#hauptmann

Oil on canvas, 89 × 116.5 cm

That slap was personal (x)

Already posted on my lotl insta @bloodglitter_cichlid but if you haven't seen it already

Hans-Günter Hauptmann

Gerhart Hauptmann, German author and Nobel Prize laureate of 1912 

On 1st March 1932 at 7.30 in the evening the Lindbergh's nurse found that they 20-month-old son Charles was missing. When the family rushed into Charles' room they found a ransom note in an envelope on the windowsill. Impressions were found on the ground under the window of the baby's room along with pieces of a wooden ladder and a baby blanket. The police were called. An extensive search of the area began, no usable fingerprints or footprints were found which suggested the abductor used forensic countermeasures such as gloves. Their brief ransom was full of spelling and grammar mistakes, it was speculated that it was written by someone who did not speak English as their mother tongue. A local man and retired teacher offered to pay for the safe return of the baby and opened a dialogue with a man he thought to be the abductor, the man paid the money and was promised the child would be left in the care of 2 innocent women. The ransom money was packaged in a custom-made box with gold certificates and serial numbers of the bills were noted in the hope this would draw attention to the kidnapper(s). On 12th May a delivery truck driver found the small body of a toddler, the skull was badly fractured and the body decomposed with noted attempts at a burial and animal activity post mortem. Police could not find any evidence or link anyone to the crime. The gold certificates from the ransom and a number of the bills were spent throughout New York. On 18th September 1934, a license plate was written down by a man attempting to use a gold certificate. The man was Richard Hauptmann, an immigrant with a criminal record. When he was arrested he was carrying a gold certificate and had over $14,000 of ransom money in his garage. Additional evidence was found linking him to the crime at his home. Handwriting experts also showed his writing to be similar to that on the ransom note. Hauptmann was charged with murder, convicted and sentenced to death. He was electrocuted on 3rd April 1996. After his death questions were asked about the fairness of the trial including planted evidence. Alternative theories that Hauptmann was framed and the real killer walked free and that Hauptmann could not have been working alone prevail.

“Uniquely cultural” is Doom’s middle name!

(From Charl’s stories, it looks like they’re rehearsing for Hauptmann, A New Musical by Michael Ogborn, directed by Warren Adams.)