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Charles Augustus Lindberg Jr. was born in 1930 to parents Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Charles Lindbergh was a famous American aviator and pioneer in the field of aviation. Lindbergh became an overnight sensation after he completed the first transatlantic flight between 2 major cities in the world. His flight from New York to Paris coined Lindbergh “Man of the Year” in January 1928.
On March 1, 1932, around 7:30 p.m., the Lindbergh family nurse, Betty Gow couldn’t find 20-month year old Charles Jr. He wasn’t inside his crib like he should have been. Betty Gow notified the baby’s mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and together they searched the entire property. But there was no sign of the Lindbergh baby.
Inside baby Charles’s Jr crib, they find a ransom note. The kidnappers demand $50,000 for the safe return of the baby.
Inside the baby bedroom, the family discovered an open window and pieces of ladder propped against the side of the window. They also find a baby blanket.
The Hopewell Police Department and the New Jersey State Police show up to the Lindbergh’s house once the call about the kidnapping was received. A forensic search of the bedroom didn’t find any fingerprints or forensic evidence from the kidnapper or kidnappers.
Once the news broke about the Lindbergh kidnapping, many organized crime bosses came forward offering their help, including Al Capone, Willie Moretti, and Abner Zwillman.
The New Jersey State Police and the Lindbergh family offered a $75,000 reward, which in today’s money is around $1.5 million.
Five days after the kidnapping, the Lindbergh’s receive a 2nd ransom letter. The letter demanded the ransom to be raised to $70,000. Shortly after, a third ransom letter arrived.
The third ransom letter told the Lindbergh’s that John Condon should be the mediator between the kidnappers and the Lindbergh’s. John Condon was a retired school teacher and well-known personality in New York.
John Condon met with the alleged kidnappers at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx. The man styed in the door, so Condon was unable to get a good look at his face. The man told Condon he was a Scandinavian man and a member of a gang. He said the Lindbergh baby for safe and in the care of two women. All the Lindbergh’s had to do was pay the ransom money.
The ransom money was put together including a number of unique gold certificates. All the serial numbers from the bills were recorded in hopes they could be used to identify the kidnappers. John Condon delivered the $50,000 ransom money and there was nothing left to do but wait.
Weeks turned into months. No sign of the Lindbergh baby.
On May 12th, the body of a young toddler was discovered along the side of an empty road. The body was identified as 20-month year old Charles Jr., the Lindbergh baby.
Several people were named as possible suspects including Violet Sharp, a former servant to Anne Morrow’s family. But no one was arrested.
Over the next 30 months of the investigation, police continued to track the bills used to pay the ransom money. Finally on September 18, 1934, a bank teller recognized one of the gold certificates on the bills as belonging to the Lindbergh kidnapper. There was a New York License plate number (4U-13-41-NY) penciled in the bill’s margin which led the police to a gas station. Police learned that the gas station worker wrote down the license plate on the bill because he thought the customer who handed him the money was acting suspicious.
Police ran the license plate and tracked it to a man by the name of Richard Hauptmann.
When police went to speak with Hauptmann, he was in possession of a single 20-dollar gold certificate and over $15,000 of the ransom money was found in his garage. The ransom money wasn’t the only piece of evidence police found in Richard’s home. Police also found a notebook containing a sketch of the ladder found at the Lindbergh’s home. They also found John Condon’s name, address, and phone number in his possession.
Richard Hauptmann was indicted on September 24th, 1934 for extorting the Lindberg’s and 2 weeks later on October 8th, he was indicted for the murder of Charles Lindberg Jr.
Richard was charged with capital murder in the kidnapping and killing of the Lindberg baby, which at the time meant that if he was found guilty, he would be sentenced to death. The trial against Richard, the accused Lindberg killer became known as the “Trial of the Century”.
During the trial, 8 forensic handwriting experts were called to testify for the state. The forensic handwriting experts testified to the similarities between the handwriting on the ransom letters and Richard’s very own handwriting. The state called in Arthur Koehler from Forest products Laboratory. Arthur testified to the similarities between the wood found in Richard’s attic and the wood used to make the ladder to get inside the Lindbergh’s window.
Richard Hauptmann was ultimately convicted of the Lindbergh kidnapping and murder and was automatically sentenced to death.
While awaiting death, Richard Hauptmann had the opportunity to confess to the kidnapping and murder in exchange of commuting his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He turned down that offer and ultimately executed by electrocution on April 3rd, 1936.
Episode Sources:
Lindbergh Kidnapping – FBI.gov
Lindbergh Kidnapping Wiki
Lindbergh baby kidnapping History.com
Britannica website – Lindbergh baby kidnapping History & Facts
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