Charles Lindbergh Kidnapping Research Paper

Charles Lindbergh Jr., the twenty-month-old son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family’s new mansion in Hopewell, New Jersey. His wife Anne discovered a ransom note in their child’s empty room that demanded $50,000. The kidnapper had used a ladder to climb up to the open second-floor window and had left muddy footprints in the room. The crime captured the attention of the entire nation. The Lindbergh family was bombarded by offers of assistance and false clues. Even Al Capone offered his help from prison. For three days, investigators had found nothing and there was no further word from the kidnappers. Then, a new letter showed up, this time demanding $70,000.

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, Bruno Hauptmann. When his home was searched, detectives found $14,000 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 again was a national sensation. Famous writers Damon Runyan and Walter Winchell covered the trial. The prosecution’s case was not particularly strong. The main evidence, apart from the money, was testimony from handwriting experts that the ransom note had been written by Hauptmann and his connection with the type of wood that was used to make the ladder. Still, the evidence and intense public pressure was enough to convict Hauptmann. In April 1936 he was executed in the electric chair. The episode had one other major consequence. Kidnapping was made a federal crime in the aftermath of this high-profile crime. The FBI’s jurisdiction over kidnapping remains to this