For me, Lindbergh was a sociopath with a complex of god and he killed his son probably because he found the baby wasnt good enough for his ego. Medical schools at the time hired shady underworld gangs to procure corpses and other body parts for research. It is possible the kidnap gang from these ties. Lindbergh, one of the most famous men of the past century, the first real celebrity as he is sometimes called, managed to keep his double life secret for more than three decades after his. I became interested in this case during the l980s and continued until I had enough valid evidence to write my first book in 2004 THE DEAD POETS PLUS ONE and in 2007 TWO MEN AND ONE PAIR OF SHOES, The trial of Richard Hauptmann. Im waiting for the truth to come out. Other extortion demands would follow, but on May 12th the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr. was discovered 2.5 miles south of the Lindbergh house and about halfway between Highfields and the farmhouse Lindbergh had rented in Mount Rose. Handwriting experts claimed Hauptmann wrote the 14 ransom notes while agreeing the one in the nursery was different from the others. Hauptmanns car had New York plates. He had some prominent supporters, including the governor of New Jersey, Harold Hoffman. He died in the electric chair in April 1936 after refusing a last-minute offer to reduce his sentence to life in prison without parole in exchange for a confession. A few days before Christmas 1935, with Hoffmans investigation underway and Hauptmanns execution imminent, Lindbergh moved his family to Europe, where he remained for the next several years. Hauptmann may have been been someone Lindbergh used and then abandoned but Hauptmann was more loyal than the great flyer and kept his mouth shut to the grave! Why did he suddenly take his family to live in Europe for their safety right when Governor Hoffman re-opened the investigation? I do not believe this crime was committed by any one man, and there is ample evidence that the chief witnesses and the prosecution share my belief. Shortly after Hoffman made this statement, Charles Lindbergh secreted his wife and new son on a freighter to England in the dead of night. Even Al Capone offered his help from prison. I believe that I do have the murder pic before the baby was found. The babies body was found very close to the house they lived in and that to me is further proof that he was in someway involved. They began a long-term affair that only ended with his death in 1974. Given the police limitations and Lindberghs stature as one of the most famous men in the world, few objected when the aviator took virtual control of the investigation not even when he threatened to shoot any police officer who disobeyed his orders or when he used his political muscle to discourage the FBIs involvement in the case. By the end of 1990, the pair realized that there was an overwhelming possibility that Hauptmann was innocent. I dont think one could sit in ones study under the sons bedroom and not know or hear a ladder being put against the wall outside the window. As an Amazon affiliate, Crime Traveller may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. It was a fishy story to be sure, andnewspapers judged Hauptmann guilty with blaring headlines celebrating the capture of the Lindbergh Kidnapper. It dawned on me like a lightning bolt that perhaps Travis Lindbergh had something to do with his sons disappearance and death. She had a tough life ending in dementia. A corpse that authorities concluded belonged to Lindberghs son was found May 12, 1932, near a road about 4.5 miles south of Lindberghs home by a delivery truck driver who had gone into a grove of trees to urinate. Lindbergh shunned the FBI yet invited numerous cranks, tipsters, mediums, and gangsters to help while blocking every logical police procedure which might have yielded useful information. He and Anne had six children their marriage apparently surviving the tragic death of their son, Charles, who at 20 months old was abducted and killed in 1932. No parent, no matter how much of a practical joker they are, ever wakes a sleeping baby. He was a scheduled speaker at the New York University alumni dinner, and Lindbergh never missed an opportunity to be adored and applauded. Charles Lindbergh died of lymphoma at age 72 in 1974, in Hawaii. When their firstborn child was kidnapped and murdered in March 1932, Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh became the most famous couple in America. He was just regarded as Lyndys son and perhaps that provoked the father to seek revenge on a child who might steal his thunder. Anne and the servants searched the house, starting in the nursery, and none of them saw the ransom note on the window sill. Now, after almost another decade of research, Gardner has added a dramatic afterward to his work the theory that Lindbergh, the Lone Eagle, was somehow involved with little Charlies abduction. All views, thoughts and opinions expressed in article text belongs solely to the article author. I think Violet Sharpe killed herself, rather than confess to information she had on Charles Lindbergh, and the babys disappearance. And Anne Morrow Lindberghs older sister Elizabeth was at the Hopewell house over the weekenddid she kill the child in a delayed fit of jealousy over Lindbergh jilting her for the younger sister? Just a thought!! Electricians did work up there and cut away some pieces of attic floorboard. And when the Governor offered to commute his death sentence for the same confession, he tearfully told Hoffman he had nothing to confess. A Criminal Disorder? She talked in a recent interview with The Topeka Capital-Journal about how Lindbergh known as the Lone Eagle became an international hero after he completed the first nonstop intercontinental flight from New York to Paris in 1927. At the time Lindberg was a communist, FDR did want him as president. He told Anne he heard the sound of wood snapping from outside, yet Anne and the three servants said later they heard nothing that night, and the normally alert family watchdog Wagoosh did not bark. In May 1927, 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic in 33-1/2 hours, becoming the first pilot to accomplish this feat. The last minute decision to stay over at Highfields because of baby Charlies cold was unprecedenteda complete break from Lindberghs established pattern. The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping became an instant media sensation. His fame intensified with the kidnapping and murder. The opposite was the case: Before the trial, he had told the police he hadnt seen anyone suspicious prior to the childs disappearance. That doesnt mean he wasnt involved and that he was sure nothing would happen during the kidnapping.. Their first child Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., known as the Eaglet was born in June 1930. On the way down, they speculated, he accidentally dropped the boy to his death, which would account for an extensive skull fracture. 1932, Oliver Whately, butler died from stomach ailment . Visit his website at www.jttownsend.com and his Facebook page: JT Townsend True Crime Detective. Therefore, Lindbergh concocted this wild tale that his son was kidnapped. Here was the only guy to have seen someone driving around Hopewell with a ladder, and they didnt call him , Ahlgren says. As the boxes in Moniers home office overflowed with documents, he and Ahlgren strongly suspected that the killing was an inside job. After the kidnapping, they didnt look like two people,(parents) who just had a child kidnapped. When their firstborn child was kidnapped from their home on March 1st, 1932 and found murdered in the woods two months later, Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh were the most famous couple in America, and the case would become the most publicized crime of the 20th century. And with this triumph, he emerged from virtual obscurity to instantaneous world fame, transforming an oddball loner into a beloved public figure. scenarios theories WhoDidit?:1. Both lost their first-born sons in tragedies. Handwriting experts would later agree that THIS FIRST note was different from the other 13 ransom notes, suggesting it was written under duress and an attempt was made to disguise the writing. One of those was Culture of Organs, a manual by Carrel and Lindbergh detailing the vivisection experiments they conducted, she said. An expert said a section of wood found in Hauptmanns attic was an exact match to the wood used to build the ladder that had apparently been used to climb up to a second-floor window at Lindberghs home and abduct his son. The precaution was unnecessary. Its time to wake up! In later years did the household staff ever reveal their thoughts on the murder? The Question of Why: Did Ted Bundy have Dissociative Identity Disorder? Lindbergh was born in 1902, to the son of future Minnesota congressman Charles August Lindbergh. FDR was friends with Byrd but Lindberg was an enemy. where Lindberghs close friend and attorney , Henry Breckinridge knew Lindbergh. There is some very strange things in box. When it does, I will die the next day in peace. And just hours before his execution, Bruno Richard Hauptmann sustained his innocence and spawned the doubt that still survives today: You think when I die it will be like a book I close. THIS DAY IN HISTORY May 12 1932 May 12 Kidnapped Lindbergh baby found dead The body of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh 's baby is found on May 12, 1932, more than two months after he was. He was retrieving the mail when an oncoming car with New Jersey plates pulled over to its left on the narrow dirt road to pass him. If so how did he get the ransom note in the crib so soon? Quite a few people have claimed they were the missing Lindbergh baby. How Your Brainwaves Could Be Used In CriminalTrials, R. Kelly: Aided By A Network of Complicity Enabling His Crimes, How Social Media Turns Online Arguments Between Teens Into Real-World Violence, Kathleen Folbiggs Children Likely Died Of Natural Causes, Not Murder. Think about it. Unfortunately, a TARNISHED AMERICAN HERO. Albert Osborn, the dean of questioned documents, never mentioned this very important aspect. From the New York Times in April 4, l977, Hilda Braunlich (79) a handwriting expert for the defense contacted a reporter, Peter Kihss with he Times. At one point he threatened to shoot any officer who violated this order. When Hoover sent two FBI agents to assist with the investigation, Lindbergh turned them away, refusing help from the one agency whose experience and training gave them the best chance of returning his son. In one biography Monier learned that in January 1932, Lindbergh hid his son in a closet, then told his wife, Anne, and the childs nanny that little Charles was missing. Visit our. Much of the states evidence smelled unreliable to Ahlgren. Our American hero had left the country. Only when he learned the baby was already dead, did he return the $20k in cash to Lindbergh (after the ransom drop, saying he negotiated). He had the New Jersey State Police already reporting to him, and he threatened to shoot any officer who didnt follow his protocol. He was a Nazi sympathizer. The pilot nearly died. That bothered Ahlgren. Charles Sr. was famous for completing the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. A window next to the crib had been left open, with a ransom . Heres The Evidence My Team Found, Do criminals freely decide to commit offences? Household staff never expressed their thoughts. In highlighting his secretive nature, Pearlman writes that Lindbergh also fathered seven other children, unknown to his family back in the United States. Most, like the daughter of an airplane mechanic, claim that their parents had told them over the years that Lindbergh was somehow involved in the death of his son. What we know about Lindberghs character, Gardner says, is his desire to spread his healthy genes and his belief in the eugenics movement, which goes hand-in-hand with his pro-German feelings before the war. Charles Lindbergh is the most likely suspect to have helped in the kidnapping of his own son . How could Hauptmann have accomplished this incredible scheme alone? I would almost think she would have to because many of the people who worked in the house thought of him when the baby first went missing. Gardner notes the abduction took place during an era when criminals, often gang members, routinely kidnapped family members of the rich and famous to supplement their incomes. Tellingly, ransom bills kept showing up long after Hauptmanns arrest. I suppose it shows the power his fame and wealth yielded him. Im not saying Im sure that Lindbergh himself was involved, just that there are too many co-incidences for this to be a totally random crime. Did Anne eventually have doubts about a husband who later fathered five illegitimate children in Germany? The evidence against Hauptmann is quite compelling, but the evidence of his being the sole kidnapper is less compelling. Time had done little to quiet the controversy. I can find no where that says FDR stayed at his compound. The image I had was of a hero. Reading what you have its fascinating for me because I Believe that something like this could have happened. Its a really good and well argued book, and its great that the Lindbergh case is covered here. The book is available by hardcover for $32.24, by paperback for $23.54 and by Kindle for $11.49. I think Lindbergh wanted public sympathy and money. She knew because she worked in the bakery that the child has been kidnapped I wonder if it occurred to herThat their son wealth was more easily explained by the death of the baby. The trial had pitted Charles A. Lindbergh, an American icon, against Bruno Richard Hauptmann, a poor German carpenter who was arrested after he passed some of the Lindbergh ransom money. And even though Hauptmann was convicted, there was never any credible evidence placing him near the Lindbergh property the night the baby was taken. From what I have read, I think, because of Lindberghs ego, that he could of been ashamed of Baby Lindbergh, and wanted him to disappear. )John (jafsie)Condon lived 2974 near Woodlawn cem?9. Once during his airmail piloting days, one of Lindberghs roommates returned from a night on the town and took a drink from a pitcher, only to discover that Lindbergh had replaced the ice water with kerosene. Upon analyzing every aspect of the ransom notes, I concluded they were written by a highly educated person which turned out to be Thomas Clayton Wolfe who deliberately left many clues to his identity. With Lindbergh, there is ONE fact that EVERY shred of evidence must answer to. And the location in the woods where the body was found reeks of Charles Lindbergh, who knew that road like the back of his hand and would have no problem hiding his sons body in the dark. Im not sure nor am I speculating exactly what happened but I do feel that the father had something big to do with his sons demise. He spent his nights and weekends examining the facts as if the crime had been committed in his town. At about 10 pm, the child's nurse discovered that Charlie Jr. was missing from his crib, then frantically alerted Lindbergh and Anne. Two unsavory and unreliable witnesses placed him near Highfields the day of the crime. A cover-up, he says, was orchestrated by Lindbergh., In the meantime, Ahlgren and Monier have received letters and calls from the descendants of domestic help and bluecollar workers from around Hopewell. The thumb guard from babys hand was found in the gravel drive later. The killer showed familiarity with the area, placing the dead child in a shallow grave about 50 feet from the road in a dense woods while in total darkness. A husband who was known for playing cruel pranks, the perpetual practical joker who NEVER committed another one after the death of his son. I realized that the last chapter on a public figure is never fully complete.. Thank you. 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