Evening star., 1935-01-28
LONG HUNT AIDED
BY PSYCH|ATR|ST.
Ransom Bills Always Majcr
Clues in Tedious Search
for Kidnaper.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

The imposing detective mechanism
which finally trapped Bruno Richard
Hauptmann was fully described yester-
day for the first time. As 1t was pic
tured, the police machine built to
catch the Mndbergh kidnaper was like
one Of the great graders used to test
some manufactured products, except
that it was constructed that it would
find only one man up to specifications.
To make sure they had the right
man, police were armed with a psychi-
artists portrait Of the kidnaper, de-
duced from the ransom notes and the
facts OF the crime. They had six elab-
crate physical descriptions, collected
from persons who, like DR.. John F.
Condor, had seen the kidnaper during
ransom negotiations, and from others
who had received ransom money from
him. They had data deduced from the
ransom notes by handwriting experts,
and they even had deductions made
from careful chemical analyses of
each ransom bill picked up.
| $4,000 Scrutinized in Hunt.
In the 2 years, months and II
days from the payment Of the ransom
money to the arrest of Hauptmann
more than $4,000 persons were re-
jected by this mechanism. The story
Of how SO great a crowd of suspects
and possible suspects was collected was
perhaps as interesting as the tests
themselves.
It Is the story Of the last two years
and half in the lives of Acting Lieut..
James ]. Finn Of the New York City
police, and Of Corpl. William Horn Of
the New Jersey State police, who was
detailed to assist Finn Immediately
after the kidnapping. On April 4, 1882,
two days after DR.. Condor paid the
mysterious John" $4,000 in st. Ray
mond's Cemetery, a $40 gold note
bearing the number B04l73050 was
deposited by an unidentified person
at the East River Savings Bank
branch at Amsterdam avenue and
Ninety sixth street. 1t was the first
OF between 400 and 500 ransom notes,
for each Of which Lieut.. Finn, SER
geant then, and Corpl Horn had to
make a case history.
Bill Carefully Traced.
When a bill turned up, either in
the Federal Reserve Bank or in one
OF the city's banks, Finn and Horn
traced 1t back to its original depositor,
an initial process which required In
terview1ng anywhere from so to 200
persons From the depositor it was
traced further back, to the last per-
son who recalled having it in his pos
session. and perhaps at the end of the
trail there might lie a description of
the first tenderer of the bill. Thirty
f1ve bills had turned up before Miss
Cecilia Barr, cashier of Loew's Sheri-
dan Theater. Seventh Avenue and
Eleventh street, gave the first descrip-
ton which tailed with the descrip-
tions supplied by Or. Condor and
Joseph Perrone, the taxi driver, who
acted as unconscious messenger for
one OF the ransom notes.
In their search Finn and Horn were
greatly aided by the synthetic human
being 50 completely put together by
the experts. The psychiatrist who
made q guess picture of the kidnaper's
mentality is attached to one of the
large New York hospitals. His name
was not revealed, but the nature Of
parts Of his report was. The report
was made in December, 1882.
Army Influence Seen.
First Of the traits which he de-
duced from careful study of the ran
som notes and the circumstances of
the crime was that the kidnaper was
highly methodical man. Second.
from the conciseness of the demands
and orders in the ransom notes, he
inferred that the kidnaper had served
IN the army. Third, he argued that
because the big words in the ransom
notes were spelled rightly and the
small ones wrongly, the kidnaper
must be to some degree iliterate, and
accustomed to look up the words that
troubled him In a dictionary, while
unconscious Of his minor errors.
Going deeper into the Ndnaper's
mind, he deduced from the signs Of
agitation In each writing Of the word
baby" In the hdnap notes that the
ktdnaper had some sort OF mental
hxation about children. BY the gen.
eral circumstances of the crime and
! by his belief that the kidnaper had.
been in the army he was led to sus-
pect that the kidnaper, infuriated by
the strictness Of military discipline,
had conceived a hatred for those
above him IN worldly station or es-
TEEN which caused him to choose the
Lindberghs as his victims. And, from
this in turn, he argued that harsh
questioning would only cause him to
shut up like claim, whereas he might
be babied into an admission of guilt.
Grilling Followed Suggestion.
The psychiatrist's report has had
part In certain developments since
Hauptmann's arrest. In the first
place, police say that entirely be-
cause Of the psychiatrist's suggestions
about the manner In which the kid
naper was to be questioned he was
treated with every consideration when
under examination, and not brutal
lied, as he charges. They point to DR..
Condon's success in talking to Haupt-
mann, and his claim that by his kind
| ly schoolmaster manner he was on
the verge Of extracting something
close to a confession from the pris-
| oner.
Moreover, the psychiatrist has
studied Hauptmann since his arrest.
He believes Hauptmann is guilty. He
has come to the conclusion that
Hauptmann chose the Lindberghs as
his victims not only because Of his
hatred for those occupying q more
agreeable and more powerful worldly
position than his own, but also be-
cause during the World War, the
German aviator, Manfred Won RIGHT
hofen, was his idol. During the first
part Of the war Hauptmann was too
young to serve, and lived in the at
mosphere Of wordy, propagandized
patriotism behind the fighting lines.
In this period such an admiration
might well have been conceived.
Richthofen having been shot down
by allied aviators, the psychiatrist
believes that Hauptmann selected the
leading American flyer for his attack
as q sort of compensation.
| n~h,, Nnvr~S1 Ror FLYER