Overview

When Charles Lindbergh's baby son was mysteriously taken from his home near Hopewell, New Jersey, in 1932, the world was shocked. It happened during the worst period of the great Depression, at a time when kidnapping neared epidemic proportions across the nation. Despite the overwhelming publicity the case received both at the time and in all the years since, many controversies surrounding the """"Crime of the Century"""" and the subsequent trial have never been resolved. This is a comprehensive study of the Lindbergh kidnapping, investigation and trial, placing it in the context of the Depression, when many feared the country was on the edge of anarchy. Historian Lloyd C. Gardner delves into aspects of the case that remain confusing. These include Lindbergh's dealings with crime baron Owney Madden, Al Capone's New York counterpart, through gangland intemediaries, as well as the inexplicable exploits of John Condon, a retired schoolteacher who became the prosecution's chief witness. The initial investigation was hampered by Colonel Lindbergh, who insisted that the police not attempt to find the perpetrator because he feared the investigation would endanger his son's life. He relented only when the child was found dead. After two years of fruitless searching, a German immigrant, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, was discovered to have some of the ransom money in his possession. Hauptmann was arrested, tried and sentenced to death. Throughout the book, Gardner pays special attention to the evidence of the case and how it was used and misused in the trial. Whether Hauptmann was guilty or not, Gardner concludes that there was most likely insufficient evidence to convict him of first-degree murder. The study draws upon FBI records that reveal the animosity between J. Edgar Hoover and Norman Scwarzkopf, commander of the New Jersey State Police.

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9780813533858

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Reviews

"""The Case That Never Dies does not tell us definitively who kidnapped and killed Charlie. But I would not be surprised if other readers also conclude that had Gardner, with his curiosity, keen understanding of human behavior and first-rate analytical mind, been involved with the original investigation, this story would have had a significantly different ending.""--Trenton Times"

The Case That Never Dies does not tell us definitively who kidnapped and killed Charlie. But I would not be surprised if other readers also conclude that had Gardner, with his curiosity, keen understanding of human behavior and first-rate analytical mind, been involved with the original investigation, this story would have had a significantly different ending. --Trenton Times

Author Information

LLOYD C. GARDNER, a professor of history at Rutgers University, is the author of over a dozen books on U.S. foreign relations. Among the awards he has received are two Fulbright Professorships and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

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