Lindbergh Case Study

 

 

 

Unit 1 Case Study:  The Lindbergh Kidnapping

You will need to research the kidnapping of the child of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  In doing so, you will need to answer the following questions IN YOUR OWN WORDS and thoroughly.

1. Describe the crime, including a timeline of events, people involved, evidence collected and its importance.
2. What information did police have that kept them connected to the case after the body was found?
3. What importance did the ladder hold?
4. What other evidence pointed specifically to Hauptmann?
5. How did the case end: was anybody found guilty of the crime? What was the sentence for the crime?

 

1. In 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh was abducted from his home in Jersey on the evening of March 1. Charles Augustus Lindbergh was the 20 month year old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh whose claim to fame was flying across the atlantic for the first time. Because of Lindberghs fame the case collected lots of attention and became very important. After Lindberghs son was kidnapped a two year investigation began. The body of his son was found two months after the kidnapping just miles away from the Lindbergh home. The body was badly composed and the result of death was a blow to the head. The suspect had still not been found. Investigators believed it was an inside job at first and suspicions fell on Violet Sharp. She committed suicide following series of questioning. Bruno Hauptmann was the convicted criminal. Pieces of evidence used by the police were the ransom note, tire tracks in the mud, the crudely built ladder, and lastly later on the ransom money that was given to the kidnapper.
2. After the body was found they used the 50,000$ dollars given to the kidnapper to track them.
3. When the Bruno Richard Hauptmann was found with the ransom money, a key piece of evidence used to convict him was that a piece of wood in his home matched the same wood used to construct the ladder left at the Lindbergh home.
4. First of the all the fact that he had 14,000$ worth of the ransom money in his home and also and examination of his handwriting in comparison to the ransom note. John Condon’s address and telephone number were also written in pencil on a closet door in his home.
5. Hauptmann was eventually found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. He was electrocuted to death on April 3, 1936.