All language subtitles for historys.greatest.mysteries.s03e11.720p.web.h264-spamneggs_track4_[eng]

- At 10:15,
the child has been kidnapped.

- Tonight
a high-profile kidnapping

grips the world,

when the infant son

of an aviation legend is
snatched from his crib at home.

- We're speaking to you now
from the press headquarters

during the Lindbergh case.

- After a nationwide manhunt,

the supposed culprit is
brought to justice.

But did authorities get
the right man?

- Based on the circumstances,
there are signs

that this could've been
an inside job.

- Now we'll uncover
the top theories

surrounding what's been called
"the crime of the century."

- How could this
have succeeded

without someone
having inside knowledge?

- There are at least two
or more accomplices

that never got any attention.

- Why was Dr. Condon
so heavily involved?

Did he have something to do
with this?

- Can new evidence
finally reveal the truth

behind this American tragedy?

- The alleged confession said

that I, not
Bruno Richard Hauptmann,

am the kidnapper
of the Lindbergh baby.

♪ ♪

- Who really is responsible
for the kidnapping

of the Lindbergh baby?

[dramatic orchestral music]

♪ ♪

Hopewell, New Jersey, 1932...

for the past year,

world-famous aviator
Charles Lindbergh

has called this area home.

- So Lindbergh has been
a major celebrity

ever since he completed

his first transatlantic
solo flight in 1927.

- In the drizzly, early morning
of May 20, 1927,

the "Spirt of St. Louis"
takes off

from Roosevelt Field
in Long Island.

And after 33 1/2 hours
of flying alone,

Lindbergh lands
at Le Bourget Field

outside of Paris.

- Does Lindbergh do something
that no one else

has ever done before?

Absolutely. He flies across
the Atlantic Ocean

by himself, solo,

on a flight pattern
that takes him 2,000 miles

farther than the last
transatlantic flight--

a flight, by the way,
which had two aviators,

not one.

- Lindbergh's flight proved
that aviation had a future

for passenger transportation.

- This also earns Lindbergh

tons of accolades,
tons of awards--

everything
from the Medal of Honor,

the Flying Cross,
a Congressional Gold Medal.

- But there's no way Lindbergh
would've reached this level

of fame and adulation
without one thing--

radio.

[radio crackling]

- You have to understand--
at the time,

no smartphones, no Internet,
no television.

This is before almost any form
of modern communication.

Radio is revolutionizing
the way the world connects.

So, when Lindbergh is making
this record-breaking flight,

this is the first time
that an audience

can actually follow along
with an historic event

in real time.

- This is a moment
of instantaneous information,

not the delayed information
we get in newsreel

or a newspaper account
or a book.

This is happening
in real time,

and that's very impactful
for people.

After this flight,
he comes back home.

There's a ticker-tape parade--

hundreds of thousands
of people.

He gets millions of telegrams
congratulating him.

Lindbergh is instantly
internationally famous.

- But before long,
the intensity

of this public adulation
becomes overwhelming.

[cheers and applause]

- Lindbergh is badgered
constantly by the press.

Everybody wants a piece of him.

- Charles Lindbergh
and his wife decided

we've had enough of being
in this crazy public eye,

so they bought some land
in Hopewell, New Jersey.

- They purchase
a remote 600-acre lot,

where they plan
to build an estate

that will be
their primary home,

along with their 20-month-old
son, Charles, Jr.

- Construction
on their new home begins

in March of 1931,
but the Lindberghs

are just so anxious
and so ready to leave New York

that they decide
to head out to the house

before it's even completed,

and they start staying there
a few days a week.

In addition to Charles, Anne,
and Charles Jr.,

they've got the nursemaid,
Betty Gow,

their butler, Olly Whatley,
and his wife, Elsie,

living in the house with them.

They're
a pretty tight-knit group.

- Lindbergh
increasingly resents

the intrusions
on his private life.

The purpose
of the construction

of the estate
outside of Hopewell

was to give the Lindberghs
some breathing room

from the 24-7 press attention
that the family is under.

- But before the Lindberghs
find their respite,

on March 1, 1932,
the unthinkable happens.

- So, shortly before 10:00,
the nurse, Betty Gow,

heads into the nursery to check
on Charles Jr.

[door creaking]

- She is horrified to find out
that the crib is empty.

She runs to tell Lindbergh.

He follows her back
to Charles Jr.'s room,

and he finds out
that she's right.

The baby is gone.

- The house staff immediately
begin searching the property.

- They are combing the house
high and low,

and while they're searching,
Charles Lindbergh comes

across something that confirms
his deepest, darkest fears.

Near the window
of his son's room,

he finds an envelope.

♪ ♪

There's a problem
with this particular window.

It's warped, which means
that it doesn't close properly.

The latch
doesn't actually catch,

so this is the only way

that you could get
into the house without a key.

- This was
a second-floor window.

This wasn't one you could just

walk up to the house
and climb through.

- In the envelope

is a poorly written,
misspelled note

demanding $50,000
for the return of the baby.

It's a ransom note.

♪ ♪

The note reads, "Dear, sir,
have $50,000 ready.

"$25,000 in $20 bills,

"$15,000 in $10 bills,
and $10,000 in $5 bills.

"After two to four days,

"we will inform you where
to deliver the money.

"We warn you
from making anything public

"or notifying the police.

The child is in good care."

- At the bottom of the note,

the kidnappers leave
a cryptic signature.

♪ ♪

- They had an image
at the bottom

that was
two interlocking circles,

couple of squiggly lines,

and then three punch holes.

It's a very strange pattern.

- So the author of the letter
actually says

this particular symbol
will let you know

that this is
authentic correspondence

from me and no one else.

- As if this is
some sort of secret code

to verify
that the letters are genuine

and that, rather chillingly,

more letters may follow.

- It was as if the kidnappers
were saying,

"This is just the beginning."

- As they comb the property,

Lindbergh
and his butler, Olly,

find a few additional clues.

- There are also some scraps
of wood from a broken ladder

underneath the window,

and they also find a set
of muddy footprints.

- By 10:30 p.m.,

a small army
of police officers arrive

and begin investigating.

- The police realize
they have very little to go on.

They've got no fingerprints.

They've got no eyewitnesses.

- And you're in the middle
of nowhere, really,

at a massive estate.

So, when it comes
to this investigation,

where would you want to start?

On the inside, of course.

[tense music]

It's only natural
to start with those

that are closest to the crime,
and based on the circumstances,

there are signs
that may have indicated

that this could've been
an inside job.

First off, the precision
of this kidnapping

and how it went down
is a bit suspect.

It's as if the person
or persons

knew exactly where to go,
but how?

Based on the scene outside,

the footprints, the wood
from the broken ladder,

it appears
that whoever took Charles Jr.

went to one window only,

the window that led
directly into the nursery.

We also know that Charles
and Anne were awake

at the time of the kidnapping,
so there's no way

that there's gonna be somebody
outside of the property

moving a ladder from window
to window trying to jimmy open

every window before
they find the correct one.

They would've been heard.

- There's a dog.
The dog doesn't bark.

There's a baby.

Babies cry,
but this baby did not cry.

So there's a general sense
that there must be someone

who's familiar
with the household--

has to be involved.

- The nursery's condition
is also suspicious.

- The baby's blankets
after Charles Jr. is taken--

they're not just left
in the crib.

They're actually
folded very neatly

and placed on a shelf nearby.

Why would a stranger
that's kidnapping

Charles Lindbergh's baby
even bother to do that?

That seems more
like a routine

of somebody
that's in the house

that does this frequently.

- Authorities figured
that the kidnapper

had to have had inside
knowledge of the schedule.

- The Lindberghs are creatures
of habit.

They do not go to the house
in the country all the time.

Normally they're there
on the weekend,

and they leave on Monday.

But Charles Jr.
got taken on March 1st,

which was a Tuesday.

- They stayed one extra day
at the home

because the baby had a cold,
and so they thought

that the country air,
the fresh air,

would be good for the baby.

- And the question becomes,

how would a random person
know that?

- So, if you're looking
at this as an inside job,

your first three suspects
should be obvious.

The Lindberghs'
staff members--

you've got Betty Gow,

you've got the butler, Olly,

and his wife, Elsie Whatley.

The Whatleys had been
with the Lindberghs

all weekend long, so they
pretty much have alibis.

Olly was actually in bed,
and Elsie was downstairs

in the kitchen making lemonade.

- But nursemaid Betty Gow

has only arrived
that afternoon.

- Does she have time to plan
a kidnapping?

The police question her
immediately.

- According to Betty's
statement on March 1st,

Anne calls Betty and asks her
to come to the weekend estate,

and Betty agrees,
even though she had plans

at the time
with her boyfriend,

Henry "Red" Johnson.

Betty says
that she called her boyfriend

to cancel her plans because
she had to go into work.

Police question Johnson,

and he backs up
his girlfriend's story.

However, in Johnson's car,
they do find a bottle of milk.

- This bottle of milk was
really suspicious to police.

They wondered, you know,
is that there to feed a baby?

- There are
some theorists that suggest

that when Betty Gow called
her boyfriend

to cancel the plans, that's not
actually what she was doing.

She was actually calling him
to signal to him

that, yes,
he should kidnap the baby.

- Apart from a bottle of milk,

police have no evidence
that implicates Johnson

or Betty Gow.

- Lindbergh intervenes
to prevent the police

from really interrogating
and bearing down

on the servants
in his own household,

who he trusted
without qualification.

- And that meant
that Betty Gow

wasn't looked at any further.

That line of inquiry goes cold,
but then they find another.

[dramatic music]

- When famed aviator
Charles Lindbergh's

infant son is kidnapped
on March 1, 1932,

it creates
an unprecedented media uproar.

[crowd clamoring]

- It's a cliché nowadays
to call something

a crime of the century,
but this really was.

This was one
of the biggest cases,

not just in America,
but in the world.

- We have here a flash
which reads as follows...

- News of the kidnapping leaks
almost immediately,

and journalists just flock
to the Lindbergh estate.

It's a madhouse.

- Of course,
everybody wants to help.

One of the people who wants

to provide criminal expertise
to this case

is the notorious gangster
Al Capone,

who--currently residing
in the Cook County Jail.

He offers his criminal
and gangster contacts

to help the police find
the Lindbergh baby

if they will just temporarily
release him from prison.

The police do not take
Al Capone up on his offer.

♪ ♪

- That was indicative
of just how widespread

this story had gotten.

It was reaching everybody.

- Al Capone,
sitting in a cell in Chicago,

finds out about this news only
12 hours after it happens.

Mind you, there is no Internet
during this time.

But let's also remember--

the ransom note
specifically said

do not make this
a public deal.

Do not get the police
involved.

- Is all the media attention

jeopardizing the life
of the child?

- The Lindberghs soon learn
the answer to that question.

- So, on March 6th,
another ransom note arrives.

- And it follows the pattern
of the first ransom note.

You've got
the same handwriting.

You've got the same signature
with the squiggly lines.

And you've got the three holes,
but the tone of this letter

is much more threatening.

- And it starts off by saying,

"Dear, sir, we've warned you
not to make anything public."

- "Now you have
to take consequences."

And the consequences
are severe.

The kidnappers basically say

that they're going
to keep the baby

until things quiet down.

As long as this case continues
to get as much attention

as it's getting from the police
and the media

and the newspapers,

Lindbergh is not getting
his son back anytime soon.

- Because
of that transgression,

the kidnappers now have decided

that instead
of a $50,000 ransom,

they want a $70,000 ransom.

- 70 grand back then is like
a million dollars today.

- So they don't actually wait
until things die down.

In fact, the story continues
to get bigger and bigger

as it goes on.

But regardless,
within a couple of days,

the kidnappers carry on
with their plan.

In a series of notes that were
sent both on March 8th

and March 10th,
the kidnappers

are asking for a volunteer
to serve as the go-between

for the handoff of the money.

Ultimately, they agree to let
a former school principal

from the Bronx
be that volunteer.

And his name is
Dr. John Condon.

So probably seeking some fame
for himself,

Condon placed an ad
in his local paper

offering up $1,000 reward

if the kidnappers were to give
up the baby to a priest.

Apparently
the kidnappers saw this ad,

asked him
to be the middleman,

and he agreed to do it.

And at this point,
the police have so few leads

that they decide, "Go with it.

Why not?
Let's see how this plays out."

- With the support
of the Lindberghs and police,

Condon begins corresponding
with the kidnappers.

- So, over the course
of two weeks,

there is a chain
of back-and-forth,

this, like, cat-and-mouse game.

Condon would put ads
in the local paper,

and the kidnappers would
respond with their letters.

And this back-and-forth
keeps the Lindberghs hopeful

that their son is still alive
and a solution will be reached

where they'll be able
to get him back.

They eventually arrange
a meeting between Condon

and the kidnappers
at a cemetery in the Bronx.

- According to Condon,
at this meeting,

he finally learns
the kidnapper's identity.

♪ ♪

- Condon says he meets a man
who calls himself John,

whom the media and the police
will soon dub "Cemetery John."

- Cemetery John tells Condon
he's part of a group

of Scandinavian sailors.

The baby is being taken care of
by these sailors on a boat.

- He says the baby is safe
and that we need

to make an exchange
for the ransom money.

- This Cemetery John
is about 30 to 35 years old,

athletic build, 5'9".

Based on Condon's description,
police prepare a sketch

of Cemetery John.

He has a light complexion,
light hair,

pointed chin, and he has
a Scandinavian accent.

Meanwhile, during the meeting,

Condon wisely asks
the kidnappers

for proof
that they have the baby.

- On March 16th,
Condon receives that proof.

- Cemetery John promises
to send some evidence.

What turns up
at Condon's house

is a gray sleeping suit

that Charles Jr.
was sleeping in

the night he was taken.

- From here,
you've got a number of things

that are happening
in quick succession.

There are
several more exchanges

between Condon
and the kidnappers,

trying to haggle over what
the actual ransom should be.

- Condon and the kidnappers
ultimately agree

on the original
$50,000 ransom amount.

- Police decide
to use gold certificates

to pay the ransom.

This is actually a clever move
by the authorities,

because here's the thing--
those gold certificates

have the same value as dollars,
but for the past 70 years,

the United States had tied
its currency to what was,

at the time,
the gold standard.

They were a legal tender
of money,

but they were
a bit more unique.

The idea
that the police had was,

if they pay up the ransom
in these certificates,

because there's so few of them
in circulation now,

if they're spent,
they're easier to track down.

But that whole plan
will have to come later.

Right now
the Lindberghs only care

about getting their baby back,

and they firmly believe
that tonight is the night

that it happens.

- On April 2, 1932,

John Condon goes to do
the money exchange

to the kidnapper.

At the exchange,
the kidnapper gives

John Condon a letter and then
disappears with the money.

The letter says that the boy's
on a boat called the "Nelly."

The "Nelly" is a small boat,
about 28 foot.

It has two women on it,
who apparently know nothing.

They've just simply been hired
to watch a baby.

And you can find this boat
between Horseneck Beach

and Gay Head
near Elizabeth Island.

♪ ♪

- And when Condon shares
this information,

police race off to this marina

at Martha's Vineyard
to find this boat,

because you have
to understand--

these cops are trying to get
there as quickly as possible,

because think about it--if
you're the first police officer

to find Charles Lindbergh's
kidnapped baby,

it's like your guaranteed
to be a hero.

Police get to this marina,
and they search every slip,

every boat.

"Nelly" is never found,

and the baby Lindbergh
is never found.

♪ ♪

- The thing about
this Scandinavian gang theory

and all this is,
they're assuming

that we're gonna get
the baby back,

and that's not what happened.

And this really sets
a new tone, I think,

in relation
to this whole experience,

'cause people now are
really more concerned

on some level
about the fate of Charles Jr.

- With their ransom paid,

there is
no further communication

from the alleged kidnappers.

- The kidnapper has the money,

but the Lindberghs do not have
the baby.

- It was like losing
Charles Jr. for a second time.

♪ ♪

- Then on May 12th,

the news everyone's feared.

- It's about six weeks
after the ransom drop.

A truck driver
named Orville Wilson

and his assistant,
William Allen,

pull the truck over
to the side of the road

in Mount Rose, New Jersey,
which is a little less

than five miles away
from the Lindbergh estate.

- William Allen was
a Black man

who worked as a trucker.

One of the disgusting parts
of American history

is that he wasn't allowed
to use the bathroom

wherever he wanted.

So he pulled over to use
the restroom in the woods.

He walked in a ways,

so as not to be spotted
by anybody passing by,

and he noticed something
on the ground.

At first,
he assumes it's a dead animal.

But as he gets closer,
he realizes it's a small child.

♪ ♪

- It's obvious that the head
has been crushed

and animals are starting
to scatter the remains.

All that is really left is
a tattered white T-shirt.

♪ ♪

- The men notify police,

who bring in
the Lindberghs' nursemaid,

Betty Gow,
to identify the body.

- She confirms that the body
is of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

♪ ♪

- A funeral director conducts
a rudimentary autopsy

and declares that this child
died from a blow to the head.

- This funeral director
establishes that the baby

died probably two months ago.

That time line means
that much of the time

that these notes
were being exchanged

around returning the baby,

he was most likely
already dead.

- Grieving parents
Charles and Anne

have their son cremated.

And the investigation turns
from kidnapping to murder.

- So, naturally, this marks
a huge shift for police,

because if this child died
the very night

that he was kidnapped,

well, this puts them back
at square one.

And in this case,

square one means that maybe
their initial instinct

was right all along.

Maybe this was an inside job.

[ominous music]

- In May of 1932,

the case of missing infant
Charles Lindbergh Jr.

turns from kidnapping
to murder.

- The police were confident

a man named Cemetery John
was involved.

He and a group of accomplices
send ransom demands

and eventually collect $50,000.

Once they pay the ransom,
Cemetery John is gone,

and they find the body
of Charles Jr.

and find out
that he apparently died

the very night he was taken.

- With no new leads,
police focus their attention

on the Lindberghs'
extended family.

- The lingering question is
why baby Lindbergh

was targeted at all,

and why on a Tuesday,

when the Lindberghs
were not usually there?

And how did the kidnapper know
which window to enter?

As the investigators work
through a long list

of Lindbergh family
and friends and associates,

eventually they find someone

whose story
doesn't quite add up.

And they jump at the chance
to label her a suspect.

♪ ♪

- New Jersey State Police
question a domestic worker

named Violet Sharpe.

- Sharpe is a 20-something
immigrant from England,

who works for Anne's mother
at her house,

serving her meals,
which means that she's working

for the baby's grandmother.

- So the minute
they begin questioning her,

Violet becomes very nervous.

She doesn't want to answer
questions.

Sometimes
she's a little belligerent.

♪ ♪

It's obvious to the officers
that she is being evasive.

But why?

- And her story keeps changing.

At first, she says
that she's on a blind date

on the night of the kidnapping,
but she can't remember the name

of her date or the other couple
that she was with.

- She claims she went
to a movie,

but she can't remember
which one.

And later, she claims
she went to a roadhouse

and not a movie at all.

- So the police decide
that they need to take

a closer look at Miss Sharpe,

so they ask her
for all of her bank statements

and all
of her financial records

to see if there have been any
large deposits

that've been made.

They also ask her to come in
and to give an official account

of her whereabouts during
the day of the kidnapping.

- They're pushing so hard
because they're convinced

that Violet Sharpe
must know something.

- So the police schedule
several interviews

with Violet Sharpe.

And the last one,
she just doesn't turn up to.

- And they start to think,
"Is she on the run?

Did something spook her?
Where is she at?"

Sadly, on June 10th,

one month after baby
Lindbergh's body's discovered,

Miss Sharpe's body
is also discovered.

She had ended up
committing suicide

by eating silver polish.

And, ultimately,
after her death,

investigators are actually able
to prove her alibi

for the night of March 1st.

Turns out,
she was on a date after all.

- Eventually every member
of the Lindbergh inner circle

is questioned and discarded
as a suspect--

everyone, that is,
except for one,

Charles Lindbergh himself.

♪ ♪

- Today when we have
any kind of crime

involving a child or a family,

the family members
are the first suspects,

especially in kidnapping.

- The first person you would
look at would be the parents.

In 1932, no one is going
to question Lindbergh

or imagine
that the hero of the age

could have anything to do
with an exploit so sociopathic

as the kidnapping
of his own son.

- One of the things
that happens over time

is that people thinking
about the crime

start to notice odd things
about Lindbergh's behavior.

Theories start to emerge
that perhaps Lindbergh

is involved in some way.

- Lindbergh had
tremendous influence

over the investigators that
were involved in this case.

In fact,
according to one story,

when the police arrived
at his home,

Lindbergh is standing outside
with a rifle,

and he tells them,

"If anyone disobeys me,
they're going to get shot."

- And the only statement
that Lindbergh actually gives

is a one-page account
where he can't really attest

to his own whereabouts
the day before the event.

Lindbergh has
very strong connections

to the New Jersey State Police,

and it's documented that he
wanted them to be in charge.

Some say that Lindbergh wants
control of the investigation.

- And here's
another curious detail.

When the police want to copy
down all the serial numbers

on those gold certificates,
Lindbergh strongly objects.

♪ ♪

- Why would Lindbergh want
to limit the scope

of the search
for his son's killer?

♪ ♪

- People have suggested

that it was actually Lindbergh
himself who was responsible

for the murder of his own son
in a prank gone wrong,

and the kidnapping was just
a ruse after the fact.

- Charles Lindbergh is
a practical joker.

He likes to pull pranks
on people,

but it's not funny stuff.

It's dangerous stuff.

There was a time
where he actually put kerosene

in an acquaintance's drink
and let him drink it.

And he thought
that was pretty funny--ha.

♪ ♪

Lindbergh kidnapped his baby
once before.

Just a week earlier, Lindbergh
hid the baby in a closet,

and he allowed Betty and Anne
to both get hysterical

believing that the baby
had been kidnapped,

and Lindbergh thought
that was funny.

- Anne Lindbergh wrote
a letter to her mother-in-law

the next day
explaining what had happened.

She said that when she saw
the empty crib,

her first thought was

that Charles had taken the baby
again as a joke.

- Theorists suggest
that this time,

the prank takes
an even darker turn.

[wind howling]
- So the night

of the kidnapping,

according
to the weather report,

it was cold and windy.

- What if Lindbergh

actually was pranking
his family again?

And what if, during the course
of that practical joke,

he actually fell down
that ladder,

or worse, dropped the baby?

This will be borne out
by the autopsy results.

The baby died
from a skull fracture.

- And Lindbergh
immediately ordered

that the child's remains
be cremated.

There were never
any toxicological tests done.

There was
no further examination.

He concocted a cover-up
of a kidnap story

in order
to save his own reputation.

- But some think
it wasn't an accident.

- Some people have suggested

that Lindberg took his own
child's life on purpose.

- As police search
for baby Lindbergh's murderer

in the summer of 1932,

a radical theory suggests

Charles Lindbergh
is the culprit.

[dramatic music]

[camera shutters clicking]

- In the 1930s,

the pseudoscience of eugenics
has taken hold,

and Lindbergh
is an avid believer.

In eugenics, scientists,
what they do is,

they will deem certain
genetic traits superior,

and any sort of deformities
that show up in somebody

are considered a weakness.

It's a concept
that the Nazi party

would actually use to justify
in their genocide

against the Jewish people.

♪ ♪

Lindbergh was definitely drawn
to aspects of Nazism.

He gave speeches.
He published papers.

He espoused all
of these racist ideas

in front of Congress.

- Could these controversial
political beliefs

have led to the death
of baby Lindbergh?

- Charles Jr. was born
with some mild deformities--

things like rickets.

His legs bowed.

He didn't have a whole lot
of strength in his lower body.

He seemed to be a little slow
on development in that area.

It didn't seem as though
Charles Jr. fit the mold

of what Charles Lindbergh
was saying

was the perfect person.

- So people do ask,
"If Charles Lindbergh

"was worried that he had
an 'inferior baby,'

"would he be capable
of carrying out

the horrible act
of murdering him?"

- The idea of Charles Lindbergh
doing something so heinous

was absolutely inconceivable.

Nobody could assign
something so evil

to such a celebrated man.

- And that includes
investigators.

They stop looking
into the Lindbergh family,

and the case goes cold.

In the two years after
the Lindbergh baby's death,

police question nearly
1,000 persons of interest

with no luck.

Then in the summer of 1934,

detectives
finally catch the break

they've been looking for.

It's all due
to a seed they planted

at the very beginning.

♪ ♪

- They put together
that $50,000 in ransom money

with gold certificates,

and they wrote down
the serial numbers

so they would be easy
to locate.

- So the more
that those are spent,

the better the odds that
somebody's going to notice.

- Months later,
they start to surface

in New York City.

- It takes a while
to really figure out

exactly where all the bills are
being spent,

but when they do,
they realize

that it's along
a specific path.

- They're being spent along
the Lexington Avenue subway.

This subway connects the Bronx
to the East Side of Manhattan.

- One turns up at
the East River Savings Bank,

another at the Loew's Sheridan
Square Theatre.

Another comes
from the grocery store

in the Yorkville neighborhood

and another
at the Exquisite Shoe store.

- Ultimately,
$5,100 worth of ransom bills

are recovered,
but it's one in particular

that cracks the case
wide open.

- September 18, 1934,

one of those gold notes

pops up
at a bank in Manhattan.

But this gold certificate
has something different.

It has a number written
in the margin--

4U-13-41-NY.

It's a license plate number.

- The bill is traced
to a local gas station.

- Station attendant
Walter Lyle said

that that gold certificate
caught his attention

and it felt suspicious to him.

He thought that that customer
might have been

a counterfeiter,
so to help him remember,

he wrote down the license plate
right there on the spot

on that bill.

- Police run
the plate and get a name.

- For two years,
police only had a sketch

of their prime suspect
in the Lindbergh kidnapping.

[tense music]

Now they finally have a name.

♪ ♪

- The police track down
the car,

which belongs to one
Bruno Richard Hauptmann.

The police now believe
they know the true identity

of Cemetery John.

♪ ♪

- Hauptmann is
a German-born immigrant

illegally living
in the United States.

And he was actually charged

with multiple burglaries
in Germany,

but he escaped by stowing away
on an ocean liner.

He currently lives
on East 222nd Street

in the Bronx with his wife,
Anna, and their young child,

and he works odd jobs
as a carpenter.

As soon as investigators
connect the bill to Hauptmann,

they immediately put him
under constant surveillance,

hoping that he'll slip up
and incriminate himself.

At some point,

Hauptmann realizes
that he's being watched.

Now, maybe he knows
he's guilty,

or maybe he's worried about his
status in the United States.

Either way,
he decides to jump in his car

and make a break for it.

[sirens wailing]

- And it's a straight-ahead
gangster-film chase,

riding through the streets.

Police cars after him,

running through traffic.

It's something right out
of a movie.

He's finally pinned in
on Park Avenue in the Bronx.

♪ ♪

Hauptmann is arrested,

and authorities begin a search
of his car

and his house.

♪ ♪

They're searching
through all his belongings,

not finding much of interest,

until they look inside
this old garage

at the edge of the property.

- There, in a stack
of old gas cans,

police finally find
their smoking gun.

- They open some jars,
and what do they find?

$14,600 in gold certificates.

- And once they find the cans
of ransom money

in Hauptmann's garage,

it's a race to the finish
to build a case against him.

And the evidence is
pretty damming.

- Detectives check
the serial numbers

on every bill found
at Hauptmann's place.

And indeed,
these are the certificates

that were given
as part of the ransom.

- In Hauptmann's attic,
there is more evidence.

- Remember, the night
Charles Jr. goes missing,

they find
those broken pieces of wood

underneath the nursery window
that'd come from a ladder.

Well, in Hauptmann's attic,
they find a ladder.

♪ ♪

- Not just any ladder--

a handmade telescopic ladder

designed to collapse in
on itself.

This allows one person
to carry it easily,

while being long enough
to reach the height

of Lindbergh's
second-story window.

♪ ♪

- Was it the ladder used
to kidnap the Lindbergh baby?

Hauptmann is a carpenter,
and so he has his own tools.

He has the ability
to build the ladder.

- And during the attic search,

investigators find a section
of floorboard

that had been cut.

♪ ♪

- A team of experts study
the wood from the floorboards

and forensically compare it
to the wood from the ladder.

- And this gets them thinking.

The wood grain
in one rail of the ladder,

dubbed "Rail 16"
seems to match up perfectly

with that cut section
from Hauptmann's attic floor.

And the nail holes
also match the nails

used to construct the attic.

So experts are convinced
that the ladder is made

from slats in the floor
of Hauptmann's attic.

♪ ♪

- But police need more
for a conviction.

[camera shutter clicking]

- Of course, owning a ladder
isn't a crime.

But then investigators find
one more clue.

♪ ♪

- They found a phone number
written on the wall

in the closet
in the kitchen.

Whose phone number was it?

- Dr. John Condon,

the same man who was
the intermediary

for the ransom handoff.

Finally, investigators
commission

handwriting analysis between
Hauptmann's handwriting

and the writing that appeared
on the ransom notes,

and they find
multiple similarities.

- Both sets of writing
contained backward Ns,

curls on the Ys.

Additionally, he spelled
some of the same words wrong.

♪ ♪

- On September 24th,

Hauptmann is indicted
for extorting

the $50,000 ransom
from Charles Lindbergh.

Shortly after,
on October 8th,

he's also indicted
for the murder

of Charles Lindbergh Jr.

[camera shutter clicking]

♪ ♪

- Hauptmann is represented
by Edward J. Riley,

an attorney actually hired

by "The New York Daily Mirror"

for exclusive rights
to Hauptmann's story.

♪ ♪

- The trial brought
hundreds of reporters

into town.

People couldn't find
hotel rooms for miles.

It was huge.

- He quit his job the day
he collected the $50,000,

the very day!

- After a conviction
and two failed appeals,

Hauptmann is executed
by the electric chair

on April 3, 1936.

♪ ♪

- And that's it, everyone.
Mystery solved.

We now know the truth
of what happened.

Or do we?

- Even after the conviction
of Richard Hauptmann

for the murder
of Baby Lindbergh,

not everyone's convinced
he's solely responsible.

- Obviously, the police want
to close this case

as neatly and as efficiently
as possible.

And looking
at the evidence they have,

Hauptmann appears
extremely guilty.

- It seems very likely

that he was involved
in these crimes.

- But even the highest
authorities wonder,

did he act alone?

♪ ♪

- While Hauptmann
is awaiting execution,

the governor
of New Jersey himself,

Harold Hoffman,
visits him in his cell.

He also brings along

a translator who speaks
fluent German.

- While there were
no notes released

from this talk,

it seems like it was
a pretty influential talk.

- After talking
with Hauptmann,

the governor implores
court officials

and the police
to keep on investigating.

- He ended up granting
him a reprieve.

- Governor Hoffman felt that
there was more to the story

than what the state
had put forward at the trial.

And he wanted to make sure
that everyone who was involved

was identified
and brought to justice.

- As we know, of course,

that request from the governor
isn't followed upon,

and Hauptmann takes the fall

as the one
and only perpetrator

of that crime.

Hoffman doesn't give
any more reprieves,

and the execution takes place

four years
after the kidnapping.

♪ ♪

- For the next six decades,

Hauptmann's guilt
is generally accepted,

along with the idea
that he acted alone.

Then in 2003,

a state police archivist makes
a startling discovery.

Sitting right there
in the archive

is a board with a signed
confession written on it.

- It's written in German,
but it translates to,

"I was one of the kidnappers
of Lindbergh's baby,

not Bruno Richard Hauptmann."

It goes on to state
that some of the ransom money

was buried
in the town of Summit.

♪ ♪

- What's more intriguing still
is that there's

a series of screw holes--

like a table leg
or a brace was removed

with a large circle
around it.

And when a comparison is made
to the ransom note,

these holes
line up perfectly

with the holes that were found
in those ransom notes.

♪ ♪

- The board was
apparently reported

to the state police
in 1948.

A man found it attached
to the bottom of a table

he had recently purchased.

- So authorities did not take
this seriously

because there had been dozens
of confessions.

Dozens of people had said
that they were involved,

in some cases, that they were
actually the baby.

♪ ♪

- Handwriting comparisons
are made

between Hauptmann's writing
and the writing on the wood,

and they don't match.

- If Hauptmann
didn't write it, who did?

- In 2012,
author Robert Zorn

offers a potential lead on who
might have written this note.

- In his book "Cemetery John,"

he reports
that his father, Eugene,

may have witnessed Hauptmann
conspiring with two other men

in 1932.

Growing up
in the South Bronx,

Eugene lived
next to a John Knoll.

And one day
at an amusement park,

Eugene claims to have seen
John Knoll,

along with his
younger brother Walter,

and Hauptmann
in the amusement park

speaking in hushed tones
in German,

plotting something.

He recognized
the words "Bruno,"

which was
Hauptmann's first name,

and the word "Englewood,"

which was the suburb
where Lindbergh's family lived

in New Jersey.

- Zorn puts
a few more details together

for this story as well.

John Knoll was
a stamp collector,

and the Lindbergh
ransom notes

use a variety
of odd stamps.

And Knoll's residence
on the South Bronx

was along the same
Lexington Avenue subway route

of which the ghost certificates
were spent.

If you look at the sketch,

Knoll and Cemetery John
show a striking resemblance.

- Could John Knoll be
the real Cemetery John?

- While this information
is revealing and interesting,

at this point,
it's impossible to prove

that John Knoll
was Cemetery John.

♪ ♪

It's possible they sent
the wrong man

to the electric chair,

or there at least
two or more accomplices

that never got any attention.

- For a mystery that's
supposedly already solved,

there are still
a lot of questions

that people have
that linger about this case.

- How could this
have succeeded

without someone having
inside knowledge?

What about the inconsistencies
at the crime scene?

♪ ♪

- Why was Dr. Condon
so heavily involved?

Did he have something
to do with this?

- What about the death
of Violet Sharpe?

What about John
and Walter Knoll?

- And, of course,
the biggest question of all--

could Lindbergh have possibly
orchestrated the whole thing?

For now, we're left
with the official story...

at least
until a new clue appears.

♪ ♪

- As of today,
less than 20,000

of the original $50,000 ransom

paid to Cemetery John
has been recovered.

If the rest ever turns up,
will it tie back to Hauptmann,

or will it point
to a new suspect?

I'm Laurence Fishburne.

Thank you for watching

"History's Greatest Mysteries."

♪ ♪