2. The Crime
• Victim: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.
• What happened?: He was kidnapped from his nursery
• Major events between the kidnapping and discovery of the body:
– The family found a ransom note demanding $50,000
– Household and estate employees were questioned and investigated
– The family found a second ransom note which increased the demand
to $70,000
– The family received a third ransom note demanding that they wanted
a go-between person
– The family received a fourth ransom note found Dr. Condon as an
acceptable go-between
– Dr. Condon meets with the kidnapper
– Dr. Condon pays the kidnapper $50,000 for ransom
– The police find the remains of Charles near the Lindbergh estate
3. The Investigation
• Agencies that investigated:
– New Jersey State Police at Trenton, New Jersey
– U.S. Department of Justice
– FBI
• Techniques used:
– Offered a reward not to exceed $25,000 for information resulting in
the apprehension and conviction of the kidnapper or kidnappers
• Evidence:
– A chisel
– A ransom note demanding $50,000
– Ladder broken into three pieces
• Evidence that led to suspect:
– Wooden ladder used in the abduction
4. Key Figures
• Lindbergh family:
– Charles A. Lindbergh:
• Triumphant solo flight across the Atlantic
• Worked with Dr. Alexis Carrel on an "artificial heart"
• Toured air force installations of Europe
– Anne Morrow:
• Wrote of her and her husband's experiences in a best-seller,
"North to the Orient"
– Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.:
• "Eaglet"
• Kidnapped and found 2 months later
5. Key Figures
• Household employees:
– Violet Sharp:
• Morrow family maid
• Once a suspect for the kidnapping
• Committed suicide
6. Key Figures
• Main investigators:
– David T. Wilentz:
• Attorney General
• Lead Prosecutor
– Thomas W. Trenchard:
• Judge in the Hauptmann trial
7. Key Figures
• Dr. Condon:
– "Jafsie"
– Intermediary between Lindberghs and the kidnapper
• Bruno Richard Hauptmann:
– Alleged kidnapper
– Born in 1899 in Kamenz, a small town in Saxony, Germany
– Engaged in petty theft and armed robbery
– He and accomplice burglarized the home of the mayor of
Kamenz
– Spent three years in prison
– Less than a month after his release, he was arrested again
for possession of stolen tools
8. The Trial
• Location of trial: Flemington
• Attorneys:
– Prosecutor: David T. Wilentz
– Defense: Edward J. Reilly
• Key witnesses and statements:
– Charles Lindbergh: recognized Hauptmann's voice from the
night that he and Condon had delivered the ransom
money to the cemetery
– Anne Morrow Lindbergh
– Amandus Hochmuth said she saw a green car with a latter,
and the man holding it began to walk towards the house.
Dr. Condon testified how he gave "John' money
9. The Trial
• Forensic evidence:
– Tools : proven to be Hauptmann's
– Wood: used to make the ladder was the same wood in
Hauptmann's house
– Hauptmann's handwriting matched the handwriting on the
ransom notes
• Media:
– "The greatest story since the resurrection" (Douglass Linder).
– The media quickly reacted from coast to coast, this case was put
under a file of celebrity and crime
– The missing baby was on the cover of time magazine
• Verdict: guilty of murder in the first degree
10. The Aftermath
• What happened to Hauptmann?: executed
through electrocution
• Period of time between the verdict and
execution: 1 year
11. My Take
• My thoughts about this case aren't clear at all.
After reading the alternate theories I believe
that Lindbergh had something to do with the
kidnapping of his child. But on the contrary,
who would want to do something like that to
their own child. I don't like that Lindbergh was
tampering with the evidence but I know that
any parent would be curious about the
investigation and would try to solve it
themselves.
