True crime has had a surge in popularity in recent years. But it has always captured intense public interest. It’s shocking to hear about a horrific crime. It’s even more adrenaline-inducing to see the locations, hear witness testimony, and follow the breadcrumbs that may or may not lead to justice.
Technology has brought these stories to life through sound and images to really put the curious public at the scene of the crime. But the story that really utilized its technological innovations to become a public sensation was the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby in 1932. Author Thomas Doherty covers the role that technology played in popularizing this story and allowing it infiltrate the nation’s sympathy, curiosity, and even profit in his book, Little Lindy is Kidnapped: How The Media Covered the Crime of the Century.
Little Lindy is Kidnapped Plot Summary
Little Lindy is Kidnapped takes readers through the technological achievements that allowed an American hero to fly a plane across the Atlantic Ocean nonstop in the spring of 1927. It also utilized innovative radio and newsreels to cover the history-making flight. Even today, that event is the story most associated with the name Charles Lindbergh.
Five years later, it’s the kidnapping of his 20-month-old son, Charles Lindbergh Jr., from their New Jersey home that creates a horrific yet just as sensational news story that sends reporters flocking to the American hero’s home to cover the event. Believing this to be a straightforward ransom case, over the next two months, the nation followed the newspaper headlines, listened to reports on the radio, and flocked to the theaters to catch up on the latest footage of the investigation.
Doherty digs deep to uncover the behind-the-scenes events that took place while each level of this story was covered. He introduces particular reporters who covered the story. He explains the FBI in its infancy attempting to examine evidence amid a chaotic scene. And he chronicles the cemetery rendezvous with the alleged kidnapper and the eventual ransom exchange that took place.
A tragic turn of events.
About one-third of the way through the book, one of the several black and white photographs that are imbedded within the text shows the child’s fate. A newspaper heading simply reads, “Baby Dead.” Because of the day-to-day circulation of facts, events, and speculation from the media assuring the public that the child was alive and well, the nation mourns in collective disbelief.
It’s not long, though, before Hollywood attempts to capitalize on the tragedy. This influenced a Hollywood code in terms of what type of content could be shown on screen in relation to stories inspired by the kidnapping. As a result, it limited filmmakers’ ability to utilize shock value in order to profit off of an already captivated audience.
The trial.
However, the media itself is far from finished with the story. Instead, a two-year long search commences to find the killer of the blond-haired, blue-eyed infant. What follows is an explanation of how marked ransom bills and the actions of two citizens led to the arrest of Bruno Richard Hauptmann and his highly publicized trial. And the media, through their sneaky, botched, and disrupting actions, inspire several laws regarding how the press covers courtroom proceedings and executions.
How innovation leads to corruption and misinformation.
The story ticks so many sensational boxes: a national celebrity/hero, an infant victim, a mystery, a ransom, a body, an arrest, and an execution. However, Doherty warns in his introduction that this is not a true crime book.
The facts about this case and a linear timeline of events are described in detail. Readers will not find the facts broken down like they would an episode of Forensic Files. Instead, the facts serve as context to the way that the press covers the story.
Being a decades-old crime, though, readers are presented with information that is unknown by the press of the day. But Doherty shows how bits and pieces of information can be drawn out into full editorials and speculative news reports that get the public’s hopes up and help to make the story more intriguing.
What’s interesting about this book’s angle is how it mirrors today’s concerns about media coverage and consumption. As new technology is introduced, new rules have to be put in place regarding when, where, and how much that technology is used. Users of these now primitive sources of recording and reporting are initially allowed free reign of these tools.
At first, this seems to be a win-win for both the reporters and the audience. But Little Lindy’s case shows how easily technology can exploit victims and inspire greed and putting speed ahead of accuracy which can lead to a spread in misinformation and rumors all in a panic to be the first to the finish.
As per usual, plenty of conspiracy theories have sprung up over the years about this case. Doherty addresses these briefly, but ultimately, he stays loyal to the universally agreed upon events. He’s good at covering all bases without falling down a rabbit hole of theories and speculation.
My recommendation.
Despite the breakdown of the technological advances, meticulous laws, and catching modern readers up to 1930’s ways, this book is not a difficult read. It can slow down in the places where the crime itself is glossed over, and the text detours to its intended focus of media coverage and advancements in radio broadcasts and filmmaking. It’s not that those aspects aren’t interesting, but they tend to be overshadowed by the details of the kidnapping and trial that casual readers may be more curious about.
I suggest that readers really acclimate themselves with the facts of the case before diving into this book. It creates a refreshing take of the story once you have read through the basics. It also introduces behind-the-scenes players that will strengthen your knowledge of how this story became what it was both then and now.
A forgotten sensational story.
What’s interesting is how huge the story was then but seemed to disappear from public consciousness over the years. The kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby is mentioned on occasion. But its facts are not as prevalent as other big news stories of the past. Even the photographs, audio, and visual aids that are lacking in other tragedies that came before it aren’t enough to keep it rooted in public consciousness.
It’s also not because of a lack of interest from Hollywood which is an effective, entertaining tool to educate the public on historical events. Doherty chronicles the many films and TV movie adaptations that have been made over the years, some even with big name stars playing the parts. In fact, I first heard the details of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping via the 2011 film, J. Edgar, which includes a sequence of the FBI investigation of the case. And Doherty provides an overview of several others that came before it.
Between the grieving parents’ hesitation to go behind the cameras, the ultimately tragic result, and a near open-and-shut criminal trial, along with Lindbergh’s falling out of favor with the American public, the media and its fans ultimately turned their attention to the next big news story. After all, there was a second world war on the horizon and the nation in the midst of an economic depression. They had squeezed all of the blood they could from this rock. It was time to move on. That too is an element to this story with which modern readers can sympathize.
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This book sounds intense. Thanks for the review!