Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Case Study
Analysis of the Lindbergh Baby Case
Timothy Grant
Kaplan University
Abstract
The Lindbergh baby kidnapping case was a famous crime that occurred on March 1, 1932 at the home of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh in Hopewell, New Jersey. The child was 20 month old Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. He was discovered missing by the nanny, Betty Gow at 10:00pm. A search of the property was promptly conducted where traces of mud where found in the nursery, as well as a ransom note for $50,000.
Analysis of the Lindbergh Baby Case
The Hopewell police were notified of the kidnapping, who then contacted the New Jersey State Police. The State Police conducted a search of the kidnapping scene. They found traces of mud on the nursery room floor; footprints …show more content…
On September 24, 1934, Hauptmann stood before a New York magistrate to hear that he stood accused of extorting $50,000 from Charles Lindbergh and would be held on $100,000 bail. Two weeks later in the Hunterdon County Courthouse in Flemington, New Jersey, twenty-three grand jurors unanimously voted to indict Hauptmann for the murder of the Lindbergh baby. New York agreed to extradite Hauptmann to stand trial in New Jersey. An opening date for the trial was set: January 2, 1935. The prosecutor David Wilentz, the Attorney General of New Jersey opened with the prosecution’s theory of the case. The prosecution called three state troopers to the stand. The first, Corporal Joseph Wolf, described seeing a large footprint in the mud near ladder marks by the nursery window. He estimated the footprint to be larger than size nine. On cross-examination, Wolf was ridiculed for not measuring the footprint, and for not knowing whether the print came from a left or right shoe. The second trooper, Lieutenant Lewis Bornmann identified a ladder in the courtroom as the one he had discovered on the night of the kidnapping lying seventy five feet from the Lindbergh home. The third trooper, Sergeant Frank Kelly, described what he found--and didn 't find (like fingerprints)--in the baby 's room on the night of the
Timothy Grant
Kaplan University
Abstract
The Lindbergh baby kidnapping case was a famous crime that occurred on March 1, 1932 at the home of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh in Hopewell, New Jersey. The child was 20 month old Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. He was discovered missing by the nanny, Betty Gow at 10:00pm. A search of the property was promptly conducted where traces of mud where found in the nursery, as well as a ransom note for $50,000.
Analysis of the Lindbergh Baby Case
The Hopewell police were notified of the kidnapping, who then contacted the New Jersey State Police. The State Police conducted a search of the kidnapping scene. They found traces of mud on the nursery room floor; footprints …show more content…
On September 24, 1934, Hauptmann stood before a New York magistrate to hear that he stood accused of extorting $50,000 from Charles Lindbergh and would be held on $100,000 bail. Two weeks later in the Hunterdon County Courthouse in Flemington, New Jersey, twenty-three grand jurors unanimously voted to indict Hauptmann for the murder of the Lindbergh baby. New York agreed to extradite Hauptmann to stand trial in New Jersey. An opening date for the trial was set: January 2, 1935. The prosecutor David Wilentz, the Attorney General of New Jersey opened with the prosecution’s theory of the case. The prosecution called three state troopers to the stand. The first, Corporal Joseph Wolf, described seeing a large footprint in the mud near ladder marks by the nursery window. He estimated the footprint to be larger than size nine. On cross-examination, Wolf was ridiculed for not measuring the footprint, and for not knowing whether the print came from a left or right shoe. The second trooper, Lieutenant Lewis Bornmann identified a ladder in the courtroom as the one he had discovered on the night of the kidnapping lying seventy five feet from the Lindbergh home. The third trooper, Sergeant Frank Kelly, described what he found--and didn 't find (like fingerprints)--in the baby 's room on the night of the