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KF5JRV > TODAY 01.03.19 14:27l 50 Lines 2510 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 32019_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Mar 01
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<F6IQF<IW0QNL<VE2PKT<N3HYM<NS2B<KF5JRV
Sent: 190301/1223Z 32019@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
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.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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