Charles Lindbergh an American Hero. A highly respected man. He was the first man to fly the Atlantic alone. He was a shy man who didn't care to be involved in the media. In 1930, his first child was born Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. The family tried to avoid the press and even built a second house in Hopewell, New Jersey to avoid the tabloids. They normally would return home to Englewood, NJ on Mondays, but they had decided not to that weekend, little Charles had a cold. On the fateful night of March 1, 1932 at 20 months of age Charles Jr. was taken from his home in Hopewell. Hopewell police were immediately called to the scene followed by the New Jersey State Police. While the baby's nursery was being dusted for fingerprints Lindbergh noticed an envelope on the windowsill. The envelope was dusted for fingerprints and opened inside was the ransom note, which read:

Soon after the note was found reporters swarmed the Lindbergh estate. The police set up headquarters in The Lindbergh’s garage while reporters set up their own headquarters at a local hotel in Hopewell.
Then came the second ransom note which was received on March 4, the ransom had been upped to $70,000. The Kidnappers decided that was the thing to do since the Lindbergh's involved police. Lindbergh and the kidnappers were in contact several times after that. Then on May 12, 1932 Charles Lindbergh JR’s body was found four miles from the Lindbergh estate in Hopewell by Inspector Walsh as he had wondered into the woods to relieve himself.

Cause of death was determined to be a blow to the head. The baby could have been murdered in his nursery or dropped as the kidnappers were carrying him away. That remains a mystery. When the baby's body was found it was in an advanced stage of decay. It was determined that the baby had died either during the kidnapping or immediately after because the body was so decayed. The police were deeply disturbed by the fact that the kidnappers knew precisely which room was the nursery and that the Lindbergh's routinely habit of going back home was interrupted this week and somehow the kidnappers knew they were still in Hopewell.

Suspect #2 John F. Condon - The "go between"
John Condon was questioned and he gave straight answers back to the questions police were asking him so he was released. Through July and August his phone was tapped, holes dug in his yard, Wallpaper stripped of his study walls, and his mail was opened. Lindbergh supported his friend though and a year after the kidnapping invited him to dinner.

September 15, 1934, Walter Lyle, a gas station manager, was handed a gold certificate (the money used to pay the kidnappers). Feeling that the certificate may have been counterfeit, Lyle wrote down the license plate of the man who gave him the certificate. Little did he know he was a key player in bringing down the kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby. The police identified the license plate to belong to a thirty-five year old German carpenter by the name of Richard Hauptmann. Hauptmann had illegally immigrated to the United States in 1923. The police staked out his apartment and later arrested him. He claimed he had no money, but the police dismantled the garage his landlord allowed him to build and they found over $14,000 of the ransom money.

Hauptmann still held on to his claim innocence and insisted the money was given to him by his business partner Isador Fisch, before he departed for Germany in December of 1933. Hauptmann was asked to provide numerous handwriting samples. He was later taken to Flemington, New Jersey where he would be tried for the murder and kidnapping of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. On February 13, 1935, the jury in the case came back with 5 ballots for acquittal, 7 for guilty. Finally ending in a unanimous vote of guilty. Then Judge Trenchard sentenced Hauptmann to death on March 18, 1935, but was delayed until June due to appeals. On April 3, 1936 Richard Hauptmann was executed in the Electric Chair. Justice had been done.. or had it?