New Jersey Stage 2015 - Issue 11 | Page 77

keep our dark sides intact and live normal, moral lives, but it’s fascinating to temporarily inhabit people who don’t.” Many historians have suggested that Leopold and Leob were heavily influenced by the works of Nietzsche; the concept of being ‘supermen’ whose intellect made them unaccountable to normal morality and laws. The pair were also fans of the detective novels of the day. So much so that the ransom note they wrote is thought to be lifted from one of the novels they had read. Loeb was obsessed with crime and wanted to commit the perfect crime just to prove it could be done. Leopold was obsessed with Loeb and is thought to have gone along with the plan so their friendship would continue. Defense attorney Darrow described their relationship as “weird and almost impossible,” suggesting that the friendship Watch Dr. Paul G. Clemens Talk About The Trial NewJerseyStage.com 2015 - ISSUE 11 ARTICLES 77