The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Mystery

HISTORYHISTORY — PAST AND PERSPECTIVE The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Mystery In the case known as “the Crime of the Century,” was an innocent man railroaded to the electric chair? Did politics underlie both the crime and its aftermath? Start of fame: Charles Lindbergh is pictured with the Spirit of St. Louis . Lindbergh made his historic 33-hour transatlantic flight with only a compass, maps, and the stars to guide him. anonymous message authorizing him as go-between, with an enclosed letter ad- dressed to Lindbergh. Because that letter bore the unique symbolic signature, Lindbergh met Condon, and accepted the old man as intermediary. Condon communicated with the kidnappers through coded newspaper messages. On the night of March 12, at the Bronx’s Woodlawn Cemetery, he met their representative, who became nicknamed “Cemetery John.” Condon told “John” the Lindberghs wanted proof his gang had the baby. A baby’s sleeping suit was mailed to Condon’s home. Lindbergh identified it as his son’s. The ransom money was gath- ered; though unmarked (as the kidnap- AP Images pers demanded), each serial number was recorded. by James Perloff The Lindberghs’ Response On the night of April 2, Condon re- As the largest manhunt in American histo- ceived ransom-drop instructions. Lind- fter Charles Lindbergh flew The ry began, police and reporters swarmed the bergh, with the money — and a pistol Spirit of St. Louis from New York Lindbergh estate in Hopewell, New Jersey. — drove Condon to St. Raymond’s Cem- A to France in 1927, completing the Thousands of letters poured in from both etery in the Bronx, where the old man first solo nonstop transatlantic flight, he well-wishers and cranks. Among these gave “Cemetery John” the cash in ex- became America’s most admired hero. were notes from the kidnappers bearing change for a note on the baby’s location “The Lone Eagle,” as he was called, then the strange signature. These scolded Lind- — the boat Nelly off Martha’s Vineyard, helped develop aviation and married Anne bergh for violating their instructions not Massachusetts. Lindbergh chartered a Morrow, daughter of diplomat Dwight to involve police. The Lindberghs publicly seaplane and, with Coast Guard help, Morrow. Anne learned to fly, and she and pleaded for the child’s return, promising to scoured the region for two days — but no Charles made spectacular intercontinen- meet the kidnappers’ demands. such boat existed. tal flights together. In 1930, the first of Because Charles Lindbergh suspected Further newspaper messages to the kid- their six children, Charles, Jr., was born, organized crime, his attorneys contacted nappers went unanswered. On May 12, dubbed “the Eaglet” by the press. known racketeers. The latter offered to about four miles from Lindbergh’s house, But tragedy struck on the windy eve- make inquiries — but, they warned, the the baby’s corpse was found in roadside ning of March 1, 1932. The child was kidnapping didn’t seem like work of “the woods by a trucker who’d stopped for a snatched from his second-story bedroom. Mob,” who would have asked more than call of nature. However, police and vol- The kidnapper(s) left a crude note de- $50,000 for Lindbergh’s son. unteers had already searched this area. manding $50,000 ransom. It bore a mys- On March 8, John Condon, a retired Furthermore, advanced decay suggested terious “signature”: overlapping red and New York City school principal, pub- the body might have been kept someplace blue circles, and three punched holes. On lished a newspaper announcement, of- war mer — then deposited, conceivably as the ground outside, police found a chisel fering to be the intermediary for the ran- a “present” for Lindbergh. Outrage filled and homemade three-piece ladder. som exchange. Condon then received an the nation. 32 THE NEW AMERICAN • ApRIl 23, 2012 The Police Response Lindberghs’. Eventually, Dr. The police suspected an “inside job.” The Erastus Hudson — pioneer kidnappers knew where the baby’s nursery of a silver nitrate fingerprint After the baby’s corpse was found, Sharp was. Furthermore, the Lindberghs always process — lifted latent prints became increasingly disturbed. When the stayed at the Morrow mansion in Engle- from the nursery. Hudson wood, New Jersey, on weekdays, while stated the only explanation police came to question her again, she was building their own home in distant rural for the missing fingerprints dead, having swallowed cyanide. Hopewell, where they stayed weekends as was someone methodically construction finished. On the week of the wiping down the nursery kidnapping, however, the baby came down after the abduction. It hardly seemed likely local assistance. New Jersey’s Governor au- with a cold, and the Lindberghs decided the kidnappers waited around to do this. thorized the state’s most famous detective, to remain longer at Hopewell. Without a At the time of the crime, five adults were Ellis Parker, to help. Known as “America’s tip, the kidnappers shouldn’t have known in the house — Mr. and Mrs. Lindbergh, Sherlock Holmes,” Parker had solved over about this variation in routine. The baby the baby’s nurse, the cook, and butler. 200 murders. Yet Schwarzkopf declined, was snatched on a Tuesday. Only the butler, Oliver Whateley, was un- saying Parker was not in his jurisdiction. Suspicion fell on Violet Sharp, a Mor- observed during the kidnapping. And like Since the kidnapping went unsolved for row maid. Sharp had taken Anne Lind- Violet Sharp, Whateley died suddenly, in over two years, Schwarzkopf’s refusal of bergh’s phone call about the change in 1933 of peritonitis. top resources was sharply criticized. plans. She lied to the police about her Heading the investigation was New Jer- Investigation focused on tracing ransom whereabouts the night of the kidnap- sey State Police Superintendent H. Nor- bills, which appeared in a trickle. Since ping, saying she went to the movies — man Schwarzkopf — father of “Stormin’ most were passed in New York City — but couldn’t recall the film or her date’s Norman” of Gulf War fame. A “political” outside Schwarzkopf’s own jurisdiction name. On subsequent interrogation, she appointee, Schwarzkopf’s only criminal — this entailed interagency cooperation. said she actually visited a roadhouse with justice experience before this position was Tracing money was difficult, however; an Ernie Brinkert — but Brinkert denied it. as a department store floorwalker. President few cashiers delayed customers to check After the baby’s corpse was found, Sharp Herbert Hoover ordered federal agencies serial-number lists. Most was found when became increasingly disturbed. When the to assist the investigation — a process fa- later turned in at banks, but efforts to trace police came to question her again, she was cilitated when Congress made kidnapping bills to original passers either failed or lo- dead, having swallowed cyanide. Oddly, a federal crime. J. Edgar Hoover offered cated someone cleared of suspicion. a different “Ernie” later corroborated her the superior criminology resources of the roadhouse alibi. Today, investigators of Bureau of Investigation (BI — later called A Suspect at Last the kidnapping still debate the reason for FBI), but Schwarzkopf refused. While some The case broke in September 1934. A Sharp’s suicide — or was it even murder? might commend this as keeping police in- Bronx carpenter, Bruno Richard Haupt- Another evidence of “inside help”: Po- dependent of federal intrusion, Schwarz- mann, passed a $10 ransom bill at a gas lice found no fingerprints in the nursery kopf also rejected station. Police found about $14,000 more — not even the child’s, his nurse’s, or the in ransom money hidden in his home. The German-born Hauptmann told police he’d discovered the $14,000 in a box left with him in December 1933 by an associate, Isidor Fisch, who’d gone to Germany where he died of tuberculosis. (Fisch had indeed been in a joint venture with Hauptmann and died in Germany.) Fisch’s brother was coming from Germany to settle the estate. Hauptmann meanwhile decided to spend some of the cash he’d found — Fisch owed him over $7,000 anyway, and Hauptmann said he didn’t know it was ransom money. The police, however, dismissed Haupt- mann’s explanation as a “Fisch story”; he was extradited to New Jersey for trial. In newspapers, the case appeared open-and- AP Images shut. Hauptmann had entered the United The ctm: The first of the ransom notes for Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. bore an occult- States as a stowaway, with a prison record looking “signature.” The writing was crude — or designed to look that way. in Germany for robberies. John Condon all U to su scri e toda 33 HISTORYHISTORY — PAST AND PERSPECTIVE the family could not afford the enormous defense costs — so Anna welcomed the proposal. Reilly, however, though once notable, was now an alcoholic and two years later landed in a mental institu- tion, suffering effects of syphilis. Before being hired, he opined that Hauptmann was guilty and should burn — sentiments echoed by the Hearst press that paid him. Reilly spent less than 40 minutes with Hauptmann before the trial, and though showing occasional adeptness in court, made mistakes that cost his client dearly. After one key blunder, assistant defense counsel Lloyd Fisher — who never doubt- ed Hauptmann’s innocence — shouted at Reilly, “You are conceding Hauptmann to the electric chair!” Some think Reilly was hired to deliberately lose; he was seen din- AP Images ing and boozing with prosecutors. The Lnberghs’ home in Hopewell, New Jersey, from which the baby was taken. The Lindberghs New Jersey Attorney General David subsequently donated the house, which today is a home for disadvantaged boys.

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