Background Info
The nurse of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr checked Charles Jr at 10 pm. He was gone. This was later referred to as “The Trial of the Century,” as the kidnapping shocked the world. About 12 ransom notes were sent to Charles Lindbergh, the father of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr, asking for 50,000 dollars in money and even more. The ransom note had misspellings such as the “child was in gute care,” which foreshadowed that an immigrant did the kidnapping. A corpse of the Lindbergh baby was identified 2 months later. In the autopsy, it showed that his head was bashed open.
Dr. Condon, Lindbergh’s mediator, later said he talked to the kidnapper. For two years, police watched for serial numbers from the ransom money, providing a list of numbers to banks and stores. September 1934, a gold certificate showed up at a gas station worker named Bruno Richard Hauptmann, an illegal immigrant from Germany. Hauptmann pushed the idea that he was innocent but later died in an electrical chair in prison.
The Ransom of Red Chief is a book where a kidnapping goes ironically wrong.
Ransom of Red Chief Comparison to Lindbergh
Ransom of Red Chief, a book for laughs, and the Lindbergh kidnapping have differences and similarities. The differences include that the victims were totally the opposite and the similarities include that the families were both rich and the kidnappers were both clueless and the kidnappers were poorly planned.
One of the similarities of the Ransom of the Red Chief and the Lindbergh kidnapping is that the families were both wealthy. The Lindbergh family headed by Charles Lindbergh, “Lucky Lindy,” an aviator, who flew across the Atlantic. He had a rich estate near the town of Hopewell. The Dorset family was the richest family in Summit. Mr. Dorset was a rich businessman. “We selected for our victim the only child of a prominent citizen named Ebenezer Dorset,” (O.Henry 48).
Another similarity of the Ransom of the Red Chief and the Lindbergh kidnapping was that both of the kidnappers were inexperienced. Bill and Sam were country folk that knew nothing about kidnapping and had an impromptu plan to snatch the boy. “We were down South, in Alabama-Bill Driscoll and myself-when the kidnapping idea struck us,” (O.Henry 48) Richard Hauptmann was an illegal immigrant from Germany, who knew nothing about spelling in English and etc. For the money, he put the dollar sign at the end of the amount of money. (500000$) Evidence was put against him, revealing his plan had a lot of holes. He also didn’t have a reasonable claim why he was innocent. Both plans went wrong. (sources from about.com and FBI Famous Criminals)
A difference in the Ransom of the Red Chief and the Lindbergh kidnapping was that the victims were very different. Red Chief was a loud, outspoken boy who wanted to stay with the kidnappers. Charles’ son was a quiet, innocent 20-month-old boy who could only speak a few words. Red Chief was a rowdy brat. Red Chief didn’t die, but Lindbergh Jr did. “That boy put up a fight like a welter- weight cinnamon bear; but at last, we got him down in the bottom of the buggy and drove away,” (O.Henry 50).
In conclusion, based on the differences and similarities, the crimes were notorious throughout the villages. The differences included that the victims were contrastive. The similarities included that both families had a lot of money and the kidnappers were untrained. However, the crimes did have a significant impact on society.