January 3, 1935
ANNE MORROW LINDBERGH, sworn as a witness on behalf of the State.
Direct examination by Mr. Wilentz:
Q. Mrs. Lindbergh, are you the wife of Charles A. Lindbergh?
A. I am.
Q. And where do you reside, madam?
A. My legal residence is in East Amwell Township, Hunterdon County. I have been living in Englewood, New Jersey.
Q. When you say East Amwell Township in Hunterdon County, you mean the home which you occupied in March, 1932.
A. I do.
Q. And will you please tell us on the first day of March, 1932, about the household?
A. The occupants of the household?
Q. Yes.
A. I was there myself and my son, Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr., Mrs. Elsie Wheatley, her husband Oliver Wheatley, and later in the afternoon, Betty Gow.
Q. So that the household on that date consisted of yourself and also Colonel Lindbergh in the evening?
A. In the evening.
Q. And Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley and Betty Gow and your infant son?
A. Yes.
Q. How old was he?
A. Twenty months.
Q. He was born in June, 1931?
A. June 22nd, 1930.
Q. 1930. And you had come down to Hunterdon that day or prior to that time from Englewood?
A. We came down February 27th – let me see.
Q. It would be a Friday?
A. Friday.
Q. Yes, ma'am. And you stayed during the entire week end?
A. Yes, stayed during the entire week end.
Q. And I think March 1st, 1932, was a Tuesday, wasn't it?
A. It was.
Q. Now, referring specifically to that Tuesday, you were there all day?
A. All day, yes, sir.
Q. And your son was there all day?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. Did you leave the premises at all that day?
A. I left for a short walk in the afternoon, after Mss Betty Gow had arrived from Englewood to take care of the baby.
Q. What time did Miss Gow arrive?
A. About 1:30 in the afternoon.
Q. And when she arrived, then you went for a short walk?
A. I went for a walk in the middle of the afternoon.
Q. Did you walk alone?
A. I went alone.
Q. And how long were you away?
A. Not very long; I could not definitely say, about fifteen, twenty minutes, perhaps half an hour.
Q. And when you returned were Mr. and Mrs. Whatley and Miss Gow at home?
A. They were all at home.
Q. And the child?
A. And the child.
Q. Now, during that day had you played with Charles, Junior, spent much time with him?
A. I had been with him all morning, I put him to sleep for his map about one; and in the afternoon I played with him after he awoke from his nap.
Q. Now, in connection with the times that you did play with him in the afternoon, was there one occasion while he was up in his nursery and you were downstairs and you played from the downstairs to the window?
A. After I returned from my walk, I walked around from the driveway under his window and tried to look for him. I attracted the attention of Miss Betty Gow by throwing a pebble up to the window, and she then held the baby up to the window to let him see me.
Q. When you speak of the window, Mrs. Lindbergh, your are referring to the east window. Would you like to look at the map, the drawing, this being the first floor plan and this being the second floor plan, the arrow pointing to the north, and I take it to my right would be east? You threw the pebble up to the nursery window, did you not?
A. I stood under both windows.
Q. Under both windows. And on the side there is just one window, is there?
A. There are two – well, yes, there are two windows on that side.
Q. And you underneath each?
A. No, I stood under this one furthest down.
Q. Would you mind stepping down, Mrs. Lindbergh, please. May I have the pointer.
A. I stood first under this window and then under that one.
Q. Pointing first to the easterly window and then to the southerly window. Then you threw the pebble up towards which window?
A. I don't remember.
Q. You don't remember. Now you may step back, please. Did you strike the window?
A. Yes.
Q. And Miss Betty Gow's attention was then attracted to your presence downstairs?
A. Yes.
Q. And you say she then exhibited the baby?
A. She held the baby up to the window.
Q. Was the window then open?
A. No.
Q. It wasn't? And in that procedure and particularly that time that you were throwing the pebble up and walking along the walk there, do you recall your walking on the wooden walk or did you get off it?
A. I walked from the driveway along by the side of the house where it was quite muddy and then on to the flagstones, flagstoned porch at the back.
Q. Well, with particular reference to the easterly side of this house and particularly with reference to that portion of it underneath or near that portion which would be underneath the east window, you say you did walk in the mud there?
A. Yes.
Q. Was the condition of the ground such that when you walked there you left footprints of your walk?
A. It was.
Q. So that in the afternoon, as I understand it while walking around on the east side of that building in the vicinity of that portion of the house which would be immediately underneath the east window, the second floor east window, you left your footprints.
A. I did.
Q. Then too as I understand it there was a little wooden walk, was there not?
A. Yes, there was.
Q. It extended along the east side of the house, did it, Mrs. Lindbergh?
A. It did.
Q. You recall about how wide it was and what it was? Give us your best judgment on it.
A. As I remember it I should say that it was the width of two planks, if not wider, I cannot recollect that completely.
Q. A sort of irregularly placed walk I take it? Or quite regular?
A. It was not a regular walk placed there.
Q. After that – that was about what time in the afternoon, would you say?
A. It was, say, around three-thirty – I cannot give it exactly.
Q. Will you tell us then, if you don't mind, please, what you did for the rest of the afternoon and how you spent your time?
A. After my walk, I went up into the baby's bedroom where I found Miss Betty Gow and Mrs. Wheatley. Then I went down again, I think, into the sitting room. About five o'clock I had the baby down in the sitting room playing with me. He left me to run into the kitchen. After that I did not see him until I went up into the nursery about 6:15 or after, when he had almost finished his supper. From that time on for about an hour or a little more than that, I was with the baby, helping to dress him and prepare him for bed.
Q. Now, during the afternoon, as I understand it, you stated that you were with the child and the child was playing around. Will you tell us about the child, about his playfulness that day. Was he a normal child?
A. He was perfectly normal.
Q. Healthy?
A. He was very healthy.
Q. Playful?
A. He was a great deal better than he had been the preceding two or three days when he had a cold, slight cold.
Q. Was he able to talk yet?
A. He talked.
Q. To what extent, Mrs. Lindbergh?
A. I don't remember any particular conversation on that afternoon. Of course, he called for all the members of the household by name, and he played about the floor with me in the living room.
Q. Did he understand when he was addressed, understand what was being said to him?
A. He did.
Q. And did he know the toys by name? And his food, was he able to tell about his cereal and his toys and things of that kind, that took up his immediate life?
A. Is that a question?
Q. Yes, ma'am.
A. Yes.
Q. Will you tell us, please, what was the color of his hair?
A. It was light golden.
Q. Was it curly?
A. It was curly.
Q. And the color of his eyes, please?
A. Blue.
Q. I show you a picture and ask you if that is a picture of the child?
A. It is.
Mr. Wilentz: I offer it in evidence.
Mr. Large: It ought to be marked.
Mr. Wilentz: I offered it in evidence.
The Court: No objection; it will be marked.
(The photograph was received in evidence as State Exhibit
S-6.)
Q. Will you please, to the best of your ability and recollection, describe the nursery room for us?
A. Do you mean the placing of the windows, or –
Q. Yes, ma'am, and generally about the room as best you can, and the condition in which it was the night of March 1st, 1932.
A. As you enter the nursery from the hall you face a large French window. Just below the French window was a window box with two doors below it which opened out, for toys.
Mr. Wilentz: Pardon me just a minute. If your Honor please, can we not have – there seems to be so much noise right in back of me that I just cannot think.
The Court: Everybody will please remain as quiet as possible.
Q. Yes, ma'am, please.
A. As you entered the nursery from the hall there were two windows to your left, sash windows. Between them was a fireplace and a mantel. To the left of the door as you entered was a small chiffonier. Top the right of the door was a table. On the wall facing the two windows there was a door into a closet. That is to your right. The crib faced the fireplace, running along the length of the wall. Between the crib and the French window was a screen covered with paper of a colored design.
Q. What sort of paper was that that you talked of, of colored design?
A. With small figures. Small toy figures on it. The general colors were pink and green.
Q. Pink and green. Was that screen used to –
A. Protect the crib from drafts.
Q. Does this picture correctly portray the screen and crib?
A. It does.
Q. The very ones that were in that room that night.
A. Yes.
(hands photograph to defense counsel.)
(The photograph was received in evidence and marked State Exhibit No. 7)
Q. I exhibit to you another picture, Mrs. Lindbergh. Does that show the east window, the sash window so called?
A. Yes.
Q. And also the dresser?
A. And the dresser, yes.
Q. And those articles exhibited and shown by this picture, Mrs. Lindbergh, are exactly as they were on March 1st, 1932? I don't mean with reference to the exact position, - but in the room?
A. Exactly as I can remember.
Mr. Wilentz: I therefore offer that.
Mr. Reilly: I assume, Mr. Attorney General, they were taken right at the same time, or shortly thereafter?
Mr. Wilentz: She says so. She says it indicates the exact condition at that time. I don't know when they were taken.
(Photograph received in evidence and marked State Exhibit S-8.)
Q. I show you another picture which shows the crib and a little table and other articles of furniture; were those articles of furniture in that room on March 1st, 1932, as they are shown in this picture?
A. They were.
(The photograph was received in evidence as State Exhibit
S-9.)
Q. I notice in Exhibit S-9, that is the picture before me, there is a tray with some articles upon it. Were those articles there that night?
A. They were.
Q. And what are those articles, if you know? Is it a food tray or a medicine tray?
A. It is a tray of articles for the bath of the child.
Q. I see.
A. And one container of medicine.
Mr. Wilentz: That has been marked. If any of the members of the jury are unable to hear either counsel or the witness, I am asking the jury through the Court if they won't please say so.
The Court: Yes; do you apprehend that the jury is not hearing?
Mr. Wilentz: I understood that possibly some of the jurors do not hear.
The Court: If the jurors do not hear the testimony, let them speak up and we will see to it that they do hear.
Mr. Wilentz: I really can talk much louder, if your Honor please.
Q. Now, Mrs. Lindbergh, does this correctly depict, and is it a correct and accurate picture of the baby's crib as it was in that room on that night of March 1st, 1932?
A. It is.
(Photograph was received in evidence and marked State Exhibit S-10.)
Q. Will you look at Exhibit S-10, please, and tell me whether of not there are any pins shown by that photograph?
A. I do not see them.
Q. All right. I want to show you two more pictures of that room from different views and ask if they correctly indicate the room, a certain portion of the room that night?
A. Yes, they do.
(Photographs referred to were received in evidence and marked State Exhibit Number S-11 and State Exhibit Number S-12.)
Q. Now, I think you stated a while ago that you were in the room at 6:15?
A. Approximately.
Q. Approximately 6:15. And when did you see the child again? At that time he had already had his dinner?
A. He was finishing his dinner.
Q. Finishing his dinner. Where did he have his dinner, by the way, in the nursery?
A. In the nursery at the maple table, which is in the center of the room.
Q. By the way, your room is connected with the baby's room?
A. Through a bathroom.
Q. Through a bathroom. Who was with him while he was eating dinner?
A. Miss Gow was with him and I came in at the end of the meal.
Q. I see. Then did you leave the nursery and where did you go?
A. I stayed in the nursery until the baby was in his bed. He had been dressed, he had been given medicine, he had been rubbed with some kind of grease, -
Q. Vicks Vapor rub?
A. Yes, for his cold and he had been put in his bed.
Q. About what time was that?
A. It was a little later than that, about 7:30.
Q. Did he still have a little cough or had it disappeared?
A. He was a good deal better, breathing easily.
Q. So that you were not particularly alarmed about his cold?
A. No.
Q. Notwithstanding that, however, as I understand it, you applied these medical aids. Will you tell us then if you were there when with the child was put to bed?
A. He was in his bed when I left.
Q. Who dressed him for bed?
A. Miss Gow and I.
Q. Will you tell us then about that, please?
A. What he wore?
Q. Yes, ma'am.
A. He had next to his skin a home-made flannel shirt which Miss Gow cut out and sewed that night out of a flannel petticoat for an infant which I had had since the child was an infant.
Q. Mrs. Lindbergh, I want to exhibit to you a piece of clothing that I have and ask you whether or not you can tell what that is?
A. That is the flannel shirt cut out of the flannel petticoat.
Q. Is that the flannel shirt that your child Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. had on that night in that crib when he was put to bed on March 1st, 1932?
A. It is.
(The garment was received in evidence as State Exhibit S-13.)
Q. Now, will you tell us what else the child had as its bedclothes that night?
A. On top of the home made shirt he had a small sleeveless wool shirt, cut very low in front and back.
Q. Will you tell us, please, whether or not you can tell from looking at this piece of clothing what it is?
A. It is the sleeveless shirt.
(Sleeveless shirt received in evidence and marked as State Exhibit No. 14.)
What else did the child wear that evening as bedclothes?
A. He had diapers, fastened to the small shirt, to the second shirt and on top of that he had a sleeping suit, a wool sleeping suit.
Q. Did you buy that sleeping suit yourself?
A. I did.
Q. I show you what purports to be a sleeping suit, No. 2 Dr. Denton, and ask you whether or not you recognize that sleeping suit?
A. I do.
Q. What sleeping suit is that, Mrs. Lindbergh?
A. It is the sleeping suit that was put on my child the night of March 1st.
(Sleeping suit received in evidence and marked State Exhibit No. 15.)
Q. Now you have told us about the sleeping suit and if I may be defensively leading for a minute, did the child have any thumb protectors on?
A. Pardon?
Q. Did the child have a thumb protector?
A. Yes, he had.
Q. Will you describe that protector and how it was fastened, if it was fastened?
A. It is a wire thumb guard which had a piece of tape through the sides of it and was fastened around the wrist of the sleeping suit on the outside.
Q. How was it fastened?
A. I did not put it on –
Q. Well, do you know?
A. (continuing) – myself.
Q. Do you know how it was fastened? Did you see it done that night?
A. No, I don't remember seeing it done. I know the thumb guard and I have done it myself.
Q. Do you know whether –
A. But that night I did not put it on.
Q. Did you see it on though after it was put on?
A. I don't remember seeing it on.
Q. You don't remember. Disregarding this little piece of paper please, Mrs. Lindbergh, will you tell us whether or not you recognize that as being one of the thumb guards the child had on, one of the thumb guards that was used for your child?
A. Yes.
(The thumb guard was received in evidence and marked State's Exhibit S-16.)
Q. How would you fasten this thumb guard, Mrs. Lindbergh? Would you take this string and attach it to the sleeping garment?
A. No, the guard is slipped over the thumb and the tape is tied twice around the wrist.
Q. Securely tied?
A. Yes.
Q. I see. Now, I take it that the last time – I withdraw that. Now, on the night of March 1st, 1932, after you saw your child dressed for sleeping, with these articles, did you then leave the bedroom, the nursery?
A. I left the bedroom and went down into the living room.
Q. About what time was that, if you recall?
A. About 7:30.
Q. Was Colonel Lindbergh home yet?
A. He was not home.
Q. Had you heard from him that afternoon or evening?
A. I had heard that he was coming, that he would be late.
Q. All right; now, at 7:30, when you came down, that was when you left the child's nursery, what did you do then, Mrs. Lindbergh?
A. I sat at the desk in the living room, which is opposite to the door from the hall.
Q. Would you like to point it out, please?
A. (Witness indicates on map.)
Q. You are pointing to what is marked on Exhibit S-4 as the living room of the first floor plan.
A. I am.
Q. Yes, ma'am. And you say you did what?
A. I sat at the desk which is opposite two doors from the hall for approximately an hour.
Q. Were the doors leading to the hall open?
A. They were usually open – they were open that evening.
Q. And that would take you, you say, to about 8:30?
A. To about 8:30, about 8:25.
Q. About 8:25. And then what did you do, Mrs. Lindbergh?
A. At 8:25 I heard the horn of my husband's car; he drove into the back court and into the garage. He then came in through the back hall, the kitchen, and the dining room and had supper. I think that we finished supper at approximately nine o'clock, perhaps a little after nine. We went into the living room, sat down by the fire for a very short period – perhaps five minutes. We then went upstairs into my bedroom and we sat for about fifteen or twenty minutes talking. After that my husband drew a bath, took a bath, and went down again, downstairs into the library, and I got ready to go to bed.
Q. Were you also suffering with a cold that day and that evening?
A. I had caught the cold from the baby. After my husband left I rang the bell for Mrs. Wheatley and when she came, asked her for a hot lemonade to take before going to bed. I then drew a bath for myself.
Q. Did Mrs. Wheatley bring the lemonade?
A. She did not bring it, she went down to fix it, and after I had taken my bath, Miss Betty Gow came in to me through the hall door and asked me if I had the baby, and hearing that I did not, asked me if my husband had the baby, and I sent her downstairs. I then went into the baby's room through the connecting passage. This was after ten o'clock, shortly after ten o'clock. I went into the baby's room through the connecting passage, looked hastily at the bed, found it to be empty, came back into my room, where I met my husband and Miss Gow. My husband went into the closet to take out a rifle, and we all three went into the baby's bedroom and searched it. I was still in the baby's bedroom when Mrs. Wheatley came upstairs, and I went with her back into my own bedroom and got dressed and we started to search the house.
Q. By that time I suppose Colonel Lindbergh had notified the police?
A. He had spoken to Mr. Wheatley and he had gone outside with Mr. Wheatley to look around the house. I don't know what he did downstairs.
Q. When you left that room at about 7:30 o'clock, did you observe whether or not the east window, that is the casement window I think it is referred to, was closed?
A. All the windows were closed when I left that room at 7:30.
Q. At 7:30. And there were shutters on the outside of the windows, were there not?
A. Yes.
Q. Were they drawn and closed?
A. Miss Betty Gow and I closed all the shutters on all the windows before I left.
Q. With particular reference to the east window, was it possible to lock it in addition to closing it?
A. It was not possible to lock it. We both pulled on it and tried to lock it.
Q. But the window and shutters of the room in that nursery were closed, as I understand it?
A. Closed when I left.
Q. You haven't seen that child since the first of March, 1932, have you?
A. No.
Q. And when it was revealed that the child was missing, did you join with Colonel Lindbergh in an appeal to the person who had the child for its return? Did you join –
A. What do you mean by that?
Q. Did you make a statement asking the person who had your child to return it?
A. I joined with my husband –
Q. Colonel Lindbergh, yes. Did you on another occasion soon after the child was found missing make a radio appeal and statement giving the baby's diet?
A. I gave out the baby's diet.
Q. Do you recall whether or not you gave it out in the form of a statement or whether you personally spoke over the radio?
A. I did not speak over the radio.
Q. On the night when you walked into that room did you observe whether or not the room had been changed, its appearance had been changed at all from the time that you had seen it at 7:30?
A. I saw no change in the room at all. I noticed no change.
Q. Did you notice the bedclothes?
A. The bed clothes were apparently untouched, as though the child had been taken out. The pins were still fastening the bed clothes to the mattress.
Q. Had you had pins affixed from the bed clothes to the mattress?
A. I left the baby before he was completely put in for the night.
Q. I see. But when you did get there, Mrs. Lindbergh, you found the bed clothes affixed to the mattress by pins?
A. Yes.
Q. About how large were the pins?
A. They were large safety pins.
Q. And they were still securely fastened, were they?
A. Yes.
Q. How about the windows in the room? Do you recall their condition?
A. I did not look at the windows.
Q. You did not? Do you recall seeing any paper note there?
A. No.
Q. Now when you went in there who had preceded you in there, do you know?
A. As far as I know, only Miss Gow.
Q. I see.
Mr. Wilentz: May we have just one minute, if your Honor please?
The Court: What is that?
Mr. Wilentz: May we have just one minute, if your Honor please?
The Court: Certainly.
Mr. Wilentz: Take the witness.
Mr. Reilly: Are you through, Mr. Wilentz?
Mr. Wilentz: Yes, sir.
Mr. Reilly: The defense feels that the grief of Mrs. Lindbergh requires no cross examination.
The Court: Nothing further, Mr. Attorney General?
Mr. Wilentz: That is all, thank you, Mrs. Lindbergh.