Charles Lindbergh
The Lindbergh kidnapping
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh was most known for winning the Orteig prize in may 1927, for being the first solo pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from NY to Paris non-stop.
The Lindbergh Kidnapping
On March 1, 1932 , Charles Lindbergh Jr was abducted from his home. The baby's father, Charles Lindbergh, heard a noise and thought something fell. Around 10:00 pm the family's nurse went to go check on the baby and found that he was not there. A ransom note was left on the radiator and asked for $50,000 and would return the baby. Despite the warnings the police still got involved and the ransom was raised to $70,000.
.On May 12, 1932 a delivery truck driver pulled his truck to the side about 4 miles from the Lindbergh house. He then discovered the body of the toddler. The body was badly decomposed, and the baby's skull was badly fractured. They suspected that the child was killed by a blow to the head.
More than two years later, Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the murder of the child. The trial attracted widespread media attention and was considered "The case of the Century". On April 3, 1936, Hauptmann was executed by the electric chair.
Following the kidnapping, The US congress created the Federal Kidnapping Act (The Lindbergh Law) which makes it a federal crime to kidnap and transfer a victim from one state or another or to a foreign country.