The Time Has Come; Murder On Thier Agenda. Richard Loeb’s Part.

The day they had been preparing for, May 21, 1924, had arrived.  Today they would prove their intellectual superiority by commiting the “perfect murder.”  

We will be looking at the Advanced charts of both Loeb and Leopold for this date.  The text and linkages to their charts will follow.  I expect this post to be split into two parts because of the detail.

This is Richard Loeb’s diurnally Advanced chart for May 21, 1924.  The first pattern to take note of is n/MC at the Asc., and n/Mars at the Desc. angle.  When we do natal charts, we take note of such patterns.  On this date we see how Loeb used this natal energy;  He would take action (the Ascendant) on his goal (natal MC) to inflict harm (n/Mars) on another (the Descendant angle).  He didn’t have to do this.  He could have expressed other goals and his n/Mars in another way.  However, the family scene he was born into, his way of developing within the family and school structures all contributed to him choosing this outlet of expression.  Within the context of his life, which we have been following so diligently, this was his moment. This chart, this singular pattern, sums it all up.

With natal Mars so important in this chart, let us turn our attention to transiting Mars; t/Mars is in the 10th house, opposing t/Neptune and natal Ascendant.  Oh, oh.  We have a strong reinforcement of the natal and daily Ascendants and of the natal and transiting Mars’.   This is like a flashing neon sign to an astrologer.  Are we paying attention yet!

With t/Neptune so important, as we pick our way through this extraordinary daily chart, let us look for natal Neptune.  There it is, at the IC angle with t/Venus.  This suggests the start of Loeb’s fantasy (n/Neptune at the IC angle).  What about t/Venus?  I have found Venus to play a strong role in both falling-in-love-or-lust charts and in death charts!  So, this Venus may be perverted symbol, or it may be the symbol of something dying within Loeb himself.  Food for thought.

As if all of the above was not enough to overwhelm the senses of an astrologer, take a look at transiting and natal Part of Fortunes — they conjoined, briefly, on this day.  Note also the opposition to the t/Sun.  Two PoF’s (natal and transiting) coming together, indicates “chaos,” something big happening.  Line it up with transiting Sun and we have an overwhelming intention to be the cause or recipient of that intention.  “Intention” leads to action.

I will briefly outline the events of the day.  We will need another narrative posting to do justice of the day’s details in linking the details to the charts.

1)  At noon, the rental car was picked up at the agency.  The reference checks, the payment had been arranged earlier, using the fake bank account that had been set up under the name of Morton Ballard.  2)  At his home, Loeb asked the chauffeur to check the brakes on his sports car.  With his car being repaired, Loeb felt that this would be part of his alibi if he ever came under suspicion for the planned murder.  3)  At 2:30 PM, Loeb and Leopold headed to the area where they hoped to abduct a younger student walking home from school.  Leopold wanted to abduct a girl, with the vague idea of having sex with her before she was murdered.  Loeb dismissed that idea.  4)  On Ellis Ave. they waited.  Then they drove over to 49th Ave.  There were several students walking home from school.   As they drove around, they focused on one student that was not close to others.  They spotted a younger student they knew; Bobby Franks.  5)  Young Bobby Franks was talked into the car with a request to examine his tennis racket — Loeb was thinking of buying one like it.  6)  With Nathan Leopold driving, Loeb grabbed Franks from behind and bashed him repeatedly on the forehead with the blunt handle of a chisel that they had purchased the day before.  So hard was he struck that the fourth blow actually cracked open his forehead.  Blood was everywhere.  Franks slumped down in the seat and finally upon the floor — moaning in pain.  Loeb stuffed a cloth into his mouth and taped it in place.  Between the blows to the head and this gag, Franks probably died from a lack of oxygen.  7)  They drove out by the marsh area near the lake, a bird sanctuary they had visited before.  Franks body was stuffed into a drain pipe.  Mostly hidden.  It took a lot of strenuous work as twilight settled in.  In this process, Loeb’s glasses fell out of his pocket, unseen by him.  They left the area. 8) Later, they prepared the ransom note to be mailed to the Franks family.  Not only were they going to commit the perfect murder, they were going to successfully collect money from the victim’s family.

I think all of this is enough to study for now.  Dave.