Why the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Case Still Haunts After Nearly 100 Years
"The apparent abduction of Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, has riveted Americans, calling to mind another high-profile crime that took place in 1932."
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/lindbergh-baby-kidnapping-savannah-guthrie-nancy [text us behind a paywall]
"Explainer: The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial
"At varying times Charles Lindbergh was a national hero — for his daring solo transatlantic flight; and an object of public disgrace — due to his Nazi sympathies. But in 1932 the Lindbergh family were also victims of a terrible crime that led to what was called "the trial of the century."
"…The kidnapper had killed Charles Jr., possibly by accident, while climbing down the ladder [propped against the house] from the Lindbergh nursery [on an upper floor].
The police made a note of the serial numbers comprising the paid ransom. Later, coincident with coming off of the gold standard, apparently:
…"By a presidential order, all gold certificates were to be exchanged for other bills by May 1, 1933. A few days before the deadline, a man brought $2,980 to a Manhattan bank for exchange; it was later discovered that the bills were from the ransom. He had given his name as J. J. Faulkner of 537 West 149th Street. No one named Faulkner lived at that address, and a Jane Faulkner who had lived there 20 years earlier, denied any involvement.
"…During a 30-month period, a number of bills from the ransom were turning up throughout New York City. Detectives realized that many of the bills were being spent along the route of the Lexington Avenue subway, which connected the Bronx to the east side of Manhattan, including the German-Austrian neighborhood of Yorkville.
"On September 18, 1934, a bank teller in Manhattan noticed a gold certificate from the ransom; a New York license plate number (4U-13-41-N.Y) penciled in the bill's margin allowed it to be traced to a nearby gas station. The station manager who received the bill had written down the license number on it because his customer was acting "suspicious" and believed he was "possibly a counterfeiter". The license plate belonged to a car owned by Bruno Richard Hauptmann of 1279 East 222nd Street in the Bronx, an immigrant with a criminal record in Germany. When Hauptmann was arrested, he was carrying a single 20-dollar gold certificate from the ransom and over $14,000 of the ransom money was found in a suitcase in his garage.
"Hauptmann was arrested, interrogated, and beaten by police at least once throughout the following day and night. He stated that the money and other items had been left with him by his friend and former business partner Isidor Fisch. Fisch had died on March 29, 1934, shortly after returning to Germany. Hauptmann stated he learned only after Fisch's death that the suitcase that was left with him contained a considerable sum of money. He kept the money because he claimed that it was owed to him from a business deal that he and Fisch had made. Hauptmann consistently denied any connection to the crime or knowledge that the money found in his house was from the ransom.
"When the police searched Hauptmann's home, a considerable amount of additional evidence was found, linking him to the crime. One item was a notebook containing a sketch of the construction of a ladder similar to the one found at the Lindbergh home in March 1932; John Condon's address and telephone number were discovered written on a closet wall in the house. Another key piece of evidence, a section of wood, was discovered in the attic of the home; after being examined by an expert, it was determined to be an exact match to the wood used in the construction of the ladder found at the crime scene.
"On September 24, 1934, Hauptmann was indicted in the Bronx for extorting the $50,000 ransom from Charles Lindbergh. Two weeks later on October 8, Hauptmann was indicted in New Jersey for the murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr."
"… In 1991, [the convicted and executed accused kidnapper] Hauptmann’s widow, Anna, sought to have her husband’s name cleared by a court. The appeal failed. Anna Hauptmann died in 1994 still convinced of her husband’s innocence."
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/articles/explainer-the-lindbergh-baby-kidnapping-trial/
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindbergh_kidnapping