March 1st...This Day in History (Now with links to other events)

Lindbergh baby kidnapped 1932

 

On this day in 1932, in a crime that captured the attention of the entire nation, Charles Lindbergh III, the 20-month-old son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, is kidnapped from the family’s new mansion in Hopewell, New Jersey. Lindbergh, who became an international celebrity when he flew the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, and his wife Anne discovered a ransom note demanding $50,000 in their son’s empty room. The kidnapper used a ladder to climb up to the open second-floor window and left muddy footprints in the room.

The Lindberghs were inundated by offers of assistance and false clues. Even Al Capone offered his help from prison. For three days, investigators found nothing and there was no further word from the kidnappers. Then, a new letter showed up, this time demanding $70,000.

The kidnappers eventually gave instructions for dropping off the money and when it was delivered, the Lindberghs were told their baby was on a boat called Nelly off the coast of Massachusetts. After an exhaustive search, however, there was no sign of either the boat or the child. Soon after, the baby’s body was discovered near the Lindbergh mansion. He had been killed the night of the kidnapping and was found less than a mile from home. The heartbroken Lindberghs ended up donating the mansion to charity and moved away.

The kidnapping looked like it would go unsolved until September 1934, when a marked bill from the ransom turned up. The gas station attendant who had accepted the bill wrote down the license plate number because he was suspicious of the driver. It was tracked back to a German immigrant and carpenter, Bruno Hauptmann. When his home was searched, detectives found a chunk of Lindbergh ransom money.

Hauptmann claimed that a friend had given him the money to hold and that he had no connection to the crime. The resulting trial was a national sensation. The prosecution’s case was not particularly strong; the main evidence, besides the money, was testimony from handwriting experts that the ransom note had been written by Hauptmann. The prosecution also tried to establish a connection between Hauptmann and the type of wood that was used to make the ladder.

Still, the evidence and intense public pressure were enough to convict Hauptmann and he was electrocuted in 1935. In the aftermath of the crime—the most notorious of the 1930s—kidnapping was made a federal offense.

 (More Events on This Day in History)

• American Revolution

• 1781 Articles of Confederation are ratified

• Automotive

• 2005 Honda unveils new Civic

• Civil War

• 1864 Grant nominated for lieutenant general

• Cold War

• 1961 Kennedy establishes Peace Corps

• Crime

• 1932 Charles Lindbergh Jr. kidnapped

• Disaster

• 1910 Trains buried by avalanche

• General Interest

• 1692 Salem Witch Hunt begins
• 1954 Puerto Rican nationalists wound five representatives
• 1961 Peace Corps established
• 1966 Soviet probe crashes into Venus

• Hollywood

• 1971 Richard Zanuck and David Brown join Warner Brothers

• Literary

• 1921 E.M. Forster takes a passage to India

• Music

• 1971 James Taylor makes the cover of Time magazine

• Old West

• 1872 Yellowstone Park established

• Sports

• 1969 Mickey Mantle retires

• Vietnam War

• 1965 U.S. informs South Vietnam of intent to send Marines
• 1968 Clifford replaces McNamara
• 1971 Bomb explodes in Capitol building

• World War I

• 1917 Zimmermann Telegram published in United States

• World War II

• 1941 Bulgaria joins the Axis