Charles Augustus Lindbergh's Baby Knapping

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Baby Knapping When the Lindbergh son was kidnapped, it spread fear across the nation like wildfire because no one could understand how such a well-known family could fall victim to such a horror. Charles Augustus Lindbergh had recently been plunged into the spotlight as the first in the world to fly a single engine airplane solo from New York to Paris (Petersen). He completed his journey in May of 1927 and instantly became regarded a hero and celebrity (Petersen). When Lindbergh returned to the United States that June, an estimated 30 million Americans tuned in their radios to hear the ceremony, held in Washington D.C., where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Congressional Medal of Honor. In New York City a ticker tape parade…show more content…
When police apprehended him on September 19, 1934 gold he had in his wallet a $20 gold certificate from the ransom money (Petersen). When FBI agents tore apart his garage they found close to $12,000 of the marked ransom money. They also found sketches of a ladder that matched the crudely constructed ladder that had been found at the crime scene (Petersen). Missing from his tool chest was only one tool: the chisel that was also found at the scene. When the door trim on the child’s closet was pulled out, the former telephone number and address of John Condon were written in pencil (Petersen). Handwriting analysis found that Hauptmann’s penmanship was stylistically consistent with the ransom notes that were sent by the kidnapper or kidnappers. He drew additional suspicion for having a prior criminal record that included burglary (Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping). On October 10, 1934 a New Jersey grand jury indicts Hauptmann on murder and kidnapping charges (Busch). The trial was set for January 2, 1935 and it was expected to be the trial of the century (Petersen). When defense attorneys called Hauptmann to the witness stand, he professed total innocence, claimed that police had subjected him to beatings, and stated that he had been forced to produce handwriting samples that matched the ransom notes (Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping). After more than five weeks of testimony and 11 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict on Feb. 13, 1935, and Hauptmann was sentenced to death (Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping). On June 20, 1935 Hauptmann’s defense team appealed his conviction to New Jersey’s highest tribunal and on October 9, 1935 that appeal was denied (Busch). On Oct. 15, 1935, the defense team files second appeal and on Dec. 9, 1935 it was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court (Busch).Hauptmann, denying until the end any involvement in the crime, was executed by electric

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