Kidnapping Of Lindbergh Kidnapping

On June 22, 1930, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. was born to the infamous “Lucky Lindy” and his wife, Anne. When he was a mere 20 months old, he was kidnapped from his crib in the house where parents and staff were in the house beneath him. The kidnapping occurred from a second story window in a rainstorm where no one heard a thing! Here in lie the questions that we will discuss in this paper. The police suspected an inside job from the beginning. Whomever carried out the abduction knew the whereabouts of the nursery and the parent’s plans for the particular evening in questions. With the residence being in

On November 27, 1971, in Portland, Oregon, a man claiming to be “Dan Cooper” bought a ticket for Northwest-Orient Airlines Flight 305 to Seattle, Washington. Dressed in a sharp dark suit with a pearl tiepin, this forty-five year-old man was about six feet tall with black hair (Abacha and Gilmore 233). No one would suspect him of going down in American history as the only man to ever escape capture after hijacking a U.S. plane (Warchol 1).

“America’s Unknown Child” has been an unsolved and mysterious case for over 60 years of a young boy who was murdered and found inside of a cardboard box in the woods. Many detectives and investigators searched for any records and ran DNA analysis of the boy that could indicate who he was and where he came from. After over 60 years of conducted research and long investigations, there is only one possible solution to the tragic murder of this boy.

Crimes happen all the time. But when it happens to young children who have no way of defending themselves, and hasn’t lived their life to the fullest, it becomes a whole other thing. 
Kids are innocent, and nobody ever wants to see them hurt. That is why it was such a big shock, when the crime of the century was a kidnapping and murder of an infant.

His first murder is believed to have occurred in 1974, when a young woman was kidnapped from her basement apartment in Seattle. The only evidence that remained was a few blood stains (Salem Press, 2008). Upsurges in abductions of young women, in their college years, around the King County area in Washington followed suit. As time progressed, skeletonized remains of those missing women were later discovered amongst the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. After kidnapping his victims, Bundy would often rendered them unconscious, take them to a remote location where he would then strangle and assault them (Salem Press, 2008).

The heartbreaking story took place in a very quiet area in Flemington NJ where the very wealthy Lindbergh's lived. Baby Lindbergh was sound asleep suffering from a cold in his bedroom. At about 9:00 pm, Hauptmann climbed up a ladder to the window and snatched the baby. Charles Lindbergh Jr was never seen alive again. At about 10:00 pm Charles and his wife Anne Lindbergh were told about the absence of the baby and both quickly noticed a mysterious note lying on the window sill. The note was a ransom note, demanding $50,000 in return for the baby. "I went upstairs to the child's nursery, opened the door, and immediately noticed a lifted window. A strange-looking envelope

The child was confirmed to have to have been that of the Lindbergh family, and his body was already rotting and mutilated. During the case, there were various ransom notes with similar handwritings which were used to convict Hauptmann, the case relied on a “tremendous amount of evidence [which included] depositions from eight handwriting experts” (Phelan). By having a tremendous amount of evidence rely merely on handwriting comparisons raises doubts towards the rest of the case’s affirmations. Help was provided from the public as “the Lindbergh Kidnapping case became a sensational media event.... authorities launched an extensive manhunt” (“Bruno Hauptmann”). With the media buzzing, there was going to be publicity and attention to those involved, decreasing the chances of authentic evidence. With the public involved, there were higher chances that more people would report false materials (which did happen). Not many had been skeptical of any findings until more materials arose, and the legitimacy of officials and their findings were questioned. As remorseful as it is, only after Hauptmann’s death was there doubt that began to pass through the minds of the public.

On another such instance, Charles Lindbergh had completed a goodwill trip from the US to Mexico where he met the US Ambassador’s daughter, Anne Morrow. A few months later in 1929 Lindbergh had married Morrow who he would teach how to fly airplanes. The two would

During the time of the kidnapping (America in the1930's) America as undergoing some major political and economic changes. A controversial issue pf the time period was prohibition. Prohibition was the movement to stop the manufacturing and selling of alcoholic beverages. The eighteenth amendment outlawed the manufacturing, importing, exporting, transporting and selling of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Many Americans turned to illegal activities to get around the law. Many Americans resorted to going to places where alcoholic beverages were sold illegally and some Americans even made, sold and transported their own alcohol often referred to as "Moonshine".

The 1920s was a decade of drastic change in the United States, with many new conflicts, leisure activities, and heroes to worship (Nash 374). Charles Lindbergh was one of these heroes. Born in 1902, he was trained in aviation and worked as an airmail pilot (Bishop). Later, he made history by becoming the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone (Nash 388). On May twenty-first, 1927, Lindbergh traveled from New York to Le Bourget field in Paris in his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis (James). He designed this plane himself, working to make it as small and lightweight as possible (Kessner “Charles Lindbergh, A New Hero”). Known as the “lone eagle”, Lindbergh became one of the biggest celebrities of the era (Chamberlain). His flight caused more excitement than any other event of its time (Nash 388). Approximately 25,000 people were at Le Bourget field to watch Lindbergh land (James). Upon returning to the United States, there were numerous parades and dinners to honor his achievement (“Lindbergh Visit Ends”). Charles Lindbergh was the most influential hero to emerge from the 1920s, making an impact by transforming aviation, as well as acting as a role model for the American public and encouraging a return to the old way of American life.

14 year old Steven Truscott gave his classmate Lynne Harper a ride on his bicycle on June 9, 1959. Truscott had dropped her off before they parted ways. Lynne was reported missing later that night, and two days later, her body was found on a nearby farm. She was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. The community was horrified by what happened to this young girl and everyone was determined to find the killer. Immediately, investigators became fixated on Truscott as the prime suspect since he was the last person to see Lynne. They didn’t consider any other suspects, even though there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder. He was arrested 24 hours later, and stood trial as an adult. (Steven Truscott |

Many people think it is wrong to just leave your child at a hospital and forget about it, but there are worse fates for children whose parents did not know about the Safe Haven Laws. The risk of homicide on the first day of life is 10 times greater than the rate during any other time of life (Herman-Giddens 1425). In a population-based study called Newborns Killed or Left to Die by a Parent, five authors describe cases of infant death and abandonment in North Carolina, “Over a 16 year period in North Carolina, we report 34 newborns known to be killed or discarded in the first day of life by (or likely) the parents, an annual rate of 2.1 per 100,000 newborns” (Herman-Giddens 1428). Sadly, only a few deaths were unintentional, “The majority of these cases (91.2%) were ruled as homicides, while three were found to be unintentional due to natural causes” (Herman-Giddens 1428). Mothers were usually the ones that abandon or kill the newborn, “mothers were the perpetrators in all cases where the perpetrator was positively identified” (Herman-Giddens 1428).

On June 20, 2001 a woman by the name of Andrea Yates, stunned the whole country with one of the most bizarre acts of violence that a parents could ever do to their own children. She called her husband at work and told him “I did it” confused by what was going on, he rush home only to find his house filled with officers of the law. The husband asked, “What is going on?”, and only to found out that his wife had drowned all five of their children.

Condon, totaling to a staggering thirteen notes; some of which the Lindbergh’s provided the ransom money in gold certificates. All of the ransom notes were written in German penmanship and had countless grammar errors. Suspects in the case included: Charles and Anne Lindbergh, Elisabeth Morrow, Betty Gow, Oliver and Elsie Whately, and Bruno Richard Hauptmann. Charles Sr. was a suspect because of his suspicious actions during the night Charles Jr. was taken as well as throughout the investigation. He was in the study directly below his son’s nursery when he was taken and only heard a sound to which he suspected was something dropping in the kitchen. He was also the person who found the first ransom letter, after the police, Anne, and Betty Gow had searched the room for evidence. Anne was a suspect because she was also in the home at the time of the kidnapping. Resting in her room, due to a cold, she did not hear any suspicious noises. Anne’s sister, Elisabeth Morrow, was suspected of the crime as well. She was initially romantically involved with Charles Lindbergh, Sr. until he announced his engagement to Anne. Over time she became both physically and emotionally ill. Fits of violence made her staff believe that she had killed her own dog, and she was not allowed to be alone with Charles Lindbergh, Jr. for fear that she would harm him in one of her fits. Oliver and Elsie Whately were suspects because they were in the home at the time that the crime took place.

In this paper I will be explaining the case of Clifford Robert Olson, who was arrested for the murder of 11 children in 1982.To start off, I will be giving you a quick summary about the case. Clifford Olson had a substantial criminal record. He was arrested on August 12, 1981, with the suspicion of attempts to abduct 2 girls. Just 13 days later on August 25th, he had been charged with the murder of Judy Kozma. Clifford had killed 11 children between the ages 12-18 and he refused to confess unless he got a deal. Of course, like any deal it was a very controversial one. Olson agreed to confess to the 11 murders and tell the authorities where the missing bodies were; but he wanted $10,000 for each victim paid into a trust for his wife and his