Bruno Hauptmann

Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German carpenter and criminal, sentenced to death and executed for the Lindbergh kidnapping, the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the 20-month old son of famous pilot Charles Lindbergh.

Lindbergh Kidnapping

The kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh III occurred on March 1, 1932; after ransom money had been paid, the boy was found dead on May 12, 1932.

Related Topics:
Kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh - March 1 - 1932 - May 12

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More than three years later, on September 18, 1935, a gold certificate from the ransom money was discovered; it had a license plate number written on it. The license plate belonged to a blue Dodge Saloon owned by Bruno Hauptmann, a German immigrant with a criminal record. Hauptmann was arrested the next day and charged with the murder. The trial attracted wide media attention and was dubbed "trial of the century". Evidence produced against Hauptmann included over $14,000 in ransom money found in his garage, a hand-made ladder supposedly used in the kidnapping (which matched wood and carpentry equipment found in his home), and testimony alleging handwriting similarities to that found on the ransom note. Hauptmann was positively identified as the man to whom the ransom money was delivered. Other witnesses testified that it was Hauptmann who had spent some of the Lindbergh gold certificates, that he had been seen in the area of the Hopewell estate on the day of the kidnapping, and that he had been absent from work on the day of the ransom payment. Based on this evidence, Hauptmann was convicted, sentenced to death, and executed on April 3, 1936.

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New Jersey Governor Harold G. Hoffman, who later became infamous for embezzlement, secretly visited Hauptmann in his death row cell on the evening of October 16, 1935 with Anna Bading, a stenographer and fluent speaker of German. Hoffman urged the other members of the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals (Pre-1974 State Supreme Court) to visit Hauptmann.

Related Topics:
Harold G. Hoffman - Death row - October 16 - 1935 - Court of Errors and Appeals - Supreme Court

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Despite Governor Hoffman's doubt regarding Hauptmann's guilt, Hoffman was unable to convince the other members of the Court of Errors to re-examine the case, and on April 3, 1936, Hauptmann was executed in the electric chair.

Related Topics:
April 3 - 1936 - Electric chair

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