> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.cascadepbs.org/llms.txt
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# The Perfect Crime
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/show/american-experience/episode/american-experience-perfect-crime/
- Published: 2024-04-02T22:50:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-26T10:35:01.000Z
- Description: After attempting to commit the perfect crime, would two boys get the death penalty?
- Author: Cascade PBS Staff
- Tags: American Experience, Season 28, Episode 5, #ZZZ_Episode_b02b50d1-2806-474b-851c-0b7db859ceeb, #episode, #ZZZ_Show_565410c5-fa6f-4aa6-b2bd-9f1fcdc0e587, #geo-us, #v1.16

The shocking story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two wealthy college students who murdered a 14-year-old boy in 1924 to prove they were smart enough to get away with it. Their trial, with famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow and Cook County Prosecutor Robert Crowe debating the death penalty and scores of commentators weighing in from the sidelines, set off a national debate about morality