The Lindbergh Kidnapping

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Presentation created by Robert MartinezPrimary Content Source: True Crime by Nick YappImages as cited.

In 1927 Charles A. Lindbergh became a national hero in the United States. At the age of 25, he had been the first person to

make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

“The Lone Eagle”, as the press dubbed him, was modest, charming, and good-

looking, and his fame lasted.

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Three years later, he and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh were America’s golden

couple, to such an extent that they felt compelled to flee from the public.

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They built a house on a remote tract of land in New Jersey near the little town of

Hopewell, and here, on June 22, 1930, their first child was born.

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“The Eaglet”, as the child came to be known, lived for less than two years.

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On the cold, rainy night of May 1, 1932, somewhere between 8 and 10 p.m., the

little boy was kidnapped.

Ladder found at the nursery window.

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Lindbergh was out hunting with his Springfield rifle for signs of the kidnapper when the State Police arrived, headed by

their chief, H. Norman Schwarzkopf (father of General “Stormin” Norman Schwarzkopf

of Desert Storm).

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General Norman SchwarzkopfDesert Storm

H. NormanSchwarzkopfPolice Chief

Lindbergh had already found an envelope. Inside they found a ransom note in blue ink

demanding $50,000. Details of where to place the money would follow.

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The police were not to be informed. Three days later another note arrived, raising the

ransom to $70,000.

Lindbergh was prepared to do whatever was asked for the return of his child.

A meeting was arranged at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx (New York City) with a man who called himself “Cemetery John”,

following which the child’s sleeping suit was mailed to Lindbergh.

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A second meeting was arranged, attended by both Condon and Lindbergh. The heard

Cemetery John call them in a strong German accent.

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Lindbergh handed over $50,000 in “gold-notes”, and received a note allegedly telling him where to find the victim. It was now over a month since the little boy had been taken.

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The note was worthless. Another month was to pass before the body of Charles Jr.

was found, just four miles from home.

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It was little more than a skeleton, hidden in a heap of rotting vegetation. The left leg,

left hand, and right arm were missing. The cause of death was a massive fracture of

the skull.

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At first, one of the Lindbergh’s servants was suspected of the crime. The poor woman was so upset by such an accusation that

she killed herself, swallowing silver polish that contained arsenic.

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And then, almost a year after the discovery of the body, some of the ransom money turned up at a gas station in the Bronx.

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The gas station manager thought it odd that a customer should pay for 98 cents of gas with a $10 bill, and noted the license

plate number on the car.

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It turned out to be registered to a man named Bruno Hauptmann, a German who had entered the States illegally in 1923.

Hauptmann’s trial was held in Fleming, New Jersey. Hauptmann was found guilty.

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Charles Lindbergh testifying in court.

In the little time between sentence and execution, he was vilified in the press, but

later doubts were voiced as to the justice of his trial and sentence.

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For 60 years, up to her death in 1994, his widow Anna persisted that he had been

innocent.

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As for the Lindberghs, they had another son, and left the United States to settle in

Europe, where the “Lone Eagle” sadly became an early supporter of the Hitler Nazi Regime. But that’s another story.

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After the Lindbergh kidnapping “baby” monitors became extremely popular for apprehensive parents.