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 family of immigrant German Jews, who had made a freight and transport-related fortune since their arrival in the United States. Reportedly a child prodigy with an IQ of 210, he spoke his first words at 4 months old, amazing a succession of nannies and governesses with his intellectual precocity. In the 1920's he had already completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and was attending law school at the University of Chicago. He claimed to have been able to speak 27 languages fluently, and was an expert ornithologist. He, along with several other ornithologists, were the first to discover the Kirtland's warbler in their area in over half a century. He planned to transfer to Harvard Law School in September after taking a trip to Europe. Although he and Richard Albert Loeb knew each other casually as children, their relationship flourished when they met at the University of Chicago as teenagers. They quickly formed a strong friendship. He and Loeb 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. It was now that they began to look deeper into their criminal interests that the two boys began to commit crimes for themselves. He agreed to act as Loeb's 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. He and Loeb had formed a strong intimate relationship with each other. This intimate relationship was thought to be Loeb's way of awarding him for his participation in the crimes, or even used to convince him to follow through on his plans. Loeb was the more dominant figure in this relationship and possessed a certain power over him. They became increasingly obsessed with the development and commission of the perfect crime. On May 21, 1924, the two men put their plan into action, 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 the two men, Jacob Franks had contacted the police, and Bobby Franks' body was found and identified before the ransom was delivered. Loeb's prescription glasses were also found at the scene by law enforcement. He and Loeb 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 sentenced to life imprisonment plus 99 years at Stateville Correctional Center for kidnapping and murdering Franks. In 1936 Loeb died from 50 razor cuts, which were delivered by a fellow prisoner. Early in 1958, after 33 years in prison, Leopold was released on parole. In April of that year, he founded the Leopold Foundation "to aid emotionally disturbed, retarded, or delinquent youths" which would be funded by the royalties from his book, "Life Plus 99 Years." But in July, the State of Illinois voided his charter for the organization, saying it violated the terms of his parole. In 1961, he married a widowed American social worker named Trudi de Queveda. He earned his master's degree from the University of Puerto Rico, taught at the university and did research on leprosy. On August 30, 1971, he died of a diabetes-related heart attack. His 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."