"I'm not telling lies! YOU ARE TELLING LIES!" - Bruno Richard Hauptmann
Whenever I arrive in New Jersey via either the Delaware Memorial Bridge or the Lewes-Cape May Ferry, that's immediately the first thing I think of: "The Crime of the Century." This case was a monstrosity from the beginning to end
1. This was definitely not a one-man operation. They even said there were 2 pairs of footprints.
2. The ladder did NOT have Hauptmann's fingerprints on it.
3. Charles Lindbergh's associates interfered with the investigation.
4. A lot of evidence was contaminated.
5. Hauptmann was given very poor counsel (he was given a man from the tabloid, "The Daily Mirror") and really wasn't allowed to mount much of a defense. From what I understand from some lawyers I know, this was outright illegal.
6. During the interview process and in jail, he was beaten and savagely treated by police officers. Why not let him explain himself? He did his best I am sure... but...? Why do something like that?
7. He couldn't have written those letters. He was somewhat illiterate.
8. I believe the jury was tampered with bribes and heavy-handed tactics to get them to vote guilty.
9. Governor Hoffman tried everything to get the case reopened but David Wilentz said it was a politically unpopular move because everyone would turn against him in the next election. Hoffman knew he was not guilty but right then and there, he should've said to Wilentz and Schwarzkopf: "You're both fired. Now beat it."
10. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression at the time. People saw $25,000 ($608,000 today) as a ton of money. Police were coercing so-called "witnesses" because there was a hell of a lot of money at stake.
Hoffman himself urged members of the state government to go visit him. They should've.
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When I drive on U.S. Route 40 or take the 109/GSP after the ferry to the beach, it's always the first thing that comes to mind because it was such a harrowing trial that ended in Hauptmann's execution. 10 years I've been coming here. 10 years. If you could the first time, then it would be 11, but I still make it 10.
He said through an interpreter: "I am absolutely innocent of the crimes for which I was burdened with." He was very fervent in his Lutheran beliefs. Yeah, he did have some run-ins in Germany but that was when Germany was still reeling from WWI. People resorted to crime and theft to get what they wanted.
To this day, I still believe that it was never a one-person job and that Hauptmann was set up and framed. He was executed mostly because of the growing Anti-German sentiment due to the impending World War that was coming due to Adolf Hitler's rise to power. I also believe that it was a 2 person job and the fact that this fingerprints were NOT on the ladder. It was proven by Erastus Mead Hudson, the silver nitrate process, and Schwarzkopf refused to let it be known that they weren't on the ladder.
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Ocean City sits 114 miles from Flemington, New Jersey where the Crime of the Century trial was held. The reason why I think about it is how New Jersey heavy-handedly put this man through so much hell despite the lack of evidence and inefficient counsel that Hauptmann received.
Honestly New Jersey? Why did you lie to America? You did the man wrong.
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We arrived at the beach and it was time to unload. 50 minutes later? Unloading done. What next? Well, you do whatever it is you do on vacation. Read, take naps, write, go to the beach, go on walks...
For me: It's the walks and time to spend on my own just having conversations with myself knowing that things are abnormal right now and I don't have answers.
The walks along the boardwalk and on the Island are times where I can have a nice conversation and thoughtworthy time with myself. I think about how life is going and what's next.
A lot can be said about the power of positive thinking and you know the what could of been.
I have questions and personally, there's no answer to everything in the universe. God knows all.
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When I look at the Hauptmann case, I say: Ok. Well... It is still a huge mystery. But all the evidence is there that he didn't do it.
One of my closest friends is from New Jersey. I have no problems with the state except what they did to this man and the fact they still don't have self-service gas (Come on, get with the program!)
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Now many are you are probably saying: Well Joshua is just rambling again. No... this is creativity speaking... The creativity that comes from thoughts... the scribbles in my head that say, "hey why don't you type something up... you haven't done that in a while... thoughts and creativity right?"
I say to my brain, "yep, you're right. So let's talk."
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Those senses of thought are what I took with me on my walks down or up the streets of Ocean City, New Jersey. Personally, I like having the conversations by myself. Yeah, others may think it's goofy but you're thinking out loud.
I think about what I've accomplished in 2024 that has personally been meaningless. There's no acceptance anymore. There's no nothing. It's just me with my thoughts and words and my laptop and that's about it. There's just zero acceptance.
I can't fix or build things...
I can't fix a car...
I can't draw...
I'm not innovative...
I say to my brain, "yep, you're right. So let's talk."
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Those senses of thought are what I took with me on my walks down or up the streets of Ocean City, New Jersey. Personally, I like having the conversations by myself. Yeah, others may think it's goofy but you're thinking out loud.
I think about what I've accomplished in 2024 that has personally been meaningless. There's no acceptance anymore. There's no nothing. It's just me with my thoughts and words and my laptop and that's about it. There's just zero acceptance.
I can't fix or build things...
I can't fix a car...
I can't draw...
I'm not innovative...
I can't paint... (why I went to Michael's before vacation to look for an easel and paints still bothers me)
I don't even know how to change the oil in my car...
It took until 3rd grade to tie my own shoe...
You just can't argue with people because they think they are always right.
The jokes? Write themselves.
I take these walks to make sure that I get every bit of negativity out but knowing full and well that things were "abnormal"? It wasn't accomplished.
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Now, I'm back home again... sitting here pondering day to day, what's next, and how to face forward. They say were all in a quest for knowledge... No I'm just on a quest to just keep my head down I guess.
Maybe I should just keep my head down...
