Why They
Killed Bobby Franks
Was this killing done, as we have been led to
believe, by the defense, merely for the thrill, Your Honor, or the excitement?
What does the doctor further say on that? "The patient" (Loeb) "did not
anticipate the actual killing with any pleasure." It was not for the thrill
or the excitement. The original crime was the kidnapping for money. The
killing was an afterthought, to prevent their identification and their
subsequent apprehension and punishment. He said he did not anticipate the
killing with any pleasure. It was merely necessary in order to get the
money.
Motive? "The killing apparently had no other significance
than being an inevitable part of a perfect crime in covering one possible
trace of identification." That is the motive for the murder: self-preservation;
the same as a thief at night in your house, when suddenly surprised, shoots
to kill.