David Noever

Ransom Thirteen David Noever

Bruno Richard Hauptmann, a German carpenter, stood trial alone for the tragic kidnapping and death of the world's most celebrated baby, the heir to Charles Lindbergh's aviation glory. The body of Charles, Jr. was cremated and his ashes were scattered from an urn by his father flying alone a second time over the Atlantic. Yet despite the retelling of police errors and the ensuing murder trial led by a defense attorney that was suffering from incurable syphilis, the court case seems to bring no finality. As retold here through the eyes of one of America's wealthiest socialites, Evelyn McLean, the story of the violent crime and its punishment captures the suspenseful events with immediacy and intrigue. A single muddy footprint that seems to fit no one's shoe. A baby's bedroom wiped clean of any fingerprint, including those of the nursemaid and the parents. A broken ladder allegedly fashioned by a master German carpenter. The chief negotiator with the kidnappers selected from a random want-ad. When a reward is offered for the child's return, thirteen ransom notes culminate in an eventual exchange of envelopes in a cemetery. When Hauptmann receives the death penalty, it was Evelyn McLean who owned the world's most famous gem, the Hope Diamond, yet she found little hope herself as an observer of human frailties. Charles Lindbergh, the Lone Eagle, wrote of the future he foresaw: "Our short-term survival may depend on our knowledge and performance. But our long-term survival depends, alone, on the character of man." The soaring trajectory of both the luckiest and unluckiest of flying aces reveals fresh insight into the trial of the century.