Dr Jekill and Mr. Hide, a birdwatcher story

Dr Jekill and Mr. Hide, a birdwatcher story

“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

“Leaving the river bottom, I climbed to the top of the first plain and walked slowly along…suddenly I heard a new song, so rich, loud and clear, I knew it must be the one I was in search of…After a long time, I saw him alight in a low bush and sing…Its song, the most beautiful of any warbler, is so wild and clear and has such a ringing, liquid quality, I feel well repaid for my trip by this one experience…”  Norman Asa Wood, The Plains of Michigan.

The syndrome that the character of Dr. Jekyll suffers from in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, has been commonly associated with the rare mental condition known as "split personality.” In psychiatry, this is referred to as dissociative identity disorder, a condition in which more than one distinct personality inhabits the same body. In this case, there are two opposite personalities within Dr. Jekyll: one good and one evil. The novella's impact was such, that it has become a part of the language; the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" is commonly used to refer to a person highly different in moral character from one situation to the next. 

My tale is about a birdwatcher and his relationship to Puerto Rico, whose life is analogous to the character of the Stevenson novella. A birdwatcher is a person who enjoys observing and studying birds. However, my character is both a criminal and a distinguished citizen as well.

The story goes like this:

Nathan Leopold and Richard A. Loeb, were two wealthy University of Chicago law students.  Leopold was able to speak 27 languages fluently, and was an expert ornithologist, who used to visit the field with other students to bird watch. In fact, he achieved distinction for his studies on the Kirtland’s Warbler, Setophaga kirtlandii, bird so rare that the report that a report of it was apt to be doubted by the ornithologists, crediting the observation rather to some more common bird.     

However, studying law or bird watching was not their only aim; Leopold and Loeb had the ambition of executing the perfect crime. (Last sentence- part of the previous paragraph)

The year was 1924 in Chicago, where the partners kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks. In order to make the body unidentifiable, they poured hydrochloric acid and concealed the body in a culvert at the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks.  As part of their malevolent scheme, they mailed a ransom note to the Franks family, who gave them all the money they demanded. After few months of investigations, the police obtained enough evidence to connect the assassination to both young students, who admitted to being driven by the thrill of the kill and the desire to commit the "perfect crime".

This judicial event was then called the Trial of the Century. The outstanding defense was performed by the renowned criminal lawyer, Clarence Darrow (defense attorney in another notorious trial known as The Monkey Trial). Due to the crime’s severity, the community asked for the maximum penalty: death by execution. After an outstanding defense, Darrow advised the boys to plead guilty in order to avoid a trial by jury.



Following an incredible defense, Darrow convinced the Judge for a life sentence.  During his years in prison, Leopold wrote a book titled Life Plus 99 Years, which told of his experience in jail and how the correctional system should be modified. 

Early in 1958, after 33 years in prison, Leopold was released on parole, and was sent to the small town of Castañer in Puerto Rico to do social work as part of the conditions imposed. In the Island, he behaved as a good citizen, made good friends and a respected reputation.  During this period, he was active in the Natural History Society of Puerto Rico, traveling throughout the Island to observe its birdlife. In 1963, he published the Checklist of Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  As a birdwatcher, he made a remarkable contribution to the ornithological history of the Island when he re-discovered the Puerto Rico Plain Pigeon, which was considered extinct for many years. For many, the association between Leopold the bird watcher and the criminal, is unknown.

 

He died at the age of 66 on August 1971. His corneas were donated. Leopold and Loeb have been the inspiration for several works in film, theater, and fiction.

José L. Chabert Llompart

 Wildlife Biologist