The Kidnappinging Of The Lindbergh And The Kidnappings

The next question involved is with the courts, the adjudication, arraignment and the preliminary hearing. Throughout all of the investigations, they came down with one principle suspect. A Bronx carpenter by the name of Bruno Richard Hauptmann. He passed a $10 gold certificate at a gas station from the ransom money and this led to his subsequent arrest, trial and finally the death penalty. Ultimately, the police found about $14,000 or more of the ransom money at the suspect’s home. “In newspapers, the case appeared open-and-shut. Hauptmann had entered the United States as a stowaway, with a prison record in Germany for robberies.” (www.lindberghkidnap.proboards.com) With no fingerprints that linked Hauptmann to the crime, nothing but circumstantial evidence in the case and the handwriting expert said that

A few months after Cooper’s disappearance, another skyjack, very similar to Cooper’s, was carried out by Richard McCoy (Warchol 1). McCoy jumped out of the back of a Boeing 727 over Provo, California, with a $500,000 ransom that FBI later found in his home (Warchol 1; Abacha and Gilmore 234). He received a forty-five year prison sentence, but he escaped in 1974 by crafting a faux pistol out of dental paste but later died in a shoot-out with police (Warchol 1; Abacha and Gilmore 234).

“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.

Apart from the clues given they still had one more mystery to solve and it was who the boy was. Investigators still wanted to continue with the case so they kept the boy in a morgue. Many people from 10 different stated came to look at the boy to see if he was a missing family member. Unfortunately, nobody claimed him. Foot prints and fingerprints of the boy were taken and compared to hospital records but nothing was found. 400,000 flyers of the boy were sent out and even the AMA sent out a description but nothing came through. The fact that there is no proof that the boy even existed led to many theories of who

That is what happened to the famous aviator, and his wife’s 20 month old baby.

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).

On December 26, 1996 Patsy Ramsey made a phone call to 911 and frantically told dispatch that she found a ransom note on the main staircase of her home and that her daughter was taken. Experts from the CBS special reviewing the ransom note determined whoever wrote it was desparately trying to “sell” it too much and used too many words instead of getting right to the point as most ransom notes do. Also, the amount of money that was asked for was the same amount of money that Mr. Ramsey got for his bonus that year. Linguistic experts also matched most of the handwriting to Patsy and said that parts of the note used maternal language, also pointing to Patsy. While reviewing the ransom note, CBS showed experts also looking at the autopsy report.

Amelia Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937. To this day nobody knows for sure what happened to her. There are many conspiracy theories about what happened to her but there are still none that have been confirmed. her last words were “We must be on you, but cannot see you — but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We

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.

MONEY Also when the came to investigate, they claimed that the footprints were un testable. The ransom money was claimed to be found in bruno’s house. Bruno hauptmann had the exact amount in the exact bills the ransom not said to. The second ransom note was sent because,

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.

On the night of the murder, the family had gone on an outing, and was preparing to retire for the evening. . In the early morning hours of December 26, 1996, shortly after 5:00 AM, Patsy Ramsey woke up in her Boulder, Colorado home. As she headed for the kitchen she found a ransom note on her kitchen staircase (CNNLawCenter.2006). The child and a ransom note were found hours later. The local police and friends and family soon gathered at the home. The local police’s progress was hampered because there were so many people in the home; the crime scene was not secured which caused chaos with the police investigation because things were cleaned and moved around (Jenkins, 2013). Given the confusion and disarray at the Ramsey home, the crime scene became significantly contaminated. Unfortunately, the police were unable to gather proper evidence and conduct an effective investigation. Furthermore, the murder was sensationalized by the media which tangled the issues even more.

Investigators knew what they had to do, and knew they had the right suspect in questioned. They presumed with asking Bruno Hauptmann to write; where there would be a comparison of in handwriting from the ransom note to now, and the comparison was “unbelievable”. The similarities of strokes it takes to make that word or letter was amazing, gave investigator the evidence they needed to hold against him. Another component is the courts where substantial evidence will be used to hold Bruno Hauptmann with the crime. A preliminary hearing would proceed in which will show the court and jury the evidence that is brought before him.

Did you know that the kidnapping of a toddler was once considered the “Crime of the Century?” Charles Lindbergh was an aviator well known for his transatlantic flight in 1927. He and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, lost the life of their son Charles Lindbergh Jr. Due to the Lindbergh’s baby being taken, “the next four weeks witnessed the most massive and publicized manhunt in American History” (Campbell 254). The abduction and death of the young Lindbergh baby singlehandedly helped make kidnapping a federal crime.

Alien abduction stories have always held a strong interest among people all over the world, captivating our attention and curiosity as they propose yet another unsolved mystery of gigantic proportions and unthinkable consequences for humanity to contemplate. More so in modern times, and especially in the western world, where the media is a more significant part of culture, many science fiction novelists and screen writers brought out the issue to the public in the form of entertainment. This, due its widespread appeal, gave these stories a certain level of credulity among the masses, and sparked curiosity for closer investigation.