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1935 Charles Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial...



Item # 724052

January 23, 1935

ALBANY EVENING NEWS, New York, January 23, 1935.
 
* Charles Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Trial
* Bruno Hauptmann & the ladder traced to him ?

The very top of the front page has a nice banner headline for display: "LADDER WOOD TRACED TO BRUNO'S HOME" with subheads. (see images) More on page 10.
Complete with 24 pages,light toning at the margins, some small binding slits along the spine, nice condition.

AI notes: On January 23, 1935, during the trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann for the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr., forensic expert Arthur Koehler presented crucial testimony linking Hauptmann to the crime through the infamous ladder used in the abduction. Koehler, a wood specialist from the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory, demonstrated that a board from the ladder—known as rail 16—perfectly matched a floorboard removed from the attic of Hauptmann’s Bronx home, with cut nails aligning exactly with the corresponding holes. He explained in detail how the ladder had been constructed from various pieces of wood, some of which could be traced to Hauptmann’s personal property, establishing a direct physical connection between the defendant and the tool used to gain access to the Lindbergh nursery. This forensic evidence was considered groundbreaking at the time, representing one of the most compelling pieces of circumstantial evidence in the prosecution’s case, and it played a pivotal role in linking Hauptmann to the kidnapping.

Category: The 20th Century