Significance Of The Lindbergh Kidnapping

The Lindbergh Kidnapper, Bruno Hauptmann, was not wrongly convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. This is due to solid evidence against him such as the ladder used at the kidnapping, the ransom note spelling and handwriting, his payments with the ransom money, and where the money had been found in his home. At the crime scene there was a ladder that was leaned up against the house leading up to the Lindbergh baby’s bedroom. The ladder that was being used was made out of the same wood and nails that were being used in Bruno Hauptmann's home. The detectives covering the case soon discovered that the wood and nails that were used for the ladder were taken from Hauptmann's attic floor. “Several Jurors said after the trial that wood evidence was the most significant in proving Hauptmann’s guilt” (The Case Against Bruno Hauptmann). It helped that the ladder was “crudely built, but built nonetheless by someone familiar with wood who was mechanically inclined”(Lindbergh Kidnapping). Therefore, it gave the FBI a general idea of who to look for. They began interviewing carpenters, builders, and even neighbors of the Lindbergh’s to find matching fingerprints that were on the wood and

“Shortly after his apprehension, specimens of Hauptmann’s handwriting were flown to Washington, D.C., where a study was made of them in the FBI Laboratory. A comparison of the writing appearing on the ransom notes with that of the specimens disclosed remarkable similarities in inconspicuous, personal characteristics and writing habits, which resulted in a positive identification by the handwriting experts of the Laboratory” (Lindbergh Kidnapping). Some of the words that were significantly similar included “to” and “you”. When Hauptmann was asked to spell certain things, he spelt them wrong. For instance, he spelled “where” as “were,” “our” as “ouer,” and “later” as