I will not try to rehash all of the details of the Lindbergh kidnapping here as the overall information may be found in many references, some of which are listed in the bibliography and most of which are well known. My purpose here is only to recount that information that relates to Ellis Parker and his involvolvement in the case.

In 1932 when the Lindbergh baby had been kidnapped, Ellis was not invited to help in the case in spite of his international reputation as an outstanding detective. It seems that a few years before this time Ellis had had a disagreement with the appointed head of the fledgling New Jersey State Police, Col. Norman Schwarzkopf. Ellis wanted to hire a State Policeman who had worked on a case with him. Schwarzkopf did not want to let the man go and resented Ellis for trying to hire him. Since Col. Schwarzkopf was put in charge of the Lindbergh investigation, he would not allow Ellis to become a part of it. Col. Schwarzkopf was only a floorwalker from a department store before his appointment to head the State Police. He really had no investigative background. Floorwalkers in those days were just that. They walked the floor of department stores looking to catch people red-handed with stolen articles. He let Charles Lindbergh, the father of the kidnap victim control the investigation. This was in direct contradiction to any accepted police procedure and as a result the entire investigation became a shameful example of police work.

Then after two years of fumbling, the "culprit" was caught and the case was built to convict Bruno Richard Hauptmann. Details of the circumstantial evidence that was to convict Hauptmann can be found in a number of the references in the bibliography. The point is that the police, Schwarzkopf, and the prosecuting attorney, Wilentz, were so convinced that Hauptmann must have done the crime that they were able to find "evidence" that proved their case. Because Hauptmann had some of the ransom money, they told their officers and everyone else they were convinced of Hauptmann�s guilt. Consequently, their staff always came up with evidence to support the case. The prosecutor convinced even Charles Lindbergh, who wanted the ordeal to be over with, that he could recognize Hauptmann's voice from two words spoken from a great distance at night after several years had passed. This was indeed a rare talent.

During this time Ellis had been investigating on his own. He believed that two crimes had been commited, the kidnapping and the extortion for ransom. He also believed that the two were unrelated and was convinced that Hauptmann could not have committed the kidnapping crime. Hauptman would have had no knowledge of the fact that the Lindberghs had decided on the spur of the moment to stay at the estate for an extra night for the very first time. He lived far from the site of the Lindbergh house and would have had to drive over unfamiliar back country roads to get there. The timing would have been almost impossible for him. He probably didn't even know that Lindbergh existed at the time of the kidnapping. The New Jersey Governor, Harold Hoffman, asked Ellis Parker to investigate and bring in the real culprit. Ellis did just that. He quietly spread the word that he was seeking information and soon got a reply from Paul Wendel, a disgruntled and unhappy man.

Wendel was a disbarred lawyer who lived just 20 minutes from the Lindbergh estate. A few years before he had some problems with Lindbergh's father-in-law, Dwight Morrow. He hated Morrow and Lindbergh and blamed them for much of his ill fortune. He offered to help Parker and to give him information about the kidnapping. The more he talked, the more he provided information that only the kidnapper could know. Ellis said to those in his office, "If he keeps talking he'll convict himself eventually." Wendel did just that.

After fleeing to New York City to avoid prosecution on a bad check charge, Wendel again contacted Parker. Ellis sent three men, who posed as Mafia members, along with his son to question Wendel in New York. The men told Wendel they wanted the crime solved so police would stop snooping in areas where they were transporting illegal liquor. They may have hit him in their overzealous attempt to convince him they were from the Mafia and meant business. They were not instructed to beat him or extract a confession by force. Ellis, Jr. came to see him and said he could save him by taking him to New Jersey if he confessed. Ellis Sr. called NY to check with his son about the progress of his negotiations with Wendel. He also called and spoke to Wendell to convince him to come to New Jersey where Ellis would be able to protect him from the Mafia. Wendel went back to to New Jersey on his on accord with Ellis, Jr. to see Ellis Sr. He was not coerced or kidnapped, only lied to about the Mafia being after him. Ellis was able to convince Wendel that he could hide him from the Mafia by giving him a room at the New Lisbon Colony. Wendel went there and penned his confession.

Parker then took the confession to the authorities. As soon as the prosecutor, Wilentz, read it he called for Wendel to be brought in to see him. Parker brought Wendel in to Wilentz. As Wilentz and Schwarzkopf had already built an almost airtight case of circumstantial evidence against Hauptmann, he did not want anything to make him look like a fool. The embarrassment would have destroyed his political ambitions. Of course, the "facts" of the case did not match some of the facts on Wendel's cofession as the case "facts" had been severely corrupted to convict Hauptmann. Wilentz promptly had Wendel recant the confession and claim that he had been kidnapped and beaten into confessing. Indeed, Wendel had some bruises on his body. He had hit himself with one of his shoes according to witnesses. This implied violence was completely out of character for Ellis Parker. He was a very non-violent person. He always used slyness and reasoning to trick culprits into confessing. He never would have resorted to tough tactics.

Wilentz, however, wanted his own case to stand so he arrested Ellis, his son, Ellis Jr. and the other three men. He then prosecuted them for kidnapping and torturing Wendel. Ellis was sentenced to 6 years and his son to 3 years for their "crime." Ellis died 6 months after entering prison. He was just a few days short of a full presidential pardon for him and his son. In the meantime, an innocent man, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, was executed for a crime he did not commit. A travesty of justice perpetuated by swollen egos who were too self-centered to admit they had the wrong man.

Picture from an article in
the Burlington County Times, Feb. 22, 1981.

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