16: The Runaway Bride & the Not-So-Perfect Crime

Teenagers Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold had everything they ever wanted. They were highly intelligent. They came from wealthy families. Life was so great that they felt certain they were above the law. So they decided to test that theory by committing the perfect crime. Turns out they weren’t so smart after all. The pair were quickly questioned in the brutal murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks. Then Brandi tells the story of Jennifer Wilbanks, who disappeared one day while she was out jogging. Her fiance was distraught. Her family panicked. Police began a nationwide search. People were captivated by this story. Poor Jennifer’s lavish 600-guest wedding was right around the corner. Where could she be? And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases. In this episode, Kristin pulled from: An episode of American Experience, “The Perfect Crime” “Leopold and Loeb Trial,” Famous-trials.com In this episode, Brandi pulled from: “Vigil for missing woman to replace wedding” CNN “Runaway Bride Back at Home” Associated Press, Fox News “Runaway Bride Is Indicted” by Ariel Hart, New York Times “In Plea Deal, Runaway Bride Gets Probation” by Ariel Hart, New York Times