184 THE LINDBERGH BABY KIDNAPPING
Newspapers announced the
kidnapping to the world, making
Charlie one of the most famous babies
in America. This cover shows Charlie
at his most defenceless, two weeks old.Some of the best-known journalists
of the day – Walter Winchell,
Damon Runyon, and Fanny Hurst- covered the trial.
Hauptmann, represented by
flamboyant attorney Edward “Big
Ed” Reilly, took the stand in his
own defence and denied any
involvement in the kidnapping. He
told the jury that he had been
beaten by police and forced to alter
his handwriting to match the
ransom notes. Meanwhile, Reilly
attempted to arouse suspicion
around Condon and his
communication with the kidnapper.
Charles Lindbergh testified for
the prosecution. He told the jurors
that he recognized Hauptmann’s
voice as that of the man Condon
had delivered the ransom money
to years before.
Testimony ended in February
- Prosecutor David Wilentz, in
his summation, asked the jury to
find Hauptmann guilty of first-
degree murder with the death
penalty imposed. The jury retired
from the courtroom and deliberated
in the jury room for more than 11
hours. At 10:45pm on 18 February
1935, the jury of eight men and four
women returned a verdict. When
a bell tolled to announce that a
verdict had been reached, the
cheers of the crowd outside could
be heard inside the courtroom.Hauptmann, handcuffed between
two guards, stood motionless as
the foreman read the verdict.
Perhaps under public pressure, the
jury found Bruno Hauptmann guilty
of first-degree murder. The judge
sentenced him to death. Lindbergh,
who attended every session of the
32-day trial, was not present for the
verdict and sentencing.Bungled investigation
The Lindbergh case had been an
embarrassment to both the police
force and FBI. It had also captured
hearts across America.
Under New Jersey’s capital
murder statute, the prosecution did
not need to prove Hauptmann
intended to kill the baby – only that
the toddler died as a result of the
break-in. It was never determined
whether the boy was hit over the
head or died in a fall from the ladder
as he was carried out of the house.
After the verdict and sentence were
read, Hauptmann declined to
address the court.
Harold G. Hoffman, governor
of the state of New Jersey, voiced
doubts about the verdict and
granted Hauptmann a 30-day
reprieve, ordering New Jersey State
Police to reopen their case. The
Hauptmann investigation, he said,
was one of the most bungled in
police history.
The New Jersey State Police
failed to find any new evidence, so
Hoffman hired private investigators.
They too came up empty-handed,
and when the investigation was
over, Hoffman’s political career was
so tarnished that he lost his bid for
re-election as governor.The trial of the century was
probably the greatest fraud in
the history of this country.
Robert R. Bryan178-185_Lindbergh_Baby.indd 184 02/12/2016 14:44
KIDNAPPING AND EXTORTION 185
Verdict challenged
Hauptmann’s lawyer appealed the
conviction all the way to the US
Supreme Court, but none of the
appeals was successful. Still, Bruno
Hauptmann proclaimed his
innocence until his last moment.
He was executed in “Old Smokey”,
the electric chair at New Jersey
State Prison, on 13 April 1936.
The case did not end there,
however. In 1981, Hauptmann’s
83-year-old widow, Anna, sued the
state of New Jersey for $100 million
(£130 million), claiming that it had
wrongfully executed her husband.
She asked that his case be
reopened, but the court denied the
request. Her lawyer also asked theThey think that when I die,
the case will die.
Bruno HauptmannNew Jersey State Legislature to
officially declare Bruno Hauptmann
innocent. No action was taken.
The case has inspired more
than a dozen books and two films.
In 1982, the documentary, Who
Killed the Lindbergh Baby?, written
and narrated by British journalist
Ludovic Kennedy, argued that
Hauptmann was framed. In
Gregory Ahlgren and Stephen
Monier’s 1993 book Crime of thePolice officers scour Hauptmann’s
garage for clues that might tell them
what happened to Charlie Lindbergh
as hundreds gather outside
Hauptmann’s house during the search.Century: The Lindbergh
Kidnapping Hoax, they suggest
that Charles Lindbergh accidentally
killed his son and staged the
kidnapping as a cover-up. Other
authors have suggested there were
multiple culprits, pointing to the
use of “we” in the ransom notes,
and the presence of two sets of
footprints at the mansion.
In 2012, author Robert Zorn
posited that “Cemetery John”
was German grocery store worker
John Knoll, and that he and Bruno
Hauptmann performed the
kidnapping together. While Zorn’s
theory has gained traction,
particularly given the physical
similarities between images of
John Knoll and the artist’s
impression of “Cemetery John”
based on Dr Condon’s description,
we are still no closer to finding out
what happened that night. ■Capital punishment
The American Civil Liberties
Union contends that capital
punishment is irrevocable,
arbitrary, and permanent. It
forever deprives the individual
of the opportunity to benefit
from new evidence or new laws.
The International Commission
Against the Death Penalty has
noted that, while public support
for the death penalty is linked to
the desire to free society from
crime, there are more effective
ways to prevent crime than
killing the perpetrators.Those people and groups
opposed to capital punishment
point out that while it aims to
deter killers, it instead mirrors
the very behaviour it seeks to
prevent. They also argue that
the death penalty promotes the
idea that it is acceptable to kill
as long as it is the government
doing the killing.
The overwhelming majority
of developed nations have
abolished capital punishment
either in law or in practice. The
US remains the only Western
country that still carries out
capital punishment.178-185_Lindbergh_Baby.indd 185 13/01/2017 15:19