Crime and investigation On the evening of March1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr., 20-month-old son of aviator
Charles Lindbergh, was kidnapped from
Highfields, New Jersey; a homemade ladder was found under the window of the child's room. A ransom note demanded $50,000 (equivalent to $ in ).
John F. Condon delivered the requested money, but the infant's body was found on May 12 in woods from the family's home. The death was ascribed to a blow to the head, which some have theorized occurred accidentally during the abduction. The ransom bills became increasingly used, and NYPD officer James J. Finn began to map the places where the bills were used. Upon receiving a new report of a location, Finn would quickly interview whoever had been given the bill. On September15, 1934, a bank teller realized that the serial number on a $10
gold certificate deposited by a gas station was on the list of Lindbergh ransom bills. On the bill's margin, the attendant, who found the certificate suspicious, had written the license plate number of the customer's car, which turned out to be Hauptmann's. He was placed under surveillance by the
New York City Police Department,
New Jersey State Police, and the
FBI. On September19, Hauptmann realized that he was being watched and attempted to escape, speeding and running through red lights. Hauptmann was arrested by Finn after finding himself blocked by a truck on
Park Avenue just north of
Tremont Avenue in the
Bronx. while he was named "The Most Hated Man in the World". Evidence against Hauptmann included $14,600 of the ransom money having been found in his garage, testimony alleging handwriting and spelling similarities to that found on the ransom notes, testimony that lumber used in constructing the ladder probably originated in Hauptmann's house, Condon's address and telephone number having been found written on the inside of one of Hauptmann's closets, and what appeared to be a hand-drawn sketch of a ladder found in one of Hauptmann's notebooks. Experts retained by the defense were never called to testify. The trial began on January3, 1935, and lasted until February13. During the trial, Hauptmann was identified as the man who received the ransom money, the man who had spent some of the ransom gold certificates, and as a man seen near the Lindbergh home on the day of the kidnapping. He had been absent from work on the day of the ransom payment and had quit his job two days later. Hauptmann's attorney, Edward J. Reilly, argued that the evidence against Hauptmann was entirely circumstantial, as no reliable witness had placed Hauptmann at the scene of the crime, nor were his fingerprints found on the ladder, the ransom notes, or anywhere in the nursery. However, Hauptmann was convicted and immediately sentenced to death. His appeals failed, though his execution was stayed twice while New Jersey Governor
Harold G. Hoffman reviewed the case.
Execution On April 3, 1936, Hauptmann was executed in the
electric chair at the
New Jersey State Prison. Reporters present said that he made no statement. Hauptmann's spiritual advisor said that Hauptmann told him, before being taken from his cell, "" ("I am absolutely innocent of the crimes I am accused of"). Hauptmann's widow, Anna, had his body cremated. Two Lutheran pastors conducted a private memorial service in German. A crowd of some 2,000 gathered outside.
Guilt questioned Several books have been written proclaiming Hauptmann's innocence. In 1974,
Anthony Scaduto wrote
Scapegoat, which took the position that Hauptmann was framed and that the police withheld and fabricated evidence. This led to further investigation, and in 1985, Scottish journalist
Ludovic Kennedy published
The Airman and the Carpenter, in which he argued that Hauptmann had not kidnapped and murdered Lindbergh Jr. These and other books criticize the police for allowing the crime scenes to become contaminated, Lindbergh and his associates for interfering with the investigation, Hauptmann's trial lawyers for ineffectively representing him, and the reliability of the witnesses and physical evidence presented at the trial. Kennedy in particular questioned much of the evidence, such as the origin of the ladder and the testimony of many of the witnesses. Skeptics pointed to various items of evidence that they claim was misrepresented at the trial, such as a scrawled phone number on a board in his closet, which was the number of the man who delivered the ransom, John F. Condon. According to some accounts, a reporter admitted he had written the number himself. They also claim that police and investigators intimidated witnesses, planted or falsified evidence, and ignored exculpatory evidence. Another point of contention was that neither Lindbergh nor the go-between who delivered the ransom, Condon, initially identified Hauptmann as the recipient. In her book about another high-profile trial of the period, that of "trunk murderess"
Winnie Ruth Judd, investigative reporter
Jana Bommersbach argued that as was the case with Judd's trial, the press created such an atmosphere of prejudice against Hauptmann that he could not have received a fair trial. According to Bommersbach, crime reporters of the time often acted as "judge and jury", covering cases in a manner that would have been considered "supermarket sleaze" by today's standards.
Widow's campaign For more than 50 years, Hauptmann's widow fought with the New Jersey courts without success to get the case re-opened. In 1982, the then 82-year-old Anna Hauptmann sued the
State of New Jersey, various former police officers, the Hearst newspapers that had published pre-trial articles insisting on Hauptmann's guilt, and former prosecutor
David T. Wilentz (then 86) for over $100 million in wrongful-death damages. She claimed that the newly discovered documents proved misconduct by the prosecution and the manufacture of evidence by government agents, all of whom were biased against Hauptmann because he happened to be of German ethnicity. In 1983, the
United States Supreme Court refused her request that the federal judge considering the case should be disqualified because of judicial bias, and in 1984, the judge dismissed her claims. In 1990, New Jersey governor
James Florio declined her appeal for a meeting to clear Hauptmann's name. Anna Hauptmann died on October 10, 1994. ==See also==