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Charles Lindbergh III -

On March 1, 1932, 20-month-old Charles Lindbergh III was kidnapped from his bedroom in Hopewell, New Jersey.

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The kidnapping - The kidnapper left behind the ladder he used to access the baby's bedroom window.

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Ransom - Charles's parents found a ransom note in his room, asking for US$50,000 in cash. Three days after Charles was kidnapped, the Lindberghs received another note demanding $70,000.

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Baby's diet -

When the Lindberghs still thought their son was alive, they published his daily diet in the local paper, hoping that the kidnapper would see it and feed him properly.

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Al Capone - An imprisoned Al Capone wanted to help the Lindberghs by offering a US$10,000 reward of his own money to anyone who found the baby.

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Abner “Longie” Zwillman - Mobster Abner “Longie” Zwillman also offered a reward for the boy's return, and claimed that his men in the underworld had information on Charles' whereabouts.

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Abner “Longie” Zwillman - However, as the US was still going through Prohibition and police security was heightened in the town, Zwillman's real motive was to prevent his illegal alcohol cartel from being discovered.

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Lindbergh baby - At one point, the kidnapper told the Lindberghs that once they handed over the money, they would find their son on a boat off the coast of Massachusetts. However, even after complying and carrying out an exhaustive search, there was no sign of the boy.

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Body found - Tinder delivery truck driver William Allen found the baby's body in the woods while stopping to relieve himself.

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Body found - The body had already been decomposing for two weeks and had been partially eaten by animals. Charles was identified by his night shirt and overlapped toes.

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Cremation - Charles's body was immediately cremated after identification.

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The investigation - The baby's father, Charles Lindbergh, was a prominent public figure as the first aviator to cross the Atlantic alone. The family was known and loved by people all over the world. He became heavily involved in his son's investigation.

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The investigation - Lindbergh actually ended up causing a lot of problems for the detectives on the case by ignoring their advice and lying about hearing the kidnapper's voice during a ransom drop-off at a cemetery.

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Clues - The case went unsolved until 1934, when a gas station attendant noticed a marked bill that had come from the ransom money. He wrote down the license plate and the police traced it back to German immigrant Bruno Hauptmann.

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Ransom money - When detectives searched Hauptmann's house, they found some of the Lindbergh's ransom money stashed away.

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Trial - The trial took place in Flemington, a small town in New Jersey.

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Trial - There were 5,000 spectators in total, which was twice the town's population.

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Trial - The courtroom could only seat 500 people, and the local police were needed to keep the anxious crowd outside the courthouse under control.

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Trial - The trial had a press problem. There were 700 reporters milling about, and cameras were not allowed in the courtroom. The proceedings were disturbed when the judge caught a reporter with a camera. He ended up threatening anyone else who attempted to take photos.

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Trial - The defense immediately called for a mistrial after the prosecution's opening statement, but was denied.

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Trial - Hauptmann's trial was one of the first cases to be based on forensic evidence, including fingerprint, handwriting, and wood analyses.

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Handwriting evidence - Handwriting experts testified that Hauptmann's handwriting matched the ransom notes, and that there were several words he misspelled both in the note and in other samples found at his home.

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Evidence -

Arthur Koehler from the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service presented the real incriminating evidence against Hauptmann. The expert testified that the wood of the ladder found at the Lindbergh's house matched wood cut from Hauptmann's attic.

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Hauptmann's fate - Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted to death in 1935 in "Old-Smokey," New Jersey's electric chair.

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Past trouble with the law - Bruno Hauptmann had previous run-ins with the law, including three break-in burglaries and two robberies at gunpoint. While he was imprisoned for one of the burglaries in Germany, he escaped his cell and was never caught.

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Hauptmann's wife - Anna Hauptmann spent the rest of her life trying to prove that her husband had been innocent. She filed a wrongful death suit against New Jersey and demanded US$100 million in damages. Her pleas were ignored.

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Federal offense -

After Hauptmann's electrocution, kidnapping was finally made a federal offense in the US.

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Retesting -

In 2005, the truTV show 'Forensic Files' reexamined the evidence from the Lindbergh trial and confirmed its accuracy.

See also: The most famous executions in history

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