Research Paper On Who Killed And Kidnapped Charles Augustus Junior

Devisha Priya

Ms. Lo

Accelerated English Period ¾

31 March 2023

Who killed and kidnapped Charles Augustus Junior..?

After much investigating, we have found that the kidnapping of the Lindberghs' son is much muddier than we thought. Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., 20-month-old son of the famous aviator and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was kidnapped at 9:00 p.m., on March 1, 1932, from the nursery on the second floor of the Lindbergh home near Hopewell, New Jersey. Many heart’s were distressed and anguished at the thought of losing their young “prince”. On May 12, 1932, 72 days after the kidnapping, the decomposed body of a baby was found in the woods near the Lindbergh house. Although the suspect has been trialed and found guilty of the abduction

due to their actions of taking away Charles Jr. on March 1st from Hopewell, New Jersey. Charles Lindbergh Sr. was the inside informant on the kidnapping team and had conspired with Bruno Richard Hauptmann, the main suspect, for the kidnapping of his son, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. According to PBS Nova Documentary, “Charles had this eugenics mentality, did not trust the police, and was also the one who could handle the case and every piece of information being used. He was also one of the only ones who knew if they would stay in Hopewell on that exact day”. Thus, this proves how Charles was the inside informant on the kidnapping team and conspired with Bruno for the kidnapping of Charles Jr. Because Charles had a eugenics mentality and because we know that Charles Jr. had a physical sort of abnormality, Charles simply could have made up this kidnapping to send Charles Jr. to an institution which as discussed, was a very common thing to do at the time

According to, “Hauptmann House, Trial, and Suspect Cards #3”, “In Bruno’s garage was found more than $11,000 of the ransom money matching the serial numbers. The ransom bills stopped showing up after he got arrested and about half of the ransom money was never found.” To clear some parts up, about ⅓ of the ransom money was discovered in Bruno’s house which leads to the question of where the rest of the ransom money is. This could’ve potentially been divided up with two of the other accomplices who assisted in the kidnapping of Charles Jr. Moreover, according to PBS Nova Documentary, “John Knoll met with two other people (Bruno - the main suspect - and Walter) as they talked about Hopewell; the place of the kidnapping; also matched the police sketch.” This further proves how Walter and John Knoll are guilty of the kidnapping of Charles Jr. because, through this piece of information, we know that John Knoll, was aware of something that was going to happen in Hopewell because of his conversation with Walter and Bruno. Since both John Knoll and Walter are in close relation with Bruno- who was found to be the main suspect in the kidnapping - they are concluded to be the two accomplices of Bruno in the kidnapping of Charles Jr. on March 1, 1932. Through these pieces of evidence, it is evident how Walter and John Knoll are also involved in the