Bruno Hauptmann
Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 - April 3, 1936) was a German carpenter and criminal, sentenced to death and executed for the Lindbergh kidnapping, the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh III, the 20-month old son of famous pilot Charles Lindbergh.
Hauptmann was a machine gunner with the German army in WWI. After the war, as a carpenter he was unable to find a job and turned to crime. He burglarized three homes and robbed two women at gunpoint. He was caught and sentenced to five years, of which he served four. Not very soon after he was released, he was charged with another crime, but escaped prison.
He illegally tried to enter the US but was returned two times. At his third attempt in November 1923 he used a disguise and a stolen identification card and managed to enter the country. In 1925 he married Anna Schoeffler, a German immigrant he had met in the US. The two lived in a house in the Bronx; Hauptmann worked as a carpenter.
The kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh III occurred on March 1, 1932; after ransom money had been paid, the boy was found dead on May 12, 1932. In September 1935, a $10 USD gold certificate from the ransom money was discovered; it had Hauptmann's license plate number written on it. Other items related to the case were found in his home.
Hauptmann, who maintained his innocence, was arrested, tried and convicted of the crime. He was sentenced to death and executed on April 3, 1936.
See Lindbergh kidnapping for the details of the case.
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