This volume of The Dark Corners is not unlike the previous three. As with the others, you will find information here not found anywhere else. This volume is slightly different though, with much attention given to what I consider leftovers and loose ends. I have also addressed some additional aspects of the Lindbergh kidnapping in which many have expressed interest. This includes a chapter on the “spy” Jacob Nosovitsky and one on Violet Sharp, a topic that I have avoided—until now.
This book will follow the same path as volumes one and two by exploring the dark corners of the Lindbergh kidnapping. The topics that will be discussed in this volume are ones that have never before been properly examined, and new facts will be brought to light, which will, I believe, cause many to rethink their positions on these subjects. Readers should be prepared, though, for the unorthodox approach I take in not providing transitions between chapters, and they may also find that I repeat certain facts or bring up different interpretations of those facts that may not always accord with one another. I do this intentionally, so the reader can draw his or her own conclusions. Over the years, I have been fortunate to have access to number of sources that are little-known and privately held. They have greatly enhanced my knowledge of the case, and I have tried to communicate my essential findings from each in my books. In this regard, my books are unique and should offer new information to even the most seasoned researchers.
This book explores all the unknown facts concerning the early stages of the Lindbergh Kidnapping that were either ignored, forgotten, missed, or shrugged off. Among this new material is the death bed "confession" which has been long sought after by just about anyone who has ever researched this crime. It undeniably turns this crime upside down! Anyone familiar with this sensational case will be completely shocked to learn about this new important information and once applying it, no matter how it is interpreted, will realize the solution is obviously at hand - once and for all.
In 1927, young airmail pilot Charles A. Lindbergh wowed the world by being the first to fly nonstop from New York to Paris. His daring accomplishment won him not only the $25,000 prize, but worldwide recognition. It also cost him his privacy that lasted a lifetime. In 1932, the son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh was kidnapped and later found dead-a crime that shocked America and the world. Bruno Hauptmann was tried, convicted, and executed for his role in the little boy's death. Their Fifteen Minutes is a unique collection of biographical essays filling in the blanks and providing background regarding the key figures involved in the case, such as: -Henry "Red" Johnson, the first "prime suspect" -Hans Kloppenburg, Hauptmann's best friend -Jafsie, also known as Dr. John F. Condon, who served as the intermediary between the kidnappers and the family -Betty Gow, a servant employed by the Lindberghs Until now, the lives of those touched by this case have gone virtually unrecorded. Known only for their brief encounter with history, Their Fifteen Minutes tells the rest of their story showing there was much more to them than their fifteen minutes of fame.
Traces the two-and-a-half year investigation by the New Jersey State Police of the Lindbergh kidnapping case, challenging the effectiveness of the investigation and the evidence that convicted Bruno Hauptmann.
Essential reading for anyone interested in the most famous American crime of the twentieth century Since its original publication in 2004, The Case That Never Dies has become the standard account of the Lindbergh Kidnapping. Now, in a new afterword, historian Lloyd C. Gardner presents a surprise conclusion based on recently uncovered pieces of evidence that were missing from the initial investigation as well as an evaluation of Charles Lindbergh’s role in the search for the kidnappers. Out of the controversies surrounding the actions of Colonel Lindbergh, Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the New Jersey State Police, and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, Gardner presents a well-reasoned argument for what happened on the night of March 1, 1932. The Case That NeverDies places the Lindbergh kidnapping, investigation, and trial in the context of the Depression, when many feared the country was on the edge of anarchy. Gardner delves deeply into the aspects of the case that remain confusing to this day, including Lindbergh’s dealings with crime baron Owney Madden, Al Capone’s New York counterpart, as well as the inexplicable exploits of John Condon, a retired schoolteacher who became the prosecution’s best 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, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, a German immigrant, 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 insufficient evidence to convict him of first-degree murder. Set in historical context, the book offers not only a compelling read, but a powerful vantage point from which to observe the United States in the 1930s as well as contemporary arguments over capital punishment.
"In the depths of the Depression, millions worldwide followed every twist and turn of the Lindbergh baby kidnap/murder. Yet what was reported was largely fake news. Nearly a century after undocumented immigrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann was executed for the dastardly crime, questions still linger. If the wrong man was convicted, who did it? When? Why? Where? How? The shocking answers this book suggests have eluded all prior authors. Extensive research into dusty archives yielded crucial forensic evidence never before analyzed. Readers are invited to reexamine "the crime of the century" with fresh eyes focused on a key suspect - a tall man wearing a fedora that obscured his face. He was spotted with a ladder in his car near the Lindberghs' driveway early that fateful night. The police let an insider who fit that description oversee the entire investigation - the boy's father, international hero Charles Lindbergh. Abuse of power, amorality and xenophobia all feature in this saga set in an era dominated by white supremacists and social Darwinists. If Lindbergh was Suspect No. 1, the man who got away, what was his motive? Who else was involved? Who helped cover up the crime? Read this book and judge for yourself"--
In 1932, Charles Lindbergh sat in the Flemington New Jersey courtroom in the First Lindbergh Kidnapping trial. Most people are familiar with Charles Lindbergh vs. Bruno Richard Hauptmann in the famous 1935 “Trial of the Century.” But very few people know that there was another trial that preceded the Hauptmann trial. In the summer of 1932, John Hughes Curtis, a well-known pillar of society in Norfolk, Virginia was approached and asked to serve as an intermediary between the gang who said they kidnapped the Lindbergh baby and Charles Lindbergh. Thus began an adventure with Curtis and Lindbergh out to sea for three weeks, Curtis being held captive in the basement of Lindbergh's house, culminating in a wild trial in the hot summer of 1932 in the Flemington courthouse. Many of he same people who show up in the Hauptmann trial are there: Lloyd Fisher, Anthony Hauck, Col. Lindbergh, Col. Schwarzkopf, Betty Gow, Ollie Whately, etc.
In her anticipated second novel, Karla Holloway evokes the resilience of a family whose journey traces the river of America’s early twentieth century. The Mosby family, like other thousands, migrate from the loblolly-scented Carolinas north to the Harlem of their aspirations—with its promise of freedom and opportunities, sunlit boulevards, and elegant societies. The family arrives as Harlem staggers under the flu pandemic that follows the First World War. DeLilah Mosby and her daughter, Selma, meet difficulties with backbone and resolve to make a home for themselves in the city, and Selma has a baby, Chloe. As the Great Depression creeps across the world at the close of the twenties, however, the farsighted see hard times coming. The panic of the early thirties is embodied in the kidnapping and murder of the infant son of the nation’s dashing young aviator, Charles Lindbergh. A transfixed public follows the manhunt in the press and on the radio. Then Chloe goes missing—but her disappearance does not draw the same attention. Wry and perceptive Weldon Haynie Thomas, the city’s first “colored” policeman, takes the case. The urgent investigation tests Thomas’s abilities to draw out the secrets Harlem harbors, untangling the color-coded connections and relationships that keep company with greed, ghosts, and grief. With nuanced characters, lush historical detail, and a lyrical voice, Gone Missing in Harlem affirms the restoring powers of home and family.
