Hauptmann's Ladder

Jr. Richard T. Cahill

Description

Winner of Foreword Reviews' Gold INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award, True Crime In 1936, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was executed for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr. Almost all of America believed Hauptmann guilty; only a few magazines and tabloids published articles questioning his conviction. In the ensuing decades, many books about the Lindbergh case have been published. Some have declared Hauptmann the victim of a police conspiracy and frame-up, and one posited that Lindbergh actually killed his own son and fabricated the entire kidnapping to mask the deed.Because books about the crime have been used as a means to advance personal theories, the truth has often been sacrificed and readers misinformed.Hauptmann's Ladder is a testament to the truth that counters the revisionist histories all too common in the true crime genre. Author Richard T. Cahill Jr. puts the "true" back in "true crime," providing credible information and undistorted evidence that enables readers to form their own opinions and reach their own conclusions.Cahill presents conclusions based upon facts and documentary evidence uncovered in his twenty years of research. Using primary sources and painstakingly presenting a chronological reconstruction of the crime and its aftermath, he debunks false claims and explodes outrageous theories, while presenting evidence that has never before been revealed. Hauptmann's Ladder is a meticulously researched examination of the Lindbergh kidnapping that restores and preserves the truth of the crime of the century.

Sujets

• USA
• True crime
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: The Kent State University Press
• Date de parution: 12 février 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781612778327
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

HAUPTMANN’S LADDER
TRUE CRIME HISTORY SERIES       Harold Schechter, Editor
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The Good-bye Door: The Incredible True Story of America’s First Female Serial Killer to Die in the Chair
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Murder on Several Occasions
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The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories
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Lethal Witness: Sir Bernard Spilsbury, Honorary Pathologist
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Murder of a Journalist: The True Story of the Death of Donald Ring Mellett
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Musical Mysteries: From Mozart to John Lennon
Albert Borowitz
The Adventuress: Murder, Blackmail, and Confidence Games in the Gilded Age
Virginia A. McConnell
Queen Victoria’s Stalker: The Strange Case of the Boy Jones
Jan Bondeson
Born to Lose: Stanley B. Hoss and the Crime Spree that Gripped a Nation
James G. Hollock
Murder and Martial Justice: Spying, “Terrorism,” and Retribution in Wartime America
Meredith Lentz Adams
The Christmas Murders: Classic Stories of True Crime
Jonathan Goodman
The Supernatural Murders: Classic Stories of True Crime
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Guilty by Popular Demand: A True Story of Small-Town Injustice
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Nameless Indignities: Unraveling the Mystery of One of Illinois’s Most Infamous Crimes
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Hauptmann’s Ladder: A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping
Richard T. Cahill Jr.
HAUPTMANN’S LADDER
A Step-by-Step Analysis of the Lindbergh Kidnapping
RICHARD T. CAHILL JR.
THE KENT STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS     KENT, OHIO
© 2014 by The Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio 44242
A LL RIGHTS RESERVED
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013042382
ISBN 978-1-60635-193-2
Manufactured in the United States of America
All photographs are reproduced compliments of the New Jersey State Police Museum.
L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ATALOGING-IN- P UBLICATION D ATA
Cahill, Richard T., Jr., 1971–
Hauptmann’s ladder : a step-by-step analysis of the Lindbergh kidnapping /
Richard T. Cahill, Jr.
pages cm. — (True crime history series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60635-193-2 (pbk.) ∞
1. Lindbergh, Charles Augustus, 1930–1932—Kidnapping, 1932. 2. Hauptmann, Bruno Richard, 1899–1936. 3. Kidnapping—New Jersey—Hopewell. 4. Murder—New Jersey—Hopewell. 5. Criminal investigation—United States—History—20th century. 6. Forensic sciences—United States—20th century. 7. Trials (Kidnapping)—New Jersey. 8. Trials (Murder)—New Jersey. I. Title.
HV 6603. L 5 C 34 2014
364.15′4092—dc23
2013042382
18   17   16   15   14         5   4   3   2   1
I dedicate this book to my grandmother,
C ORINNE C AHILL
(1910–2002),
and my father,
R ICHARD T. C AHILL S R.
(1932–2012),
two of the finest people I have ever met.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 “They’ve Stolen Our Baby”
2 Ransom Notes, Ladders, and Chisels
3 The Kidnapper Makes Second Contact
4 J. F. C.
5 Violet and Curtis: Two Bogus Stories Begin
6 “Cemetery John”
7 The Negotiations Continue
8 Double-Crossed
9 The Wild-Goose Chase
10 “I Am Perfectly Satisfied That It Is My Child”
11 The Police Take the Reins
12 The Sad End of Violet Sharp
13 From Bad to Worse
14 The Frustration Mounts
15 Shoenfeld and Koehler
16 The Trail of Gold
17 Bruno Richard Hauptmann
18 The Interrogation Begins
19 “I Have to Be Very Careful. The Man’s Life Is in Jeopardy”
20 More Pieces to the Puzzle
21 Legal Gymnastics in New Jersey
22 Extradition
23 The Bull of Brooklyn
24 The Trial of the Century Begins
25 “Der Alte Ist Verrückt”
26 “John Is Bruno Richard Hauptmann”
27 Paper Evidence
28 “He Is Conceding the Defendant to the Electric Chair!”
29 The Prosecution Gains Momentum
30 The State Rests
31 Hauptmann Takes the Stand
32 More Testimony from the Hauptmanns
33 “Where Are You Getting These Witnesses? They Are Killing Me”
34 The Defense Rests
35 Rebuttal and Summations
36 Wilentz Closes
37 The Verdict
Epilogue
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments
This book is the culmination of many years of hard work. It would not have been possible without the assistance of numerous people along the way.
I must first offer my thanks to Dr. James F. Cotter. It was his assignment in Freshman English that started me on this journey. Additionally, his thorough education on proper grammar and use of the English language played no small part in my ability to write this book. Though I often lamented the substantial amount of red ink on my corrected papers, I appreciate it now.
I further offer my thanks and appreciation to Mark Falzini, the archivist of the New Jersey State Police Museum and Archives. His knowledge of the Lindbergh kidnapping was of an importance exceeded only by the value of his friendship.
Completion of this book could not have been achieved without the assistance and professionalism of Joyce Harrison, Harold Schechter, and the entire staff at Kent State University Press, as well as Valerie Ahwee, my copyeditor.
On a more personal note, I cannot thank my family enough for all their help and assistance. My wife, Laura, was eternally patient with all of the trips, research, writing, and so forth. The journey was long and difficult, but she was by my side the entire way. My mother, Margaret, served as a sounding board and used her skills as a retired schoolteacher to edit the original manuscript, while my sister, Julie, thought up the title for this book. My friend, Mark Ingoglio, also took me on a tour of the various sites of interest throughout the Bronx. I cannot thank them enough.
Richard T. Cahill Jr. October 3, 2013
Introduction
I first became interested in the Lindbergh kidnapping case when I was a freshman in college. My English professor assigned the class a research paper on a topic the writer had never read about or researched. I went to the school library and eventually found a small hardcover book with brief articles on a variety of controversial topics. The book had chapters on Jesse James and Billy the Kid and whether they died in the manner recorded by history. 1 Then I happened upon an article on the Lindbergh kidnapping. As I read it, I recalled seeing an episode of an old show hosted by Leonard Nimoy called In Search of , which dealt with the case. The only thing I could remember about the show was that a baby had been kidnapped and killed, and that a man had been convicted and executed for the crime. The show’s guest, a man with a mustache, felt strongly that the convicted man was actually innocent. 2
I decided to make the Lindbergh kidnapping the topic for my research paper. Over the next few days, I read Scapegoat: The Lonesome Death of Bruno Richard Hauptmann , by Anthony Scaduto, as well as two magazine articles on the case. 3 After this very brief amount of research, I wrote a seven-page paper in which I proclaimed that Bruno Richard Hauptmann was an innocent man framed by the police.
As I look back now, I realize that my conclusion was faulty, my so-called facts incorrect, and my research sloppy. I learned a good lesson from that paper when I reread it years later. The Lindbergh kidnapping case is extremely complicated. Before anyone expresses an opinion on the matter, a great deal more is required than simply reading one book or magazine article. Many of the secondary source books and articles on this subject have the same problem: limited research followed by weak conclusions without evidentiary support. The result is that many falsehoods have now become accepted as facts and are regularly printed in modern articles and books.
The Airman and the Carpenter: The Lindbergh Kidnaping and the Framing of Richard Hauptmann , 4 by Sir Ludovic Kennedy, was well written and further cemented my belief in the innocence of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, but caused me to change my opinion concerning the body found on May 12, 1932. Kennedy thoroughly convinced me that the body had to have been that of the Lindbergh baby. Scaduto had argued that it was not, but never made clear exactly whose body he thought it was.
My thoughts on the case remained generally entrenched until I read The Lindbergh Case , by Jim Fisher. 5 This work took the position that Hauptmann was guilty as charged. Fisher presented some devastating arguments against Hauptmann. On the other hand, Kennedy blasted several holes in the case. I still stubbornly felt that Hauptmann was innocent. I simply could no longer give a good rational argument to support my belief.
Unable to reach a conclusion that satisfied me, I decided to look briefly at some of the original material on the case and resolve, once and for all, the guilt or innocence of Bruno Richard Hauptmann. I figured I could accomplish my goal in a few weeks. My “brief” look at the case of New Jersey vs. Bruno Richard Hauptmann has gone on for over twenty years now. I have since completed law school and become a practicing attorney. I have traveled to the New Jersey State Police Museum and Learning Center Archives, as well as the New York City Municipal Archives on several occasions. I have gone through thousands of FBI and other federal documents relating to the case, and have so much material about the Lindbergh kidnapping that an entire room in my house is dedicated to the case. I have debated this case several times and have even lectured on it at Rutgers University.
After all these years of hard work and research, I can state that this is without question the most fascinating, difficult, frustrating, interesting, and complex case I have ever come across. There are so many different types of evidence presented, as well as some of the most colorful and pathetic characters involved in this trial. I have now reac