Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-born
carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of aviator
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
and his wife
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Anne Spencer Morrow Lindbergh (June 22, 1906 – February 7, 2001) was an American writer and aviator. She was the wife of decorated pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh, with whom she made many exploratory flights.
Raised in Englewood, New Jerse ...
. The
Lindbergh kidnapping
On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Am ...
became known as "The Crime of the Century". Both Hauptmann and his wife, Anna Hauptmann (who later sued the State of New Jersey, various former police officers, the Hearst newspapers that had published pre-trial articles insisting on Hauptmann's guilt, and former prosecutor David T. Wilentz), proclaimed his innocence until he was executed in 1936 by
electric chair
An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...
at the
Trenton State Prison.
Background
Bruno Richard Hauptmann was born in
Kamenz
Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town ('' Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gotth ...
, a town near
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
in the
Kingdom of Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxo ...
, which was a state of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. He was the youngest of five children. Neither he nor his family or friends used the name Bruno, although prosecutors in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial insisted on referring to him by that name. At the age of eleven, he joined the Boy Scouts (''
Pfadfinderbund'').
[Hauptmann, Richard ''The Story of My Life'', Autobiography: Unedited & Uncorrected (Translated). New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives, May 4, 1935.] Hauptmann attended public school during the day while attending trade school (''Gewerbeschule'') at night, studying carpentry for the first year, then switching to machine building (''Maschinenschlosser'') for the next two years.
Hauptmann's father died in 1917. During that same year, Hauptmann learned that his brother, Herman, had been killed fighting in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Not long after that, he was informed that another brother, Max, had also been killed while fighting in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. Shortly thereafter, Hauptmann was conscripted and assigned to the artillery.
Upon receiving his orders, he was sent to
Bautzen
Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...
but was transferred to the 103rd Infantry Replacement Regiment upon his arrival. In 1918, Hauptmann was assigned to the 12th Machine Gun Company at
Königsbrück
Königsbrück ( Upper Sorbian: ''Kinspork'') is a town in the Bautzen district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated west of Kamenz, and northeast of the Saxon capital Dresden. Königsbrück is known as the western gate of the historic Upper Lusati ...
.
Hauptmann later claimed he was deployed to western France with the 177th Regiment of Machine Gunners in either August or September 1918, then fought in the
Battle of Saint-Mihiel
The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12–15 September 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States against ...
; that he was
gassed in September or October 1918; and that he was struck in the helmet by shrapnel from shelling, knocking him out so that he was left for dead. When he came to, he crawled back to safety and was back on duty that evening.
After the war, Hauptmann and a friend robbed two women wheeling baby carriages they were using to transport food on the road between
Wiesa and
Nebelschütz
Nebelschütz (German) or Njebjelčicy ( Upper Sorbian) is a Sorbian village in the district of Bautzen of Saxony in south-east Germany. It lies to the south-east of Kamenz.
The municipality is part of the recognized Sorbian settlement area in S ...
. The friend wielded Hauptmann's army pistol during the commission of this crime. Hauptmann's other charges include burglarizing a mayor's house with the use of a ladder. Released after three years in prison, he was arrested three months later on suspicion of additional burglaries.
[Richard ("Bruno") Hauptmann Biography, Famous American Trials, Richard Hauptmann (Lindbergh Kidnapping) Trial by Douglas Linder, 2000 Famous Trials – UMKC School of Law – Prof. Douglas Linder ]
''Biography of ("Bruno") Richard Hauptmann''
Hauptmann illegally entered the United States by
stowing away on an ocean liner. Landing in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in November 1923, the 24-year-old Hauptmann was taken in by a member of the established German community and worked as a
carpenter. He married a German waitress, Anna Schoeffler (1898–1994), in 1925 and became a father eight years later.
Lindbergh kidnapping
Crime and investigation
On the evening of March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr., son of aviator
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
, was kidnapped from
Highfields, New Jersey; a homemade ladder was found under the window of the child's room. The $50,000 demanded in a ransom note had been delivered by Dr. John F. Condon, but the infant's body was found on May 12 in woods from the family's home. The death was ascribed to a blow to the head, which some have theorized occurred accidentally during the abduction.
On September 15, 1934, a bank teller realized that the serial number on a $10
gold certificate
Gold certificates were issued by the United States Treasury as a form of representative money from 1865 to 1933. While the United States observed a gold standard, the certificates offered a more convenient way to pay in gold than the use of coi ...
deposited by a gas station was on the list of Lindbergh ransom bills. On the bill's margin, the attendant had written the license plate number of the customer's car, which turned out to be Hauptmann's. Hauptmann was placed under surveillance by the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
,
New Jersey State Police, and the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
.
On September 19, Hauptmann realized he was being watched and attempted to escape, speeding and running through red lights. He was captured after finding himself blocked by a truck on
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
just north of
Tremont Avenue
Tremont Avenue is a street in the Bronx, New York City. Its west end is at Sedgwick Avenue in Morris Heights, and its east end is at Schurz Avenue in Throggs Neck, running almost the entire width of the Bronx. Around 2009, part of East Tremon ...
in the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
.
Trial
His trial was dubbed the "
Trial of the Century
__NOTOC__
Trial of the century is an idiomatic phrase used to describe certain well-known court cases, especially of the 19th, 20th and 21st century. It is often used popularly as a rhetorical device to attach importance to a trial and as such i ...
", while Hauptmann was named "The Most Hated Man in the World".
Evidence against Hauptmann included: $14,600 of the ransom money found in his garage; testimony alleging handwriting and spelling similarities to that found on the ransom notes;
testimony that lumber used in constructing the ladder probably originated in Hauptmann's house; Condon's address and telephone number found written on the inside of one of Hauptmann's closets; and what appeared to be a hand-drawn sketch of a ladder found in one of Hauptmann's notebooks. Experts retained by the defense were never called to testify.
During the trial, Hauptmann was identified as the man who received the ransom money, the man who had spent some of the ransom gold certificates, and as a man seen near the Lindbergh home on the day of the kidnapping. He had been absent from work on the day of the ransom payment and had quit his job two days later.
Hauptmann's attorney, Edward J. Reilly, argued that the evidence against Hauptmann was entirely circumstantial, as no reliable witness had placed Hauptmann at the scene of the crime, nor were his fingerprints found on the ladder, the ransom notes, or anywhere in the nursery.
Hauptmann was convicted, however, and immediately sentenced to death. His appeals failed, though his execution stayed twice while New Jersey Governor
Harold G. Hoffman
Harold Giles Hoffman (February 7, 1896 – June 4, 1954) was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the 41st governor of New Jersey from 1935 to 1938. He also served two terms representing in the United States House of Re ...
reviewed the case.
Execution
On April 3, 1936, Hauptmann was executed in the
electric chair
An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...
at the
New Jersey State Prison
The New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), formerly known as Trenton State Prison, is a state men's prison in Trenton, New Jersey operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections. It is the oldest prison in New Jersey and one of the oldest correct ...
. Reporters present said he made no statement. His spiritual advisor said that Hauptmann told him, before being taken from his cell, "Ich bin absolut unschuldig an den Verbrechen, die man mir zur Last legt" ("I am absolutely innocent of the crimes with which I am charged").
Hauptmann's widow Anna had his body cremated. Two Lutheran pastors conducted a private memorial service in German. A crowd of some 2,000 gathered outside.
Guilt questioned
In the latter part of the 20th century, the case against Hauptmann came under serious scrutiny. For instance, one item of evidence at his trial was a scrawled phone number on a board in his closet, which was the number of the man who delivered the ransom, John F. Condon. A juror at the trial said this was the one item that convinced him the most; according to some accounts, a reporter later admitted he had written the number himself.
Additionally, neither Lindbergh nor the go-between who delivered the ransom initially identified Hauptmann as the recipient. Condon, after seeing Hauptmann in a lineup at New York Police Department Greenwich Street Station told
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
Special Agent Turrou that Hauptmann was not "John," the man whom Condon claimed he had passed the ransom money to in St. Raymond's Cemetery. He further stated that Hauptmann looked different (for instance that he had different eyes, was heavier, and had different hair), and that "John" was actually dead because he had been murdered by his confederates.
While waiting in a car nearby, Lindbergh heard the voice of "John" calling to Condon during the ransom drop-off, but never saw him. Although he testified before the Bronx grand jury that he heard only the words "Hey, Doc!", and that it would be very difficult to say he could recognize a man by his voice, he identified Hauptmann as having the same voice during his trial in Flemington. The police beat Hauptmann while in custody at the Greenwich Street Station.
Other coverage has said that certain witnesses were intimidated, and some claim that the police planted or doctored evidence, such as the ladder; or that the police doctored Hauptmann's time cards and ignored fellow workers who stated that Hauptmann was working the day of the kidnapping. These and other findings prompted
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation ...
, the first
Director of the FBI
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a singl ...
, to question the manner in which the investigation and the trial were conducted. Hauptmann's widow campaigned until the end of her life to have her husband's conviction reversed.
Erastus Mead Hudson was a fingerprint expert who knew about the then-rare silver nitrate process of collecting fingerprints from wood and other surfaces on which the previous powder method would not work. He found that Hauptmann's fingerprints were not on the wood, even in places that the man who made the ladder must have touched. Upon reporting this to a police officer and stating that they must look further, the officer said, "Good God, don't tell us that, Doctor!" The ladder was then washed of all fingerprints, and
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr
Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf (; August 28, 1895 – November 25, 1958) was the first superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. He is best known for his involvement in the Lindbergh kidnapping case. He was the father of General Norman Schwa ...
, the
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of the
New Jersey State Police, refused to disclose to the public that Hauptmann's prints were not on the ladder.
[
Several books have been written proclaiming Hauptmann's innocence. These books variously criticize the police for allowing the crime scenes to become contaminated, Lindbergh and his associates for interfering with the investigation, Hauptmann's trial lawyers for ineffectively representing him, and the reliability of the witnesses and physical evidence presented at the trial. Scottish journalist ]Ludovic Kennedy
Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy (3 November 191918 October 2009) was a Scottish journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author best known for re-examining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and the murder convictions of Timothy Evans an ...
in particular questioned much of the evidence, such as the origin of the ladder and the testimony of many of the witnesses.
In her book about another high-profile trial of the 1930s, the Winnie Ruth Judd
Winnie Ruth Judd (January 29, 1905 – October 23, 1998), born Winnie Ruth McKinnell, also known as Marian Lane, was a medical secretary in Phoenix, Arizona, who was accused of murdering her friends, Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig Samuelson, in Octo ...
case, investigative reporter Jana Bommersbach argued that Hauptmann could not have received a fair trial because the press created an atmosphere of prejudice against him. Bommersbach noted that in those days, newspapers acted as both "judge and jury," and covered crime in a way that would be considered sensationalistic today.
For more than 50 years, Hauptmann's widow fought with the New Jersey courts without success to have the case re-opened. In 1982, the now 82-year-old Anna Hauptmann sued the State of New Jersey, various former police officers, the Hearst newspapers that had published pre-trial articles insisting on Hauptmann's guilt, and former prosecutor David T. Wilentz (then 86) for over $100 million in wrongful-death damages. She claimed that the newly discovered documents proved misconduct by the prosecution and the manufacture of evidence by government agents, all of whom were biased against Hauptmann because he happened to be of German ethnicity. In 1983, the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
refused her request that the federal judge considering the case should be disqualified because of judicial bias, and in 1984 the judge dismissed her claims.
In 1985, more than 23,000 pages of Hauptmann-case police documents were found in the garage of the late Governor Hoffman. These documents, along with 34,000 pages of FBI files, which, although discovered in 1981, had not been disclosed to the public, represented a windfall of previously undisclosed information.[Hauptmann v. Bornmann et al. USDC (NJ) Civil Action No. 86-2426] As a direct result of this new evidence, Anna Hauptmann again amended her civil complaint on July 14, 1986, to clear her late husband's name by continuing to assert that he was "framed from beginning to end" by the police looking for a suspect. She suggested that the rail of the ladder taken from the attic, where they used to live in 1935, was planted by the police, and that the ransom money was left behind by Isidor Fisch, who was possibly the real kidnapper. Fisch applied for a passport on 12 May 1932, the same day that the Lindbergh baby was found dead. On 9 December 1933, he sailed for Germany, taking with him $600 worth of Reichsmark
The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...
s. In 1990, New Jersey's governor, James Florio
James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 19 ...
, declined her appeal for a meeting to clear Bruno Hauptmann's name. Anna Hauptmann died on October 10, 1994.
In 1974, Anthony Scaduto wrote ''Scapegoat,'' which took the position that Hauptmann was framed and that the police both withheld and fabricated evidence. This led to further investigation, and in 1985, Ludovic Kennedy published ''The Airman and the Carpenter'', in which he argued that Hauptmann had not kidnapped and murdered Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. The book was made into a 1996 television film ''Crime of the Century
"Crime of the century" is an idiomatic phrase used to describe particularly sensational or notorious criminal cases. Chua-Eoan, Howard (n.d.)"Crimes of the Century: The Top 25" ''Time''. Retrieved September 10, 2021. In the United States, it is of ...
'', starring Stephen Rea and Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini (born 18 June 1952) is an Italian-American actress, author, philanthropist, and model. The daughter of the Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and the Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, she is noted ...
.
Not all modern authors agree with these theories. Jim Fisher, a former FBI agent and professor at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, has written two books on the subject, ''The Lindbergh Case'' (1987) and ''The Ghosts of Hopewell'' (1999) to address, at least in part, what he calls a "revision movement". In these texts, he explains in detail the evidence against Hauptmann. He provides an interpretation discussing both the pros and cons of that evidence. He concluded: "Today, the Lindbergh phenomena icis a giant hoax perpetrated by people who are taking advantage of an uninformed and cynical public. Notwithstanding all of the books, TV programs, and legal suits, Hauptmann is as guilty today as he was in 1932 when he kidnapped and killed the son of Mr and Mrs Charles Lindbergh."
Lindbergh believed that Hauptmann must have been involved in the kidnapping and murder of his son. He remarked that Hauptmann was magnificently built but had eyes like a wild boar.[Kennedy, L., ''The Airman and the Carpenter'' (1985)]
See also
* ''J. Edgar
''J. Edgar'' is a 2011 American biographical drama film based on the career of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, directed, produced and scored by Clint Eastwood. Written by Dustin Lance Black, the film focuses on Hoover's life from the 1919 Palme ...
'' (film)
* Presumption of guilt
A presumption of guilt is any presumption within the criminal justice system that a person is guilty of a crime, for example a presumption that a suspect is guilty unless or until proven to be innocent.
Such a presumption may legitimately aris ...
References
Further reading
* "Sleeping Dogs: A true story of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping," Split Oak Press, Ithaca, New York, , Copyright 2012 by Michael Foldes, 236 pages.
* "The Sixteenth Rail," Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado, , copyright by Adam Schrager, 2013, 314 pages.
* "Hauptmann's Ladder: A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping," Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio, , Copyright 2014 by Richard T. Cahill Jr., 448 pages.
* "The Dark Corners – Of the Lindbergh Kidnapping Volume 1," Infinity Publishing, , Copyright 2016 by Michael Melsky, 353 pages.
External links
Photographic Evidence from the Hauptmann Case
on the New Jersey State Archives Website
YouTube: Hauptmann Testifies, Millions Wait 1935/01/30
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauptmann, Bruno
1899 births
1936 deaths
20th-century executions by New Jersey
20th-century German criminals
Criminals from Saxony
Executed people from Saxony
German emigrants to the United States
German male criminals
German Lutherans
German Army personnel of World War I
German murderers of children
German people convicted of murder
German people executed abroad
Lindbergh kidnapping
People convicted of murder by New Jersey
People executed by New Jersey by electric chair
People executed for murder
People from Kamenz
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
Illegal immigration to the United States