was in the garage and we drove down to the 12th Street Illinois Central Station, and the rest of the account is contained in the previous part." "With the rented car?" "Yes, sir." "When did you return the rented car?" "We returned the rented car about five or five-thirty." "How much money?" "Twenty-five dollars and some cents on it." "And he gave you the balance of your deposit back." "Yes, sir." "You drove the rented car, both of you, to the I.C. Station?" "Yes, and then drove back south. After we had found that Mr. Franks was not at the drugstore we drove to my house, got my car, and Dick drove my car down, while I drove the rented car down. Dick parked on Wabash Avenue just south of 14th Street while I returned the car." "About what time was that?" "Between five-fifteen and five-thirty. When we returned we stopped to get a soda at the drugstore." "Whereabouts?" "47th and Ellis. I met Mr. Mitchell at that time." "You had a conversation with him?" "I had a conversation with him. I took Dick home and on the way back stopped and bought a paper at 48th and Ellis which told about the fact that this boy was Franks and went home." "Then what happened?" "I got supper. I stayed at home studying law." "Did you see Dick the next day?" "The next day was Friday, yes." "Was that the time you had the conversation of what you would say in the event you were called in?" "I am not sure if it was then or not. We discussed that a number of times." "Prior to the happening or after the happening?" "Possibly after that. I couldn't be sure." "You discovered there was a pair of glasses found out there, Nathan?" "Yes." "You learned that through a newspaper?" "Yes." "Then you and Richard Loeb had some conversation about the glasses and so forth?" "Yes, sir." "You contemplated at the time that you would be called in and asked about it?" "Yes, sir." "In the event they were found. You never thought they would find the owner of the glasses, did you?" "No, sir. I did not." "You were called in by--" "Captain Wolf." "What did Captain Wolf ask you?" "Captain Wolf wanted to know whether I had visited the particular area frequently, whether there were many ornithologists whom I knew, or fishermen, particularly among the members of the Harvard School, or its faculty. Also whether the Franks boy had been interested." "You gave him the information?" "Yes." "Did you mention the fact to him at that time that you had worn glasses?" "Yes." "He never asked you to produce your glasses?" "No." "Were you able to remove all those blood stains?" "Almost entirely." "Enough so that it was not noticeable?" "Yes." "What time was it, Nathan, now, you saw the newspapers announcing that?" "About six o'clock." "This chisel that was thrown out of the car by Richard that you told about, Nathan, that had what kind of tape on it?" "Zinc oxide." "Where did you get that tape from, from home?" "In the bathroom." "This was the tape you were telling me about that your brother had in the bathroom when you walked in?" "Yes." "Did you take the whole roll of it?" "Yes." "Where did you leave the rest of it?" "We had discussed that, Dick and I, and we think it must have been in the car." "Did you put tape on near the sharp end or the blunt end?" "The sharp end." "Using the head of the chisel, or the blunt end I guess you would call it, for the purpose of--" "Striking." "Which end did Richard strike with, do you know? Did he strike with the sharp end or the other end?" "He struck with the other end. That is why I cannot explain the blood stains. Well, probably the blood was rather effusive." "You don't know whether it was the other end or not, do you?" "Yes, I know." "You know it was the blunt end he was struck with?" "Yes, sir." "Where did the chisel come from?" "From a hardware store between 45th and 46th on Cottage Grove Avenue." "Who bought the chisel?" "Dick." "That same day?" "No, I think he bought that a few days previously." "For that purpose?" "Yes." "At a hardware store where? "At 45th and Cottage." "Do you remember what you paid for it?" "I think it was seventy-five cents." "Which one of you bought it?" "Dick." "You bought that two or three days before?" "I think so, yes." "How did you carry it around with you?" "As I recollect, we put it in the pocket of the rented car. I think we bought that on the very day, on Wednesday the 21st, I am almost sure of that now." "The same day?" "Yes, sir." "That was the day you went in and got the tape in the house?" "Yes." "Now the time you first started to wear glasses was when, Nathan?" "In October or November, 1923." "And who was our doctor that prescribed the glasses?" "Emil Deutsch." "And he is located where?" "30 North Michigan." "And the one who filled the prescription?" "Almer Coe." "How long did you wear the glasses, Nathan, afterward?" "Until February or March." "1924?" "1924." "Then you sort of discontinued wearing them, is that it?" "Yes, sir. They had actually remained in the pocket of the suit which happened to be this suit." "The suit that you have got on now is the suit you wore the night you placed the body there, is that it?" "Yes sir." "After your started out there Nathan, did you remove your clothes at all while you were placing the body?" "My coat, yes." "Just how did you place the body in the drain pipe, just explain how you placed the body there?" "I think it was head first. I had a pair of rubber boots." "Where did you get the rubber boots?" "My own." "Did you take them from your home?" "Yes sir." "That day in this rented car, did you?" "Yes, put them on right at the culvert where I stepped into the water, took the feet of the body while Dick took the head end and the hands, and when it struck the water, pushed it in, gave it a shove as far as I could. "Was it much of a job, Nathan, to push the body in?" "At first I thought it was rather doubtful whether it would fit at all, but after it once started it was not hard at all." "Then after you pushed it in as far as you could push it in with your hands, Nathan, you used your feet and pushed it in further?" "Yes." "Had rigor mortis set in at that time?" "Yes." "At the time you had taken your coat off did you lay it on the ground some place?" "Yes, right by my shoes." "That is not the time you lost your glasses?" "No, that is not the time. Dick had run across the railroad track to see if anybody could be seen from the other end, and I went up to the top of the railroad track, for some reason or other, to put on my shoes, and he brought my coat to me. I think we struck a match- no, we had a flashlight with us, and it must have been at that time that the glasses fell out." "What time was it, again, that you put the body in the drain?" "About nine thirty or nine twenty." "Dick brought your coat up to you where you were putting on your shoes?" "Yes." "Now this letter, Nathan, that you had already prepared the envelope without any address on it, you had prepared that letter some time prior to that time?" "Yes." "Just when did you prepare that letter?" "Four or five days ahead of time." "No one, definately, as to who you were going to send it to?" "No, just "dear sir." "But the address you placed on later on?" "Yes, it was not addressed inside. It was just dear sir." "You didn't send that additional letter that was supposed to be sent about committing suicide?" "No." "Well, I think that will be enough. Are there any corrections you wish to make." Richard said, "There are certain corrections that Leopold has made in mine that are not important, such as 14th street, and the boots being his, instead of his brother's, which don't amount to a damn, I mean it don't make any difference, they are not important, and don't affect the case. However, I would like to say this. In the first place he says that that chisel was wrapped by me. It was wrapped by him, and wrapped by him in Jackson Park. He brought it in and put it in the car and he wrapped that chisel while waiting there in Jackson Park in that little nine hole golf house. All right. In the second place he mentioned that the idea of the thing, that the main thing was to get the place and the means of throwing that package, and he stuck on that idea of the train and it was his idea. But he doesn't mention the method of the killing, that he had that very well conceived and planned out, as evidenced by the ether in the car, which was absolutely the notion that he followed through. The boy was to be etherized to death, and he was supposed to do that, because I don't know a damn thing about it and he does. He has a number of times chloriformed birds and things like that, and he knows ornithology and I don't know a damn thing about that. He said that the time was November when the idea was first conceived. Well, now, I don't know exactly, I believe I said two months in my statement. I know right well it was not November. It may have been a little bit longer than two month, it might have been two and a half months, but it certainly was not any longer than that. There are one or two other minor things that he mentioned. For instance, he said he drove the red car downtown. No, he says he drove the rented car downtown. I don't know, I got that mixed up. " Richard looked at Nathan. "Which did you say? When you left your house on Tuesday afternoon were you driving the red car?" "The rented car," Nathan said. "Well, you were not. You were driving the red car. I will show you why you were, because I didn't know exactly where that place was on Michigan Boulevard. I don't to this day. If I was to drive down Wabash, I don't know the streets. You know exactly where it was. You drove the red car, you went ahead of me and I followed you, and where you parked the red car I stopped up alongside of you in the red car and picked you up. You just got out of your car into my car. I stopped next to you, I was following you all the time in the rented car. You had the red car and drove the red car and parked it there. So there are one or two other things. In the first place I never touched that body after the hydrochloric acid was poured on that body. After the hydrochloric acid was poured on that body you stepped into that culvert with your boots on and you took hold of the feet and gave the body a push and the body splashed in there and it splashed on your pants too, and you worried about it." "Who hit him with a chisal?" interrupted Crowe. "He did." "Who is 'he'?" Crowe asked, getting it all down in the record. "Nathan Leopold Jr. He was sitting up in the front seat. I said he was sitting in the front seat. I mean I was sitting up in the front seat," Richard fumbled. "That is obviously a mistake. I am getting excited. This Franks boy got up in the front seat. Now he was a boy that I knew. If I was sitting in the back seat he would have gotten into the back seat with me. He was a boy I know, and i would have opened the door and motioned him in that way. As it was, he got in the front seat with me because I knew the boy and I opened the front door. He didn't see Babe until he was inside the car. He stood at the same place. I introduced him to this Franks boy and then took him into the car. I took him into the car and when he got in the car I said, 'you know Babe? This is Bobby Franks'. And then the think I wish to point out. I have been made a fish right along here. Now this story that you speak of in your testimony, this story of the finding of all this alibi, all these women, and being drunk in the Coconut Grove and everything, we planned that definately. It was definately decided that the story was not to go after Wednesday noon, which would be a week after the crime. We were to protect our story. We were to just say that we didn't know what we were doing, and there was no evidence. We felt that you were safe with your glasses sfter a week had passed, that your glasses being out there would no necessitate an air-tight alibi, because we didn't figure anything else, and we figured that you would be safe enough after a week not to know exactly where you were on that particular Wednesday afternoon." "Who felt that?" Crowe asked. "I told the same story exactly here to Mr Savage." "All right," said Crowe. "When you came down Thursday and you told another story which you had agreed not to tell, I came down to Mr Crowe and he questioned me, and questioned me about my actions and everything else, and I denied ever being drunk, I denied being with you, Leopold, and I denied being up at the Coconut Grove, and those things being put together made me absolutely certain that you had told the stories you shouldn't have told. Then he started to talk about the Park, about being out at Lincoln Park. He mentioned parks. He brought it around, but I knew what he was driving at. That was Lincoln Park, and when he did that I stepped in to try to help you out. I think it is a damn sight more than you would have done for me. I tried to help you out because I thought that you at least, if the worst comes to the worst, would admit what you had done and not try to drag me into the thing in that manner. Well now, that is all I have to say." "Have you got anything to say to that?" Asked Mr Savage. "Yes I have," responded Leopold. "Nathan wants to say a word," said Mr Savage. "His correction about what car I was driving down I think is correct. Those are all absurd dirty lies. He is trying to get out of this mess. I can explain to you myself exactly how I opened the door to let the Franks boy in, and he got up from the back seat , leaned over forward and spoke to the boy from the back. I was driving the car. I am absolutely positive. The rason for changing the story was, as you remember, I was very indefinate, and I was urged to remember, quite strongly, what I had been doing, and I am sorry that you were made a fish of and stepped into everything and broke down and all that, I am sorry, but it isn't my fault. All the rest of the corrections he made, with the exception of that one of the car, are lies." "Now listen boys?" "Yes," answered Leopold. Loeb was silent. "You have both been treated decently by me?" "Absolutely," said Leopold. Loeb was silent. "No brutality or no roughness?" continued Crowe. "No sir," said Leopold. Loeb was silent. "Every consideration shown to both of you?" "Yes sir," said Leopold. Loeb still said nothing. "Not one of you have a complaint to make, have you?" "No sir," said Leopold. "Have you, Loeb?" "No," said Loeb.
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