The details of their involvement in the murder of Bobby Franks mounted against Leopold and Loeb. The more lies they told, the more proof officers came across. Many of the holes in their stories surfaced from coincidences and bad timing. In this article, you will learn the fate of the young men as they were sent to prison for life. One of them enjoyed freedom for more than 10 years after his incarceration.
The police continued to question the boys and soon their alibis fell to pieces. The first to confess was Loeb, who was followed by Leopold. The majority of the facts started to make sense as the boys confessed and their accounts were nearly the same, except for one glaring detail. They both blamed the other for committing the actual killing. People trying to decipher the case came up with theories as to who struck Franks with the deadly blow. However, an eyewitness claims to have seen Loeb driving with Leopold in the back seat minutes before the kidnapping.
What is for sure is the ransom was not their main motive for committing the crime. Both of their families showered them with all the money they needed in order to live comfortably. Leopold and Loeb both admitted that the “thrill of the kill” is what drove them the most to commit the crime. They both wanted to execute the ‘perfect crime.’ While in jail, they took pleasure in recounting the details of the crime to news reporters. They also enjoyed the public attention they received while they were in prison.
In Prison and After
At first, Leopold and Loeb were sent to Joilet Prison, but they were later transferred to Stateville Penitentiary. While there, the two men took advantage of their education and taught classes at the prison school. Would the two ever step outside of the prison walls again? One of the men would live to see daylight again, while the other would lose their life in jail.
It was January 28, 1936 when Loeb was attacked by a fellow prisoner named James E. Day. Using a straight razor, Day slashed Loeb’s throat from behind while he was in the shower room. At the end, Loeb was left with more than 50 wounds, including multiple self-defense wounds on his arms and hands. Day claimed that Loeb sexually assaulted him, but those claims were dismissed by fellow prisoners and even the prison chaplain.
As for Leopold, he agreed to participate in the Stateville Penitentiary Malaria Study, where he was infected with malaria. In the early part of 1958, Leopold was released on parole. He had spent 33 years in prison. While in Puerto Rico, Leopold died of a heart attack on August 29, 1971. He was 66 years old.