Convicted Murderer. He was one of two rich young men who were convicted of what was labeled the "Crime of the century." He was the son of a wealthy lawyer and retired vice president of Sears, Roebuck, and Company. His father was Jewish and his mother Roman Catholic. He was very intelligent, becoming the University of Michigan's youngest graduate at age 17. Although he and Nathan Leopold knew each other casually as children, their relationship flourished when they met at the University of Chicago as teenagers. Although their friendship quickly became strong, Leopold was a serious student, whereas Loeb enjoyed socializing, playing tennis, and reading detective novels. He and Leopold found that they had a mutual interest in crime, with Leopold being particularly interested in 19th century Prussian philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's theory of the superior man. At this point, the two began to look deeper into their criminal interests and began to commit crimes for themselves. After coercing Leopold to be his accomplice, they began with petty theft and vandalism. They broke into a fraternity house at the university, stealing penknives, a camera and a typewriter, which was later used to type the ransom letter. The two men soon committed a series of more and more serious crimes such as arson. The two had formed a strong intimate relationship with each other. This intimate relationship was thought to be Loeb's way of awarding Leopold for his participation in the crimes, or even used to convince Leopold to follow through on his plans. Loeb was the more dominant figure in this relationship and possessed a certain power over Leopold. They became increasingly obsessed with the development and commission of the perfect crime. On May 21, 1924, the two men put their plan of the perfect crime into action by collecting a rental car, obscuring the license plate number, and then driving to their old alma mater, the Harvard School, in search of a convenient victim. They settled on 14-year-old Bobby Franks, a neighbor and second cousin of Loeb. Lured into the car, Franks was hit over the head several times with a chisel by Loeb and gagged before being hidden under some blankets on the back seat of the car. After depositing Frank's body in a culvert at nearby Wolf Lake and pouring acid on his face, they delivered the ransom note to the boy's father, Jacob Franks. Unbeknownst to him and Leopold, Jacob Franks had contacted the police, and Bobby Franks' lifeless body was found and identified before the ransom was delivered. Loeb's prescription glasses were also found at the scene giving evidence to law enforcement. He and Leopold were interrogated by police and eventually Loeb admitted the murder, claiming that Leopold had been the driving force behind the plan and that he had struck the fatal blow on Franks, while Leopold claimed the opposite was true. The families hired Clarence Darrow, the country's foremost criminal defense lawyer, to represent the pair at trial. On September 24, 1924 they were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment plus 99 years at Stateville Correctional Center for kidnapping and murdering Franks. In 1936 Loeb was murdered in a shower altercation by a fellow prisoner, who delivered 50 fatal razor cuts to Loeb's body. Early in 1958, after 33 years in prison, Leopold was released on parole. Their life events have been headlines in newspapers as well as articles in magazines. Through the years, there have been several books and films adapted from his "crime of the century."