Page 2 - Crimes of 20th century

1. The Lindbergh Kidnapping

On a winter's night 75 years ago, a child was stolen out of a house in New Jersey. He was
no ordinary infant but the "Eaglet," the 20-month-old son of the aviator Charles
Lindbergh, America's great hero who, just five years before, had become the first man to fly
solo across the Atlantic Ocean. For the next two and a half months, America and much of
the world were riveted by daily updates and speculation from the police search for baby
Charles. Suspicion spared no one — not even the Lindberghs. In April, news spread that a
ransom had been paid but still no child was recovered.

Finally, in May, a battered, mutilated little corpse was found by the side of the road, not
far from the Lindberghs' home. Baby Charles had been bludgeoned to death not long after
he had been kidnapped. The resulting trial, sentencing and execution of German carpenter
and ex-convict Bruno Richard Hauptmann for the crime would extend the infamy of the
case four more years. But the Lindbergh kidnapping had become more than just a
particularly heinous act. It had become the Crime of the Century. Many other crimes have
earned the distinction — but what makes an infamous event deserving of the title Crime of
the century?

1