Charles Lindbergh Jr. Murder Trial (1934)

German immigrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree extortion to which he pleaded not guilty on September 26th and October 8th, 1934. He was suspected of using a $10 gold certificate at a gas station that matched one of the bills given with the 50,000-dollar ransom. The trial for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. began on January 3rd, 1935.  Charles and Anne Lindbergh testified. John F. Condon also identified Hauptmann while on the stand. During the trial, evidence was produced claiming that Hauptmann had tools matching marks at the crime scene, Condon's telephone number and address were found inside Hauptmann's house, and Hauptmann's writing matched that of the ransom notes. 

Hauptmann was found guilty on February 13th, 1935, and was executed via electric chair on April 3, 1936. Later U.S. Congress passed the Lindbergh Law which made crossing state lines while committing a kidnapping a federal felony. The trial was extremely public and covered extensively by the media.

Decades later the case and the verdict were questioned. Numerous people who have studied the case claim that Hauptmann was innocent and that evidence was planted by the police.  In 1985 documents from the garage of Governor Harold Giles Hoffman were discovered however none of the papers have been revealed to the public. For decades, Hauptmann's wife, Anna fought to clear her husband's name.

“Lindbergh Kidnapping Gas Can.” FBI, 1 Dec. 2017.

1934-09-26

1935-01-03

1935-02-13

1936-04-03

"Bruno Goes To Stand For All-Day Grilling On Kidnap, Ransom Tales." The Record, 25 Jan. 1935, p.1,4.