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Post by rmc1971 on Nov 19, 2007 8:55:06 GMT -5
Wondering if anything has been found by researchers that point to similarities between these 2 incidents. If the correspondence in the Constance Morrow case has survived, this would be well worth looking into.
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Post by Michael on Nov 19, 2007 19:36:34 GMT -5
I've got a ton on this to include copies of most of the reports written by the Burns Detective Agency who were hired to investigate this case. all-biographies.com/historical/william_john_burns.htmThere are a lot of tangents to explore, in fact, I have been actively chasing down something that I learned about directly from one of the reports I have on this very subject. It was generally understood that a man by the name of Long wrote these notes (and others) but never suffered any consequences. I will try to post a few things when I can.
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Post by Michael on Nov 20, 2007 6:44:23 GMT -5
In June of '32 A. S. Osborn (Sr.) examined photostats of the "Constance" extortion letters. According to (then) Lt. Snook: In the opinion of Mr. Osborn there was nothing in these papers which would connect with the Lindbergh case. However the FBI, knowing about Osborn's conclusions, would still further investigate the possible connections in the summer of '34... According to Special Agent Seykora's report: Believed that possible similar characteristics in handwriting and printing are discernible in Long's handwriting, extortion letters attributed to him, and in the Lindbergh extortion letters; also in the syntax of portions of the extortion letters and in certain misspellings. (*See note below) A&M's book brings this matter to our attention. Their source may be True Detectives Magazine: How Lindbergh Smashed the Morrow Blackmail Plot, or files from one of the various reports located at the NJSP Archives (or others). They seem to imply Lindbergh may have behind it. There is nothing I could find which gave any indication that. However, I do find certain things to be interesting as they relate to both cases. ( *)This probably belongs in the handwriting section but I thought I bring it up here due to the quoted report... Here are some important quotes from an article in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review Vol. 137 page 770: The cross examinations of these witnesses were performed ineffectively, and the defense later found that other experts refused to testify against Osborn and company. This is consistent with inter-expert agreement on authorship or with inter-agreement on what was politically best for their field. (See footnote 176) A substantial number of the "identifying" characteristics testified to by Osborn are not "chirographic" similarities but spelling errors. Hauptmann claimed he was made to copy the exemplars directly from the notes, spelling errors and all. Even assuming he did not, consider the following:
Since misspellings are the most obvious characteristics of a document to the non-technical eye, it would be an asset of the greatest possible value to examine and compare misspellings if we knew that in doing so we stood upon unassailable ground. But do we? Lest I be taken as a prejudiced party I will commence by again quoting Dr. Hans Gross, Professor of Criminology at Prague University, and author of the internationally famous classic on Criminal Investigation (citation omitted):-
"As to the spelling, upon which too much value if often placed, it proves absolutely nothing...." (See footnote 177)
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Post by rmc1971 on Nov 21, 2007 8:57:29 GMT -5
Thanks. I think the fact that in both cases, the writer went to the trouble to give dimensions of the box for the ransom money may be a red flag. The fact that Osborne dismisses the handwriting doesn't affect my opionion on it one way or the other, b/c he was adamant BRH didn't write the LKC ransom notes until he was charged. And the $50000 thing, I know it's a nice round number, but I think somehow that must be symbolic to someone close to the Morrows for some reason. Even back in the '20s and '30s, you would think a larger amount of money would have been in play if you were extorting the Morrow family for monetary gain only.
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