MILLIONAIRE MURDERER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 21, 25 January 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

MILLIONAIRE MURDERER.

MAY GAIN FREEDOM. NATHAN LEOPOLD SEEKS DEGREE. (From Our New York Correspondent)

Is Nathan Leopold, millionaire sheikslayer of Bobbie Franks, already planning ahead for that day, five years from now, when he will be eligible for parole? Latest : reports from the penitentiary indicate that Leopold is seeking a college which will give him a degree in' doctor of philosophy by mail. His one handicap seems to be that no college will give the degree without a year's Leopold is still in gaol. It was only a few' months ago that "the slayer's father, Nathan Leopold, sen., died and left a 2,000,000 dollar fund in trust for his son—the boy who is serving a life sentence for the killing of Bobbie Franks and 99 years for kidnapping. On the surface it would seem that Leopold would have little use for that fortune. But actual facts show that there was an error in the commitment papers of Leopold, and that in 1935 he will be eligible to make application for parole. Instead of the papers stating that he should serve his 99-year-sentence, to be followed by the life sentence, the two sentences are being served concurrently, and, according to law, a lite sentence is longer than 99 years, although in actuality a "life" sentence is legally considered but 20 years. With time off for good behaviour, Leopold may make application for release in 1935. The youthful slayer was 18 when he was sent away, escaping the gallows mainly because of his tender age, and because of the astute defence of Clarence Darrow, who was paid a small fortune by the wealthy parents of Leopold and of Richard Loeb to get them off as lightly as possible. Leopold is now 23. In five years he will be under 30. If he is released then, he will still be a young man, with the greater part of his life to live. Killed for "A Thrill." The kidnapping and murder of Bobbie Franks in 1924 was one of the _ most astounding crimes in American criminal history. Two college boys, Nathan Leopold, jun., and Richard Loeb, confessed to the killing of a boy several years their junior for a "thrill." They brazenly admitted their guilt and waived a jury trial. Both were college students of more than average mental abiilty. Both had wealth. Both admitted themselves to be criminals of the most depraved type. Psychologists and sociologists the world over asked one another what had turned these boys into criminals. What good was wealth and • environment? - Clarence Darrow was called in to defend . the two boys, who went to trial within a few short weeks of being apprehended. This

able lawyer alone received 65,000 dollars for his part in the defence. Altogether some 500,000 dollars was spent in. saving these two boys, adjudged "abnormal, from going to the gallows. The seconddegree verdict was not entirely a surprise, for during the trial there were murmurs of the part that money had played in their escape from a first-degree yerdict, Loeb, the leader of the two, seemed to crack physically and mentally after being admitted to prison. Leopold, the "weaker" partner, on the contrary seemed to gain strength and mental activity from his incarceration. While imprisonment seemed to break Loeb's resistance, it only served to make Leopold more independently active mentally. Life In Prison. At one time he was implicated in a prison break attempt, in which a warden was killed. He was called as a witness before the investigating committee, and at the trial he escaped punishment. Such is the nature of the youth who may be once more released to take up his life outside prison walls. When Nathan was committed to Joliet Prison, Leopold's, father stated to the court that during his life he would at no time attempt to secure the release of his son from prison. But Nathan Leopold, sen., is dead, and he left his son a small fortune. Leopold, jun., still will have the miracle of money to see him through life, if, as he probably hopes, he secures his release in the near future. If parole is denied him, one of the greatest battles of modern times will probably ensue in the Illinois courts. . Harry Thaw Case Recalled. The prospect is somewhat reminiscent of the fate of a New York man, whose family spent untold fortunes in releasing him from prison. Harry Thaw shot and killed Stanford White in a quarrel oyer Evelyn Nesbit. It was one of the most famous moneyed trjals in American court history. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in an attempt to save Thaw from the electric chair. The fight was successful. He was committed to an asylum for the insane, and after a suitable period of time was released, free to go his way through the remaining years of his life. Thaw was not a young man when he left prison walls for the last time. He is admittedly abnormal, yet the miracle of money freed him *from paying the extreme penalty for his act. His wasted, cadaverous, ashen-grey face is a familiar sight in the night life of New York. He spends money lavishly—possibly in a vain attempt to erase from his mind the horror of those years before he retrieved his freedom. He surrounds himself with youth and beauty, although his own haggard face belies the fact that his money is bringing him happiness. Will Nathan Leopold duplicate this if he is released when his parole is due? Or has his life in prison sobered him to the realisation that he has a great debt to pay society and that that can best be done through serious application and study?