Charles Lindbergh had become famous in May 1927 by becoming the first person to fly solo in an aeroplane across the Atlantic. He shunned publicity, having a naturally diffident nature, and by 1932 he was living part of the time in a secluded house in New Jersey with his wife and servants. It was from this house that their 20-month old baby was kidnapped on Tuesday March 1, between 8:00pm and 10:00pm.
The crime caused a sensation at the time, then an outpouring of grief and anger as the infant was found slain two months later in woodland nearby. The family had paid a $50000 ransom through a go-between named John F. Condon, who had handed over the money in a Bronx cemetery to a man who claimed he was of Scandinavian descent. Two years later a $10 gold certificate bill was traced to Bruno Richard Hauptmann as he paid for petrol, and he was taken in for questioning and the house searched.
Hauptmann was a refugee from post-war Germany, a criminal in his own country with previous convictions for burglary with a ladder. Damning evidence was found in the Hauptmann home: $14000 of the ransom money found secreted in the garage, at trial a handwriting expert would testify similarities in his handwriting with the ransom note, and wood from his loft was matched with the material used to make the ladder used in the kidnapping.
It seemed like an open and shut case, and to many it still is. The late broadcaster, Ludovic Kennedy, was convinced of his innocence and broadcast a programme you can watch here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0572v6f/tuesday-documentary-who-killed-the-lindbergh-babyA book has been written by the son of one of Hauptmann's friends, who claims to have overheard parts of the kidnap plot. Cemetery John would seem compelling evidence of Hauptmann's involvement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemetery_JohnYet for some lingering doubts remain. How did Hauptmann know that the baby would be at that location during the week? Did he have inside help from the nanny, Julie Mugford-lookalike Violet Sharp, who within weeks of the abduction would kill herself by drinking silver polish? Hauptmann never confessed and declared hauntingly: "
They think that when I die the case will die. They think it will be like a book I close. But the book, it will never close."
Hauptmann was found guilty on a unanimous verdict and was executed in the electric chair on 3 April 1936.
https://youtu.be/8RvUcGC4sYk
