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The Ghosts of Hopewell: Setting the Record Straight in the Lindberg Case
In this illustrated examination of the Lindbergh kidnapping case, Jim Fisher seeks to set the record straight regarding Bruno Hauptmann's guilt in "the crime of the century." In February 1935, following a sensational, six-week trial, a jury in Flemington, New Jersey, found German carpenter Hauptmann guilty of kidnapping and murdering the twenty-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Although circumstantial, the evidence against Hauptmann―the handwriting on the ransom notes, the homemade kidnapping ladder, Colonel Lindbergh's money found in his garage, his matching the description of the man who accepted the ransom payoff in the Bronx cemetery, his inability to prove an alibi, and his incredible explanation of his possession of the ransom money―was overwhelming, leaving few to doubt his guilt. After a series of appeals and stays, Hauptmann died fourteen months later in the electric chair. A confession would have spared him the death sentence, but Hauptmann chose to die maintaining his innocence. It was not until the mid-1970s that revisionists began to challenge the conventional wisdom in the that Hauptmann was the lone killer. Revisionist books and articles appeared, as did plays, TV shows, and a movie, all portraying Hauptmann as the victim of a massive police and prosecution frame-up. At this point, the focus shifted from the evidence to the conduct of the police. By the 1980s, most people familiar with the case were convinced of Hauptmann's complete innocence. Many denied the murder, believing that the Lindbergh baby remained alive. Several men claimed to be the firstborn son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, one of whom sued to claim his share of the Lindbergh estate after Charles Lindbergh's death in 1974. Another group held that the kidnapping was an elaborate hoax to cover up the murder of the baby by his parents. Anna Hauptmann¹s series of federal lawsuits against New Jersey and others in the mid-1980s fueled further interest in the case. Although Hauptmann's widow lost all of her lawsuits, she had won the hearts and minds of the American people before her death at the age of ninety-four. Former FBI agent Fisher discusses the hard evidence, such as the ransom notes and the wood of the kidnapping ladder. He analyzes and debunks the various revisionist theories and presents new evidence that, coupled with the undisputed facts, prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Hauptmann was guilty as he kidnapped and murdered the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh.
240 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 25, 2016
The Ghosts of Hopewell Setting the Record Straight on the Lindbergh Case by Jim Fisher
On March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr. was kidnapped from the Lindbergh home in Hopewell, New Jersey. Found was a three section ladder that would have reached to 30 inches below the baby’s window. There were marks under the window where the ladder had stood. There were footprints reported, but no one seemed to have a clear grasp of how many persons or whether they were coming or going.
A ransom note marred with misspellings was discovered demanding a total of $50,000. The note was signed with a unique mark consisting of interlocking circles, a red spot in the middle and three holes—one in the red mark and the other two outside the connected circles in line with the center hole.
Sometime later, Lindbergh representative John F Condon met a man he called “Cemetery John” in a Bronx cemetery and gave him the ransom money. The man produced a paper claiming the child was on the “boad Nelly.” On May 12, 1932 the baby’s body was discovered in the woods perhaps two miles from Lindbergh house in a crude grave. Investigation would prove the child died from head trauma, likely on the very night he was kidnapped.
A little over two years later, Bruno Richard Hauptman a German born carpenter was arrested for the crime. He was eventually executed.
This story tries to stick with the known facts of the case without delving into unknowns. It was written in rebuttal to books trying to prove Hauptman innocent. The author makes no secret of the fact that as far as he is concerned; the courts got the right man.
There are three points that make me wonder. The first is that although there were unknown fingerprints on the recovered latter, none of them were Hauptman’s. The second is that the given side by side comparisons of known Hauptman writing and disputed writings from the ransom demands don’t really match too well. Of course, this picture is only one of many, but it is the one the author chose to use. And the third is that they could not beat, coerce, sway, or even promise life instead of the electric chair and make Hauptman confess to the crime.
But one glaring fact cannot be ignored. Hauptman had a lot of the marked ransom money. This is not in dispute. Hauptman said he was holding it for another person, yet he was identified as the person passing the money in stores. And he actually had a marked $20 bill in his wallet when arrested!
Tool marks and a board from his attic tied him to the ladder. That also is not really in dispute. Tools do leave distinctive marks, and rail 16 was fitted back into place in the attic floor.
But I do not believe Hauptman did the actual kidnapping or the murder. He had to be involved, however. He made the ladder and he had the ransom money. Being involved alone would have been enough to land him in the electric chair.
I give the book four stars. I think the author did a great job of research and his prose flows easy and isn’t difficult to read. Bravo, Jim Fisher!
Quoth the Raven…
On March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr. was kidnapped from the Lindbergh home in Hopewell, New Jersey. Found was a three section ladder that would have reached to 30 inches below the baby’s window. There were marks under the window where the ladder had stood. There were footprints reported, but no one seemed to have a clear grasp of how many persons or whether they were coming or going.
A ransom note marred with misspellings was discovered demanding a total of $50,000. The note was signed with a unique mark consisting of interlocking circles, a red spot in the middle and three holes—one in the red mark and the other two outside the connected circles in line with the center hole.
Sometime later, Lindbergh representative John F Condon met a man he called “Cemetery John” in a Bronx cemetery and gave him the ransom money. The man produced a paper claiming the child was on the “boad Nelly.” On May 12, 1932 the baby’s body was discovered in the woods perhaps two miles from Lindbergh house in a crude grave. Investigation would prove the child died from head trauma, likely on the very night he was kidnapped.
A little over two years later, Bruno Richard Hauptman a German born carpenter was arrested for the crime. He was eventually executed.
This story tries to stick with the known facts of the case without delving into unknowns. It was written in rebuttal to books trying to prove Hauptman innocent. The author makes no secret of the fact that as far as he is concerned; the courts got the right man.
There are three points that make me wonder. The first is that although there were unknown fingerprints on the recovered latter, none of them were Hauptman’s. The second is that the given side by side comparisons of known Hauptman writing and disputed writings from the ransom demands don’t really match too well. Of course, this picture is only one of many, but it is the one the author chose to use. And the third is that they could not beat, coerce, sway, or even promise life instead of the electric chair and make Hauptman confess to the crime.
But one glaring fact cannot be ignored. Hauptman had a lot of the marked ransom money. This is not in dispute. Hauptman said he was holding it for another person, yet he was identified as the person passing the money in stores. And he actually had a marked $20 bill in his wallet when arrested!
Tool marks and a board from his attic tied him to the ladder. That also is not really in dispute. Tools do leave distinctive marks, and rail 16 was fitted back into place in the attic floor.
But I do not believe Hauptman did the actual kidnapping or the murder. He had to be involved, however. He made the ladder and he had the ransom money. Being involved alone would have been enough to land him in the electric chair.
I give the book four stars. I think the author did a great job of research and his prose flows easy and isn’t difficult to read. Bravo, Jim Fisher!
Quoth the Raven…
April 21, 2022
Ultimately, a pretty terrible book--and when I started reading it, I was considering buying his first book on the Lindbergh kidnapping. I'm guessing some people trashed that book, Fisher got his feelings hurt, and he decided he'd trash everyone else's book in retaliation. He isn't a particularly good writer, and I'm not sure whether Southern Illinois University Press bothered to edit it before they published it. Are they a vanity press? I've always been interested in the kidnapping (my dad told me the story of the police in Brooklyn poking their noses in his younger brother's carriage in 1932, suspecting he might be the missing baby), but I've only read one or two other books on the subject--Anne Morrow Lindbergh's diary and the Behn book that suggested her sister murdered the baby out of jealousy. That WAS a foolish premise, and I chose this book because I foolishly thought this really would "set the record straight." It didn't. All it did was support the NY and NJ Police and the FBI's work to a slavish degree, ignoring or making up excuses for anything they couldn't deal with. I'm not looking to excuse Hauptmann; he probably did it. My problem is with the incredible foolishness of Charles Lindbergh. Is he supposed to be as stupid as he seems? I know he was a Nazi, and Hauptmann's widow seems to have been one too, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were in cahoots all along. Who else but an idiot would work with Condon? I'm not sure I'm ever going to read another book on the subject, though I think there's one on my bookshelves. I'm going to have to take a long rest after wasting my time reading this one.
April 18, 2012
Fisher said all that he really needed to say about the Lindbergh case in his previous book.
April 10, 2013
Disputes those who think Hauptmann was innocent with facts. Easy to read. Well written.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews