- Thanks to CuriosityStream for keeping LegalEagle in the air. By clicking the link in the description, you'll also get Nebula for free, a streaming platform made
by and for creators like me. (gentle music) The time is the roaring '20s. The place, the glamorous
downtown streets of Chicago. Gangsters and bootleggers
capture most of the headlines and the attention of police. Clubs overflow with the
young, the beautiful, and the rebellious. There's too much jazz
and never enough gin. But then a strange and horrible event shakes the city from its euphoria. In fact, the whole world is
rocked by a deadly crime spree pulled off by two of the wealthiest and most promising young men in the city. A pair of rich geniuses
brutally murder a boy for their own callous amusement and intellectual curiosity. The victim, Bobby Franks, only age 14. News that an innocent boy
has been killed in cold blood as part of a twisted experiment sweeps across the country like wildfire. America speculates in a frenzy. What could've driven
these two rich gentlemen to murder for fun? Plagued by a dark psychosis
that no one detected, the young scholars, prodigies, arrogantly explained their heartless plan. The killers, Nathan
Leopold and Richard Loeb. Does anyone who kills
for a twisted ideology have grounds for anything less than the harshest sentence? That's the question
that we have to face in "The Case of Leopold and
Loeb: The Genius Murderers." We present for your adjudication young Nathan Leopold, age
19, undeniably a genius. His IQ is in the top 2% of
those tested at this time. Though he didn't speak his
first word until age four, he now speaks 15 languages, and he has just graduated
from the University of Chicago with Phi Beta Kappa honors. He's charming, the envy of younger boys and suitor to a stunning young
woman of impeccable breeding. Leopold is dashing and brilliant. He believes the world
is his for the taking. And his accomplish, Richard Loeb, age 18, another prodigy. After becoming the youngest graduate from the University of
Michigan at the age of 17, Loeb is currently working
on his graduate studies at the University of Chicago. Despite his impressive school record, Loeb is not excited by
intellectual pursuits. He'd rather be playing tennis
or reading detective stories. Like most teenage boys, Loeb loves the puzzle-solving
challenge of crime novels, so reads a lot of books in which the bad guy always get caught. These two rising stars
collide in the early 1920s. Although Leopold and Loeb
know each other as children, they become close during their time at the University of Chicago where their genius
intellect set them apart from the rest of the student body. They decide to find their
own interest and ventures. Ones that appealed to their
inflated sense of self-worth. Leopold and Loeb have
separately been lauded as prodigies since they were toddlers. Together, they come to believe that they are truly superior
to nearly everyone else, in fact, 99% of society. So when they read the works of
German philosopher Nietzsche, they seize upon his idea of the superman, a transcendent individual who posses extraordinary and unusual capabilities, which makes them above the laws that bind normal society. This philosophy further warps the minds of our two young scholars. Leopold, entranced by the idea that he and Loeb are so extraordinary that different rules apply to them, urges his friend to
adopt the same beliefs, writing, "A superman is on account of "certain superior
qualities inherent in him, "exempted from the ordinary
laws which govern men. "He's not liable for anything he may do." Loeb needs little convincing. The duo sets out to
commit a string of crimes (fire crackling) and they get away (glass shatters) with all of them. But the criminal scholars decide to push this Nietzschean
theory even further. They resolve to aim higher,
not arson or battery. No, this time, they plan a murder. One so cold and callous, it will become one of the most red and studied legal cases of all time. In short, they set out to
commit the perfect crime, one that is, the
psychotic buddies believe, they can pull of with complete immunity. In 1929, Leopold and Loeb begin preparations for the killing, a plan that begins with
the already heinous crime of kidnapping. Because the two resolve to
murder an innocent child, they first must decide how
the abduction will take place. Should they take the boy from his bedroom in the middle of the night, perhaps steal him away from his family while they're out on the town? They then begin contemplating
the murder itself. "How should we kill him?" they asked. "Poison, "shooting, "stabbing?" They coldly discussed one
gruesome idea after another before at last settling on a method. For these evil geniuses, there are still more preparations to make. Another part of their diabolical plan involves typing a ransom
note from a fake person and creating a bank
account in a false name into which the victim's family can deposit the ransom money. (cash register rings) Dispassionately, they
discuss renting a car and typing the ransom
demand on a typewriter that Loeb steals from
his own fraternity house. The pair plot and complete
each villainous step, seemingly failing to realize that each one exposes
them to more eyewitnesses. The two demented prodigy
spend seven months making their murderous plans. At last, on May 21st, 1924, on a warm and cloudless spring day, Leopold and Loeb put their
long-plotted gruesome plan into action. First, they lured
14-year-old Bobby Franks, a trusty neighbor, tennis buddy, and second cousin of
Loeb's, to the rental car. The charming killers whom
Bobby knows and looks up to convinced him to come to their car to discuss a new tennis racket that Loeb as been using. They then seize him,
bind him, and speed away. The kidnapping has begun. After the madmen have Bobby in the car, the horrific deed moves into full swing. As Leopold drives, Loeb repeatedly hits Bobby in
the head with a metal chisel, then drags him into the backseat where the dreadful undertaking continues. In the backseat, Loeb gags
young Bobby with his own hands, covering Bobby's nose and face, until the ill-fated child
can no longer breathe and at last suffocates. Now, traveling with their victim's body, the depraved men drive on to their predetermined dumping site, 25 miles south of Chicago in Indiana. For the entire trip, Bobby
lies hidden beneath the robe. The brutal murder has no
effect on these two monsters. In fact, they grab a bite to eat on their way to dispose
of the poor boy's remains. Shockingly, they even eat in the car with the corpse as they drive along. After sundown, they heartlessly
strip Bobby of his clothes and drag his lifeless body to a culvert near some railroad tracks. Loeb keeps a look out while Leopold carefully
removes his own coat and shoes, and then dawns a pair of boots to take the remains into the sewer canal. To try to prevent Bobby's identification, in a grizzly act, Leopold
pours hydrochloric acid on his face and body. Finally, he covers Bobby
with a robe once more. Leopold emerges from the tunnel, confident that his work
has been meticulous. But unbeknownst to either of the killers, Leopold's glasses are
left at the dumping site. their twisted sense of superiority prevents them from ever considering the possibility of human error. Feeling secure in their
grizzly endeavor so far, they duck back into their
blood-stained rental car and head back to Chicago. But unnoticed by the murders, eyewitnesses continue to accumulate. On their drive back north, a woman and her daughter are on their way home from a picture show. Since the road is dark, the mother flashes her brights when approaching Leopold's and Loeb's car coming from the other direction. The ladies get a clear look
at the car passing them. It's around 9:30 p.m. Next, Leopold stops at a drugstore to call his girlfriend in his home, claiming that he's still nearby and out with friends. He tells them he'll be a
little later getting back. And in turn, his parents remind him that he must drive his
aunt home upon his return. Leopold hopes these conversations will support an alibi. But of course, phone
calls are no such proof. Finally, back in Chicago, the nefarious pair begin
to dispose of the evidence. They stop at Loeb's home where Loeb burns BObby's
clothes in the furnace. Meanwhile in the garage, Leopold attempts to clean Bobby's bloodstain from the
rental car's front seat. Thinking the large robe may cause too much some in the furnace, the two decided to hide in the yard and plan to burn it later. Still feeling pleased with
the execution of their plan, Loeb stays with Leopold's
family at their house while Leopold at last
drives his aunt home, but their terrible business
on this faithful night is not done yet. At around 10:30 p.m.
before returning home, Leopold calls Bobby's parents, pretending to be the man
named George Johnson. (phone ringing) Bobby's unsuspecting mother answers the call and receives news that throws her life
into a living nightmare. Lying, Leopold tells Mrs. Franks that her son, Bobby, has been
kidnapped but is unharmed. And he ordered Mrs. Franks to wait for further instructions
regarding the $10,000 ransom. He warns her that she and her husband must strictly follow his directions, and that they cannot contact the police. Once Leopold arrives home, he and Loeb settled down to wait and play cards for a while. Around one o'clock in the morning, the two leave in the rental car to mail their ransom note, dropping it off for special
delivery to the Franks. On the way back to Loeb's house, Loeb tosses the chisel into
some brush along the roadside. Leopold drops off Loeb at around 1:40 a.m. and heads back home as their
bloody crimes draw to a close, but the Franks' nightmare
is far from over. The next day, the ransom
demand arrives around noon, which Mrs. Franks can barely open because her hands are shaking so badly. Desperately, the Franks try to understand the letter's instructions. They must wait at their home for another call at one o'clock p.m., which will tell them
where to leave the money. The letter is signed George
Johnson, and concludes, "Remember that this is your only chance "to recovery your son." But at the very moments, the police are already unraveling Leopold and Loeb's, quote, perfect crime. Their first mistake, the chisel that Loeb threw out into the brush. A man who is watching curiously decided to see what had been tossed from the window of their fancy rental car in the middle of the night. (gasps) He was shocked to find the bloody chisel. And by 2:30 a.m., that eyewitness has turned the murder
weapon over to police. The two self-proclaimed geniuses having an inkling that
tangible evidence against them is already being collected. Mere hours later, two
early morning workmen happen to cross Bobby's remains where they also find Leopold's spectacles. They gently removed the
boy's body from the culvert and contact police. When the police arrived, they also find one of Bobby Frank's socks. By late morning, Leopold and Loeb are scrubbing the carpet
in the rear of the car. Leopold's chauffeur happens upon them and Leopold clumsily invents a story. They spilled some red wine in the car, and they're cleaning it out
so Loeb's father won't see it. This might make sense, but
this is not Loeb's car. At 2:00 p.m., an hour after the Franks expect more instructions, Leopold drops off Loeb
at the train station where Loeb buys a train ticket in his own name for Michigan City. He quickly boards the
car and deposits a letter in the train's telegraph rack. The criminal masterminds
hope to trick authorities into believing that Loeb was on the train at the very time the franks are due to be contacted in Chicago. Meanwhile, Leopold doesn't waste any time. While Loeb is planting
the letters on the train, Leopold goes to a drugstore
and calls the Franks, instructing them to go
to a different drugstore and wait there for another call. Leopold gives the Franks the designated address and hangs up, then hurries back to pick up
Loeb from the train station. Once together again,
the naive perpetrators go back to the drugstore near the station to call the other drugstore where they believe the
Franks are anxiously waiting. But by now, Bobby's body has already been identified by his uncle and
is in the county morgue. Remarkably, just five minutes before Leopold called the Franks, the police arrived to give them the life-shattering news that their poor little boy is dead. Of course, the Franks are not going to any drugstore at this point. Before the day is out, much to the deranged managed to grin, Bobby's death is already
in the newspapers. With Bobby dead, how can they
pull off a ransom payday now? In a panic, Loeb urges Leopold to call everything off, but Leopold stubbornly disagrees, racking his brilliant mind for
a way to still get the money. But failing to come up with
anything, Leopold agrees. The new plan is to plan evidence to make it look like
someone else murdered Bobby. Once the two get rid of their rental car, they decide to try to pin the
murder on one George Lewis, an ornithology student in one of the zoology
classes Leopold teaches. Leopold's genius idea is to frame one of his bird enthusiast students, because some of them
frequent the part of Indiana where Bobby's remains were found. Leopold doesn't even consider that Lewis may have a rock-solid alibi. How could two geniuses be so birdbrained? (bird screeching) The two were acting in a blind panic now. Their smug intelligence proving the crumbling facade as the net closes in. Driving with no consideration
for the speed limit, Leopold picks up Loeb. They retrieved Bobby's
robe from the backyard and drive to a secluded spot. They burned it on the side of the road, out of anyone's sight,
as far as they know. They then speed to Indiana where they hide Bobby's class pin, belt buckle, and shoes. But before they can finish
their cover-up plan, Captain Wolfe of the
Chicago Police Department calls Leopold in for questioning. Much to the surprise
of the dastardly pair, though worried about the
execution of their frame-up, they still don't know how
close the police really are. Captain Wolfe asked Leopold about his neighbor Bobby Franks and asked where Leopold saw him last. After Wolfe tells Leopold
about Bobby's grim faith, Leopold offers his flimsy alibi and implicated innocent George Lewis, saying he's known to
frequent the side of Indiana where Bobby's body was found. Clearly, Leopold hopes
to plant a red herring, but this bird expert has no way of knowing that that fish wouldn't swim. As soon as the captain
finishes speaking with Leopold, Leopold rushes back to Loeb. The two immediately drive to a park where Loeb hurriedly twist the keys off the typewriter used to
type the ransom note. They throw the keys and the
typewriter into a lagoon, but their efforts are in vain. By this point, the
police have already been collecting evidence and witnesses against the nefarious duo
for the last 10 hours. The most damning evidence,
Leopold's forgotten glasses. The police follow one clue
after another for six days. Identifying the glasses' owner was simple. Mr. Coe the owner of an eyewear shop immediately recognizes the
glasses as one of a rare design. Coe tells the police only
three customers owned that set, and one of them is Leopold. By May 28th, the police have spent almost a week tracking down leads, collecting clues, gather tangible proof, and creating a long list of eyewitnesses. At this point, they
decide it's time to hear whatever fantastic story Leopold
and Loeb have come up with. The police questioned the self-proclaimed geniuses separately, hoping to get a confession to support the mountain of evidence already in the law's possession. The questions take place at a local hotel in the hopes of making the criminals feel more comfortable
and more likely to sing. Leopold continues to offer the police names of other possible suspects. He then gives two conflicting answers about where his spectacles might be. Loeb on the other hand tries to claim he doesn't
remember what happened, hoping to avoid making any
truly damning mistakes. Both give police their
flimsy false alibis, but Leopold is too
reckless and even admits, "If I were to murder anybody, "it would be just such a cocky "little son of bitch as Bobby Franks." The police released the men for the night, but secretly had them followed. Finally, around 1:00 a.m. on May 30th, Leopold and Loeb are arrested for the murder of Bobby Franks. Once at the station for processing, the police give the two some details about the mountain of
evidence stacked against them. Loeb is the first to break
and start confessing. And when Leopold finds
out, he confesses too. Finally, the Franks are on
their way to some justice for their little boy. But it turns out that the path to justice is a truly twisted road. Leopold and Loeb's families hired the most famous lawyer in the world, Clarence Darrow of the
Scopes Monkey Trial fame, and they pay him a $70,000 retainer, which was a fortune and would be over a million dollars today. Billed as the trial of the century, this is in every way the predecessor to the OJ Simpson case. But given the grizzly facts of the trial, why would the most famous lawyer
in the world take the case? Because he was staunchly
against the death penalty. Darrow famously opposed capital punishment throughout his career, but the facts are not in dispute. Two brilliant young minds
decided to kill a young boy just to see if they could
complete the perfect crime. The killers confessed. Darrow knows that if Leopold
and Loeb plead not guilty, they will be convicted by a
jury and sentenced to death. Even the greatest lawyer in the world can only do so much. So, Darrow's astute legal mind comes up with a tactic that might at least save their twisted lives. Darrow suggest the pair skip the trial and focus exclusively on sentencing. On the day of the indictment,
the town is in a tissy, and people all over the
country want to know how these two calculating
child killers will plead. What could they possibly
say to defend themselves? Let's go to the courtroom where the opposing lawyers
are about to square off. In a courtroom jammed with people but so silent you could hear a pin drop. - [Judge] Mr. Darrow,
how do your client plead to the counts of kidnapping
and first degree murder? - [Clarence] Guilty. (gasps) - The courtroom is full of
shock, gasps, and murmurs. But once it's quiet again, Darrow simply requests a
full hearing on sentencing before the court decides
on the killer's penalty. The court grants his requests. So, in Illinois, is pleading guilty enough to avoid the death penalty for first degree murder and kidnapping. The state's attorney, Robert Crowe, is certain that this will be hanging case. However, there's the Darrow factor, and Darrow is even smarter than the two men he's defending. Darrow is aware that a plea
of insanity will be futile. The facts are known and at
this point in his career, the only client that Clarence
Darrow ever lost to execution tried the insanity defense
and failed miserably. So Darrow takes a different,
more audacious route, sending the case into an unbelievable 32-day hearing on sentencing alone. Will Darrow be able to convince the court that life sentences are sufficient? Or, will these two sociopaths hang for their terrible crime? Let's see what the Cook County Court decided in September of 1924. We take you to the courthouse where the historic
sentencing is about to begin. (typewriter clicking) - [Judge] Good morning. I'd like to first express that while this case has
attracted a lot of attention in the community at large, I will not allow this
courtroom to become a circus. We are here only to resolve
the matter of sentencing. Is the state ready to proceed? - [Robert] Yes, Your Honor. Robert Crowe for the people
of the state of Illinois. - [Judge] Counsel for defendants? - [Clarence] Yes, Judge. Clarence Darrow on
behalf of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. - [Judge] All right then. Mr. Crowe, you may begin. - [Robert] Thank you, and
may it please the court. Your Honor, these defendants are nothing less than
depraved hyper sociopath who think nothing of human life. If ever a case for the
death penalty existed, it is this one. These man admitted that they planned and committed the gruesome
murder of a young boy, an innocent child who presented no threat, because they thought it
would be a fun experiment. Moreover, they both stated that this heinous act was thrilling, and Mr. Leopold has admitted that he had an interesting in learning what it would be like
to murder a human being. - [Clarence] Objection, Your Honor. Counsel is offering
evidence not in the record as there was no trial in which my clients testified under oath. - [Judge] Objection sustained. Be careful, Mr. Crowe. Proceed. - [Robert] Are the defendants sick? Yes, but not from any mental illness, but instead a knowingly
embraced depravity. I hesitate to even call them men, as true men would never
do or even consider such violence toward a poor child. I urge the point to consider to the endless anguish in
which Bobby's parents will have to live the rest of their lives. Capital punishment was
made for just such a case. - [Judge] Your argument, Mr, Darrow. - [Clarence] Your Honor, it has been said that we plead guilty because we are afraid to do anything else. That is true. We seek mercy, but not exoneration. Now we have said to the
public and to this court that neither the parents, nor the friends, nor the attorneys of these boys would want them released. Unfortunate though it may be, it is true, and those the closest to
them know perfectly well that they would not be released and that they should be permanently isolated from society. We are only asking this
court to save their lives. The key question in this case is not whether my clients did something horrific, but rather whether
there were circumstances that mitigate their level
of personal responsibility. Despite counsel's attempt to paint Nathan and Richard as inhuman, they certainly are not. They are young men whose minds have been are still being molded
by the world around them, as well as the smaller environment in which they live out
every day of their lives, their parents' home,
their college classes, their sports practices and the like. And these smaller worlds which are intimate to my
clients must be closely examined before deciding on a fair and
just penalty for their crimes. - [Judge] The state may
proceed with argument. - [Robert] Over 100
witnesses for the state testified to the countless lies, attempts to implicate innocent people, and path of destruction left
behind by these two ghouls. That evidence, combined with
the hard tangible evidence, is enough to warrant death for
these abhorrent defendants. - [Judge] Mr. Darrow,
did you want to comment on witness or evidence. - [Clarence] Yes, thank you, Judge. As the court has seen, we produced many witnesses for the court, including psychiatric experts and those individuals closest to and familiar with the daily
lives of Nathan and Richard. Their reliable testimony
and other evidence has shown that my clients
are not deserving of death. - [Judge] Mr. Crowe,
please advise the court of the state's recommendation
for sentencing. - [Robert] The state is
recommending death by hanging for both of the defendants. Leopold and Loeb are highly educated, and they were raised by kind and civilized members of society, therefore they were well
aware that life is value and that it is a against the law in every state of the union
to murder an innocent person. Furthermore, they soberly
planned and brutally executed the murder of an innocent 14-year-old boy, leaving two parents to
grieve and profoundly suffer for the rest of their lives. Execution is the only
fair and just sentence. Thank you. - [Judge] Mr. Darrow, your
position for the record, please. - [Clarence] Your Honor,
what is the law of Illinois? If one is found guilty of murder in the first degree by a jury or if he pleads guilty before a court, the court or jury may
do one of three things, you may hang, you may imprison for life, or you may imprison for a term
of not less than 14 years. Now, is that the law? Does it follow from the
statute that a court is bound to ascertain the impossible and must necessarily measure
the degrees of guilt? Not at all. It may not be able to do it. A court may act from any
reason or from no reason. A jury may fix any one of these penalties as they separate. The defendants plead for life in prison over the death sentence. - [Judge] Thank you, Mr. Darrow. The state's position is well-known. Please proceed with your case
for life rather than death. - [Clarence] This terrible crime, Judge, was inborn in their very nature, handed down from ancestry. Could any young student be blamed because he took Nietzsche's
philosophy seriously and fashioned his life upon them. Now, Your Honor, we must
also talk of the great war. Before long years, the civilized world was engaged in killing
men by the thousands. Do you suppose this world has ever been the same since? We have read of killing
100,000 men in the day. These boys were brought
up in such an environment. The tales of death were in their homes, their playgrounds, their schools. They learned to place a
cheap value on human life. - [Judge] Mr. Crowe, does the state have any evidence to
refute Mr. Darrow's point regarding the effects of
war on the minds of children and their value of life? - [Robert] Of course. The state offers simple common sense. Look at the thousands of children the same age as the defendants who also live through
the tragic days of war. They haven't killed anyone. And if I'm unaware of
one or more who have, then it's still evidence
that Mr. Darrow's argument does not hold water. - [Clarence] Your Honor
knows that in this very court crimes of violence have
increased since the war, not necessarily by those who fought, but by those how learned that blood was cheap and
human life was cheap. If the state and our country could take these lives lightly, why not young boys? There are causes for this crime. War is part of it. Education is part of it. Birth is part of it. Money is part of it. All these conspired to encompass the destruction of these two poor boys. If the welfare of the community would be benefited by taking these lives, well and good. I however think it would
work a greater evil that no one could measure. All murders have a cause. Why did they kill little Bobby Franks? They killed him as they
might kill a spider or a fly, for the experience. They killed him because
they were made that way, because somewhere in
the infinite processes that go into the making
up of the boy or the man, something slipped. And those unfortunate
lads sit there hated, despised, outcasts, with the community
shouting for their blood. - [Robert] My I respond to Mr. Darrow's last arguments, please? - [Judge] Go ahead. - [Robert] Without getting
into specific details, suffice to say, the
collection of testimony from over 100 of the state's witnesses is from reliable people whose accounts are all consistent and most importantly demonstrated coldness and even enjoyment on the
part of the defendants during every step of their planning, execution, and post-murder
deceitful actions. - [Judge] Thank you, Mr. Crowe. Mr. Darrow, you may continue. - [Clarence] I have been sorry, and I'm sorry for the bereavement
of Mr. and Mrs. Franks for all those broken ties
that cannot be healed. All I can hope and wish is that some good may come from it all. I know the boys are
not fit to be at large. The easy thing and the popular thing to do would be to hang my clients. The cruel and thoughtless will approve. - [Judge] Be careful, Mr. Darrow. This court does not make
decisions based on what's popular. It answers only to the laws on the books. - [Clarence] I intended
no disrespect, Your Honor. But in Chicago and
reaching over the length and breadth of the land, more and more fathers and mothers, the humane, the kind, the hopeful will join in no acclaim at
the death of my clients. They would ask that the
shedding of blood be stopped and that the normal feelings of men resume this way. 90 poor, unfortunate man
have given up their lives to stop murder in Chicago. 90 men have been hanged
by the neck until dead because of the ancient
superstition that in some way hanging one man keeps another
from committing a crime, and that the only way to treat crime is to intimidate everyone into goodness and obedience to law. I am pleading for life,
understanding, charity, kindness, and infinite
mercy that considers all. I'm pleading that we overcome
cruelty with kindness, and hatred with love. And you may hang them by
the neck until they're dead. But in doing so, you would
turn your face toward the past. In doing it, you would be making it harder for every other boy who
in ignorance and darkness must grope his way through the mazes which only childhood knows. If Your Honor can hang a boy at 18, some other judge hang
him at 17, or 16, or, 14. Someday, if there is any such thing as progress in the world, if there's any spirit of humanity that is working in the hearts of men, someday men would look back
on this as a barbarous age which deliberately set itself in the way of progress,
humanity, and sympathy, and committed an unforgivable act. - [Judge] Mr. Crowe, tell me how death will
better serve society than will life in prison. - [Robert] As you said yourself, Judge, this court must answer
to the laws on the books. This case fall squarely under the law, which provides for death by hanging. We cannot allow the public to believe that our laws are meaningless, so it's imperative that
this court abides by the law to its letter. Furthermore, death by hanging will work as a logical deterrent. Most people who realize that
they could be hanged for murder will opt against committing
such a heinous crime. Some people may still kill if they know they may only spend part
of their life in prison with a strong chance of
parole for good behavior. For example, when Leopold and Loeb murdered little Bobby Franks, they breached the social contract that binds us all together. Their lives were forfeit the
moment they took Bobby's. Hanging these men may
not bring Bobby back, but retributive justice
demands that they suffer. And if their deaths prevent the loss of even one innocent life,
it will have been worth it. - [Judge] Mr. Darrow, a
brief closing, please. - [Clarence] We have placed our faith in the hands of this learned court, knowing that it would be more mindful and considerate than a jury. It is my only hope that we may all temper justice with mercy and
overcome hatred with love. Thank you. (typewriter clicking) - So what are your thoughts? If you were Judge Caverly,
what would you decide? Should these brilliant
but depraved young men with luxurious but less
than ideal childhoods escape the gallows? Put your proposed verdict in the comments. How do you think it came out? (typewriter clicking) Clarence Darrow's sentencing argument is the stuff of legal legend. He went on for over 12
hours and 20,000 words. Commentators called it the
greatest speech of his career and the most eloquent argument against the death penalty every given. Judge Caverly handed down his decision on September 10th, 1924 as the entire country
waited with bated breath. The sentence for the murder
and kidnapping convictions of both Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb was in order of life
imprisonment, plus 99 years. They were spared the gallows. And what happened to
Leopold and Loeb themselves? Well, they went to jail
for a very long time. Loeb was killed in jail 12
years later by a fellow inmate. Leopold served out the
rest of his sentence and was paroled 33 years later in 1958. He eventually moved to Puerto Rico and studied wildlife and
died of a heart attack at the age of 66. The mission of this channel
is to demystify the law, and that can be hard on you too when you're dealing with sensitive
subjects like this video. Because the only thing scarier than murder is getting demonetized, which is why my creator friends and I teamed up to build our own platform where creates don't have to worry about demonetization or the dreaded algorithm. It's called Nebula, and we're thrilled to be
partnering with Curiosity Stream. Nebula is a place where creators can do what they do best, create. It's a place where we can both house our content at free and also experiment
with new original series that probably wouldn't work on YouTube. In fact, if you liked this
episode of The Case Of, you can find an extended version that I actually can't show on YouTube. It's LegalEagle but now
with 10% more murder. And when I say that Nebula is built by creators for creators, I mean it. Nebula features lots of YouTube's
top educational creators, like Knowing Better,
Hbomberguy, Real Engineering, Tier Zoo, and tons of others. We also get to collaborate in ways that wouldn't work on YouTube, for example, the Nebula-exclusive series called working titles where every episode a different creator breaks down their favorite
TV intro sequence. Holyphonic did Game of Thrones. Patrick Williams did X-Men, and I'll be covering Law
and Order really soon. (intense music) Seriously, we worked really hard on this and we're really proud of the result. The project is self-funded. We're not backed by investors, and we've managed to
get all of this ad-free with no dreaded algorithm. So where does CuriosityStream
come in all of this? Well, they love educational content and educational creators, so they were the perfect
partner for Nebula. We just recently worked at a deal where if you sign up for CuriosityStream with a link in the description, not only will you get one
free month of CuriosityStream, but you'll also get a Nebula
subscription for free. And to be clear, that Nebula subscription is not a trial. If you decide to sign up with
CuriosityStream long-term, you'll get nebula as long as you're a CuriosityStream member. So that means that for
less than 20 bucks a year, not only do you get unlimited access to CuriosityStream's massive library of gorgeous high-budget documentaries, you'll also enjoy the private playground of YouTube's best educational creators for no additional charge, and you'll be supporting
creators like me directly. Just go to curiositystream.com/legaleagle or click the link in the description. And if you sign up using the link below, it'll take you directly to one of my favorite
curiosity stream documentaries, Peter Sagal's history, which explains how some of the most pivotal events in US
history are tied to money, including Watergate and the Civil War. It's right there on the website. So click on the link in the description to get a free month of both
curiosity stream and Nebula or sign up for less than $3 a month or less than $20 per year. You can support creators and
education at the same time. And finally, back to Leopold and Loeb. Is it fair that they were
able to avoid being hanged? Is the death penalty really a deterrent or is it just a blight on civil society? What do you think? Leave your objections in the comments and check out this playlist over here where you can see all of
the episodes of The Case Of, including my favorite, The Case of the Shotgun Booby Trap. Check out this playlist, and I'll see you in court.
This guy has clear political aspirations