Nathan Freudenthal Leopold and Richard Albert Loeb are known for the murder of a 14 year old boy named Robert "Bobby" Franks. The crime was planned out for 7 months, and it was to be the "perfect crime" and it was suppose to gain the public attention and establish their status as "supermen," (A superman is, on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary laws which govern men. He is not liable for anything he may do [Simon Baatz, For the Thrill of It. New York: Harper, 2008] ). Unfortunately, Leopold dropped his glasses near where the two had buried Robert Franks' body, and that led to them getting convicted for their crime.
So far the two just seem like typical partners in crime, but really their relationship went much further than that. Leopold and Loeb were lovers and friends. The crime itself was more popular than the criminals, but more recently when looking at the two men, people are putting the focus on the relationship the two had, such as in the film "Swoon." The film focuses on Nathan and Richard's relationship with one-another and it doesn't necessarily revolve around Bobby Franks. The film shows their somewhat dis-functional relationship. You can see that when things get stressful, they tend to get annoyed with each other and eventually throw each other under the bus (after they've been caught). Though the film came out in 1992, showing that being criminal couples can make you iconic figures in history, Leopold and Loeb are still not as well known in popular culture, as oppose to Bonnie and Clyde who are the legendary infamous crime couple of America. It would have been cooler if the guys were the #1 crime couple because we need more homosexuality in this hetero-dominated society. But compared to what Bonnie and Clyde did, what Leopold and Loeb did seems like small stuff, so it's understandable why they hold the status as the #1 iconic criminal couple in American history.
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