The Lindbergh baby abducting/homicide case is very interesting to me as I studied it in high school forensics class. This case is very complex and interesting because there are many lose ends, that may have caused an innocent man to be sentenced to death.

Charles Lindbergh, the father of the baby that was abducted, was a famous American aviator and he made the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic ocean. He married Anne Morrow, who was a poet and writer. Their first infant son was kidnapped in March 1932.

The baby was abducted from his crib, and the abductor had used a ladder to climb into the baby’s window. A ransom note demanding $50,000 was discovered by the window ledge in order to ensure the baby’s safe return home. The only solid evidence at the initial crime scene was the ladder the abductor used to get the baby, the ransom note, and tire marks were left next to the house.

Investigators found no sufficient evidence to make any arrests or question any suspects. Soon, another ransom note was discovered and the abductor requested $70,000 this time. The robbers soon gave a place and time when the Lindbergh’s should give the money and where the baby could be found. The robbers claimed the baby would be on a boat called Nelly off the coast of Massachusetts, but after searching every port in the area the baby was never found.

On May 12th, 1932 police searched around the Lindbergh mansion again and the baby’s body was found less than a mile away from the home. It was uncovered that the baby was killed the night of the kidnapping. The Lindbergh’s were heartbroken and distraught and quickly sold their house and moved away.

It wasn’t until September 1934 when a marked bill from the ransom notes were found and traced to German immigrant, Bruno Hauptmann. After police searched his home, they discovered $13,000 of the Lindbergh money. Hauptmann claimed his friend gave him the money to hold onto and he had no connection to the crime.

On April 1936, Bruno Hauptmann was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death in the electric chair.

The evidence was not very strong in convicting Bruno, but along with discovering the ransom money, police made Bruno do handwriting analysis and compared his handwriting samples to the handwriting in the ransom notes. Because he learned to write in German, most of the words were spelled wrong. However, the letters written had the same characteristics as the ones in the letters which usually indicate that they are written by the same person.

The Lindbergh baby was one of the wealthiest babies during this time. In my opinion I think the investigation of this case was poorly done and could have potentially caused a man his life. The first ransom note was placed on the window seal, not in the crib. The most important note was placed oddly in my opinion because wouldn’t the kidnapper want the note to be found immediately and not potentially flying out of the window? After looking and researching the evidence, the ladder was constructed by Lindbergh, yet after 400 fingerprint analysis on the ladder the police did not uncover one fingerprint that belonged to Hauptmann. The handwriting analysis was faulty because it was proven that police had tampered with the evidence and the ransom notes, because police already believed it was Hauptmann so they didn’t give him a fair chance. The time-lapse makes this case even more unfair and unjust because eye witnesses stated they saw and heard Hauptmann years ago in bizarre places. One eye witness who was partially blind said he saw Hauptmann, which should have not contributed to the verdict. The trial was a circus and the evidence against Hauptmann in my opinion is not strong enough to give him the death penalty. I do not think Hauptmann kidnapped the baby and killed it, there was little to no evidence that he had ever been on the scene of the crime. However, I do believe that he could have assisted the killer and potentially helped him with the ransom notes and money. 

Sources:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/body-of-lindbergh-baby-found