Interesting facts that I found out about this horrible case.
-In 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh made history when he flew solo and nonstop from the US to Europe— something no other aviator had achieved before. But five years later, he experienced a horrifying new reality: his 20-month-old son, Charlie, was kidnapped right out of his crib on the night of March 1st, 1932.
-It wasn’t until the second day of April that the kidnappers gave instructions for delivering the ransom. When the money was handed off, they said that Charles was on a boat named Nelly off the coast of Massachusetts. However, after an exhaustive search of every port, there was no sign of either the boat or the child.
-72 days later, a badly decomposed body authorities identified as Charlie’s was discovered in the woods nearby.
-The investigation went cold until two years later when a ransom bill revealed the case’s first clue. Suspicious of the driver who had given it to him, a gas station attendant who had accepted the bill wrote down his license plate number.
-This resulted in Bruno Richard Hauptmann, an immigrant from Germany, being charged with extortion and first-degree homicide. Hauptmann denied any involvement in the crime.
-The trial of Hauptmann began in January 1935, transforming into a giant media event. Charles and Anne Lindbergh testified, as well as the ransom go-between, John F. Condon (nicknamed “Jafsie”). After three weeks of proceedings, an uneasy Hauptmann was finally called to the stand. He acknowledged providing false statements to law enforcement agents but maintained his innocence.
-The jury declared Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of the murder charge and he was consequently condemned to die by electrocution chair. On April 3, 1936, his sentence was carried out in Trenton State Prison, New Jersey.
-On June 17, 1932 – months after the Lindbergh family tragedy – the US Congress passed a bill that would become known as the Federal Kidnapping Act. It established harsh punishments for kidnappings where the abductee was taken across state borders, even in cases that could potentially be punishable by death. President Hoover officially put it into effect on June 22, which happened to be Charlie’s second birthday.
What are your thoughts?
What are your thoughts?