Gilgo Beach forensics seen as key to closing Lindbergh baby case
A group of historians and genetic experts hopes forensic techniques used to identify victims in the Gilgo Beach killings can help put an end to lingering doubts about who kidnapped and killed Charles Lindbergh Jr. in 1932. Credit: AP
Pundits called it the Crime of the Century. When it got to court, it was known as the Trial of the Century.
For years, the March 1, 1932, kidnapping and subsequent killing of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old towheaded toddler of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, made for a sensational news story, with talk of possible conspirators behind the crime. Despite payment of a nearly $70,000 ransom, the child’s battered body was found in the woods not far from the Lindbergh home in rural New Jersey.
Bruno Hauptmann, a German immigrant from the Bronx, was ultimately tried in 1935, convicted and executed in 1936 for the toddler’s death, although the evidence to some crime historians wasn’t overwhelming.
Decades later, some who have studied the case remain unconvinced that Hauptmann kidnapped and killed the child, or acted alone. And with help from the same groundbreaking forensic technique used to identify victims in the Gilgo Beach killings, they hope to put any doubts to rest.
On Friday, three plaintiffs — an American history professor at the University of Kansas, a retired New Jersey teacher and a developmental psychologist — filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey State Police aimed at unraveling mysteries surrounding the case. The lawsuit, filed in Mercer County Superior Court under the state open records law, seeks to use modern forensic techniques to examine decades-old evidence kept in a police storage facility.
The plaintiffs want access to certain pieces of evidence — namely several envelopes that contain the original ransom notes — so they can submit the stamps and adhesives for forensic testing to possibly identify others involved in the crime and prove a conspiracy.
The authorities aren't talking.
"We don’t comment about pending litigation," said Sgt. 1st Class Charles Marchan, of the New Jersey State Police, last week.
According to New Jersey attorney Kurt W. Perhach, who filed the legal complaint, the plaintiffs want to test the adhesive materials to determine if they will yield DNA.
They hope to use the same genetic technology that helped investigators identify the remains of Valerie Mack, Karen Vergata and Tanya Denise Jackson and her young daughter, Tatiana. The remains of Mack, Vergata and Tatiana were recovered from the same area of Gilgo Beach as the alleged victims of accused serial killer Rex A. Heuermann. He has been charged with murder in connection with Mack's death.
Over the years, Hauptmann’s family protested his innocence and said others had to have been involved. Hauptmann told police the recorded ransom money found in his home was left to him by a business partner who returned to Germany and died in 1934.
All the Lindbergh case materials, amounting to more than 225,000 documents, were ordered to be open to public inspection in 1981 by then-New Jersey Gov. Brendan Byrne. At the time, Byrne believed Hauptmann was guilty of the kidnapping and murder but wanted the public to have the ability to review the evidence for future research.
Nationally known genetic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick, of the California firm Identifinders International, who is not a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement in the court filings that "it has only been recently that DNA testing and analysis have evolved with the potential of testing those envelopes to produce definitive investigative leads that could resolve lingering uncertainties."
In a telephone interview with Newsday, Fitzpatrick said that in essence, genetic genealogy could allow researchers to backtrack through public databases to find other modern-day relatives of any potential and long-dead co-conspirators in the kidnapping. Fitzpatrick said DNA has been recovered in envelopes dating from the 19th century, so it is possible genetic material can be recovered from the Lindbergh materials.
Some crime theorists have maintained that someone close to Lindbergh — a national hero at the time after taking off from Long Island's Roosevelt Field in 1927 to complete the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean — could have been involved in the kidnapping.
After his historic flight, Lindbergh became a close friend of Harry Guggenheim, the philanthropist, aviation enthusiast and, along with his wife, Alicia Patterson, founder of Newsday. Lindbergh even stayed for a period of time at the Sands Point home of Guggenheim known as Falaise.
Perhach said DNA may hold the key to answering questions about whether Hauptmann acted alone or had accomplices, including someone close to the Lindbergh family.
"There are far too many circumstantial things that this case to have any possible belief that one strange person acted alone," Perhach said in an email.
Pundits called it the Crime of the Century. When it got to court, it was known as the Trial of the Century.
For years, the March 1, 1932, kidnapping and subsequent killing of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old towheaded toddler of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, made for a sensational news story, with talk of possible conspirators behind the crime. Despite payment of a nearly $70,000 ransom, the child’s battered body was found in the woods not far from the Lindbergh home in rural New Jersey.
Bruno Hauptmann, a German immigrant from the Bronx, was ultimately tried in 1935, convicted and executed in 1936 for the toddler’s death, although the evidence to some crime historians wasn’t overwhelming.
Unraveling mysteries
Decades later, some who have studied the case remain unconvinced that Hauptmann kidnapped and killed the child, or acted alone. And with help from the same groundbreaking forensic technique used to identify victims in the Gilgo Beach killings, they hope to put any doubts to rest.
On Friday, three plaintiffs — an American history professor at the University of Kansas, a retired New Jersey teacher and a developmental psychologist — filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey State Police aimed at unraveling mysteries surrounding the case. The lawsuit, filed in Mercer County Superior Court under the state open records law, seeks to use modern forensic techniques to examine decades-old evidence kept in a police storage facility.
The plaintiffs want access to certain pieces of evidence — namely several envelopes that contain the original ransom notes — so they can submit the stamps and adhesives for forensic testing to possibly identify others involved in the crime and prove a conspiracy.
The authorities aren't talking.
"We don’t comment about pending litigation," said Sgt. 1st Class Charles Marchan, of the New Jersey State Police, last week.
Gilgo Beach technology
According to New Jersey attorney Kurt W. Perhach, who filed the legal complaint, the plaintiffs want to test the adhesive materials to determine if they will yield DNA.
They hope to use the same genetic technology that helped investigators identify the remains of Valerie Mack, Karen Vergata and Tanya Denise Jackson and her young daughter, Tatiana. The remains of Mack, Vergata and Tatiana were recovered from the same area of Gilgo Beach as the alleged victims of accused serial killer Rex A. Heuermann. He has been charged with murder in connection with Mack's death.
Over the years, Hauptmann’s family protested his innocence and said others had to have been involved. Hauptmann told police the recorded ransom money found in his home was left to him by a business partner who returned to Germany and died in 1934.
All the Lindbergh case materials, amounting to more than 225,000 documents, were ordered to be open to public inspection in 1981 by then-New Jersey Gov. Brendan Byrne. At the time, Byrne believed Hauptmann was guilty of the kidnapping and murder but wanted the public to have the ability to review the evidence for future research.
Nationally known genetic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick, of the California firm Identifinders International, who is not a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement in the court filings that "it has only been recently that DNA testing and analysis have evolved with the potential of testing those envelopes to produce definitive investigative leads that could resolve lingering uncertainties."
Searching for co-conspirators
In a telephone interview with Newsday, Fitzpatrick said that in essence, genetic genealogy could allow researchers to backtrack through public databases to find other modern-day relatives of any potential and long-dead co-conspirators in the kidnapping. Fitzpatrick said DNA has been recovered in envelopes dating from the 19th century, so it is possible genetic material can be recovered from the Lindbergh materials.
Some crime theorists have maintained that someone close to Lindbergh — a national hero at the time after taking off from Long Island's Roosevelt Field in 1927 to complete the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean — could have been involved in the kidnapping.
After his historic flight, Lindbergh became a close friend of Harry Guggenheim, the philanthropist, aviation enthusiast and, along with his wife, Alicia Patterson, founder of Newsday. Lindbergh even stayed for a period of time at the Sands Point home of Guggenheim known as Falaise.
Perhach said DNA may hold the key to answering questions about whether Hauptmann acted alone or had accomplices, including someone close to the Lindbergh family.
"There are far too many circumstantial things that this case to have any possible belief that one strange person acted alone," Perhach said in an email.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
SARRA SOUNDS OFF: The shortage of game officials on LI On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra talks to young people who are turning to game officiating as a new career path.
Top Stories
SARRA SOUNDS OFF: The shortage of game officials on LI On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra talks to young people who are turning to game officiating as a new career path.
