Page:The plea of Clarence Darrow, August 22nd, 23rd & 25th, MCMXXIII, in defense of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, Jr., on trial for murder.djvu/10

 Harvard, he was to take a trip to Europe and had already purchased his ticket for the ocean voyage.

Loeb was the youngest graduate of the University of Michigan and was intending to study law. Both Leopold and Loeb had always been well supplied with money and there was no financial reason why they should have committed either the crime of kidnaping or that of murder.

When the body of Robert Franks was placed in the culvert, the eye glasses of Leopold dropped from his pocket and, after several other arrests, these were found by the police and identified as Leopold's glasses. At the time of their arrest, no one believed that they had anything to do with the kidnaping and killing. They were taken to the State's Attorney's office and after being in the custody of the attorneys and officers for about sixty hours, they confessed to the full details of the crime.

It was claimed by the defense that their minds were diseased and also that on account of their extreme youth, they should not be hanged.

The Illinois statutes provide that on a verdict or plea of guilty, a defendant may be sentenced to death or to a term in the penitentiary for not less than fourteen years and up to life.

The statute also provides that on a plea of guilty, "In all cases where the court possesses any discretion as to the extent of the punishment, it shall be the duty of the court to examine witnesses as to the aggravation and mitigation of the offense."

The defendants in this case pleaded guilty before Judge Caverly; thereupon evidence was offered both by the State and the defense on the question of aggravation and mitigation. Alienists were introduced by both sides, touching the mental condition of the two boys.

The hearing occupied about thirty days. The defendants were sentenced to the penitentiary for life.