Nathan Leopold Research Paper

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According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, murder is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. Sadly, murders are not uncommon, as one person is murdered every 60 seconds and more then 2,000 child murders are committed every day in the United States. Yet there was one horrific child murder committed by two teenagers, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, in an attempt to commit “the perfect crime”. Nathan Leopold, 19, son of millionaire box manufacturer, was a child of wealth and opportunity. He was the youngest child in his family and was given the nickname “Babe” at a young age. For his first 2 years of school, he attended a mostly all girls school. Defense psychiatrists would later state that Leopold didn’t have…show more content…
When Loeb requested Leopold to do something, “For Robert’s Sake”, Leopold was supposed to do it. Loeb typically said it for Leopold to participate in some kind of crime. When Leopold was done with the task, he was allowed to have sexual relations with Loeb. Richard Loeb liked having a loyal companion on his risky adventures. Loeb was just plain out obsessed with crime. He read about crime, planned crimes, and committed crimes- although none of them before the murder involved harming a human being. The two soon began committing small acts of theft, vandalism, and…show more content…
Leopold believed that legal obligations did not apply to the “superman”. He thought his friend, Richard Loeb, was a “superman”, meaning he was superior to the average human. Friedrich Nietzsche said in his novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra, “I teach you the Übermensch. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? [...] All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood, and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is ape to man? A laughingstock or painful embarrassment. And man shall be that to Übermensch: a laughingstock or painful embarrassment.” The two spent months discussing and perfecting the plan, which included kidnapping a child from wealthy parents, demanding a ransom, and collecting the ransom after it was thrown off a moving train that had passed a designated point. They did not enjoy the idea of murdering their victim, but thought it was critical to not be identified as the kidnappers. On May 21, 1924, 5pm, Bobby Franks was walking home from school when a green Willy Knights

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