The Trial of the Century 5: The Case Against Hauptmann and Other Tidbits

Tidbits and clarifications. Unless otherwise noted, this comes from Hauptmann’s Ladder by Richard T. Cahill, Jr.

On to it:

1) Origins of the rumors of Little Lindy’s supposed deformities.

The Lindberghs always strived to keep their private lives private - unsuccessfully. They were, understandably, very secretive about their first son, as they believed the constant media exposure wasn’t good for him.

Sadly, this secrecy led to rumors that little Charles was being kept from the public eye because he was deformed and the Lindberghs were embarrassed. Cahill testily notes, “It never occurred to the reporters that they were the real reason for the Lindberghs’ overprotectiveness of their child.”

At one point, the rumors were so out-of-control that Lindbergh called a press conference to address them, specifically denying five newspaper chains from attendance due to their publishing stories claiming his son was deformed. He chided the media for their constant coverage and asked that they back off.

The only “deformity” little Lindy had was overlapping toes on his right foot, which was used in the identification of the corpse. There is absolutely no evidence that there was anything else wrong with the child.

2. Lindbergh’s day before he arrived home.

“Charles spent the day in New York visiting the offices of Pan American Airways, Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc., and the Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research, as well as his dentist.” Cahill cites Kidnap by George Waller here. “Charles had been scheduled to appear at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel as a guest of honor for a dinner held by NYU. Due to a scheduling error, Lindbergh failed to attend the dinner and came home instead. This innocent error has been used by authors of a tabloid-style book to support a theory that Lindbergh actually killed his own son…” referring to Ahlgren and Monier’s Crime of the Century: the Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax.

It seems that Charles’ day is quite well accounted-for.

3. The ladder

The ladder was actually quite ingeniously constructed. It was made of three pieces, the first two of which folded together on hinges, and the third was separate, to be connected via a wooden dowel pin, which was also left at the scene. The three pieces fit together perfectly (as I showed you in the pictures from the museum yesterday), so that it would fit in the back of a car. It was made of lightweight wood and weighed only 38lbs. The rungs were spaced so that there only exactly as many as were needed to climb the ladder, to make it lightweight. It was designed specifically for a certain person to use. However, the kidnapped underestimated the weight of the baby, and the ladder broke.

4. The kidnapper also left a chisel at the scene, probably to open locked shutters - but he didn’t wind up needing it, since the nursery shutters on the window he used were warped and would not close properly. It was a ¾ inch wood chisel. The same chisel was found missing from Hauptmann’s tools in his garage. While a ¾ inch metal chisel was found, that’s not the same thing - it has a different angle and is used for working with metal.

In total, he left behind the ladder, the wooden dowel to connect the two pieces, and the wood chisel. The thumb guard was left in the driveway of Highfields, probably when he ripped Charles' sleeping-suit off his body. At the scene of the baby's shallow grave, he left behind a burlap sack he had stuffed the baby into (traces of the baby's hair were found in the sack).

5. Hauptmann’s finances - there is no ransom money unaccounted for

From the testimony of William Frank, an investigator with the US Treasury Dept.:

On April 2, 1932, the day the ransom was paid, the Hauptmanns had $4,941.40 in total assets.

On September 19, 1934, the day Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested, they had $56,059.65. This includes all expenditures, income, and ransom money hidden in Bruno’s garage.

When you subtract $4,941.40 from that amount, as well as the known income the Hauptmanns received, you have $49,950.44 left unaccounted for - just .56 less than the ransom paid.

While Hauptmann did trade on the stock market, he lost more than he won, and actually lost $5,728.63 during that time period.

No ransom money was spent after Hauptmann was arrested.

6. Hauptmann’s employment records

Edward Morton testified about this, and entered the employment records of Reliance Property Management, the company that handled Majestic’s payroll, into evidence. Hauptmann started working for Majestic Apartments on March 21st - not March 1st, the day of the kidnapping - and finished on April 2, 1932, the day the ransom was paid.

7. Hauptmann’s alibi witnesses

This is a big one I had wanted to find out about.

From The Lindbergh Case by Jim Fisher

Anna claimed that Bruno had arrived at the bakery where she waitressed at 7pm on March 1st, and waited around until she finished her shift at 9:30, then drove back to their apartment. However, on cross, she was reminded that in October 1934, “when Insp. Henry Bruckman of the Bronx had asked her if she could recall what her husband had been doing on March 1, 1932, she said that she couldn’t remember what he was doing on that particular day.” Anna admitted that she had said that. Anna was also forced to admit that she could reach the top shelf of her closet where Bruno said he had placed the shoebox full of money, that she dusted and cleaned it, and had never seen the shoebox there.

The next witness was Elvert Carlstrom, who said he’d been in the bakery at 8:30pm on March 1st and had seen Hauptmann there. On cross, he was asked to describe Hauptmann. He tried to look at Hauptmann, and when his view was blocked, was unable to provide a description.

After a recess, he was asked what else he did that night. The witness eventually plead the 5th. The next day, prosecution returned with information that Carlston was a petty thief, bootlegger, and mentally unstable.

The next witness was another customer at the bakery, Louis Kiss, who said Hauptmann had come in that night accompanied by “a police dog,” which I’m assuming is a German shepherd or something. The Hauptmanns did walk a neighbor’s dog. He said he remembered the day because a week earlier his son had to go to the ER. However, that year had been a leap year so the timing was off. Cross discovered he was a bootlegger and a drunk.

The next witness gave his name as August Van Henke, who said he’d seen Hauptmann at a gas station near the bakery, and spoke with him as Hauptmann had “a police dog” and his dog, who looked similar, was missing. The dog was not his. Cross discovered that the witness went by two other names- August Wunstorf and August Markhenke - and the restaurant he owned was actually a speakeasy. He may also have run a brothel.

The next witness, Lou Harding, said he saw a blue car on March 1st in Trenton, which pulled up and asked for directions to the Lindbergh estate. He said he saw a ladder in the backseat. He said he reported the incident to Princeton police, who took him to Highfields, where he was questioned by two detectives and showed him the ladder which he identified as the one he saw.

On cross, he admitted to serving time in Rahway prison, and had also been convicted of assault and battery, and on another occasion, carnal abuse. He had also served two sentences for drunk-and-disorderly at the Mercer County Workhouse. The detective who he claimed questioned him had never worked on the Lindbergh case. He also couldn’t describe the ladder.

And that was it for Hauptmann’s alibi witnesses.

Bonus Round: Violet Sharp

This information comes from Their Fifteen Minutes by Mark Falzini. I found it very interesting and haven’t seen it mentioned elsewhere.

“According to Emily, Violet Sharp’s sister, Violet told her on a couple of occasions that she had been married years before in London, when she was just 17 years old. She said his name was George Payne. When asked about this after Violet’s suicide he denied it and there was no record of the marriage ever found. Emily said it had only been mentioned ‘in passing’ and their mother, Lucy, first told her of it… Violet allegedly kept the marriage secret from their mother, ‘...until he was supposed to be dead. My mother said, ‘I don’t believe it’ to which Violet retorted, ‘Fine, it didn’t happen then!’’

“The alleged marriage came to light in 1929 when Violet applied for her passport. Her application was delayed because she needed to have letters of recommendation from her previous employers and some of them were addressed to Violet Payne…

“After her suicide, Scotland Yard was asked to investigate the alleged marriage, but they found no record of it at Somerset House in London. They did learn that although Violet said that he had died, George Payne was very much alive and living in London. They paid him a visit at his home…

“...He married Ellen Cone in 1896 and they had one daughter, Winifred Annie who was born shortly thereafter...

“George Payne was a printer’s stock keeper and in early 1927 he met Violet when they both worked for Mr. Pearce-Leigh in Gloucester Square, Paddington. Payne was employed as a butler and Violet as a parlor maid. They worked there for six months, until the Pearce-Leighs moved to a country home.

“George stated that he and Violet were never intimate; at most they went to the movies together. After leaving the Pearce-Leighs employ they never worked together again. Violet would write him and they would meet for walks whenever she got back to London. George set up an address for the letters… because he did not want them going to his home. “

Falzini speculates that Sharpe’s record of mental instability may have exacerbated the extent of the police questioning in her mind, making them seem more intense than they actually were. She did not make things any easier for herself by lying to police (more on this later). He wonders, “Was her close friendship with George Payne just that, a friendship but one magnified and distorted by Violet to the point that she actually believed they had been married? Why would she tell her employers that she was Mrs. Payne instead of Miss Sharp?”

The Trial of the Century 4: Hauptmann Speaks

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ: ɪᴛᴇᴍs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɢᴏᴇs ᴏɴ. ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ғᴏᴜʀᴛʜ ᴘᴏsᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜɪs sᴇʀɪᴇs.

ɴᴏᴛᴇ: ᴛʜɪs ᴛᴇsᴛɪᴍᴏɴʏ ʜᴀs ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴀɢᴀɪɴsᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴄʀᴏғɪʟᴍ.

The Testimony of Bruno Richard Hauptmann

Hauptmann (who went by his middle name, Richard), was born on November 26, 1899, in Saxony, Germany.  He went to public school for 8 years, and following his graduation, attended a trade school for 2-3 years.  He studied carpentry and machinery and began working at the age of 14 in his hometown, Kamentz.

He went to fight in the first World War when he was 17 years old, and served for 1¾ yrs,  He testified that he was slightly wounded, or perhaps gassed.  He came out of the army around Christmastime in 1918.

This was a bad time to be in Germany, of course, and Hauptmann was unable to obtain work.  He was convicted of “an offense” (in this part of the testimony, unnamed; we know this to have been a burglary including the use of a ladder) in springtime of 1919, and was later paroled.

Hauptmann first tried to enter the US in the summer of 1923.  He boarded a steamer, but was discovered on the ship and returned to Germany.  He tried again in November of the same year and was successful.

He found work as a dishwasher in New York City and worked for about a month, then became a mechanic, then a dyer, and then as a machinist; finally, he gained work as a carpenter, earning $8 a day.

Hauptmann met Anna Schoeffler in 1924, they moved several times, and he began earning more.  Bruno and Anna married on October 10, 1925.

Anna and Bruno, dubious source.

Hauptmann testified that he has never been to Hopewell in his life, nor had he ever been to Highfields, and so on, and so on.

Hauptmann testifying. 

On March 1st, 1930:

He woke up around 6am and took his wife to the bakery between half past six and a quarter to seven.  He dropped his wife off, put the car in the garage, and went to the White Plains subway station, and took the subway to the Majestic Hotel, where he was to report for work.

Hauptmann went to the carpentry shop and the foreman told him to go see the superintendent.  The superintendent told Hauptmann that he could not start working, since the job was filled up, though Hauptmann claims he had a note from an agency granting him the job.

Hauptmann left his tools at the Majestic and went to the employment agency, trying to get the ten dollars back that he paid to get the position.  He couldn’t get it back and was told to come back tomorrow when there would be other positions open.

He then spent the day going around to various employment agencies and to Radio City trying to get a construction job, and then went home around 5pm.  He picked up Anna around 7pm, walked “the owner’s” police dog (I suppose the owner of their apartment?) and ate dinner at a restaurant.  They left the restaurant after 9pm, Hauptmann drove them home and went straight to bed.

On March 2nd, Hauptmann got up at 6am again and took his wife to her job at the bakery.  He then put the car in the garage and went to the Sixth Ave. subway stop, where he says he purchased a paper and read about the Lindbergh case for the first time.

Hauptmann continues to deny writing the ransom letters, meeting in the cemetery, and so on.  He continued searching for a job from the 1st to the 15th of March while working at a lumber yard near his home.  He gets a new job at the Majestic Apartment on the 15th or 16th of March, though he leaves this job on the 1st, claiming he wasn’t paid what he was promised.  (This is, of course, when the kidnapper received his ransom.)

Finally, the ladder recovered at Lindbergh’s home is brought out.  When asked if he built the ladder, Hauptmann first replies, “I am a carpenter.”  Laughter filled the courtroom.  Hauptmann was not taught English at school, and his testimony occasionally reflects his difficulty with the language.

  The question is asked again, and Hauptmann replies, “Certainly not.”

He is asked to come down from the witness stand and look at the ladder, and upon doing so, says “Looks like a music instrument.”

“Does it look like a well-made ladder?”

“To me it looks like a ladder at all, I don’t know how a man can step up.”   Your guess is as good as mine as to what Hauptmann means there; he apparently did not feel it was well-made.

Hauptmann denies transporting the ladder in his car.

~~~~~~~~~

I have been busy the past few weekends and have been unable to make it to the library to further check the microfilm.  I have located copies of the trial transcripts and FBI files online and will be ordering those, which should hopefully make this research go faster.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up: The Notes

The Trial of the Century 3: March 1, 1932

ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏsᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴅʙᴇʀɢʜ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ sᴇʀɪᴇs.

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ: ɪᴛᴇᴍs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɢᴏᴇs ᴏɴ.

Where were you on the evening of
March 1st, 1932?

Source.

On March 1, 1932, the Lindbergh household contained: 

Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh Sr.

Mrs. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, his wife

Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., their son
Mr. Oliver Whately, manservant
Mrs. Elsie Whately, housekeeper/cook
Miss Betty Gow, nursemaid

Testimony of Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Anne Lindbergh arriving at court.
  Leslie Jones Photography.

Anne spent the day at home in Hunterdon with the baby. She had taken a walk in the afternoon, after which, upon returning, she threw a pebble up to the baby’s window, and Betty Gow held the baby up to wave hello to his mother.

At approximately 6:15pm, Anne was in the baby’s room while he had his dinner at a maple table towards the center of the room. She stayed in the nursery until the baby was put to bed. He was given medicine and rubbed with Vick’s Vapo-rub for a slight cold he’d had the past few days, dressed, and put in bed at around 7:30pm.

The baby was wearing a homemade shirt Miss Gow had made for him out of a flannel petticoat, on top of that a larger sleeveless shirt, and on top of that a wool “sleeping suit.” The baby may have had on a "thumb guard," used at the time to prevent infants from sucking their thumb. Anne could not remember specifically if he was wearing it that night.

An example of a thumb guard.

Col. Lindbergh was not home yet, at 7:30pm, when Anne left the nursery. She sat at a desk in the living room; what she was doing at the desk is not mentioned. She was there until approximately 8:25pm, when she heard Charles honk the horn of his car. He came inside and they had dinner, finishing at around 9pm, then sat in the living room by the fire shortly. The couple went upstairs to their bedroom and talked for around 15 or 20 minutes. Charles drew a bath and bathed and then went down to the library while Anne got ready for bed.

Anne rang for Mrs. Wheatley and asked her to bring a “hot lemonade” - she’d caught the cold from the baby, and this drink was just hot water with some lemons in it. After Mrs. Wheatley left to fix Anne’s drink, Miss Gow ran into Anne’s room asking if Anne had the baby. Anne sent her downstairs to speak to Charles and went into the baby’s room shortly after 10pm. She found the room empty, and went back to her bedroom, where she met Charles and Miss Gow. Charles got a rifle from the closet and they returned to the baby’s room and searched it. Anne then retreated to her bedroom with Mrs. Wheatley and got dressed and returned to search the house.

Anne was not subjected to a cross-examination.

Testimony of Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr.

Lindbergh on the witness stand in the Flemington Courthouse.
Wikipedia.

On March 1st, Charles had spent the day in New York, and arrived home at around 8:25pm. After parking, he joined his wife in the dining room, had dinner, and finished dinner at around 9pm. They left to the living room, where they sat on a sofa and talked for 10-15min.

Q.: Well, some time during that night did you hear some sort of a noise or a crash? 

A.: Yes, I did. 

Q.: About what time was it and where were you? 

A.: Sitting on the softa in the livign room during the ten or fiteen minutes after we had come into the livign room from the dining room.  At that time I haered a sound which seemd to me, at the time, the impression that entered my mind at the time vaguely was that it was like the top of -- well, say, an orange box, the top slats of an orange box falling off a chair, which I assumed to be in the kitchen. 

Q.: That is, sort of like the falling of a crate, a wooden crate? 

A.: The slats of a crate. 

Q.: At any rate, what you felt was happening was that some pieces of wood, like the slats of a crate, had fallen in the kitchen? 

A.: That is correct.  I did not pay very much attention to it at the time, but enough to remark to my wife the words, "What is that?"  

Q.: Except for that, it went unnoticed? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: About what time was that? 

A.: That would be about 9:10 or 9:15. 

Q.: Was it the sort of a noise that would come with the falling of a ladder? 

A.: Yes, it was, if the ladder was outside. 

The couple then went upstairs to the bedroom, where they continued their conversation. He took a bath, then left down to the library where he read for a bit.

The writing-desk where Lindbergh sat in the library was apparently underneath the window of the nursery, but Charles did not see anything (as far as the darkness would permit, during the time he was in the library).

Around 10pm, Miss Gow came to Lindbergh and asked “rather excitedly” if he had the baby. He did not, and ran up to the nursery to check:

as I entered the room, of course I at first and immediately looked at the crib. The bed clothing in the crib was in such condition that I felt it was impossible for the baby to have gotten out himself. I knew that neither my wife nor Miss Gow had taken him because Miss Gow had asked me if I had him and my wife was upstairs. The clothing was standing – the bed clothing was standing stiffly enough so that the opening where the baby had been was still there, the clothing had not collapsed.

At first glance Lindbergh did not notice the note; his attention was on the crib, and it was not until he returned to the room about 5 minutes later did he see it, "unopened" on the window sill. The window was closed; "The note was in an envelope on top of the grating which forms the window sill and through which heat comes from the radiator."

Lindbergh then got his Springfield rifle and told his manservant Mr. Wheatley to call the sheriff. As soon as he determined that the call had got through (he feared the lines may be cut), he called the NJ State Police and a friend and attorney, Colonel Beckenridge. He then went outside to look around.

At this point police arrived, and with their flashlights, soon discovered the ladder underneath the nursery window. They found the footprints and marks of the ladder underneath the nursery window. The note was not opened or touched until police arrived with proper equipment (i.e. to take fingerprints).

At this point it was nearing daybreak (I presume) and mention is made of several hundred of the press showing up, and there was considerable confusion due to all the press walking around.

Testimony of Bessie Mowat Gow

Betty (listed in court documents as "Bessie") pushes baby Charles in a stroller.
Screencap from movie footage, Corbis

Bessie usually stayed at Englewood while the Lindberghs went to Hopewell on the weekends. She was called at 11am on March 1st to help Mrs. Lindbergh, and arrived at Highfields at around 1pm.

Her testimony is lively and full of character, so I'll allow her to speak to you in her own words:

Betty Gow enters the Flemington Courthouse before testifying.

Historic Images, Ebay.

About quarter of six, I should say, the baby came running into the kitchen, ran around the table several times and spoke to Elsie. I took his hand then, took him upstairs for supper. I left him in his room for, oh, one minute, not as long as it took me to get his cereal from the kitchen. Came upstairs again; gave him his supper. He hadn't quite finished when Mrs. Lindbergh came into the nursery and she stayed with me while we got the baby ready for bed. We undressed him and just as he was about ready for bed I decided to give him some physic. In taking this he spilt some over his nightclothes.

...I undressed him again and decided that I would have time to make him a proper little flannel shirt to put on next his skin. I didn't have enough sewing materials there, so I asked Mrs. Lindbergh while I went out of the room to get some from Mrs. Whately, who I thought would have some. Went down to the kitchen where she gave me scissors, and said she would look for thread and bring it to me. I went back up to the nursery. Mrs. Lindbergh played with the baby while I cut this little shirt out. Mrs. Whately came into the room with the thread and I stitched it up very hurriedly and put it on the baby after having rubbed him with Vicks.

In addition to this, the baby wore diapers and some sort of rubber pants on top, a sleeping suit, and a thumb guard on each hand.

After the baby was finally ready for bed, Betty Gow testified,

I put him in his bed, Mrs. Lindbergh and I went around the windows, closed the shutters, we closed all the shutters tight except the one at the window, the southeast window; this one we couldn't quite close, it had evidently warped, so we closed it as best we could and left it that way.

The shutter was drawn against the window but unlocked.

Miss Gow left the room once at a half-past seven, but returned, and apparently at this time she pinned up the baby's bedclothes. This was the proper way to put the baby to bed at the time, as it would keep him warm and keep him from kicking off his blankets in the night. Miss Gow finally left the baby's room at 8pm exactly - she recalls looking at her watch.

She proceeded to the West Wing and had dinner with the Wheatleys. At around half past eight they heard Mr. Lindbergh’s car come in, and she spoke with him briefly as he made his way through the kitchen about how his son was doing. She stayed in the dining room for about a half hour and was with Mrs. Whately the entire time, and Mr. Whately came and went some.

She finally left the downstairs at around 9pm, during this time the dog had been with Miss Gow in the sitting room. Miss Gow and Mrs. Whately went upstairs to look at a new dress together. Miss Gow glanced at her watch and realized it was nearly 10pm and went to check on the baby:

I didn't put any light up but let the door of the room open so that the light from the hall would come in. I crossed to the French window and closed it, plugged in the electric heater and stood for about one minute waiting for the room to lose its chill. I then crossed to the cot and bent over with my hands on the rail and discovered I couldn't hear the baby breathe. I bent down, felt all over him and discovered he wasn't there. I thought that Mrs. Lindbergh may have him. I went out of the baby's room into the hallway and into Mrs. Lindbergh's room. I met her or saw her coming out of the bathroom and asked her if she had the baby. She looked surprised and said no, she didn't. I said, "Well, where is the Colonel, he may have him."

I said, "Where is he?"

She said, "Downstairs in the library."

I turned quickly and ran downstairs to the library where I saw the Colonel sitting at his desk reading. I said, "Colonel, do you have the baby?"

He said, "No. Isn't he in his crib?"

I said, "No."

He ran past me upstairs and into the baby's room. I followed him and from there entered Mrs. Lindbergh's room. He didn't say anything. He ran into his closet, came out again with a rifle and all three of us went into the baby's room. He said, "Anne, they have stolen our baby."

Mr. Lindbergh sent Betty Gow downstairs to fetch Mr. Whately, who went up to the Colonel, then the two went downstairs to phone for help while the three women proceeded to search the house high and low for the baby. Betty recalled seeing Lindbergh run outside with his rifle.

After the officers arrived, Anne, Miss Gow and Mrs. Whately sat in the sitting room in silence, until Mrs. Lindbergh’s friends arrived. This was Mrs. Breckenridge, as well as some other of Mrs. Lindbergh's friends from New York; they arrived in about an hour.

Miss Gow was summoned back into the nursery "to secure a knife" (this isn't fully explained, but it sounds like to open the envelope with), where she noticed a smudge of “a brownish muddy color” on the child’s bedclothes. Apart from the envelope on the windowsill, she did not notice anything else amiss in the child's room.

Another mention of the media circus is made, and then, about a month after the kidnapping, Miss Gow recovered the child’s thumb guard.

I believe it was May 12th – Oh, no, it was not – about one month after the baby was stolen. 

Q.: That would be somewhere in the neighborhood of April the first? 

A.: It would be. 

Q.: And would you tell us about it, please, how you happened to find it? 

A.: It would be in the afternoon after lunch, Mrs. Whately and I were in the habit of taking walks down the driveway. 

Q. On the premises? 

A. On the premises. We walked down to the gate where the police were stationed, talked to them for a little while and on the way back I should say about one hundred yards from the gate we both noticed this object on the road. I recognized it immediately and picked it up. 

Q.: Who picked it up? 

A.: I did; went right up to the house, found Colonel Lindbergh, and gave it to him, and told him how I had found it. 

Q. Was it then in the same condition as it is today in this courtroom? 

A.: Exactly the same condition. 

Q.: Still knotted? 

A. Still knotted.

Betty Gow leaves court after a grueling cross-examination.  

The breathless caption to this photo claims she collapsed after it was taken.

Historic Images, Ebay.

Testimony of Elsie Whateley

Elsie's testimony sort of ties it all together, so I will let her speak to us in our own words as well. 

Elsie Whateley and Betty Gow in court.
Dubious source; images of Mrs. Whateley are difficult to come by.

Well, in the afternoon, if you want to know, I went up into the nursery about four o'clock and we played with the baby and Mrs. Lindbergh came up and we all played with the baby.  ABout 4:30 I went downstairs and got some tea.  Mrs. Lindbergh came down and then Betty came down and brought the baby.  The baby went in to Mrs. Lindbergh and stayed with her while we had our tea in the sitting room.  Then the baby came in the kitchen and said, "Hello Elsie," and I talked to him and played with him and Betty came in and took him upstairs and that is the last I saw of him. 

Q.: What did the baby call you?  

A.: Elsie. 

Q.: That is your name? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: Now, was the child a playful child?   

A.: Yes, lovely. 

Q.: Normal?  

A.: Yes. 

Q.: Ordinarily healthy except for slight cold? 

A.: Yes. 

Mr. Reilly: Oh, I object to this.  That has already been testified to by the father and the mother; it is only a repetition.  

The Court: You make no question about the health of the child? 

Mr. Reilly: It is leading and it is merely suggestive and sympathetic.  

Mr. Wilents: If counsel makes no question about it I shall be delighted to refrain from asking about it.

But Charles Jr. did have a slight cold.

Well, when Bety came down as near as I can tell you it was about a quarter of eight and the Colonel hadn't come; so my husband said that he woudl have his supper first and get it over befopre the Colonel came.  So he went in and he had supper while I was preparign theirs... Then I came out and Betty and I decided to have our supper.  While we were eating the Colonel came and I got up to attend to them and the Colonel- 

Q.: About what time was that, Mrs. Whateley? 

A.: Twenty minutes past eight.  The Colonel came in and he went through to Mrs. Lindbergh.  ABout five minutes afterwards they came down and they came into the kitchen and they stood talking to my husband and myself a few minutes. 

Q.: The Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: Came in to the kitchen to talk to your husband? 

A.: Just to speak to us just for a little while.  Then they went in and had dinner.  We served the dinner, and Betty was still in our sitting room, she was reading; and then we cleared things up, about nine o'clock Betty and I went upstairs; I wanted to show her something. 

Q.: What was it you wanted to show her? 

A.: Well, I had bought a costume and I wanted her to see it. 

Q.: A dress, you mean? 

A.: Yes. [This was for a masquerade of some kind.] 

Q.: And you went up to your room then? 

A.: Yes.  And Mr. Whateley went into our sitting room; he said he would read and then he went in there and he sat reading.  We stayed in my room, and we had been there a long time, and Betty looked at her watch and she said, "It's ten o'clock, I must go to the baby." 

....Q.: So... you were with Miss Gow pretty nearly every minute from about a quarter to eight, when she came down from the nursery? 

A.: I was. 

Q.: Until about ten o'clock when she said she was going back to the baby's room? 

A.: Yes, sir. 

Q.: Except for very short intervals, your husband was in your presence?  

A.: Yes, he was.   

During the time between the recovery of the corpse and the trial, 

Miss Gow (L) and Mrs. Whateley (R) returned to Scotland and England, respectively.

We see them here returning to the US to testify,

heavily guarded, on the SS Aquitania.Historic Images, Ebay.  

....Q.: Now, about ten o'clock when Miss Gow left you, did you leave the room too? 

A.: Yes, I went along to Mrs. Lindbergh's room. 

Q.: What happened there? 

A.: Well, I spoke to her.  Do you want me to tell you what happened? 

Q.: Yes, please. 

A; Well, she had a slight cold and she asked me if I would get her some lemon water and take it up to her.  So I came out of the bedroom and, as I came out, I met Betty and she asked me if Mrs. Lindbergh was in there and I said yes. 

And she said, "I wonder if she wants to see the baby.   I am just going in."   

And I said, "Well," I said, "if she wants to, she is going through the other way, because she has gone through that door."  

So I went downstairs and Betty went back into the baby's nursery.  And I went downstairs and I told Mr. Whateley what I was going to do.  And he got up and he put the kettle on, and I got a lemon out... and just as I was cutting the lemon through, Betty came down... and asked Mr. Whateley if he would go up to Colonel Lindbergh, he wanted him, as the baby had gone. 

Q.: What is that?  I don't understand you.  [Remember, the courtroom was very loud.] 

A.: Betty came down and she asked Mr. Whateley if he would go up to the Colonel, as thet baby had gone and he wanted him.  So he went upstairs and I asked Betty what she meant, and she said, "Why, Elsie, the baby is gone."   

And I left her and went up and saw Colonel Lindbergh and my husband standing at the top of the stairs, and I said to the Colonel, "Where is Mrs. Lindbergh?"  

And he said, "In there," he pointed ot the baby's nursery.  And I went in and she was standing by the crib, and I stood by her.  

Q.: When Betty Gow said to you the baby was gone, in what tone of voice or manner of voice was it that she indicated it to you? 

A.: Well, she was terribly upset, of course. 

The Court: What was that? I didn't understand. 

Q.: Terribly what? 

A.: I say she was terribly upset. 

Q.: Then of course - By the way, you came down finally, I suppose, all of you.  What did the women of the household do thereafter? 

A.: Well, Mrs. Lindbergh and I went into her room and I asked her to get dressed and I helped her to dress, and then Mrs. Lindbergh and I started to search the house and the Colonel and my husband went outside and searched around there.  Then finally we came down and went into the living room and sat there... we didn't do anything, we simply sat.... 

Q.: Did you talk? 

A.: Not much. 

Q.: Quite silent? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: Tell us something about it, you see you were there, you will have to help us.  

A.: Well, she didn't say anything in the living room.  As I was going around with her, she said, "Oh, God."  

The Whateleys and Miss Gow retired at around 4am, but Mrs. Lindbergh stayed up all night.

Q.: ...by the way, some mention or reference was made to a dog in the house.  Was there a dog in the house that night? 

A.: Yes, there was. 

Q.: What sort of a dog was it? 

A.: A terrier, an English terrier. 

Q.: An English terrier.  Was he a barking dog or a quiet dog? 

A.: Well, I always thought he was sharp, if he heard a noise, he would bark, as a rule, but the wind was so bad that night you couldn't hear anything. 

Mr. Reilly: I move to strike that out.  It is calling for her conclusion. 

The Court: The answer seems not to be responsive. Mr. Wilents may reframe his question. 

Q (Mr. Wilents).: Did the dog bark that night between the hours of 7:30 and 10 o'clock? 

A.: No, he did not. 

Q.: What was the condition of the weather? 

A.: It was very, very windy. 

Q.: Was it so windy that you could hear the wind? 

A.: Yes, you could. 

Q.: Do you know in what room the dog was during those hours between half past seven and ten o'clock? 

A.: Yes, he was in our sitting room in his basket. 

Q.: When you are talking about your sitting room, you are still referring to the dining room adjoining the kitchen? 

A.: I am, yes. 

Q.: And downstairs? 

A.: Yes, sir. 

Q.: That is, the nursery being upstairs? 

A.: Yes. 

...Q.: I think Colonel Lindbergh told us, Madam, that your husband died in May, 1933? 

A.: Yes. 

Q.: What was the cause of his death, if you know? 

A.: It was peritonitis.

Betty Gow, left, and Oliver Whateley, the Lindbergh's butler.

Fine Art America.

The Trial of the Century 2: Charles and Anne

ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴘᴏsᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴅʙᴇʀɢʜ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ sᴇʀɪᴇs.

ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ: ɪᴛᴇᴍs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀs ᴛɪᴍᴇ ɢᴏᴇs ᴏɴ. ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴘᴏsᴛ ᴏɴ ᴛʜɪs ᴄᴀsᴇ.

When you’re a kid, you love to hate your hometown.  As I’ve grown up, I realized how much I missed being at home.  

I live in a part of New Jersey where suburban touches on rural.  Yes, I’m a two-minute drive from a strip mall, but I’m also a two-minute drive from gorgeous fields of corn and grain, or a dairy farm, or thick, deciduous woods.

Yes, this is really New Jersey. Photo © Heart 2015.

It's a small town, so it's easy to diss us. Yet Flemington clings to its label as "historic." That's not unusual for small towns, of course - but unlike most, Flemington actually has legitimacy to this claim.

You see, there was a time when Flemington was the full to the brim with press and tabloid reporters, clamboring over each other for the grasp at the biggest story in the nation. Police were sent out in droves to herd screaming crowds turning out to see the biggest celebrity in the world in court. They sat on each other's shoulders to peek in the courtroom windows and camped outside the courthouse for hours on end. Their chants were so loud that the judge had to stop the proceedings and call a recess for police to calm the tides of spectators, since the witness testimony couldn't be heard by the jury. The inns were bursting with visitors, the streets were clogged, and the town was in pandemonium. There was a time when Flemington held the Trial of the Century.

Source

The year was 1932...

And America was sinking deep into an economic depression following the stock market crash of 1929.  Employment was hard to come by in the States, and even more so in Europe, which was recovering from the end of World War One.  Germany was having a particularly rough time, with unemployment rates nearing 30%. 

Yet it was still an exciting time.  The Model T Ford had been around for only 24 years, and the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk had taken place just 29 years ago.  The new technology of motorized travel captured the imagination of the young son of a Congressman, Charles A. Lindbergh.

Lucky Lindy

Lindbergh briefly pursued an engineering degree at University of Wisconsin, but dropped out in his sophomore year and enrolled in flight school instead, flying for the first time ever on April 9, 1922.

 Lindbergh, left, circa 1922

After gaining some civilian flight experience and making his way across the country barnstorming, wing-walking, and parachuting, Lindbergh was ordered to report for a year of military flight training with the US Army Air Service in 1924.  Not currently needing pilots, however, he returned to civilian flight after this year was over.  Lindbergh remained a reserve pilot and joined the Missouri National Guard, where he was shortly promoted to 1st Lieutenant.

Lindbergh became a Contract Air Mail pilot in 1925, and in 1927, rocketed to worldwide fame when he received the Orteig Prize.  First offered in 1919, the Prize was to be rewarded to the first allied aviator (or aviators) who flew nonstop from New York City to Paris.  At this point in time, Lindbergh was a relatively unknown pilot, and six well-known aviators had already lost their lives in pursuit of the Orteig Prize.  

On Friday, May 20, 1932, Lindbergh took off in his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis, from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, surrounded by a crowd of spectators...

...and, after 33.5 hours of flying, Lindbergh arrived safely at Le Bouget in Paris, France...

...surrounded by a cheering crowd of 150,000 spectators, who dragged him out of the plane and carried him around on their shoulders for a half hour before his team "rescued" him.

I can't make this stuff up.

Following this, "Lucky Lindy" was, as I said, a world-wide celebrity and aviation hero.  He arrived home in America and was thrown a ticker-tape parade through the streets of New York.  Back when a ticker-tape parade was, seriously, a ticker-tape parade:

Guys?  Somebody has to clean that up.

...Guys?

The point is, Lindbergh was now A Big Deal.  The Biggest Deal.  This was the 1930s, and there wasn't much to be happy about, and Lindbergh was not just a national hero - he was the biggest celebrity in the world.

Lindbergh receiving the Orteig Prize.

Anne Morrow

portrait of Anne from the cover of McCall's, March 1937

Quiet, reserved Anne Morrow was the daughter of an intelligent, ambitious couple: Dwight Morrow, a partner in J.P. Morgan who then became the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, and the poet and teacher Elizabeth Cutter, who became acting president of Smith College.  The couple fostered these values in their four children, and Anne soon became a blossoming writer herself.  Anne attended Smith College herself, eventually graduating in 1928.  

In December of 1927, Lindbergh accepted an offer from Dwight Morrow to accompany him on a trip to Mexico.  Lindbergh, of course, flew himself, and was greeted by a screaming crowd of 150,000 people in Mexico City.

There, Lindbergh met his future wife, and was drawn to her quiet and contemplative nature.  He wrote in his autobiography, 

I had always taken for granted that someday I would marry and have a family of my own, but I had not thought much about it. In fact, I had never been enough interested in any girl to ask her to go on a date.

Anne wrote of her relationship with Lindbergh,

The man I was to marry believed in me and what I could do, and consequently I found I could do more than I realized.

Charles taught Anne to fly, and she became the first woman to receive a glider pilot's license in 1930. She would become his companion and co-pilot on his trips around the world.

  

Anne and Charles preparing to leave Roosevelt Field, 1929.  NYT

The two wed in a surprise ceremony at the Morrow residence in Englewood.

Oxnard Press-Courier, May 27, 1929

Highfields

The Lindberghs spent much time trying to avoid the spotlight of their celebrity.  After their surprise wedding, they managed to keep the location of their honeymoon secret, despite the best efforts of paparazzi to find them.  They wanted to make their home secluded as well.

...with the birth of their first son a year later, [the Lindberghs] began their search for a place away from the glare of public attention and the confines of the Morrow estate in Englewood, New Jersey to raise a family. The site later known as "Highfields" was to be the Lindbergh first permanent home. In Autobiography of Values, Lindbergh noted that he and his wife found the site of their future home on the Sourland Mountain near Hopewell after an extensive aerial and ground search for a secluded spot within commuting distance by air and car of New York. According to Lindbergh, the rural site had many things to recommend it: cheap land, stone for building, seclusion, sweeping views, and abandoned fields "long enough to make an airplane landing strip...I would be able to taxi right into a small hangar that I planned to have constructed next to our garage."  National Register of Historic Places (PDF). 

Highfields from the air.  Source, kevkon on ProBoards

Highfields today.

Sources

Biography of Charles - Wikipedia.  Images - various; due to the age, I'm ruling these too difficult to cite properly, they're all over the place.

Biography of Anne --   The second picture is from Pintrest.  Anne's Wikipedia, and PBS. 

Up Next:  March 1, 1932

The Trial of the Century: the kidnapping of Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.

ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ ᴘᴏsᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɴᴅʙᴇʀɢʜ ᴛʀɪᴀʟ sᴇʀɪᴇs. ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜɪɴɢ: ɪᴛᴇᴍs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ʀᴇsᴇᴀʀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴍᴀʏ ʙᴇ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴘᴇʀɪᴏᴅɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ. 

Lucky Lindy

Charles A. Lindbergh, or “Lucky Lindy,” rose to fame as an aviator in the 1920s after he completed the first ever solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic. Lindbergh was an A-list celebrity in the early ‘30s, helping to popularize aviation for pleasure, commerce, and mail. He was married to Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American royalty whose father was, at different times, a partner in JP Morgan, US Ambassador to Mexico, and a US Senator from New Jersey. They wed in 1929, and shortly thereafter, in June of 1930, they had a son - Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr.

The famous young couple seemed to have an idyll life. Charles was a happy, healthy baby with a head of bright blonde curly hair. When you think of the media surrounding Prince William and Kate and their children - that’s how the Lindbergh family was worshiped. Everyone knew about them, and they seemed to live in this perfect dream world.

The Kidnapping

Tragedy struck on March 1, 1932. The Lindberghs lived in Highfields, an estate in East Amwell, NJ. This part of Jersey is very rural, even today. It’s surrounded by twisty roads that lead in and out of thick deciduous woods and fields of corn and other crops.

Charles Jr.’s nurse, Betty Gow, put the baby in his crib at around 8pm. Charles’ room was on the second floor of the house, and Gow went back downstairs. If I recall correctly, both Anne and Charles were downstairs in the library, until Anne went to take her bath.

At around 9:30pm, Charles Lindbergh Sr heard a loud noise; he thought a slot had fallen out of a crate in the kitchen. Betty Gow returned to the baby’s room, only to discover that he was not in his crib. Thinking he might be with his mother, she went to inquire with Mrs. Lindbergh, who was just then getting out of her bath. She did not have her son.

Gow then ran downstairs to the library where Mr. Lindbergh was reading. Charles immediately went to examine his son’s room, finding the crib empty as well. Charles discovered a handwritten note placed on the windowsill above the radiator:

Dear Sir!

Have 50000$ redy 25000$ in 20$ bills 15000$ in 10$ bills and 10000$ in 5$ bills After 2-4 days we will inform you were to deliver the Mony.

We warn you for making anyding public or for notify the Police The child is in gut care. Indication for all letters are singnature and three holes.

Lindbergh rushed outside with a firearm to search for the intruders, and the police were summoned. They arrived in about twenty minutes - again, this is pretty rural. The Hopewell Police arrived and after the initial report, the case was turned over to the New Jersey State Police.

After searching the yard, police discovered a ladder in two pieces hidden in bushes and underbrush near the home. The two sections of the ladder fit together, however, the center slat was broken, as if it had snapped during ascent or descent.

Other forensic evidence was found at the scene of the crime:

• Footprints were found beneath Charles Jr’s second-story window, though they were “impossible to measure.”
• Traces of mud were found on the floor of the nursery
• A tire print was discovered in the mud later on that night -No bloodstains or adult fingerprints were found in the nursery. Charles Jr.’s fingerprints were found on the lower half of the nursery.

The Notes

This case was a huge, huge deal. You think we have media circuses today? Everyone was informed about the Lindgergh case. President Herbert Hoover declared he would “move heaven and earth” to find the baby Lindbergh. Al Capone and other crime bosses offered help from prison (in exchange for favors or release, of course). Lindbergh took charge of the investigation, and Anne was swept up in the hubub, devastated.

New Jersey offered $25,000 for tips leading to the recovery of the baby. The Lindberghs offered $50,000 additional of their own money. The infamous WANTED poster

A second ransom note was received on March 6, 1932, postmarked from Brooklyn:

Dear Sir. We have warned you note to make anything public also notify the police now you have to take consequences- means we will have to hold the baby until everything is quite. We can note make any appointments just now. We know very well what it means to us. It is realy necessary to make a world affair out of this, or to get your baby back as soon as possible to settle those affair in a quick way will be better for both- don't be afraid about the baby- keeping care of us day and night. We also will feed him acording to the diet.

We are interested to send him back in gut health. And ransom was made aus for 50000$ but now we have to take another person to it and probably have to keep the baby for a longer time as we expected. So the amound will be 70000 20000 in 50$ bills 25000$ in 20$ bill 15000$ in 10$ bills and 10000 in 5$ bills Don't mark any bills or take them from one serial nomer. We will form you latter were to deliver the mony. But we will note do so until the Police is out of the cace and the pappers are quite. The kidnapping we prepared in years so we are prepared for everyding.

The Lindberghs set out to appoint a go-between to work with the kidnappers to deliver the ransom. The kidnappers sent a third ransom note to the Lindbergh’s attorney, asking for them to place an ad in the papers to communicate. A retired school principal, Dr. John F. Condon, in the Bronx in NYC published a piece in the “Bronx Home News” offering to act as a go-between and pay an additional $1,000 ransom. The next day a fourth note from the kidnapper was delivered, accepting Dr. Condon as a go-between. His code name was “JAFSIE,” based on his initials.

The note to the Lindberghs, notifiying them of Dr. Condon’s approval as the go-between:

Mr Colonel Lindbergh Hopewell

Dear Sir: Mr Condon may act as go-between. You may give him the 70,000$ make one packet the size will be about-- (drawing appeared)

We have notifyed you already in what kind of bills. We warn you not to set any trapp in any way. If you or someone els will notify the Police ther will be a further delay. Affter we have the mony in hand we will tell you where to find your boy. You may have a airplane redy it is about 150 miles awy. But before telling you the adr. a delay of 8 houers will be between.

A representative of the kidnappers who called himself “John” met with Dr. Condon in a local park. Condon asked for proof the baby was alive, and was promised that the baby’s pajamas would be returned. He did not get a good look at the kidnapper; not enough to identify him. He spoke with an accent, what Condon described as “foreign.” The pajamas were sent and confirmed to be Charles Jr’s.

Finally, a month after the kidnapping, the payment of the ransom was arranged. The payment was in a custom-made box and consisted of gold certificates that were going to be withdrawn from circulation in the near future, all with the intent to draw attention to the kidnapper and aid in identifying him. The serial number of each bill was recorded, though the bills themselves were not marked.

On April 2nd, Dr. Condon met with “John” again, presenting him with only $50,000. John accepted the money and gave Condon another note, claiming the child was on a boat in Martha’s Vineyard, in the care of two innocent women. The child was not found in Martha’s Vineyard, and the exchange of messages continued. At this point, Dr. Condon said he would be able to identify “John” if he saw him again.

The Corpse

On May 12, two months after the kidnapping, a delivery truck driver pulled to the side of the road in Hopewell Township, NJ, to take a leak. As he wandered off the road into a cove of trees, he discovered something gruesome: a decomposing corpse of an infant, 4.5 miles from the Lindbergh home. The child had quite obviously been killed via a blow to the head, and had been dead for about 2 months. The body was later cremated.

The Gold Certificate

On September 18, 1934, a hit came on one of the ransomed gold certificates, at a Manhattan bank. A New York license plate number was penciled in the margin, and as the gold certificate was traced back to the gas station at which it was spent, the clerk explained that he wrote down his customer’s license plate number as he thought they were acted suspicious and might be a confeiter. The plate was licensed to one Bruno Richard Hauptmann.

Hauptmann was a German immigrant, married to wife, Anna, and had one infant son, Manfried. He was 34 years old and come to America as a stowaway, settling in New York City. He had previously been convicted of crimes and served time in prison in Germany, and had served in the German military. He worked as a carpenter, though shortly after the kidnapping, he began to trade stocks and stopped working.

The Case Against Hauptmann

• The most damning evidence, according to the jury and many modern observers, was that a floorboard in Hauptmann’s attic matched the woodgrain of the 16th rail of the ladder exactly. Additionally, the nail holes in Rail 16 corresponded exactly with four nail holes found in the joists of the Hauptmann’s attic. Other evidence suggesting that a piece of the joist was sawed off was found (the wood wouldn’t have been left exposed, there were saw marks, etc).
• Hauptmann had a prior conviction in Germany for burglary, entering a second-story window using a ladder.
• Hauptmann’s handwriting matched the ransom notes.
• Dr. Condon’s address and phone number were found written inside a closet at Hauptmann’s home
• Hauptmann called out of work on the day of the kidnapping and quit his job two days later.
• Hauptmann was seen in East Amwell in the days before the kidnapping.
• $14,590 of the ransom money was found in Hauptmann’s garage
• Witnesses identified Hauptmann as spending some of the gold certificates
• Hauptmann misspelled the same words that were misspelled in the notes

Evidence for Hauptmann’s Innocence

• Though Dr. John Condon testified that Hauptmann was the same “John” he had met with previously, he was unable to pick out Hauptmann in a police lineup, and described him as having different features
• Hauptmann testitifed that he had been instructed to misspell words in the handwriting samples he was made to provide (though some of these samples came from his work ledgers and other sources)
• The police beat Hauptmann while he was in custody (not really evidence IMO)
• Hauptmann’s prints were not found on the ladder, nor in any part of Lindbergh’s home, nor on the child’s body. No evidence was found on the body linking Hauptmann to the murder.
• Allegations that police pressured witnesses and tampered with or planted evidence
• A reporter later confessed to having written to writing Condon’s name and address in the Lindbergh home
• Complaints that police allowed crime scenes to be contaminated

The Electric Chair

Hauptmann was convicted and sentenced to death in “Old Smokey” -- yes, that really was the name for our old electric chair. You can see Old Smokey today in the Newseum in DC. Hauptmann’s ladder and other evidence is on display in the NJ State Police Museum.

Hauptmann was executed on April 3, 1936. His last words were in his native tongue, "Ich bin absolut unschuldig an den Verbrechen, die man mir zur Last legt" -- "I am absolutely innocent of the crime with which I am burdened."

His widow campaigned for her husband’s innocence until her death.

Points I often hear brought up

• Many think someone within the household was in on the crime, and the finger is usually pointed at Betty Gow. The kidnapper had to know which window was the baby’s bedroom, and there was one window where the shutters did not latch properly - this points to it being an inside job. (The flipside to this is Hauptmann was seen casing the house - then again, that’s if you believe the eyewitnesses.)
• The Lindbergh’s dog often barked at strangers and never fussed on the night of the kidnapping, indicating the dog was familiar with whoever the kidnapper was
• A big deal is often made of how convincing Hauptmann was in person. He had piercing blue eyes, and when he testified of his innocence, he could be quite convincing until you stepped back and took a look at the evidence. He convinced his lawyer that he was innocent, and the lawyer believed him even after his death
• The Union Hotel, where many reporters stayed to cover the case, is haunted (across the street from the Courthouse)
• The jail where Hauptmann was held is haunted (this was not where he was executed, he was just held there during the trial since it is directly behind the Courthouse)
• The consensus seems to be that Hauptmann was guilty, but the housemaid was in on it.

What I Think Happened

This was intended to be a kidnapping, not a murder. Hauptmann plucked Charlie Jr. from his crib intended to hold him for ransom, but as he was climbing down the ladder, the rung broke, he dropped the child, and the baby died instantly. Hauptmann had no choice but to continue now - he stashed the ladder and dashed off, panicked.

I do not think Hauptmann was very bright. I think he underestimate the celebrity of the Lindberghs and how much attention the case would attract. I think the crime was poorly planned, being that the notes were handwritten and he met in person with Condon (I’m not sure what to make of Condon’s failure to identify, but we all know how faulty eyewitness evidence can be). Particularly since the crime didn’t go according to plan, Hauptmann did not seem to have a fall-back for this. This is evidenced when he jumps on the fact that they went to the police and made a fuss - he could not possibly have expected they wouldn’t, could he? - he seems almost over-eager to lord holding the baby for longer over their heads. Why? Because the baby is dead, and has been since the first night.

Hauptmann had no plan for disguising his use of the easily-traceable gold certificates - why accept the money, less than he had demanded and not in the form he had requested? Because he’s already panicked and glad that he’s getting anything, and the entire crime is poorly planned.

This doesn’t seem like it would have been a one-man job -- but, on the other hand, it also seems so poorly planned that it may have been. I question that Hauptmann’s wife, Anna, was considered innocent.

Sources 

FBI report

Wikipedia

Murderpedia

Layout of the Lindbergh home here

This random site

Seems sketchy but actually a treasure trove of documents