Robert E. Crowe

{{more citations needed|date=August 2021}} [[File:Robert E. Crowe (2) (3x4a).jpg|thumb|Crowe as Cook County state's attorney]]

'''Robert Emmett 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. He was 45 at the time and the case shaped his career.<ref>"Robert Crowe Services Set for Tomorrow", ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', Jan 20, 1958, p. 14.</ref>

A product of Chicago public schools, Crowe graduated from Yale with a law degree in 1901. One of Crowe's early legal associates was Leo Koretz, against whom Crowe would later file charges for running a massive Ponzi scheme. With the help of Chicago Mayor William Hale Thompson, popularly known as "Big Bill" Thompson, Crowe was elected a Cook County 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 pleaded guilty to the murder of his neighbor, 6-year-old Janet Dolly Wilkinson. The following year, with Thompson's continued backing, he was elected Cook County 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.

==Electoral history==

{{Election box begin no party no change| title=Cook County Circuit Court election (November 7, 1916)<ref>{{cite web |title=Illinois Blue Book 1917–17 |url=https://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/bb/id/4563/rec/32 |via=Illinois Digital Archives |publisher=State of Illinois |year=1917 |access-date=August 21, 2025 |language=en |page=622 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250821200556/https://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/bb/id/4563/rec/32 |archive-date=August 21, 2025}}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate no party no change |candidate = Robert E. Crowe |votes = 255299 |percentage = 49.55 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Jacob H. Hopkins |votes = 229139 |percentage = 44.47 }} {{Election box candidate no party no change |candidate = Carl Strover |votes = 30810 |percentage = 5.98 }} {{Election box total no party no change |votes = 515248 |percentage = 100 }} {{Election box end}} {{Election box begin no change| title=1920 Cook County State's Attorney election<ref name=almanac1921>{{cite book |title=The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year Book for ... |date=1921 |publisher=Chicago Daily News Company |page=784 |url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=JQ8fAQAAMAAJ&pg=GBS.PA784 |accessdate=March 13, 2020 }}</ref>}} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change |candidate = Robert E. Crowe |party = Republican Party (United States) |votes = 525115 |percentage = 58.44 }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |candidate = Michael L. Igoe |party = Democratic Party (United States) |votes = 319236 |percentage = 35.53 }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |candidate = William A. Cunnea |party = Socialist Party of America |votes = 50766 |percentage = 5.65 }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change |candidate = John C. Teevan |party = Farmer–Labor Party |votes = 3,463 |percentage = 0.39 }} {{Election box total no change |votes = 898580 |percentage = 100 }} {{Election box end}}

==References== {{reflist}}

=== Bibliography === {{Refbegin|30em}} * Baatz, Simon. ''For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago'' (HarperCollins, 2008) {{ISBN|9780060781026}} {{refend}} {{Cook County State's Attorney|state=collapsed}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowe, Robert E.}} Category:1879 births Category:1958 deaths Category:Cook County state's attorneys Category:Illinois Republicans Category:20th-century Illinois state court judges Category:Lawyers from Chicago Category:Politicians from Chicago