Robert E. Crowe (January 22, 1879 - January 18, 1958) was a Chicago lawyer and politician, who is best known as the prosecutor in the 1924 Leopold and Loeb murder case.[1]
A product of Chicago public schools, Crowe graduated from Princeton University with a law degree in 1901. With the help of Big Bill Thompson, he was elected a Circuit Court judge in 1916. Three years later, Crowe achieved a level of fame and notoriety by imposing the death penalty on Thomas Fitzgerald who had plead guilty to the murder of 6 year-old Janet Dolly Fitzgerald. The following year, with Thompson's continued backing, he was elected state's attorney.
In 1924, he prosecuted Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb for the premeditated murder of Bobby Franks, squaring off against defender Clarence Darrow.