The Lindbergh Case

Fisher, a former FBI agent, teaches criminal justice at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. Refuting those who claim that Bruno Richard Hauptmann was framed, the author presents a convincing case that he was guilty of the kidnap-murder of 20-month-old Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. In this well-documented study Fisher thoroughly covers the case, from the night the baby was taken from his home in Hopewell, N.J., on March 1, 1932, to Hauptmann's execution on April 3, 1936. The author vivifies the people involved: the child's parents; eccentric Dr. Condon who paid the ransom to ""Cemetery John''; the competing investigators; the charlatans who offered to ransom the baby for huge sums; etc. Although Fisher notes that the police made mistakes and that Hauptmann's defense was incompetent, he argues that evidence of the accused's guilt is overwhelming. Photos. (October 28)