The Perfect Crime

Documentary exploring the shocking murder of a 14-year-old boy committed by two wealthy college students during the 1920s. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb had planned to abduct and kill a child at random to prove they were smart enough to get away with it. Their lawyer, Clarence Darrow, summoned experts to show that the murderers had been shaped by childhood trauma and physical defects, and that it was society and its barbaric death penalty that deserved to be put on trial. Set in Chicago, a city of gin joints, gangsters and political corruption, the programme tells a story that triggered a national debate about morality, individual responsibility and capital punishment.