Leopold Brainstorm Bared by Bird Pupil
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Source: Chicago Daily News, 26 June 1924, pg. 1.
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A startling and graphic picture of the turmoil that was in the mind of Nathan Leopold, Jr., a few days before he and Richard Loeb kidnaped and killed little Robert Franks was laid before the state's attorney to-day in the testimony of a woman to whom he had given impulsive confidences.
Nathan had intended to leave his father's house.
He had boasted of his ability to succeed in his own way.
He had announced his determination to marry a girl of whom his family did not approve.
He had complained bitterly of the restrictions placed upon him by close relatives and had spoken kindly of only one, his dead mother.
He had announced his intention of pursuing his own bent in the quest for experience of every variety and he had given broad hints that he considered himself above the rules and customs that apply to ordinary souls.
This cross section of his turbulent brain was revealed in a statement made to Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Savage by Mrs. Hamilton Moses, one of the members of Leopold's bird-study class for whom subpoenas were issued yesterday.
These matters had been told to her in a boastful, boyish speech incident to a visit that may have had a more sinister motive. Young Leopold came to her house, she said, with a significant pause, to suggest that she hire a tutor for her 8-year-old son, whom she intended to send to a summer camp. This was only a few days before Robert Franks' body was found in the culvert in the Calumet lowlands.
Mrs. Moses said that she had known Leopold two years, that she had joined his class in 1923 and that she had found him a youth of brilliant attainments.
Intended to Marry.
"In his last conversation with me he said that he intended to marry Miss Lourie, the girl who was recently questioned regarding his sanity," she said. "He told me that he refused to be bound by family demands and that he was about to go out and live his own life. He was intensely serious but he gave one the impression of a pouting little boy and I laughed at him. He resented that.
"He spoke kindly of only one member of his family—his mother. He said that he took flowers out to her grave every Sunday.
"Except for that one conversation, I never spoke to the boy outside of his bird-study classes. He never gave me the impression that he might be other than perfectly rational."
Another of the women called to the state's attorrney's office told Mr. Savage of a similar meeting with Leopold on the day mentioned by Mrs. Moses.
"I had been in his class a year and he had come to see about getting me to join for another year," this witness said. "He came into the house and talked on a number of subjects. He was a very facile speaker and entirely at his ease despite the fact that I had spoken to him only a few times before and then only on the subject of birds.
Says He Talked Freely.
"He did not allow the casualness of our acquaintance to bother him, but talked rather freely on a number of sex topics that showed me for the first time the extent of his sophistication. I came to the conclusion then that this boy was not the person I wished to associate with my children and I told him as gently as I could that I must postpone my decision on joining the class."
A third woman questioned concerning Leopold's general conduct before the Franks murder was Mrs. O. Spiegel, 5012 Woodlawn avenue, who said that she had attended twelve of his classes. She agreed with the others that he had never showed symptoms that might have led the members of the class to doubt his sanity.
Other bird fanciers summoned to-day are Mrs. Louis Becker of the Windermere hotel; Mrs. Frank Sulzberger, 1015 Hyde Park boulevard; Mrs. E.J. Block, East 49th street and Greenwood avenue, and a Mrs. Oppenheimer—initials not given to the state's attorney—who lives near East 48th street and Ellis avenue.
Woman Is Interrogated.
Miss Lorraine Nathan, 20 years old, came to the state's attorney's office to-day accompanied by her mother, Mrs. Jennie Nathan, 5218 Ellis avenue, and her little sister, Rosalind, 14 years old.
Miss Nathan was asked by Mr. Savage to tell what she knew of the boyhood activities of Richard Loeb.
She said that she had kept company with young Loeb from their school days until a few months ago. A "misunderstanding," she said, had angered the boy and she had not seen anything further of him up to the time of his arrest.
"He was always a nice, gentlemanly boy," she said. "But I never liked Nathan Leopold. It was largely on that account that our friendship cooled. I never could understand their close companionship, because aside from their fine minds, they had few points in common."
Extortionists Work by Scores.
Blackmail letters flooding the mails since Robert Franks was kidnaped and killed for ransom by Leopold and Richard Loeb continue to stream into the homes of wealthy Chicagoans, it was announced to-day by Chief of Police Collins.
The chief declared that he had six extortion letters in his office which were received by prominent persons yesterday, and in the safe of Chief of Detectives Hughes at least a hundred more are locked up.
Even children have entered the merry game of blackmail-letter writing and last night three boys in short trousers were arrested when they tremblingly braved the darkness of an alley to call for a fortune of $50 which they had demanded from John Borner, a cement worker.
[End of news article]
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Page compiled: 6 June 1997
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