On March 1, 1932, someone abducted Charles Lindbergh’s baby from his house in East Amwell, New Jersey. The kidnapping of the son, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., went on to become one of the biggest cases of that time.
The parents found a ransom note in the child’s room and contacted the authorities. The police conducted an extensive search of the home and called several experts to take a look at the ransom note and ladder. Meanwhile, the case continued to garner a lot of attention from the media and people.
Over the course of two months, Lindbergh and his family received 12 ransom notes and several phone calls. Unfortunately, on May 12, 1932, a man found the body of the abducted baby. As the investigation progressed, the police finally arrested Richard Hauptmann on September 19, 1934. The kidnapper was put on trial and was charged with capital murder. The jury found Richard Hauptmann guilty in Charles Lindbergh’s baby’s kidnapping case. He was sentenced to death and executed by electric chair on April 3, 1936.
The Lindbergh Kidnapping: How was the abductor caught?
The authorities took time in apprehending the kidnapper of Charles Lindbergh’s baby. The abduction took place in March 1932, but it took police more than two-and-a-half years to catch the culprit. In the initial part of the investigation, the authorities found it hard to nab the kidnapper. However, the authorities realized that someone had spent a lot of ransom bills throughout New York City. Reportedly, in May 1933, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York discovered gold certificates and all of Lindbergh’s ransom notes.
The bank sent all the ransom notes for examination. The expert reportedly revealed that only one person wrote all the ransom notes. Apart from the ransom notes, the authorities also examined the ladder used in the kidnapping. Experts disassembled the ladder and thoroughly examined it. Later, those findings played an integral role during the trial. However, the police still couldn’t manage to catch the culprit.
In the following weeks, police discovered more gold certificates, following which they finally had a suspect in the case—Richard Hauptmann. The investigators closely monitored his movements, and soon, they identified Hauptmann as the person who received the ransom money. After the arrest, authorities compared Hauptmann’s writing with the person who wrote the ransom notes. Reportedly, the investigators found that the writing was similar.
After a thorough interrogation, authorities indicted him on the charges of extortion and murder. The trial in the kidnapping of Charles Lindberg’s baby started in January 1935, during which the prosecution team presented much circumstantial evidence to prove Richard Hauptmann’s involvement.
Hauptmann received death sentence for killing Charles Lindbergh’s baby
The trial lasted for five weeks, during which the jury finally reached a verdict. The jury found Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the case. Following this, the court announced a death sentence in the case.
Richard Hauptmann and the defense appealed, but the Supreme Court denied it. Initially, the culprit had to be electrocuted in January 1936. However, Hauptmann received a 30-day reprieve and was electrocuted in April 1936.
The case has turned out to be really popular in pop culture. A feature film titled The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case was released in 1976 and starred Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins as Richard Hauptmann. Aside from that, several documentaries on the Lindbergh Kidnapping case are available on several streaming platforms such as Prime Video, Apple TV+, and more.
