Life Plus Ninety-nine Years.

by Nathan Freudenthal Leopold

Hardcover (1974, Greenwood Press)

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, History, Crime

381 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Nathan Leopold Jr. was half of the famed duo Leopold and Loeb, murderers of 14-year old Bobby Franks in 1924 on the south side of Chicago. Life Plus 99 Years is an autobiographical work which does not dwell on the crime, as Leopold was attempting to present a positive image to his parole board at the time.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has to be read critically, if not skeptically. Leopold wrote it to influence the parole board in his favor, and he published it to obviate public hostility to his release. Accordingly he tends to play fast and loose with the truth. For instance he exaggerates the role he played in the malaria experiments of the 1940s. The doctors who had supervised the experiments stated that his contribution was much less than claimed in Life Plus 99 Years, and that Leopold had in fact interfered with the program by using it as a hunting ground for sex. These doctors refused to support his bid for parole (a fact Leopold does not mention). Ex-cons, like Gene Lovitz, claimed that Leopold habitually misused his position as a medical technician to make sexual connections with other prisoners. Throughout the book Leopold presents himself as a selfless humanitarian at best and a loveable scamp at worst. He never allows that his good works in prison might have been motivated by the desire to score brownie-points toward parole or to relieve boredom, rather than out of a saintly benevolence. Nor does he, of course, mention his continued commitment to his own solipsistic form of Nietzschean philosophy. Most disturbing, while claiming acute remorse for his crime, he tends to throw all the blame on Richard Loeb. This non-sequitur greatly bothered the parole board (and it was one from which Loeb, being long dead, could not defend himself). Leopold betrays very little insight into his own psychology, claiming either that he did not know why he committed murder, or that he did it merely "to please Dick." He represents Richard Loeb as a model prisoner throughout the book, though Loeb in fact spent his considerable financial resources bribing prison staff to grant him privileges, turn a blind eye to his infractions and rackets, to get good jobs for his lovers, or to punish young convicts who had repelled his advances. Leopold is even more than usually implausible on the murder of Richard Loeb by Jimmy Day, which he claims was committed because of a dispute over the distribution of a small sum of money. He lies quite brazenly about Richard Loeb's and Jimmy Day's sexuality and declares that allegations of the murder having something to do with sex were "ridiculous." Leopold later told a fellow convict, Paul Warren (Frank Sandiford) that Richard Loeb "carried on with every punk [sexually available boy] he could buy." Although Life Plus 99 Years gives an interesting account of what Leopold did for 33 years in Jolliet and Stateville, so much of the true light and shadow of the story, so many of the real facts, so much of the author's motivation and true feelings are omitted, that the book proves rather disappointing and boring. Leopold consistently fails to tell the reader what the reader most likely wants to know, and his cavalier attitude to the truth, extending from mere omissions of fact to brazen misrepresentations, is quite irritating.

[Skallagrimsen]

The zero reviews on Goodreads for Life Plus 99 Years, by Nathan Leopold, is a great example of time's ability to take events that once seemed to a entire nation momentous, and render them obscure.

Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were born into Chicago's wealthy elite in the early 20th century. Both were extraordinarily intelligent, having graduated from prestigious universities while still in their teens. Both were afflicted with powerful feelings of isolation from both their peers and society at large. Drawn to each other by these commonalities, Nathan and Richard became close friends and, eventually, lovers.

In 1924 they kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks, luring him into a rented car then stabbing him in the head repeatedly with a chisel. After dousing their victim's face and genitals with hydrochloric acid to disguise his identity, they dumped his body into a gulch in the woods. To confound the police investigation, they typed a bogus ransom note and sent it to Bobby's mother. Then, after destroying all the physical evidence (or so they thought), they went back to the routine of their lives.

Their motive? Nathan and Richard conceived of themselves as Nietzschean "Ubermenschen," or "supermen." They claimed to be superior beings, beyond good and evil, to whom the laws and morality of the human herd didn't apply. They concocted a "perfect crime" to prove it.

They failed. Despite their precautionary efforts, the investigation quickly began to point at the perpetrators. A pair of eyeglasses dropped near the body was tied to Nathan. Under questioning, their alibi began to crumble. Panicked, they confessed, each insisting that it was his accomplice who'd actually struck the fatal blows.

Nathan and Richard's "trial of the century" riveted the nation, receiving press coverage comparable to that of the O.J. Simpson murder trial some 70 years later. Everyone in the country knew their names. Everyone expected them to hang. Almost everyone wanted them to.

But not everyone. A principled opponent of capital punishment, Clarence Darrow came forward to represent the defendants. Through a series of deft legal maneuvers and his impassioned eloquence, Darrow managed to spare his clients the death penalty. Instead, they each famously received sentences of life, plus 99 years.

In 1936 Richard was murdered by another inmate in the prison shower room, throat slashed and body stabbed at least 50 times with a straight razor. Nathan, however, who was a model inmate, survived long enough to be released on parole in 1958. He went on to get married, earn a master's degree and devote his remaining years to medical research in Puerto Rico. Written in prison, Nathan's autobiography was published the year of his release. In it, he expresses remorse for his part in the murder of Bobby Franks, and bafflement that he ever could have been the sort of person to commit such an atrocious act. Was he sincere? Readers must judge for themselves.

The Leopold and Loeb affair continued to exert a powerful hold on the collective imagination for generations. It was the basis of novels, plays and films, including Rope (by Alfred Hitchcock) and Compulsion (starring Orson Welles as Clarence Darrow). Another adaptation was filmed as recently as 2002. And yet, the murderer's own account of the infamous events seems to have fallen into the cracks of oblivion.

If Goodreads had existed in 1958, I suspect Life Plus 99 Years would have had thousands of reviews.

P.S. Since writing this, I've discovered that this book is not quite as forgotten as I'd thought: another edition of it on Goodreads currently has 9 reviews. But I think my point still stands.

[Chris Herdt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became interested in the Leopold and Loeb murder after an Internet search to find out more about Clarence Darrow. Although the crime itself and the ensuing trial are fascinating, the majority of the book is about how a vibrant intellectual occupies his life in prison. He and Dick Loeb's work on creating a school within the prison system is inspiring, but I was more impressed by Nathaniel's success at learning to read in Braille--so that he could continue reading after lights-out!

[Linda Schell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book around 2009. Right now I'm long on form and short on specifics, but if anyone asks me to recommend a book they cannot put down, Life Plus Ninety-Nine Years is one of the first books I suggest.

Leopold's participation in good deeds in the prison system are incredible, and the tribulations Leopold and Loeb overcame to establish a school within the prison system were astounding. Few people are aware how much Leopold and his prison inmates contributed to the war effort.

Leopold's selfless acts sprang from his desire to bring sanity to his situation, and meaning to his life. Loeb, the son of a Sears executive, in my opinion was an associopath, yet according to Leopold, Loeb was proud of the good he accomplished in prison. The revelations of this book are a study in human behavior.

I found it interesting that the bazaar circumstances surounding Loeb's death correlate with the prison warden's opinion and Leopold's, contradicting the speculation of the news media.

The book is an easy read, and I wish this book were on every prison shelf, not to mention church libraries.

[Taro Yamashita]

After reading the well-crafted "Barbarians at the Gate," I just could not get into this one. The author is an intelligent man, but the skill in writing and relating a narrative was so glaringly obvious after "Barbarians" that I found it turned me off. I may return to this book later.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well-written and a curious viewpoint Leopold has about the crime he and Loeb committed: killing Bobby Franks. Leopold is obviously intelligent, yet—

I bought this first edition hardcover book for $1 at an antique shop.

[Tommy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great 1st hand account by one of the two involved in the CRIME OF THE CENTURY.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review here:

http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...

Interesting read, and tangentially related to other subjects of interest to me.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and recommended.

[Valerie Wicke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and informative read.

[Juneus · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most important books about redemption i have ever read.