Leopold & Loeb's Perfect Murder Gone Wrong (The Case Of) 

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"The time is the Roaring Twenties." *[checks watch]* "I'll allow it."

If you ever wondered what a 20 Intelligence and a 4 Wisdom looked like, this is it.

“We’ve committed the perfect crime “ *Gets caught almost immediately* . How can you be so bad at a crime to get caught so quickly in the 1920’s.

I love how one of their attorney's arguement is basically "your honor, imagine actually taking Nietzsche seriously lmao"

Whenever "Highly Educated" people do stupid things, I'm often reminded of this quote: "Knowledge without wisdom is only fancy ignorance."

2 super-geniuses whose only concept of concealing evidence is *"Yeet it out the window."*

my favourite thing about this case is that the lawyer that got them out of the death sentence gave this long (and actually kind of awesome) speech that basically said, "my two clients are shitheads and i don't ever want to see them again even if they become better people, but i also don't think you should hang them because the death penalty does not actually stop crime from happening."

Leopold: We have to be extra careful about witnesses! Also Leopold to the police: If I was going to kill anyone it would totally be that kid.

Baffles me how they spent 7 months preparing for that level of carelessness

When you're expecting Moriarty, but you get Team Rocket instead.

Obviously I’m horrified by the cold blooded murder. But I also spent most of this being like “…he left his glasses? They were near water and didn’t even rinse off the crowbar? They had a rental car and decided to commit murder that involved blood instead of like, poison?” Honestly people can be so horrible and also so dumb

Yeah, this seems like the kind of "perfect murder" someone would come up with after mainly reading detective novels.

"We're so smart no one will ever catch us" *plan falls apart and police are on them before they are even done*

Their own lawyer: They should be PERMANENTLY ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY. Legal system: Eh, 33 years is close enough.

I find it interesting how these “geniuses” who wanted to challenge went for a child who is less capable of defending themselves. Really goes to show how cowardly they actually were.

Loeb: Ok, we’ve committed the perfect crime! Leopold: Yeah, sure, just let me leave behind my rare, one-of-a-kind prescription glasses Loeb: Sounds good to me

'Life in Prison +99 Years' 'served his sentence and was released' *confusion*

"Why would the most prestigious lawyer in the world take their case?" Well, 70,000 doll- "He was against the death penalty" Oh, of course.

Man I wish he would make more of these. He makes such a fantastic narrator.

"Perfect crime gone wrong" that sounds like any crime with extra steps

"Life plus 99 years" "Served the rest of his sentence and was paroled 33 years later" Interesting

They spent all that planning and came up with “bludgeoning to death and getting blood all over the interior of the car”? Idiots

As much as I never condone the reactive use of the death penalty, I find it rather endemic of the social inequality and its effects on justice that the only reason that the pair were spared the death sentence was because their parents were exceptionally wealthy. It's certainly an early example of the exact situation that we are often faced with in the modern justice system in which the extremely wealthy can effectively wield law representation as a sword to cut a clear divide between themselves and those who aren't as wealthy in terms of how the law treats people. Had the duo not been born to such wealthy parents, it's highly unlikely that they would have been able to bring a lawyer on board who would have been capable of staving off the death penalty. Whether there's a solution to such inequality or not, I'm really not certain... it's obviously a complex matter with no simple answers. Being a lawyer is still a profession and one that people spend many years going to college in order to perform, as well as spending exorbitant amounts of money in student debt. Thus, it's not really surprising that better lawyers will inevitably float to the top end of the economic spectrum and that the wealthy who can afford to pay higher amounts will often have unequal representation in court. About the only solution I can possibly think of would be to federalize the field of law and essentially remove the option of being a private lawyer, but obviously that's going to present an issue in that government control and oversight over lawyers could very easily lead to abuse of that oversight to wield lawyers as a weapon to defend tyranny. That being said, I am against the death penalty generally, my only criticism of this case is the fact that the circumstances only led to its disuse because of the economic disparities of the time, rather than an actual moral movement. Generally, as it's near to impossible to absolutely, one hundred percent without a shadow of a doubt prove that someone has committed a crime without literal direct video evidence, sentencing someone to the death penalty is far too final. People have been put to death for crimes they did not commit, and when that happens there's no take backs... that's it, someone's life has been unjustly ended, and no amount of compensation for their family will bring their loved one back to them.

This case was honestly bone chilling to hear. It's horrific that they could kill a child in cold blood and not feel any remorse.

Objection: You can never have "Too much Jazz"

Now, if *I* was plotting a perfect murder, “don’t boast about the cool murder you did” is probably rule number 1

This lawyer got life for his clients with what was basically the precursor to the "Video games cause violence" argument, absolute madlad

I always considered my biggest lesson from when I had to study this case was basically "If someone thinks they've committed the perfect crime? they're caught" They spent so much time planning that was really just more excuses to themselves they'd get away with it

The worst attempt at committing a perfect crime ever...

Leopold and Loeb: "There's no way the police would ever be able to figure out that we committed the crime! It's fool proof." Police, almost instantly after discovering the body: "Ok it was like definitely Leopold and Loeb, right?"

When I heard “bloody chisel,” my mind went straight to John Mulaney & “clean up that pool of blood, and now back to my hunch!”

Why isn’t there more of these? So bummed there was only 4. Really love the storytelling and animation with the combination of the transcript of the court

"How are we going to kill the victim?" "Bonk him with a chisel" "Genius"

I was reading about Leopold and Loeb on Wikipedia. After his release, Leopold led a pretty inoffensive life, apart from writing a widely criticized autobiography, and attempting to block production of a fictionalized movie about his life. On that note, I thought this was amusing: "In 1959, Leopold sought unsuccessfully to block production of the film version of _Compulsion_ on the grounds that Levin's book had invaded his privacy, defamed him, profited from his life story, and 'intermingled fact and fiction to such an extent that they were indistinguishable.' Eventually the Illinois Supreme Court ruled against him, holding that Leopold, as the confessed perpetrator of the 'crime of the century' could not reasonably demonstrate that any book had injured his reputation."

I feel like the fact he got parole is a slap in the face of the sentence itself

Despite being "super smart", their interpretation of Nietzsche is laughably simple.

Imagine thinking you’re genius god-kings who can get away with anything, and a week later your trial goes straight to sentencing lmao

Them: We're so smart, we're like.. Not human anymore. Prosecution: I question their status as humans. Defense: They're humans.

This series is probably the only set of RU-vidr dramatization, acting, or skits that doesn’t make me roll my eyes and skip ahead!

Man this must have been one heck of a trial to sit through, these two lawyers are amazing (based on the dialog provided us)

"ah yes our perfect murder will be to someone we have direct ties with" second mistake right there. The first of course being plotting murder in the first place.

"The only thing scarier than murder is getting demonetized." - LegalEagle Why do I feel like this quote will be read in court at some point?

"Your Honor, I can't do a life sentence!" "Well, just do what you can, son."

Why were they eligible for parole? Even their attorney said they should both be locked up for the rest of their lives.

"You'd have to be *crazy* to try the insanity defense" can be read two ways

Objection! This is not the perfect murder. Do you know why we haven't heard of the perfect murder? Because it was perfect. 😉

"Life sentence + 99 years" "Served 33 and was released" Thanks, justice system

1920's: solve a case by 6 days without forensics. 2020's: video of a confession written in the victim's blood and gets house arrest after a 16 month investigation.

I feel so bad for Bobby's parents. Imagine raising a child that you love for 14 years only for all of that to be crushed and go down the drain.

Imagine your child that you raised and loved to die brutally only because two people were curious about if they could get away from it

I love how you do these “true crime” videos. We appreciate that they take a huge amount of effort and probably garner less monétisation, but they are great.

I was most surprised by the fact there were rental cars in the 20s

This doesn't sound so much like a "gone wrong" as it does a couple of idiots screwed up literally every single step due to carelessness.

I have always wondered about the psychological aspects of murder. What causes a person to kill another and not feel any remorse or lose sleep over it? Right now I have an injured chicken and mom told me to just take her out to the woody area behind our house so some wild animal could get her. I just couldn't do it. She's not even one of the chickens I've named and am attached to. I can't even kill a freaking chicken!

I think the most refreshing thing about this True Crime series on this channel is the objective presentation of both sides of a criminal case. I think many people are far too used to hearing a biased or distorted side of a story while being largely ignorant of any other opposing viewpoint. For me, this case should clearly have resulted in the death penalty. But, in listening to it, I hear plenty of strong defense for less than that. It's refreshing and challenging at the same time.

I wear glasses and I can't for the life of me imagine that I'll not notice that I lost my glasses For a pair of prodigal geniuses that want to commit the perfect crime they sure are unperceptive

Imagine just being a dude really into birds and someone trys to put a murder on you

I'm surprised they didn't mention the fact that after they killed bobby they tried to rob the family of thier $. This was such a great stories. Both lawyers made me question my own thoughts. Great stuff

LeagleEagle can you PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do more of these? I would love to see more of this the animation the case study everything just top notch

"the perfect murder" they threw the murder weapon still bloody out of the window in front of an eye witness. are we sure they didn't lie about the planning of this? surely they realize that if you throw a bloody chisel out of the window in front of people that is not a very good crime. they put the body in a place that would definitely be seen by people and yet still planned to try to get a ransom from the parents without considering that a missing kid and a dead kid body would be immediately noticed by police face or no face. it seems a lot more like the just did it one day and are so full of themselves they wanted to pretend they had a plan and shit.

"the perfect murder" they kidnapped their neighbor and second cousin and bludgeoned him in their car on the way home from the scene of the kidnapping? oh, okay

I think it would be interesting to at least say a few words about the death of Loeb as it is noted on WIkipedia: He was supposedly killed by a fellow inmate, who claimed, that Loeb tried to rape him in the showers. Loebs body showed mostly defensive wounds and supposedly died from a neck wound inflicted from behind, and the inmate who claimed to have been attacked had no wounds to speak of. The inmate who killed Loeb has been acquitted. It is generally assumed, and Leopold seems to believe so too, knowing the inmate that killed Loeb, that it was indeed the other way round, and that he was indeed killed for refusing the attackers sexual advances.

Man I wasn't expecting the sentencing discussion at the end to be the part that really captivated me, that was so good.

"We are so intelligent, we'll leave countless evidence behind!"

Good example of the Darkest Dungeon quote, this. "Overconfidence is a slow, insidious killer."

I love this style of video with case breakdowns, please do more like this

I was listening to this as I walked to a cafe and I was impressed by how realistic the police siren sound effects were in the background... But then I took off my headphones and turns out the sirens were real. Lol.

So, they were "geniuses" that loved crime novels and this was the best they could come up with? Obviously that was all book smarts and nothing more.

Objection! Being that over 40% of homicides went unsolved in the US last year alone, the fact that these "geniuses" couldn't accomplish this long before DNA and fingerprint technology was still fairly new and highly susceptible to human error makes them laughable at best. Their initial string of successful crimes is a joke before there were security cameras.

This gave me chills, great job telling it. I'm so glad justice was served & the family can have peace

1:40 - The case of "Leopold & Loeb : the genius murderers" 16:45 - The trial 18:15 - The hearing 19:35 - Sentence hearing 31:05 - The people of the stave of illinois V Leopold & Loeb 31:20 - The verdict 32:40 - End roll ads

I love that the ransom note ends, "Yours truly." I never thought heinous murderers and kidnappers would be so polite.

I'd throw these guys in jail for just having lethal levels of smugness.

The death penalty argument in my eyes usually boils down to "the higher the stakes the better they get at avoiding it." I also think in the vein of young and impressionable youth that the benefits of rehabilitation provide much more information for the justice system as they are studied and worked with that can benefit future cases.

We need more true crime videos! I‘ve watched all of them a few times now and I‘d love to see you do more of them :)

"Leopold and Loeb, the Genius Murderers" [citation needed]

2 "geniuses" work for 7 months to make the perfect murder and come up with this? lol ok bro.

This is so beyond every other coverage of this case ❤️‍🔥 I use you for research every time I am to cover a case you also covered , so happy I found this channel 💎

this story is like Crime and Punishment if the main character(s) were completely lacking in empathy. but the speech at the end is even more incredible

i cant believe that dude forgot, of ALL things, his GLASSES! what!?

How was he paroled?! Isn’t that the point of a life sentence AND 99 years, that he lives out the rest of his days in a cell?

Best episodes you’ve done to date. Hoping there are many more.

Dude... You need to do more of these stories!! This production is awesome

"We seek mercy." Yea, well, I bet Bobby did too when he was getting beat with a chisel.

"The perfect murder" the murder weapon was found less than a day after the murder.

Very good work. I am enjoying this series immensely. Thank you.

I love the actor who voiced Darrow. You should do a video on the Scopes Monkey Trial, because I want more of him

"Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer ..."

Imagine putting this episode together. "*Googling* Sounds of children gagging... Ah, yes, this sounds just right."

Sadly, this isn't even an unusual tale. Two friends of mine in HS matched this story almost note for note. One was a highly intelligent person, and just as in this tale, was persuasive and could be charming. The other was also bright, but a bit troubled and was easily brought under the control of the other. The summer after HS they traveled to a resort community, where they found a minor willing to sell them some pot. And instead of just robbing him, since his options were to accept his loss of report a robbery of an illegal substance to the police, they had decided to tuck their first murder under their belt. As with the L&L story, this decision appears to have been made almost entirely for the thrill of the experience. They were buying 1/4lb of pot, which I know for ... reasons ... was valued at the time for about $450 US dollars. Neither had any desperate need for that small amount of cash, and it wasn't going to impact their finances greatly. So they committed a murder for that tiny payout. The follower of the two performed the deed, shooting the kid in the head in the hotel room his parents had rented. Not that they had planned this, but the bullet traveled out an open door and into the ocean. But being far too clever for their own good, the 'brighter' of the two decided to call the police and report that his license plates had been stolen. The hope was to throw off any suspicion if anyone or any security camera happened to catch their tags. But of course since their tags were on their own vehicle, any security camera would see that the tags were on the vehicle they were supposed to be on. And any eye witnesses would be far more likely to remember the car, and would have very little chance of remembering the tags. And so they were eventually arrested and extradited to face charges in the state where their crime had been committed. The follower confessed immediately out of guilt and remorse, and led the police to the handgun they had 'cleverly' hidden under a highway overpass. As if stopping your car in broad daylight on an interstate highway and roaming up the steep concrete siding to tuck away your pistol isn't going to attract any attention... His defense hinged primarily on assigning the leader to be in fact the leader, who had used a cult like control over him to coerce him into committing the crimes. I learned from the leader, after his release when he moved back in with his parents and sought out old friends, that the follower died in prison of a shank to the gut, bleeding him out. Snitches get stitches, and the leader made sure that his confession followed him into the general population. But then the leader could have lied to me, I never bothered to look into the matter. I tried to allow my old friendship with the leader to rekindle, under the presumption that he had served his time and deserved another chance, but I just had to break contact after about a year. His experiences in prison had made him a terrific racist, and although it didn't surface often it did often enough to sour any desire I had to spend time with him. And he had also become a massive "jail house lawyer," seeing offenses against him where there were none that I could see, and taking them to the point of lawsuits in a few cases. And that whole "murdered a kid for the fun of it" was a bit of a disincentive as well, if I'm going full confession time here. Before he moved back into my state he had married a woman who he dominated entirely emotionally, and I could see from the few times that I met her that she was just as beaten down emotionally as you might expect from his prior cult leader like dominance of the follower in his crimes. She eventually divorced him, and I hope she found a better life for herself. Since he was a smart man, despite how stupid his crime was, he had worked the system as much as he could to reduce his sentence. He earned an associates degree in I think English, and then a BS in chemical engineering while in prison, and also taught other prisoners to read, and assisted others in their own studies. And he participated in any work related activities he could which reduced his sentence. I do not remember his sentencing exactly, but it was at least 2 decades and he ended up serving only about 7-10 years. As a white male with no priors who was smart enough to work the system to his best possible advantage I'm sure that he served the absolute minimum time as was possible for his sentence in that state.

You did a great job putting all this together!

You: And then they found Nietzsche. Me: Uh oh.

"But this bird expert has no way of knowing that that fish wouldn't swim" Oh, that was good- I love the way this is written

"he is not liable for anything he may do" every group of ivy league young republican frat boys, ever

I'm fascinated that Leopold managed to drive home after forgetting his glasses. As a near sighted person I would be useless without my glasses, I couldn't imagine casually leaving them behind.

There is a popular story that the news article annoucing Loeb's killing after he made advances on another prisoner started with "Richard Loeb, a master of many languages, ended his sentence with a proposition."

The fact that they were caught so quickly becomes even more ridiculous when you keep in mind just how bad the police is at solving crimes.

How am I just now finding these videos? This is amazing.

Clarence Darrow is such a genius. He offered a guilty plea then asked only for a full sentencing hearing. Later, during that hearing, opposing counsel couldn't offer evidence, since there was no trial.