Loeb and Leopold met while attending the University of Chicago, and eventually became very good friends. Not only were they friends, they were also lovers. They started with small crimes, such as arson, theft and vandalism, but then decided to commit the "perfect crime."



​Although many are unsure as to who was the first to suggest the "perfect crime", many believe it was Richard Loeb. They planned for seven months, making sure that everything was perfect so they wouldn't get caught. Their plan was quite simple: to buy a rental car under a false name, come up with their victim (preferably wealthy & a boy), kidnap him into the car and kill him with a chisel and then dispose his body  somewhere in a culvert. They planned to write a ransom note and wanted the family to pay 10,000 dollars in order to have their child back. Even though they planned to kill the victim the whole time, they decided that they wanted to send a ransom note so that it would complicate the investigators search. They signed the note George Johnson, which was their false identity. They also opened up a bank account in that name so they were able to deposit the ransom.