THE LINDBERGH KIDNAPPING

PEOPLE INVOLVED

Parents

• Charles Lindbergh – he was a famous aviator

• Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Lindbergh employees

• Betty Gow – the child’s nurse, she was the last one to see the child before he was kidnapped

• Violet Sharp – she was a maid at their home and committed suicide while being investigated for the crime

Dr. Condon – acted as a “go-between” for the Lindbergh’s and the kidnappers

THE CRIME

• The victim was Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. – a 20 month old baby

• He was kidnapped from his nursery on the second floor of the Lindbergh home at around 9:00 p.m. on March 1, 1932. There was a ransom note left on the windowsill of the nursery requesting $50,000 for the child to be returned.

THE EVIDENCE • The evidence that was found at the scene of the

kidnapping (the Lindbergh’s home) was:

• Traces of mud found on the nursery floor • Footprints were found underneath the window • The ladder that was used to get into the Lindbergh’s home

THE RANSOM NOTES • Dr. Condon tried to communicate with the kidnappers

through newspapers to offer to be the go between. He started to receive the ransom notes shortly after his post in the newspapers.

• Dr. Condon and Lindbergh’s together received 13 ransom notes from the kidnapper.

PAYING THE RANSOM AND FINDING THE BODY • Dr. Condon met with a man named “John” in a cemetery 2

times to talk about paying the ransom money.

• Dr. Condon paid “John” the $50,000 and then received instructions on where to go to find the baby. They sent people to search where the child was said to be but could not find him.

• A couple days later the child’s body was accidently found partially buried, a couple of minutes away from the Lindbergh’s estate.

• Investigation of the body showed that the baby died from being struck in the head and that he had been dead for about 2 months before the body was found.

THE INVESTIGATION • The agencies that were involved with the case were: the

FBI, the New Jersey State Police, and the New York City Police Department.

• They started the investigation by figuring out which bills were used to pay the ransom and waited for the money to be spent. They also examined the ransom notes and tried to match the handwriting.

ARRESTING THE SUSPECT • They arrested a man named Bruno Richard Hauptmann for

the crime. He spent $10 that was from a ransom bill at a gas station and when the police investigated it, they found more than $14,000 of ransom money hidden in his home.

• He was a German carpenter, so he could have built the ladder that was used to get into the Lindbergh house.

• Tools marks in the ladder were matched to tools that Hauptmann owned and the wood used in it matched wood from his attic.

• Dr. Condon’s telephone number and address were carved into a closet at Bruno’s house.

• The handwriting on the ransom notes matched up with his handwriting samples

THE TRIAL • The trial took place at The Supreme Court of the State of New

Jersey.

• The prosecutions attorney was David T. Wilentz and the defense’s attorney was Edward J. Reilly.

The witnesses

• Anna Hauptman – said that she was with Bruno at the time of the kidnapping; because he came to visit her at work

• August Von Henke – saw Bruno walking his dog and got into an argument with him on the night of the crime

• Louis Kiss – saw Bruno and August arguing

• Joseph Furcht – he was Hauptmann’s boss at work and said that Hauptmann was at work until 5 p.m. but wasn’t completely sure

THE VERDICT • Hauptmann was found guilty of first degree murder and

was sentenced to the death.

THE AFTERMATH • After the trial was over and Bruno was sentenced to

death, the trial was still talked about in the media for a while.

• It was mainly talked about in newspapers but also on the radio

MY OPINION • I think that the verdict was right and Hauptmann did

kidnap and kill the Lindbergh baby because of the evidence that was shown against him. He had more evidence showing that he was the one that committed the crime more than any of the other suspects.