Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr.
| Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
June 22, 1930 Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | March 2, 1932 (aged 1) Hopewell Township, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Cause of death | blow to the head (crushed skull) |
| Body discovered | May 12, 1932, in Hopewell, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Resting place | ashes scattered in the Atlantic Ocean |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Kidnap victim |
On March 1, 1932 Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., 20-month old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his home in Highfields, New Jersey. On May 12, his body was discovered nearby.
In September 1934, Richard Hauptmann was arrested and, after a trial lasting from January 2 to February 13, 1935, found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death. He was executed by electric chair at the New Jersey State Prison on April 3, 1936. He protested his innocence to the end. Newspaper writer H. L. Mencken called the kidnapping and trial "the biggest story since the Resurrection." Legal scholars have referred to the trial as one of the "trials of the century". The crime spurred Congress to pass the Federal Kidnapping Act, commonly called the "Lindbergh Law," which made transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines a federal crime.
At 7:30 p.m. on March 1, 1932, family nurse Betty Gow put 20-month-old Charles Lindbergh Jr. in his crib. Around 9:30 pm Charles Lindbergh, who was in the library just below the baby's room, heard a noise which he imagined to be slats breaking off a full crate in the kitchen. At 10:00 pm Gow discovered the crib empty. Finding the baby was not with his mother Anne Lindbergh, who had just left a bath, Gow alerted Charles Lindbergh, who went immediately to the child's room, where he found a note in an envelope on the windowsill, then took a gun and went around the house and grounds with butler Olly Whateley. They found impressions in the ground under the window of the child's room and pieces of a cleverly designed wooden ladder. Whateley telephoned the Hopewell police department to inform them of the missing child. Charles Lindbergh then contacted his attorney and friend, Henry Skillman Breckinridge and the New Jersey state police.
...
Wikipedia