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1932: The Undiscovered MasterMind Behind the Lindbergh Kidnapping
1932: The Undiscovered MasterMind Behind the Lindbergh Kidnapping
From the ecstatic riots that followed the Spirit of St. Louis on either side of the Atlantic, to the tragic night that would shake America’s sense of security, to the horror of the New Jersey morgue where Lindbergh insisted on verifying the identity of his son, Zorn’s skillful treatment meets this larger-than-life story and gives it definitive shape –revealing the true story behind the crime, for the first time.
On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his home in Highfields, New Jersey, United States.
His body was found not far from the address on May 12 .
Due to the high profile nature of his parents, and the horrific nature of the murder, the press jumped on to it and wrote upteen stories and articles about the kidnap, payment of a ransom and then the murder of the young boy.
In September 1934, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested and, after a trial lasting more than a month, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. He always claimed to be innocent of the crime.
The trial of the century led to Congress passing the Federal Kidnapping Act, commonly called the “Lindbergh Law”, which made transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines a federal crime
The Lindbergh house is now a rehabilitation center. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Destination: New Jersey, East Amwell Author/Guide: Robert Zorn Departure Time: 1932
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