Research Paper On The Lindbergh Kidnapping

The Lindbergh Kidnapping The kidnapping occurred on March 1st, 1932 around 9pm in the second floor of the Lindbergh’s new mansion on a 400 acre lot in Hopewell, New Jersey. Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. was 20 months old when kidnapped He was sick at the time of the kidnapping Betty Gow, the baby’s nurse, went to check on him and found the crib empty All that was left behind was a ransom note asking for 50,000 dollars, traces of mud, footprints below the windowsill, and a ladder, broken in two, indicating that it broke during the ascent or descent No blood or fingerprint traces were at the scene of the crime On March 6th, a second ransom note was delivered to Colonel Lindbergh which stated that the ransom demand was increased

A gas station attendant accepted the bill, but, suspicious of the driver, wrote down the license plate number. The number was traced back to a German carpenter and illegal alien in the country, Bruno Richard Hauptman. Detectives searched his home and found a portion of the Lindbergh’s ransom money. Hauptman denied the accusations and said that a friend had given him the money and he had nothing to do with the abduction. The trial resulting from it became a national phenomenon, however, the prosecution’s case was not that strong. The only evidence against him was a testament from handwriting experts, matching the ransom notes to his own writing, the money found in his possession, and a piece of wood used on the makeshift ladder at the time of the crime fit perfectly in a missing plank in Hauptman’s home. Hauptman plead innocent but lost the case. He was guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death by the electric chair. Hauptmann made this statement: "I am absolutely innocent of the crime with which I am burdened." Hauptman appealed the verdict but was denied. On April 3, 1936, at 8:47 p.m., Bruno Richard Hauptmann was