Bruno Richard Hauptmann

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox criminal Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-American carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnapping became known as the "crime of the century".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was executed in 1936 by electric chair at the Trenton State Prison. Both Hauptmann and his wife, Anna Hauptmann, proclaimed his innocence.<ref name="linder">Template:Cite web</ref>

In recent years, Hauptmann's guilt has been questioned by authors and researchers, and law enforcement behavior in the case has been widely criticized.

Background

Bruno Richard Hauptmann was born on November 26, 1899, in Kamenz, a town near Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony, which was a state of the German Empire. He was the youngest of five children. Neither Hauptmann nor his family or friends used the name Bruno, although prosecutors in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial insisted on referring to him by that name. At age 11, Hauptmann joined the Boy Scouts (Template:Lang).<ref name="autobiography1935">Hauptmann, Richard The Story of My Life, Autobiography: Unedited & Uncorrected (Translated). New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives, May 4, 1935.</ref> He attended public school during the day while attending trade school (Template:Lang) at night, studying carpentry for the first year, then switching to machine building (Template:Lang) for the next two years.<ref>Huddleson, Dr James H. Report to Mr James M. Fawcett: Examination of Bruno Richard Hauptmann; p.1, October 3, 1934. New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives.</ref>

Hauptmann's father died in 1917. That same year, Hauptmann learned that his brother, Herman, had been killed fighting in France in World War I. Not long after that, Hauptmann was informed that another brother, Max, had also been killed while fighting in Russia. Shortly thereafter, Hauptmann was conscripted into the 67 German Army and assigned to an artillery battery.

Upon receiving his orders, Hauptmann was sent to Bautzen but was transferred to the 103rd Infantry Replacement Regiment upon his arrival. In 1918, he was assigned to the 12th Machine Gun Company at Königsbrück.<ref name="autobiography1935"/> Hauptmann later claimed that he was deployed to western France with the 177th Regiment of Machine Gunners in either August or September 1918, then fought in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel.<ref>Hauptmann, Bruno Richard. Statement. December 6, 1934. New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives.</ref> Hauptmann also claimed that he was gassed in September or October 1918, and that he was struck in the helmet by shrapnel from shelling, knocking him out so that he was left for dead. When Hauptmann came to, he crawled back to safety and was back on duty that evening.<ref>Huddleson, Dr James H. Report to Mr James M. Fawcett: Examination of Bruno Richard Hauptmann; pp. 2–3, October 3, 1934. New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives.</ref>

After the war, Hauptmann and a friend used a pistol to rob two women transporting food.<ref>Record Number 1 A 95/19 against Fritz Petzold and accomplice, County Court at Bautzen, June 17, 1919Template:Primary source</ref> His other charges include burgling a mayor's house with the use of a ladder. Released after three years in prison, Hauptmann was arrested three months later on suspicion of additional burglaries.<ref name="law.umkc.edu">Richard ("Bruno") Hauptmann Biography, Famous American Trials, Richard Hauptmann (Lindbergh Kidnapping) Trial by Douglas Linder, 2000 Famous Trials – UMKC School of Law – Prof. Douglas Linder – Biography of ("Bruno") Richard Hauptmann Template:Webarchive</ref>

Hauptmann illegally entered the United States by stowing away on an ocean liner. Landing in New York City in November 1923, the 24-year-old Hauptmann was protected by a member of the established German community and worked as a carpenter. He married a German waitress, Anna Schoeffler (1898–1994), in 1925 and became a father eight years later.<ref name="law.umkc.edu"/><ref>The concise encyclopedia of crime and criminals. Hawthorn Books, 1961, p. 134</ref> Hauptmann was known to be very secretive; Anna did not know his first name was Bruno until his arrest.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Lindbergh kidnapping

Crime and investigation

On the evening of March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr., 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, was kidnapped from Highfields, New Jersey; a homemade ladder was found under the window of the child's room. A ransom note demanded $50,000. John F. Condon delivered the requested money, but the infant's body was found on May 12 in woods Template:Convert from the family's home. The death was ascribed to a blow to the head, which some have theorized occurred accidentally during the abduction.<ref>"Federal Sleuth Believes Bruno Wasn't Alone". The Washington Post. January 28, 1935</ref><ref>The North American Review, Vol. 237, No. 1, January 1934, p. 55</ref> The ransom bills became increasingly used, and NYPD officer James J. Finn began to map the places where the bills were used. Upon receiving a new report of a location, Finn would quickly interview whoever had been given the bill.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

On September 15, 1934, a bank teller realized that the serial number on a $10 gold certificate deposited by a gas station was on the list of Lindbergh ransom bills.<ref>Horn, William F. Cpl. New Jersey State Police Report. Investigation concerning a recovered $10.00 U.S. gold certificate which is part of the Lindbergh Ransom Money; this report also concerns the arrest of one Richard Bruno Hauptmann, charged with Extortion in connection with the $50, Thousand Lindbergh Ransom Money. September 25, 1934. New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives.</ref><ref>Note: Gold certificates were rapidly being withdrawn from circulation and were becoming rare</ref> On the bill's margin, the attendant, who found the certificate suspicious, had written the license plate number of the customer's car, which turned out to be Hauptmann's. He was placed under surveillance by the New York City Police Department, New Jersey State Police, and the FBI. On September 19, Hauptmann realized that he was being watched and attempted to escape, speeding and running through red lights. Hauptmann was arrested by Finn after finding himself blocked by a truck on Park Avenue just north of Tremont Avenue in the Bronx.<ref name="fisher2" /><ref name=":0" />

Trial

Hauptmann's trial was dubbed the "Trial of the Century",<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> while he was named "The Most Hated Man in the World".

Evidence against Hauptmann included: $14,600 of the ransom money found in his garage; testimony alleging handwriting and spelling similarities to that found on the ransom notes;<ref name="fisher2">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=gardner>Template:Cite book</ref> testimony that lumber used in constructing the ladder probably originated in Hauptmann's house;<ref>Report of Examination of Ladder for the New Jersey State Police: Summary of Observations and Conclusions; U.S. Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Wisconsin. March 4, 1933.</ref> Condon's address and telephone number found written on the inside of one of Hauptmann's closets; and what appeared to be a hand-drawn sketch of a ladder found in one of Hauptmann's notebooks.<ref>"The State of New Jersey vs. Bruno Richard Hauptmann," Hunterdon County Court of Oyer and Termeer; vol. 5, p. 2606, 1935. New Jersey State Law Library.</ref> Experts retained by the defense were never called to testify.<ref>Farr, Julia. Letter from Julia Farr to Lloyd Fisher; New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives, April 11, 1935.</ref>

The trial began on January 3, 1935 and lasted until February 13.<ref>FBI.gov: Lindberg Kidnapping</ref> During the trial, Hauptmann was identified as the man who received the ransom money, the man who had spent some of the ransom gold certificates, and as a man seen near the Lindbergh home on the day of the kidnapping. He had been absent from work on the day of the ransom payment and had quit his job two days later.Template:Citation needed

Hauptmann's attorney, Edward J. Reilly, argued that the evidence against Hauptmann was entirely circumstantial, as no reliable witness had placed Hauptmann at the scene of the crime, nor were his fingerprints found on the ladder, the ransom notes, or anywhere in the nursery.<ref>"The State of New Jersey vs. Bruno Richard Hauptmann," Hunterdon County Court of Oyer and Termeer; vol. 11 pp. 4687–88, 1935. New Jersey State Law Library.</ref> However, Hauptmann was convicted and immediately sentenced to death. His appeals failed, though his execution was stayed twice while New Jersey Governor Harold G. Hoffman reviewed the case.

Execution

On April 3, 1936, Hauptmann was executed in the electric chair at the New Jersey State Prison.<ref>Bleam, I. C. Prison Clerk, New Jersey State Prison. Death House Menu, "Last meal served to Bruno Richard Hauptmann, #17400, April 3, 1936". 1600 File. New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives.</ref> Reporters present said that he made no statement.<ref>Runyon, Damon "Bruno Dies in Chair". The New York American. April 4, 1936</ref><ref>Folliard, Edward "Witness to an Execution". The Washington Post. July 17, 1972.</ref> Hauptmann's spiritual advisor said that Hauptmann told him, before being taken from his cell, "Template:Lang" ("I am absolutely innocent of the crimes I am accused of").<ref>Hoffman, Harold Giles. The Crime – The Case – The Challenge (What Was Wrong with the Lindbergh Case?), Original Manuscript: Unedited & Uncorrected, circa 1937. New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives.</ref>

Hauptmann's widow, Anna, had his body cremated. Two Lutheran pastors conducted a private memorial service in German. A crowd of some 2,000 gathered outside.

Guilt questioned

Several books have been written proclaiming Hauptmann's innocence. In 1974, Anthony Scaduto wrote Scapegoat, which took the position that Hauptmann was framed and that the police withheld and fabricated evidence. This led to further investigation, and in 1985, Ludovic Kennedy published The Airman and the Carpenter, in which he argued that Hauptmann had not kidnapped and murdered Lindbergh Jr. These and other books criticize the police for allowing the crime scenes to become contaminated, Lindbergh and his associates for interfering with the investigation, Hauptmann's trial lawyers for ineffectively representing him, and the reliability of the witnesses and physical evidence presented at the trial. Scottish journalist Ludovic Kennedy in particular questioned much of the evidence, such as the origin of the ladder and the testimony of many of the witnesses.

Skeptics pointed to various items of evidence that they claim was misrepresented at the trial, such as a scrawled phone number on a board in his closet, which was the number of the man who delivered the ransom, John F. Condon. According to some accounts, a reporter admitted he had written the number himself.<ref>The crime of the Century: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax, p. 164. (Gregory Ahlgren, Stephen Monier)</ref> They also claim that police and investigators intimidated witnesses, planted or falsified evidence, and ignored exculpatory evidence. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Another point of contention was that neither Lindbergh nor the go-between who delivered the ransom, Condon, initially identified Hauptmann as the recipient.<ref>An Account of the Trial of Bruno Hauptmann Template:Webarchive</ref>

In her book about another high-profile trial of the period, that of "trunk murderess" Winnie Ruth Judd, investigative reporter Jana Bommersbach argued that as was the case with Judd's trial, the press created such an atmosphere of prejudice against Hauptmann that he could not have received a fair trial. According to Bommersbach, crime reporters of the time often acted as "judge and jury", covering cases in a manner that would have been considered "supermarket sleaze" by today's standards.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Widow's campaign

For more than 50 years, Hauptmann's widow fought with the New Jersey courts without success to get the case re-opened. In 1982, the then 82-year-old Anna Hauptmann sued the State of New Jersey, various former police officers, the Hearst newspapers that had published pre-trial articles insisting on Hauptmann's guilt, and former prosecutor David T. Wilentz (then 86) for over $100 million in wrongful-death damages. She claimed that the newly discovered documents proved misconduct by the prosecution and the manufacture of evidence by government agents, all of whom were biased against Hauptmann because he happened to be of German ethnicity. In 1983, the United States Supreme Court refused her request that the federal judge considering the case should be disqualified because of judicial bias, and in 1984, the judge dismissed her claims.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1990, New Jersey's governor, James Florio, declined her appeal for a meeting to clear Hauptmann's name. Anna Hauptmann died on October 10, 1994.

See also

• J. Edgar (film)
• Presumption of guilt

Further reading

• "Sleeping Dogs: A true story of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping," Split Oak Press, Ithaca, New York, Template:ISBN, Copyright 2012 by Michael Foldes, 236 pages.
• "The Sixteenth Rail," Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado, Template:ISBN, copyright by Adam Schrager, 2013, 314 pages.
• "Hauptmann's Ladder: A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping," Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio, Template:ISBN, Copyright 2014 by Richard T. Cahill Jr., 448 pages.
• "The Dark Corners – Of the Lindbergh Kidnapping Volume 1," Infinity Publishing, Template:ISBN, Copyright 2016 by Michael Melsky, 353 pages.

External links

• Photographic Evidence from the Hauptmann Case on the New Jersey State Archives Website
• Author Jim Fisher's Site on the Hauptmann Case
• YouTube: Hauptmann Testifies, Millions Wait 1935/01/30