So what about the Lindbergh kidnapping? Did Bruno Hauptman do it?

[DemBones DemBones]

I'm watching the movie (with Anthony Hopkins as Bruno) and being reminded of the anti-German prejudice that was especially apparent in WW I and WW II -- and the lust for someone's blood that the public often shows in such cases.

Police procedures were highly unfair as well, if the movie's accurate. The men in the lineup were all required to speak, yet only Bruno had a German accent, something that Charles Lindbergh and the "go-between" had both told the police they heard when the alleged kidnapper spoke to them at the ransom drop.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

1. I've read a couple of books on the case.

It's been a long time, so I don't really remember details. I do remember General Schwartkoph's (spelling?) dad was in charge of the investigation.

I do remember a book that went into it in detail. According to this book, Anne Morrow Lindberghs' sister did it. Lindberg dated the sister before dumping her for Anne. The book went into great & compelling detail & I believed it. The author pointed out Lindbergh's incredible memory & how he forgot so much during the crucial period. Also, the night the baby was 'kidnapped' Lindbergh was supposed to be at some roast or event or something, & he forgot about it. Then his wife calls & says the baby is gone. My memory is shot, but the author tied it together that Lindbergh had been told the baby was dead, set up the events to point to a kidnapping & then covered it up. I'll look for the book if you're interested.

best

[DemBones DemBones]

2. Interesting. I don't think they showed the sister at all in the movie,

which was made in 1976 and featured Walter Pidgeon and Joseph Cotten -- due to the date, I'm wondering if it was a break-through movie role for Anthony Hopkins. It's the earliest movie I've seen him in and I've seen a lot of his films.

The movie investigation did focus for a time on Anne Morrow Lindbergh's mother's maid, who committed suicide due to the pressure from the police. I heard the name Schwartzopf (sp.?) but never made the connection. I would like the title of the book if it's not too much trouble.

The movie didn't really make a case that Bruno didn't do it but it didn't really make a case that he did, either.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

6. I'll certainly search

for that book. It will probably take a few days. Please don't think I'm ignoring you. It was a paperback that I got from the library & paperbacks aren't listed in the library database. I've got some other stuff going on (family). I'll let you know one way or another.

best.

[DemBones DemBones]

8. Don't worry about it! I found a reference to it on another site -- did a

Google to learn more about the case. The book was written by Noel Behn and called Lindbergh: The Crime.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

9. That's it.

Gosh, I was just gonna start a search & try to find the name for you. I'm definitely going to read that one again.

[XanaDUer]

4. I remember reading a book like this years ago

and (my memory fails me) I seem to rememeber something about the baby accidentally being dropped out the window and dying.

:shrug:

[DemBones DemBones]

10. From reading the websites on the case, I know there was at least one

book that alleged Lindy accidentally dropped the little boy out the window, perhaps while climbing down a ladder. It's said that Lindy "found" the evidence of ladder marks on the ground and the side of the house that night, without a flashlight. :eyes:

Other suspicious stuff is that he was a lifelong practical joker with a cruel streak. Anne Morrow Lindbergh supposedly wrote in a book that she told her mother that at first she thought her husband had hidden the baby as a prank. At least one book suggests it was a practical joke gone very wrong and then covered up.

The young Anthony Hopkins in the 1976 movie actually looked a lot like the photos of Bruno Richard Hauptmann.

[raccoon]

16. Crime of the Century: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax

by Gregory Ahlgren and Stephen Monier.

The authors' theory is that Charles Lindbergh was hiding the baby as a practical joke and the child was accidentally killed. Lindbergh then made up a kidnapping story to cover it up.

I think they're right about that.

Hauptmann may have been involved in some kind of chicanery, but I don't believe he did the kidnapping. His trial was a circus, for crying out loud. One of the witnesses was legally blind!

[XanaDUer]

17. That's what I read, as well.

...

[Bunny]

7. I read that book too!

I wish I could remember the name of it. It did make a compelling case for the wife's sister doing it, and Lindy covering it up. Wasn't the sister supposed to have a severe mental illness, or something?

[JimmyJazz]

11. I read that same book. I also read another extensive book

which didn't take any side and didn't present any theories whatsoever. It was weird because as I was reading the book, I'd think, Hauptman did it. Then the next chapter, I'd think he was set up. I really think it's the best book out there on the subject. The details of the actually ransom money exchange are incredible.

I'll do a google search and see if I can remember the title of the book. But, it's been some years since I read it.

[XanaDUer]

3. I saw that episode of Forensic Files

At the end, they seemed to say that they were not sure, but probably he did (I think).

[DemBones DemBones]

5. Here's something interesting -- all the

bone and hair samples, etc., from the autopsy on the baby (an autopsy done by a funeral director because the coroner had severe arthritis!) were removed from a museum in N.J. in 2003 and given to the remaining Lindbergh family by N. J.'s attorney general. So much for any possibility of DNA analysis to prove the body WAS baby Lindbergh! They were also given the baby's clothing, soil samples, other evidence. Kind of like Lindbergh getting to pretty much run the investigation -- or the Ramseys getting to say when they'd talk to the police re: JonBenet's death. Money doesn't talk, it screams.

This happened after DNA analysis proved that 3 Germans are the illegitimate children of Lucky Lindy; he had a secret family in Germany. (He may have had a second secret family with the sister of the German mistress but she and her children refused DNA testing.)

I've been reading about the case online; there are numerous websites.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

12. If the baby was really kidnapped, he's still alive...

If he was murdered, someone in the family did it because he was deformed and an American "hero" like Lindberg couldn't have a "defective" kid.
Duckie

[DemBones DemBones]

13. Especially an "American hero" who was into eugenics.

I read that the child had rickets, which I thought was unheard of in children with decent diets, i.e., children not living in poverty.

Do you know what else may have been "wrong" with Baby Lindbergh?

[YellowRubberDuckie]

14. I think there was some deformity.

I can't remember.
Duckie

[SemiCharmedQuark]

15. Well, handwriting analysts agreed that Bruno wrote the kidnap letters

And they also tested the wood from the ladder, rail 16 and found conclusively that it came from the Bruno's attic. They also compared the rail in evidence to the pictures and found that it was the same rail (ie, it wasn't planted). So he had to have been involved in some way. Perhaps he wasn't the brains, but he wasn involved.

[norepubsin08]

18. George Bush Sr. did it!

[frogmarch]

19. After seeing a movie or two

about the case, I questioned whether Bruno was the real kidnapper and killer, but after doing some research myself, I am convinced that yes, it was Bruno who kidnapped and killed the baby.