The Lindbergh Baby?

[rynner2]

Article here:

Special: Who Committed The Crime Of The Century?
Posted: 2:27 p.m. EST February 27, 2003
Updated: 8:43 a.m. EST February 28, 2003

An exclusive Problem Solvers investigation found new possible evidence connected with an Orlando man's claim that he is linked to one of America's greatest unsolved mysteries.

The Lindbergh kidnapping remains shrouded in mystery today, 70 years after the crime. But Robert Aldinger may have new clues in the case, according to Local 6 News.

Aldinger is convinced that the men and women he knew as his family are connected to the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr. And, Aldinger believes that he may be Charles Lindbergh. Jr.

Problem Solver Mike Holfeld reported that Aldinger's theory hinges on two factors; his unexplained life in a Brooklyn orphanage and his family's relationship with Bruno Richard Hauptmann.

Hauptmann was the prime suspect in the 1932 crime of the century.

"I haven't seen anybody with a connection to the case but me," Aldinger said. "I know that the people who are responsible to what happened to me are all dead and the people that are alive are innocent."

Our investigation confirmed that Aldinger's grandmother, Lena Knaus Aldinger was Hauptmann's mentor in the early 1920s.

She taught the German immigrant to read and write English, according to the report.

In fact, Lena Aldinger was so close to Hauptmann that after interrogating her after the kidnapping, a New Jersey State Police officer wrote, "If she did know of anything which would tend to further incriminate Hauptmann she would not reveal it.

Did Bob Aldinger's family back Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping, Holfeld asked?

"I am convinced until someone proves me wrong and I would be very surprised if I were proven wrong," Aldinger said.

Aldinger's theory assumes that there was a plot to swap the real Robert Aldinger with the Lindbergh baby.

However, the DNA profiles offer a split conclusion to the theory.

Aldinger's DNA does not match his father's side of the family.

However, there is a 94 percent probably match on his mother's side Nancy Clarke Aldinger.

Local 6 News reported that experts agree that the possibility of Bruno Hauptmann working as part of a kidnap team does make sense.

Local 6 News may have uncovered a message that reportedly proves that Hauptmann did not act alone in the crime.

Holfeld found forgotten artifacts of the Lindbergh case during a trip to New Jersey in the state police evidence warehouse.

Among those artifacts was a piece of wood that appears to come from a small table.

Holfeld reported that a message on the wood and its placement on the wood could change history.

"Those holes are indeed absolutely important to linking this information to the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby," Dr. Nancy Decker said.

Holfeld asked, "So we're looking at a legitimate confession?"

"We do," Decker said.

Local 6 New will continue the investigation Thursday night at 11 p.m..

(Video link and a Poll also with article.)

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

there are some belting conspiracy theories surrounding the Lindberg baby including an Afro-American woman from Trenton who claimed she was the baby and had been forced to undergo a sex change and skin dye.

Lindberg, a noted anti-Semite, was admired by Right Wingers and some will have it the baby was kidnapped to discredit him.

This loon links the Luciferian Masonic Conspiracy and New World Order to Lindberg, the Apollo Programme and the Kennedy’s.

“Examining this "13" line, one sees that it passes near Kitty Hawk, NC, the site of the Wright brothers' first flight. Later on, in 1932, the world-famous aviator, Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, searched for his kidnapped baby son along this "13" line southwest of Martha's Vineyard, close to No Mans Land (Mason Land).

As CLuM luck would have it, the Lindbergh family's original name back in Sweden was Mansson, another Baconian cypher for "No Mans". There is good reason to believe that the real grandfather of Col. Lindbergh was the Crown Prince of Sweden and later King Charles XV. Members of the Swedish royal family are prominent patrons of Masonry and the royal family itself is associated with the so-called Luciferian bloodline connected to the "Priory of Zion".

Therefore, it seems that the Lindbergh baby, a likely Luciferian descendant, was offered as a "thanksgiving" sacrifice to Lucifer/Satan for the aviation successes of the Wright brothers and his father, Charley Mansson, a.k.a. Col. Charles A. Lindbergh. As CLuM luck would have it, the Luciferian FBI announced last Thursday, July 22, that it was finally releasing its files on the Lindbergh kidnapping to the National Archives. That was on the exact same day as the JFK, Jr., burial at sea close to the "13" line”

Question: How rich are the Lindberg descendants today?

and what are the chances of this claimant getting their DNA?

 

[Anonymous]

Wasn't there a theory last year that Lingburgh had unintentionally killed the baby himself. It was suggested that he was a bit of a brute who ill treated his son (ie throwing about, letting him scream himself sick when upset) in the mis-guided notion that it would make the poor babe more of a 'man'...

 

[mejane]

This site sets out to prove that Hauptmann was either innocent, or at the very least not acting alone.

Aldinger's theory assumes that there was a plot to swap the real Robert Aldinger with the Lindbergh baby.

I don't really understand this - why would the kidnapper(s) want to do this? If the story is true, then what happened to the real Aldinger?

The fact that Aldinger's DNA test apparently show that the man he called his father was not his biological father proves nothing (I'm sure it's happened to more than a few people!). The pesky little cynic in me suspects that he may be after money and/or fame...

Jane.

 

[rynner2]

Wasn't there a theory last year that Lingburgh had unintentionally killed the baby himself.

The site linked to in Mejane's post seems essential reading for anyone interested in this case.

On May 12, 1932 the child's decomposed body, lying in a shallow grave only two miles (walking distance) from his home, was found by a truck driver. The baby had been dead since the night of his disappearance. Lindbergh, in command of the entire investigation from its inception, ordered an immediate cremation. No legitimate autopsy was ever performed. There is no corpse to exhume for forensic testing.

Lindbergh scattered the ashes of his firstborn child out of an airplane in August 1932 and a long line of "real Lindbergh babies" have staked their claim for a share in the Lindbergh fortune ever since.

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

This site sets out to prove that Hauptmann was either innocent, or at the very least not acting alone.

I've not read a single piece claiming Hauptman was guilty. Everyone inc. ex-FBI, ex-Detectives and the excellent BBC documentary a few years back, state that he went to his death proclaiming his innocece.

do a Google on his name if youre interested, but for me, the clincher is that he was offered a deal commuting his death penalty to life inprisonment if he would confess.

he refused.

I don't really understand this - why would the kidnapper(s) want to do this? If the story is true, then what happened to the real Aldinger?

real kidnappers wouldnt, since the motive was clearly money.

there are a few conspiracy theories right out of Planet Janet claiming a substitution was planned with a Jewish baby to discredit the right wing anti-semite pro-German Lindberg family a generation down the line.

the same people tend to quote 12' lizards as being behind the plot.

if this theory is to be believed, then the Aldinger baby ended up in the ditch and the Lindberg baby could still be alive?

 

[Anonymous]

Wasn't there a theory last year that Lingburgh had unintentionally killed the baby himself. It was suggested that he was a bit of a brute who ill treated his son (ie throwing about, letting him scream himself sick when upset) in the mis-guided notion that it would make the poor babe more of a 'man'...

I heard that one as well. Apparently, he also liked playing practical jokes, had done the 'kidnapping' himself for a joke but had dropped the child as he was climbing down the ladder - the autopsy showed that the kid died from a skull fracture that could be consistent with hitting a ladder rung.
It actually sounds the most plausible of all the theories - no wonder he 'took charge' of the investigation.

 

[ogopogo3]

I've not read a single piece claiming Hauptman was guilty.

Sorry, but there's too much circumstantial evidence to say that Hauptmann was innocent. 1) The ransom money was found in his garage, though he actually said it belonged to a dead business associate. 2) He quit his job the very same day the ransom money was delivered. 3) When he lived in Germany, he was convicted of burglary--where he used a ladder to break into a second floor window. That's entirely too much coincidence for me.

Some of the other evidence is a little dicier, and it would not suprise me if some if it was planted, like the ladder rung.

The suicide of the Lindbergh's maid so soon after the kidnapping is a bit suspicious, as well. He might not have acted alone, but Hauptmann was definitely involved.

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

Cant agree me auld son. The whole shambles was dicey and railroaded through. DNA aside, it would never have made Court today.

Sorry, but there's too much circumstantial evidence to say that Hauptmann was innocent. 1) The ransom money was found in his garage, though he actually said it belonged to a dead business associate. 2) He quit his job the very same day the ransom money was delivered.[/B]

The money in the garage is the only solid evidence and Hauptmans story stands up, ie: it was left with him by Fisch.

Hauptman quit jobs like a man who cant hold down a job. This quitting is not evidence, its purely circumstantial.

Hauptman had had dealings with his dead chum, Isidor Fisch in several lightweight scams, mostly in the Bronx. Both had low level criminal records, but so did many Lindberg servents.

Fisch had a heavy German accent, Hauptman had a light one. Telephone conversations with the go-between indicated person always spoke in a heavy German accent. The ransom note is heavily Germanic…

Dear Sir
Have 50,000 $ redy 25 000 $ in 20 $ bills 1,5000 $ in 10 $ bills and 10000 $ in 5 $ bills. After 2-4 days we will inform you were to deliver the Mony
We warn you for making anyding public or for notify the polise the child is in gute care.

3) When he lived in Germany, he was convicted of burglary--where he used a ladder to break into a second floor window. That's entirely too much coincidence for me.

Some of the other evidence is a little dicier, and it would not suprise me if some if it was planted, like the ladder rung.

So Hauptman is guilty of any crime in his vicinity involving a first floor ladder entry?

The ladder used was pounded together with nails and very crude, Hauptman was a skilled carpenter. Fisch wasn’t.

The suicide of the Lindbergh's maid so soon after the kidnapping is a bit suspicious, as well. He might not have acted alone, but Hauptmann was definitely involved.

The maid, Violet Sharpe had a seriously dodgy past. An unbalanced alcoholic, her affair with the alcoholic butler led to an abortion and on the night she was in a Roadhouse with a man who had picked her up.

The fact that she was in charge of the kid may well have led her to think her life, not too smart before the event, was over. Unemployable, notorious, plus her existing problems…

And finally, why didn’t Hauptman accept the offer of a commuted sentence if he confessed? He even refused an offer of $75,000 for his wife and son if he confessed. He couldn’t. He didn’t do it.

the 'Lindberg Hoax' theory is interesting (IE: Lindberg did it as a prank, or Annes mad sister Elizabeth did it and Lindberg covered up) but off thread cos if true, Rynners geezer really cant be the dead Lindberg baby.

unless he is the walking dead

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

Nothing like checking your facts after the event….

Just dug up this

(extract)

Hauptmann was interrogated, possibly beaten, and maintained that the money had been given to him by Isador Fisch, a business partner, before Fisch had departed for Germany in December, 1933.
Later, Insp. Lewis J. Bornmann of the New Jersey State Police discovered a missing rafter in Hauptmann's attic that corresponded to one of the uprights of the kidnap ladder. Koehler confirmed that the missing length of lumber matched, even to nail holes, the bottom section.

which I hadnt read when I wrote the above.

a good defence lawyer could still demonstrate the money and ladder spar were circumstantial, IMHO.

what happened to the missing $36k ?

 

[rynner2]

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Rare recordings of a radio broadcast on the Lindbergh trial and a landmark TV drama have been discovered, the Museum of Television & Radio said Tuesday.

The recording made about the 1935 trial of Bruno Hauptmann for the kidnapping and killing of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh's baby son is the only known one in existence, the museum said.

The other discovery, the acclaimed 1954 jury room drama "Twelve Angry Men," has not been seen in its entirety since the initial broadcast and was among the museum's most sought-after programs.

Broadcasting in its early days was considered disposable and so much was lost that the discoveries take on greater importance, said Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University.

"Whenever anyone is able to reclaim even a little corner of broadcasting history, it warms our hearts," he said. "It's a little bit more to sink our teeth into."

The Lindbergh recordings features prominent New York defense attorney Samuel Leibowitz's daily accounts of the trial. His trial analysis was broadcast from the studio of New York radio station WHN and was recorded on metal disc.

The recording was in the possession of Leibowitz's children, who also had a 16mm film copy of a kinescope of "Twelve Angry Men."

"The Lindbergh trial coverage offers unique insight into the judicial system in America at that time and will serve as a valuable document for historians and scholars," museum President Robert M. Batscha said.

...

But the Lindbergh find is particularly exciting, [Thompson] said.

A recording provides the texture of the event in a way a court transcript cannot, he said. The trial's intense coverage also is a reminder of how long we've lived in a media-driven age.

"The problems with us now, with regard to 'stories of the century' mentality, the feeding frenzy the media can create among themselves and listeners and viewers, is a phenomenon that has been with us for a while," Thompson said. "It didn't start with Monica or O.J."

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

one gruesome aspect of the case concerns the botched scene of crime protocols and the strangely hurried autopsy

it was announced that the baby died due to a massive skull injury consistant with being dropped on its head (assumed by many to be a slip from the ladder) but that there was a hole at the base of the skull

this was not persued since a police sergent at the scene was seen to 'Poke the babies head with a stick'

he did WHAT? :eek!!!!:

 

[Anonymous]

Father and son

Whenever I read about this case I like to remind people that Gen. Schwartzkopf's father had been employed by the NJ State Police as parto f their botched investigation. Later he moved to Persia - now Iran - and helped set up the security force that would become the Shah's dreaded Savak.
In 1991 sonny boy led the allied troops to a victory of sorts in Iraq. I read a post - Desert Storm interview with poet Allen Ginsberg who declared that the general and his father had "heavy karma" in that part of the world. Until I did some research, I'd written off AG's remarks as hippy rhetoric. Shows how wrong you can be.

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

Re: Father and son

Whenever I read about this case I like to remind people that Gen. Schwartzkopf's father had been employed by the NJ State Police as parto f their botched investigation. Later he moved to Persia - now Iran - and helped set up the security force that would become the Shah's dreaded Savak.
In 1991 sonny boy led the allied troops to a victory of sorts in Iraq. I read a post - Desert Storm interview with poet Allen Ginsberg who declared that the general and his father had "heavy karma" in that part of the world. Until I did some research, I'd written off AG's remarks as hippy rhetoric. Shows how wrong you can be.

yep, Schwartzkopf's Dad was one of the 'Three Colnels' who botched the original investigation.

But I didnt know he setup the Savak for the Shah

 

[intaglio]

The weakest part of the case against Hauptmann was always the ladder. The "discovery" of a missing rafter from which part of the ladder was constructed has been the subject of some investigation and there was a strong suspicion that it was manufactured evidence being presented without itemised proof.

IIRC Hauptmann was found after spending a small amount of the money he found in the garage, but nothing like $36,000 which is equivalent in todays terms of about £500,000 - £600,000 pounds.

Do not make too much of the rapid disposal of the Lindberg child, Forensic science was in it's infancy and little more would have been found than the fracture. It would also be a mistake to make too much of Lindberg's apparent cruelty in raising the child, times change and people with them.

 

[ogopogo3]

As a footnote to the case, I came across this tidbit about famed detective Ellis Parker in THE PEOPLE'S ALMANAC #3:

Parker managed to carve out an illustrious record in four decades of detective work, during which he solved about 350 crimes, including 118 out of 124 murder cases submitted to him. Yet he ended up a tragic figure. When news of the Lindbergh kidnapping broke in 1932, Parker was insulted because the law officials who had leaned on him so much in the past failed to contact him. Parker brooded about the case, and after the arrest of Bruno Hauptmann he became convinced that the real culprit was Paul Wendel, a Trenton, New Jersey man. Parker virtually kidnapped Wendel and held him captive in various hideaways in Brooklyn and New Jersey until he extracted a so-called "confession," and Parker faced a federal charged of abduction. He was sent to prison for six years and died at the penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania before he had finished half his sentence.

A tad more info about Parker:

http://www.johnreisinger.com/Searchch1.html

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

Do not make too much of the rapid disposal of the Lindberg child, Forensic science was in it's infancy and little more would have been found than the fracture.

I know. I just like the idea of a police sergent saying "Gee. A dead baby. Wonder what happens when you poke its head with a stick"

wasnt Lindbergs sister a major suspect?

 

[Anonymous]

Looking at the existing photos of the situation of the corpse, it looks like there could have been some confusion as to what had been found i.e. was it a baby or was it a doll? In view of the level of public interest, it would be embarassing to have the press report the police had found a child's toy. Poking it with a stick, while dubious practice, probably seemed the best thing to do until a coroner arrived.

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

Looking at the existing photos of the situation of the corpse, it looks like there could have been some confusion as to what had been found i.e. was it a baby or was it a doll? In view of the level of public interest, it would be embarassing to have the press report the police had found a child's toy. Poking it with a stick, while dubious practice, probably seemed the best thing to do until a coroner arrived.

good grief Hugo :eek!!!!:

touch its arm and you have your answer. Peel back an eyelid. While incompetent surely the police at the scene were not barking?

"Careful Inspector Morse. It might be a doll and we dont want to look like tits. Just poke that stick into its head. If it comes out sawdust we leave it. If it comes out brains, Bingo"

 

[Anonymous]

Depends on how much experience the man in question had with dead things too. Having pointed out that forensics were pretty primitive back then, an inexperienced man may well have done such a deed.

There are cases of worse things being done up to the present by the UK police, where I have a little more knowledge than 1920s USA.

I merely put it forward as a posibility.

 

[Quetzelcoatl]

I merely put it forward as a posibility.

fair do's

it shall remain a bizarre and slightly ghoulish sidelight on a bizarre and ghoulish case

my moneys on his sister

 

[rynner2]

More Lingergh babies!

BERLIN, Oct. 10 — Three Germans who claim to be the secret children of Charles Lindbergh have taken DNA tests to prove it and met American descendants of the aviator, a family adviser told Reuters Thursday. Anton Schwenk, consultant to the German offspring, said DNA tests were taken recently and results would be known in a few weeks. He said there had been several amiable meetings in Europe between the Munich family and the American Lindberghs.

THE THREE GERMANS went public two months ago to announce that Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, led a double existence for the last 17 years of his life, visiting his second family in Munich and supporting them generously.

Lindbergh, who died in 1974 aged 72, was married and had six children with his wife in the United States.

“There have been several meetings that went very, very well,” Schwenk said. “The meetings were congenial and joyful affairs. That’s the reason why the genetic tests have become a secondary issue now. We’ll have the results soon.

“Contact has been made and things are still fragile,” he added. “There’s a process of adjustment. There’s a lot to come to terms with. We don’t want to upset anything. After all these years, it takes time. But things are developing very well.”

LINDBERGH REACTION
There was no initial reaction from the Lindbergh family to claims by Germans Dyrk Hesshaimer, 45, Astrid Bouteuil, 42, and David Hesshaimer, 36. But an American Lindbergh grandson later came forward to say he thought it was possible they were related.

Morgan Lindbergh, 36, had said he believed the Germans were telling the truth because in photographs they “look hauntingly familiar.” He told Reuters in August he was willing to take a DNA test to provide a comparison with the Germans’ DNA, an offer relayed to Schwenk.

“Morgan was here and he was among the family members to take part in the reunions,” Schwenk said of the neuroscience student from Olympia, Wash. Schwenk said the U.S. Lindberghs had invited the Germans to visit them in the United States.

The Germans said in August they went public because they wanted to be recognized as Lindbergh’s children — and erase the blemish of having “father unknown” on their birth certificates.

They insisted they had no interest in his estate nor in tarnishing the legacy of the first man to fly over the Atlantic in a daring 33-hour flight from New York to Paris in 1927.

They have portrayed Lindbergh as a loving father who supported them with trust funds and helped buy a house for them even though they knew him only as “Mr. Careu Kent.” He came to Germany for about three visits each year of five to 14 days.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/978700.asp

 

[MrRING]

Charles Lindbergh: Playa


DNA tests say Lindbergh fathered three children in Germany

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - DNA tests have confirmed that all-American hero and aviator Charles Lindbergh fathered three illegitimate children in Germany, their spokesman said.

In a statement, he said the tests supported their assertions that Lindbergh, who won instant celebrity for making the first solo, non-stop transatlantic flight in 1927, was their father.

The probes, examined by a Munich university medical centre, compared their DNA with a sample from a member of Lindbergh's family.

The result, handed in writing to the three last week, showed a probability of paternity of more than 99 percent.

"They never had any doubt about the question," the spokesman Anton Schwenk told AFP when asked about their reaction.

He said they had since made contact with Lindbergh's US family.

Astrid Bouteuil, now 43, and brothers Dyrk and David Hesshaimer, 45 and 36 respectively, told the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily in August that they only learned their father's identity after his death in 1974.

According to them, quoting a clutch of letters he wrote, Lindbergh fell in love with a 31-year-old Munich hat maker, Brigitte Hesshaimer, during a visit to Germany in 1957 and continued to see her until his death.

The children were born between 1958 and 1967. They were listed in official records as "father unknown," but they say he visited them often and supported them financially.

They said they only felt able to come forward after their mother died two years ago.

The spokesman said the children would not be making any comment.

A book and a television documentary are currently in production in Germany about the affair.

Traditionally, Lindbergh has been portrayed as a happily married family man with five children. The claims that he fathered illegitimate children were met with deep scepticism in the United States.

Schwenk said, however, that Bouteuil and the Hesshaimers had met in Europe with members of Lindbergh's US family since August.

"The establishment of family relations will grow naturally," he added. "The gap of so many years cannot be bridged in a few hours."

Later in August, the German news magazine Focus claimed that Lindbergh had another two illegitimate children in Germany -- the fruits of a relationship with Hesshaimer's sister Marietta.

It said Marietta was now living in Switzerland in a house built for her by the aviator.



Source

[Emp edit: Fixing long link]

 

[mejane]

Latest news merged here.

Jane.

 

[rynner2]

Aviator Lindbergh 'fathered children by three mistresses'
By Bojan Pancevski in Munich
(Filed: 29/05/2005)

The extraordinary tangled love life of the American aviator Charles Lindbergh, the first pilot to fly non-stop across the Atlantic, has been revealed by the three illegitimate children whose existence he kept secret for almost 20 years.

They have disclosed intimate details about Lindbergh's affairs in which he fathered children not only by their mother, Brigitte, but also her sister, Marietta, and, allegedly, his private secretary.

Dyrk and David Hesshaimer and their sister, Astrid Bouteuil, who are now middle-aged, were born and grew up in Germany without ever being told their father's true identity.

They were recognised as Lindbergh's children only in 2003 after DNA tests proved that they were related.

In a new book, The Secret Life of Charles A Lindbergh, they reveal how the dashing aviator's 17-year relationship with Brigitte lasted even after he fathered two children with her sister, Marietta.

Although Lindbergh had professed admiration for Nazi Germany in the 1930s and supported ideas about eugenics, his passion for the women outweighed any prejudice: the book reveals that both sisters suffered walking disabilities as a result of childhood illness.

"I am aware that our actions have tainted the image of an impeccable American hero," said Astrid, 44. "But they also reveal that a man once thought of as emotionless and unattainable was in fact a caring and loving father."

Lindbergh was 55 and seemingly happily married to his American wife, Anne Morrow, when he met Brigitte and Marietta at a dinner party in Munich in 1957.

He and Anne had six children, their marriage apparently surviving the tragic death of their son, Charles, who at 20 months old was abducted and killed in 1932.

Yet according to Rudolf Schroeck, the book's author, over dinner Lindbergh fell for Brigitte, a 31-year-old hatmaker.

"The sisters were friends of his secretary, Valeska, with whom he was already embroiled in a relationship," said Schroeck, who drew on more than 150 letters and photographs sent to Brigitte by Lindbergh that were discovered years after his death.

Their tempestuous affair ended only with his death in 1974. Although Lindbergh did not live in Germany, he regularly visited Brigitte in Munich and took her to his secret flat in Rome, previously used for trysts with Valeska.

When the children were born, he carried on visiting his new family but never told them his real name. "He visited about four times a year for a few days, and made sure they had a wonderful time," Schroeck said.

"He took them on trips to the country and told stories of his travels. He never failed to meet his financial duties towards their mother, for whom he built a house.

"They were told their father was an American writer, Careu Kent. She made them promise never to mention him to anyone, even friends or family, saying he would not come back if they did."

In spite of what Schroeck calls this "stigma of silence", David Hesshaimer, 38, said that his mother seemed content - even after Lindbergh's affair with her sister.

"You could see how happy and excited my mother was when she spoke about him," Mr Hesshaimer said. "I could see how intimate they were."

Lindbergh's sons by Marietta - Vago, 45, and Christoph, 39 - have remained silent about their parents, in accordance with their mother's wishes.

According to Schroeck, Lindbergh also had two children with Valeska but their identities are unknown. None of the three women married.

Mr Schroeck said: "Valeska and Marietta have not taken part in the book as they want to honour the vow of secrecy given to Lindbergh."

Brigitte's children remained faithful to the same vow until their mother died in 2001, when they decided to speak out about the man they always suspected was their father.

"The Lindbergh family were understandably shocked at the news and refused to believe it, particularly as both the Hesshaimer sisters were disabled," said Schroeck.

"Lindbergh subscribed to the teachings of eugenics and he believed in breeding healthy children from healthy parents. It was very surprising for his family to learn that he had fathered children to two disabled women who were unable to walk properly."

It was in 1927 that Lindbergh, a 25-year-old college drop-out, flew solo to Paris to become the most celebrated man on earth. Winston Churchill said he was "… all that a man should say, all that a man should do, and all that a man should be".

Within 15 years, however, Lindbergh had become a pariah, cast as an anti-Semite and Nazi sympathiser. In the 1930s, Lindbergh made several visits to Nazi Germany to report on the Luftwaffe for the US military.

Public opinion turned when he accepted a medal from Hermann Goering, saying that to return it would be an "unnecessary insult". Lindberg later recommended that the US negotiate a neutrality pact with Hitler.

In 1941, he accused "the Jewish race" of being behind the drive for America to enter the war. "We cannot blame them for looking out for what they believe to be their own interests, but we must look out for ours," he told a rally.

Lindbergh spent his final years on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where he died of cancer in August 1974.

Astrid said: "People may wonder about his treatment of his wife and my mother, but the fact that we exist testifies to the fact that he was simply a man - not a hero."

Telegraph

 

[whoisquilty]

Did anyone else see the Court TV examination that was done recently? They used modern forensic science to reexamine evidence. They proved that by cut marks and the wood grain, that the ladder came from the floor boards in Hauptmann's attic. There was also some other evidence that they linked to him, making Hauptmann's denials of involvement seem more like lies.

 

[Littlegreylady]

Did anyone else see the Court TV examination that was done recently? They used modern forensic science to reexamine evidence. They proved that by cut marks and the wood grain, that the ladder came from the floor boards in Hauptmann's attic. There was also some other evidence that they linked to him, making Hauptmann's denials of involvement seem more like lies.

This may have been the same programme that I watched last night - it was broadcast on the Crime and Investigation channel, available on cable in the UK. I found it was a very good programme. They came up with the conclusion that Hauptmann was guilty but that he probably didn't act alone.
They had a long line of experts to look at the evidence.
1) The handwriting of the randsom notes. Hauptmann's own handwriting had several distinctive letter formations which matched the letters. Although one expert pointed out that the letters also matched a style of writing familiar to all Germans of that era. However they all came up with the probability that Hauptmann wrote them.
2) The ladder - using all sorts of fancy methods, they showed part of the ladder and the matching floorboard had a lot of similiarities - knotts on the wood, grain and both had marks on them from being planed... and Hauptmann's hand planer, when used, created these marks. (They didn't mention it but I was intrigued as to why he would have only used one plank from the floorboards when the ladder had at least 6!)
3)Circumstantial evidence - Hauptmann quit his job on the day the ransom was received, $14,000 of the ransom notes were found in his house.

The programme concluded that Hauptmann refused to talk because he didn't act alone. They said that someone else was needed to help him carry the baby out of the window and that that someone else had the remaining ransom money. They speculated as to Lindbergh's involvement but left it open.

The focus on the programme was the Hauptmann trial and verdict and so little or not mention was given to the baby's identity.

It did mention the possibility of whether there was inside help - as the kidnappers knew the Lindbergh's routine. Years ago I read a book that claimed the nanny was part of the plot. Something about the baby's clothes was significant as well but unfortunately I can't remember what the details were and I no longer have the book.

Anyway, was an interesting documentary although didn't really give any new information. Oh and apparantly the 'confession' found on the table didn't match any handwriting samples and was deemed to be a hoax

 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone seen the 'great crimes and trials' episode on this crime on the history channel?

I remember they found two sets of footprints at the window, but then denied it at the trial to make hauptman look like he was acting alone.

Hauptman must have known who did it because he had so many of the bills, but some evidence like a phone number at his house was planted.

And it said the child was not normally at the house at that time but had caught a cold so it stayed there.

Can't have been much fun for hauptman looking forward to the electric chair.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

Wasn't there a theory last year that Lingburgh had unintentionally killed the baby himself. It was suggested that he was a bit of a brute who ill treated his son (ie throwing about, letting him scream himself sick when upset) in the mis-guided notion that it would make the poor babe more of a 'man'...

Letting a baby "scream itself out" was standard advice from a good number of 20th Century American pediatricians. Following even erroneous advice from one's physician is not usually thought of as intentional child abuse.

Even so, I had a nun in grade school who believed that the Lindbergh baby had been born severely retarded and that it had afterwards been killed by its father or at least on orders of the father.

However, I've never heard a "second" to that theory from that day to this.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I saw the Crime Channel doc too and it did seem to support the infamous Rail 16 evidence. The grain, the machining, nail holes all matched and made a compelling case based on both original picture evidence and tree ring measurements.

The handwriting analysis, always suspect, seemed to be agreed upon by the three independent experts.

It would appear as if Hauptman was at least involved, though it is highly unlikely that he acted alone.

A