After more than two years of searching, investigators believed they had finally found the man responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

In January 1935, Bruno Richard Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, New Jersey, for what had become known as the Crime of the Century.

As reporters and spectators descended on the small town, the prosecution presented its case against Hauptmann, who maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings.

But the verdict would not bring an end to the Lindbergh kidnapping case.

In the decades that followed, questions surrounding the evidence, the investigation, and what really happened that night at Highfields would give rise to competing theories and a controversy that has endured for generations.

Related Reading & Sources

The Spirit of St. Louis
Charles A. Lindbergh

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Lindbergh
A. Scott Berg

Lindbergh: The Crime
Noel Behn

Little Lindy Is Kidnapped
Thomas Doherty

Scapegoat: The Lonesome Death of Bruno Richard Hauptmann
Anthony Scaduto

The Airman and the Carpenter: The Lindbergh Kidnapping and the Framing of Richard Hauptmann
Ludovic Kennedy

The Lindbergh Case
Jim Fisher

Crime of the Century: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Hoax
Gregory Ahlgren and Stephen Monier

The Case That Never Dies: The Lindbergh Kidnapping
Lloyd C. Gardner

Cemetery John: The Undiscovered Mastermind of the Lindbergh Kidnapping
Robert Zorn

The Lindbergh Kidnapping Suspect No. 1: The Man Who Got Away
Lise Pearlman

NOVA: Who Killed Lindbergh’s Baby?
PBS, 2013
NOVA | Who Killed Lindbergh's Baby? | Season 40 | Episode 4 | PBS

New Jersey v. Bruno Richard Hauptmann — Trial Transcript Collection
Rutgers University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives
Collection: New Jersey vs. Hauptmann Trial Transcript | Archives and Special Collections at Rutgers

Bruno Hauptmann Trial Excerpts
CrimeArchives
CrimeArchives: Bruno Hauptmann | Trial Excerpts

Listen ad-free on Spotify with a subscription or membership on Patreon: True Crime of the Historical Kind Podcast

https://www.patreon.com/truecrimeofthehistoricalkind

The kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr. had ended in tragedy.

Now, the search for the missing child would become a manhunt for his killer.

As investigators encountered one dead end after another, the pressure to solve the Crime of the Century continued to grow.

Then, in September 1934, a single gold certificate led them to a suspect.

Related Reading:

The Spirit of St. Louis

By Charles A. Lindbergh

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead

By Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Lindbergh

By A. Scott Berg

Lindbergh: The Crime

By Noel Behn

Little Lindy Is Kidnapped

By Thomas Doherty

The Case That Never Dies

By Lloyd C. Gardner

The Lindbergh Kidnapping Suspect No. 1: The Man Who Got Away

By Lise Pearlman

*Listen ad-free on Patreon: True Crime of the Historical Kind Podcast

The kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr. became a story that gripped the nation.

As Charles and Anne Lindbergh waited desperately for word of their son, ransom notes arrived, intermediaries stepped forward, and a search stretched from the New Jersey countryside to the streets of New York. For more than two months, hope remained that Charlie would be brought home safely.

Then, on May 12, 1932, that hope came to a devastating end.

Related Reading:

The Spirit of St. Louis

By Charles A. Lindbergh

Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead

By Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Lindbergh

By A. Scott Berg

Lindbergh: The Crime

By Noel Behn

Little Lindy Is Kidnapped

By Thomas Doherty

The Case That Never Dies

By Lloyd C. Gardner

The Lindbergh Kidnapping Suspect No. 1: The Man Who Got Away

By Lise Pearlman

*Listen ad-free on Patreon: True Crime of the Historical Kind Podcast