This is just my view point
of the Lindbergh kidnapping. In my forensics class we were assigned projects
and mine was to research the kidnapping so I thought I would spot this for you
guys since my feeling for this is quite strong apparently. Keep in my mind
these are my thoughts after reading numerous websites and watching several
videos. Also, since Lindbergh was an American hero, the public was angry and
wanted justice and if there was no satisfaction to the destruction of the
kidnapper, then the people would lose faith in the law. Now we all know that
would be very bad.
One of the
most infamous crimes of the time, was the kidnapping of the 20 month old son of
Charles Lindbergh, an American Aviation Hero, having flew solo across the
Atlantic. The man who was arrested, tried, convicted, and given the electric
chair for the crime was a man named Richard Hauptmann, the court nicknaming him
"Bruno". Hauptmann was a German illegal immigrant, who tried
unsuccessfully to get into the US twice. Like they say third time is the charm,
and he was able to steal a travel card and with the help of a disguise, he got
into the United States. He met a woman from Queens and they eventually married.
There were
large amounts of evidence that was found to prove that Bruno was the said
kidnapper. However, could the evidence not have been tampered with? The answer
is yes, tampering of evidence has been done time and time again and who is to
say that it wasn't done during this time. Several critical pieces of evidence
that were used to help in the conviction of Bruno include:
1.
Handwriting
2.
The
ladder that was used to enter the home and was left at the scene of the crime
3.
The
special gold notes that were used to pay the ransom turned up in the possession
of Bruno
4.
Lindbergh
himself testified that it was Bruno he heard in the cemetery.
5.
A man who
identified Bruno who had driven by the Lindbergh home the day before the
kidnapping
6.
The go
between the police and the kidnapper said Bruno was not the man he had met with
7.
Detective
Ellis Parker of the NJ steps in
Now let's discuss each in
point.
1.
Handwriting
Upon being arrested, Bruno
was forced to write and they used his handwriting to make the connection of his
handwriting to that of the ransom notes that the Lindbergh's received. It
is not hard to figure out that the handwriting could have been tampered with.
One of the things that could be noticed with Bruno's writing is that the
numbers that he wrote did not match that of the ones found on the ransom note.
However, this piece of information was withheld from being used in court. A
woman named (I think this is how it is spelled) Hilda Zamemine, who was an
expert hand writing analysis, was dismissed from testifying on the case
because she said when she was called upon to testify she would tell the court
that the original writings of the note had been tampered with to make it look
more like Bruno's.
1.
The
Ladder that was used to enter the home and was left at the "scene of the
crime"
As stated above, the house
was entered by the use of the ladder placed on the side of the house. Upon
searching Bruno's house they found large amounts of wood in Bruno's house
(being that he was a carpenter). Further investigations showed that wood from
the attic of Bruno's home was used in creating the ladder and other wood that
was used came from a lumber yard that was located near Bruno's home. However,
it is possible that the "evidence" of the ladder, which played a key
role in the conviction of Hauptmann, was tampered with. How hard is it to
tamper with evidence behind the closed doors of the police station? The answer
is: not hard at all.
1.
The
special gold notes that were used to pay the ransom turned up in the possession
of Bruno
Bruno claimed that the
notes he were using was given to him by a friend and business partner named
Isidor Fisch. Isidor was involved in what was known as the
"underworld" and had even been seen near the Lindbergh house before.
Bruno claimed that the Fisch, before leaving for Europe, entrusted him with
several items for safe keeping. Bruno did not discover until later on that one
of the containers held the money he would later on use. The usage of his money
at a gas station led to his arrest the next day.
1.
Lindbergh
himself testified that it was Bruno he heard in the cemetery.
On the night that the
ransom note was received, Lindbergh was near/at the cemetery. He heard
someone utter out to words to him, "A Doctor". In court, Lindbergh
testified that the voice he heard was in no doubt Bruno. Before testifying that
it was indeed Bruno he head, Lindbergh and Bruno were placed in a room and
Bruno was made to say those words. However, for a full seven days Lindbergh
could not make up his mind as to whether Bruno was the voice he had heard or
not. The police showed Lindbergh the most likely tampered with evidence and
tried to prove to him that Bruno was the alleged kidnapper. With the
"evidence" clear to Lindbergh, he went along and said it was Bruno he
heard. I would like to point you all to one thing. A man by the name of Doctor
Conan was happy to be the go to between for the family/police and the
kidnapper. Is it not strange that the words heard uttered were "A
Doctor"?
1.
A man who
identified Bruno who had driven by the Lindbergh home the day before the
kidnapping
A man named Amadis
Hackworth testified in court that he saw Bruno drive by the home of the Lindbergh’s
the day before the baby was kidnapped. However, two months later Hackworth was
granted welfare in NYC on the grounds that he was, and I quote the man at the
office, "almost totally blind". This shows he could not have
successfully identified Lindbergh, or anyone for that matter. The police could
have paid him or even threatened him to testify, most likely never seeing Bruno
at all before the case and during the trial.
1.
A doctor
by the name of Condon was the "intermediate" of the family and he
police as I stated earlier.
Condon had readily agreed
to meet with the kidnapper several times to exchange the ransom, plead for the
random price to be dropped when it rose to a substantial amount, and so forth.
When Bruno was apprehended by the police, Condon was called in to identify if
Bruno was the man he had met with all of those times. Condom met with Bruno,
spoke with him and even shook his hand and told the police that Bruno was not
the man he had met with all of those times. Condon did not say that Bruno was
the man until a few weeks before the trial, after being coheres by the police. They
even threatened Condon to be arrested as a accomplish by the police if he did
not testify that Bruno was the kidnapper. Bruno was said to be the man who met
Condon after all that time because Condon had no choice. He might have lived to
a much older age if people were not forced to testify against him.
1.
Detective
Ellis Parker of the NJ steps in
NJ detective Ellis Parker
was asked to step in to the case and see if he could find out who kidnapped
Lindbergh Jr. Parker did just that, spreading around that he was looking for
information that would help lead to the arrest of the kidnapper, and sure
enough someone answered the call. His name was Paul Wendell, and sure enough he
had a grudge against the father-in-law of Charles Lindbergh, Dwight Morrow. He
blamed Morrow and Lindbergh for the reason of his ill fortune. Parker sent
three men to interview Wendell, having them to pretend to be gangsters, and his
son. During the discussion with Wendell, he spoke of things that only the
kidnapper would have known. They even had him write and sign a piece of paper
that said he was the true kidnapper. However, the men who had all the “evidence”
against Bruno did not enjoy this set back one bit. Fearing that they would look
like fools and would lose their credibility after gathering all of this “airtight”
evidence, they ripped up the confession. Then they had Ellis, his son and the
three men for supposed kidnapping of Wendell and beating a false confession out
of him. The beating tidbit worked because Wendell had harmed himself with the
shoe, but that bit of information about the true origin of the bruise was to be
suppressed. Ellis died after 6 months in the slammer, just days away from the
full presidential pardon that would be for both him and his son. Wendell had
the motive to kidnap the young child, he even confessed but rather than to
convict the correct man the police department and lawyers just wanted to save
their own behinds and let an innocent man die of a crime that he did not
commit.
Just remember that all of
this information that I have gathered and shared with all of you has caused me
to formulate my opinion on the kidnapping. This is no way; shape or form is me
trying to change your mind on what went on all those years ago. I hope it does
though and you see the error of ways of the police and lawyers all of those
years ago and that we can stop the world from making a mistake like this again.
