Richard Hauptmann | |
---|---|
Born | Bruno Richard Hauptmann November 26, 1899 |
Died | April 3, 1936 | (aged 36)
Cause of death | Execution by electrocution |
Occupation | Carpenter |
Known for | Being convicted for the murder-kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr. |
Criminal status | Executed |
Spouse |
Anna Schoeffler (m. 1925) |
Conviction(s) | |
Criminal penalty | Death by electric chair |
Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-born carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnapping became known as the "crime of the century".[1] Both Hauptmann and his wife, Anna Hauptmann, proclaimed his innocence to his death, when he was executed in 1936 by electric chair at the Trenton State Prison.[2] Anna later sued the State of New Jersey, various former police officers, the Hearst newspapers that had published pre-trial articles insisting on Hauptmann's guilt, and former prosecutor David T. Wilentz.