The murder trial of Leopold and Loeb has echoed far beyond the courtroom. It directly inspired Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Donna Tartt's The Secret History, shaping how modern culture understands intellectual arrogance, moral detachment, and the death penalty.

In 1924, two wealthy Chicago students set out to commit what they believed would be the perfect crime. What followed was one of the most famous trials of the twentieth century ? a case that transformed public debate around criminal psychology.

The Trial of Leopold & Loeb: Dickie & Babe reconstructs the story through original trial transcripts, contemporary reporting, and historical records, tracing the crime, the investigation, and the courtroom drama that culminated in Clarence Darrow's landmark plea against the death penalty.

Written as a companion text to the acclaimed audio production in the Trials of the Century series, this ebook preserves the narrative, arguments, and documentary foundations of the case in a literary form designed for close reading. It favours context and reflection over sensationalism, situating the trial within its cultural moment and its lasting influence on literature, film, and true crime writing.

This edition is intended for readers interested in true crime as history ? and the text is written in the style of a play, or docu-drama.