Great unsolved crimes are always fascinating to think about. To me a few of the questions are:
1.) What happened in the big picture. Was it the Lone Wolf, Hauptmann and company, a mafia job or an inside conspiracy? All the theories of how the crime happened have issues but one of them has to be correct.
2.) How was the actual snatch pulled off, on a rickety ladder on a cold, wet night without disturbing the household occupants or leaving a ton of evidence, on a night the Lindberghs would not normally be at the house.
3.) Was this meant to be a kidnapping and murder from the beginning or was the death accidental?
4.) Why was the ladder left where it was. Was it meant to be left at the scene, and why did a piece of Hauptmanns attic wind up as part of the ladder? What about the claim a cabinetmaker made that he sold wood that was part of the ladder?
5.) The least that can be said is the ransom notes had some similarity to Hauptmann’s handwriting. Did he write some or all of them, and if not, who did?
5.) Was the child’s body always at the same location, and if not who put it there and why?
6.) Does the pattern of ransom bills turning up, including some after Hauptman was in custody indicate others were spending them.
Since someone mentioned the ladder and how a carpenter wouldn’t build something like that, I’ll explain some of my thoughts on it. If something doesn’t make sense, by all means think it over, but don’t overlook the simplest explanation or the possibility of pure stupidity. Yes, it was crude and with a serious but easily correctable design flaw, but it wasn’t crown moulding for Biltmore, it was designed to be used once, and pretty much everyone has a story of sloppy construction work, or if you don’t, watch a few episodes of Holmes on Homes. As for a design flaw, the people that designed the I-35W bridge were professionals so I don’t think it a stretch that a carpenter wouldn’t reinforce a weak joint on a ladder.
As for the ladder being left where it was, near the house and in view of some of the windows, there are a couple of possibilities
1.) It was meant to leave it there as the kidnapper/s were stupid. (If the intent was to leave it, but in a location where it would have not been possible for it to be discovered immediately, it would have been better to leave it right next to the house below the line of sight from the windows, or else farther into the woods.
2.) The intent was to take it, but a kid and a ladder were too burdensome so the ladder was dropped. (This would support the Lone Wolf theory, or at least no other outsiders at the kidnap scene, as with two people one could easily take the ladder and one take the kid)
3.) The intent was to take it, but something startled the kidnapper/s so they dropped it and ran.
4.) The intent was to take it, but since two sections got wedged together in the climb, the kidnapper/s didn’t have the time or were too flustered to seperate them, which could have been done without too much dificulty. (This theory from another board)
How did a board from Hauptmann’s attic wind up in the ladder, assuming no police frame up, the idea of which I find it unlikely they would be able to pull off, even back then and even assuming the idea came to them.
1.) Hauptmann wants to leave a “calling card” to personlize the crime. (I doubt this as this seems to be a trait more along the lines with serial killers rather than a one-off kidnapper.)
2.) Hauptmann needs a board and doesn’t think he’ll ever be a suspect or if he does that the cops would think to check the attic, so no worries.
3.) The intent is for the kidnapper/s to take the ladder with them and presumably destroy it, so no worries.
4) The board is removed years before by an electrician, left in the house, and Hauptmann uses it as well as other scrap lumber laying around, not knowing where it came from. (I get this theory from another board about the kidnapping, and it makes sense to me as much as any)
(This also from another board): A cabinetmaker (Samuelsohn) claimed later that he sold wood to make the ladder to Hauptmann, two other men, and a woman. Problems with his story are the absolutely astronomcal price (equivalent to several hundred dollars) he charged for readily available lumber, and he kept scraps from it for 18 months instead of just shoving them in the stove. And none of what he says he sold made it into the actual ladder. It he’s telling the truth and not mistaken it’s possible the kidnappers built the first ladder, had problems with it possibly including a rail breaking and needing to grab a board from the attic, then decided to “do things right” and build a ladder using new lumber rather than scraps from here and there, but were unable to do it in time for the job and had to use the original ladder. But why buy a few pieces from him, instead of a bunch from a lumberyard that probably sells thousands of pieces a day? And why use various scraps of lumber in the first place instead of buying what you need. Is it being thrifty and lazy, or trying to complicate possible tracing all of it?
