|
Post by scathma on Oct 11, 2017 11:13:29 GMT -5
Many are of the opinion that Amandus Hockmuth and Millard Whited lied on the stand when they testified that they had seen BRH around Highfields the day of the kidnapping.
What if it was merely a case of mistaken identity?
Lieutenant Robert Hicks is one of the many investigators associated with the LKC, most notably in the area of ballistics tests. In the attached report below, he presented the story that a Menlo Park realtor named Robert Scanlan may have been mistaken as a "striking double" for Hauptmann, who was in the area inspecting a property adjacent to Lindbergh's. He even drove a "dirty green sedan" up Featherbed Lane and remembered talking to an "old man in a hallow of ground." Could Hockmuth have been that old man?
The New York Evening Post went so far as to make photo mock-ups comparing the two. See for yourself as there is at least a passing resemblance if Scanlan were to be observed driving by.
Could Hockmuth and Whited have been telling the "truth" in a simple case of mistaken identity? Attachments:
Scanlan.pdf (124.5 KB)
|
|
|
Post by Michael on Oct 12, 2017 13:45:29 GMT -5
This is a very good subject. Here's what I know off the top of my head....
Scanlon was at first ridiculed by Reilly publicly. After his account was in the papers the NJSP, as they always did, rushed over to engage in damage control for the State. In that interview Scanlon seemed at first confused about the date being either 1931 or 1932 but believed it was 1932. He also claimed he was accompanied and his trip with a male who looked "like Condon more than anyone else." The Trooper concluded that he was lying and that he did not look like Hauptmann. Later, Wilentz pointed to Reilly's ridicule as to why this account was bogus. Scanlon told newspapers he expected to testify at the same time Reilly seemed to soften to his account.
In the end he was not called by the Defense.
|
|
|
Post by scathma on Oct 13, 2017 10:10:43 GMT -5
Granted Scanlan was coming forward in 1935 and trying to recollect his actions three years earlier... I can barely remember three weeks ago.
Still, there was no one who could corroborate his story to help pin down the year? I suspected there couldn't have been much to the story since it hadn't be raised here before, but offered it as one explanation for why witnesses claimed BRH was in the vicinity that day.
My belief is that Hockmuth and Whited lied for financial gain and the notoriety, though I can't think of ANY major witness who provided testimony that wasn't suspect in some way.
I came across this topic on my first visit to the NJSP archives the day after Labor Day. To say it is an amazing place is an understatement; as Mark Falzini said "Welcome to the Holiest of Holies." I was hoping that week was one of the vacations you spent at the archives and that I'd run into you but no such luck.
Sadly, I only had a day to spend there and no game plan. I tried to be methodical and "start from the beginning," but was quickly overwhelmed and ended up getting lost in the photo binders. That is where I came across the Scanlan story.
|
|
|
Post by Michael on Oct 14, 2017 8:42:35 GMT -5
Granted Scanlan was coming forward in 1935 and trying to recollect his actions three years earlier... I can barely remember three weeks ago. Still, there was no one who could corroborate his story to help pin down the year? I suspected there couldn't have been much to the story since it hadn't be raised here before, but offered it as one explanation for why witnesses claimed BRH was in the vicinity that day. It's so hard to know whether or not he was telling the truth OR was right about the the timing OR if it even matters if he was. Know what I mean? So there's so much to wrestle with. I do believe he could have been correct. We had people who were nutty or looking for their 15 seconds of fame, but then there were others who had a fear of telling what they knew. This counts on either side of things. If it was something to help the State, then the worry is getting killed by a criminal. If for the Defense then your name gets trashed and one has to look over their shoulder for some powerful people - like Wilentz - who wasn't shy about threatening them with charges. By this time police were definitely looking to assist the State by neutralizing this type of account. So I do not trust any investigation here was made in good faith. I won't go so far as to say it was all lies but it's formulated with an ulterior motive and opinions to assist with it. For example, it's obvious from the pictures you've posted that there is a resemblance when he's wearing a hat. From Scanlon's position, I can see why he might be making up a name of someone being with him. Either he didn't want to get that other person involved so gave a fake name, or it an invention as a form of protection in case some retaliation was coming his way. My belief is that Hockmuth and Whited lied for financial gain and the notoriety, though I can't think of ANY major witness who provided testimony that wasn't suspect in some way. Hockmuth certainly because he couldn't see. Whited, I believe, saw Lindbergh come home early. After that he lied to get reward money. I came across this topic on my first visit to the NJSP archives the day after Labor Day. To say it is an amazing place is an understatement; as Mark Falzini said "Welcome to the Holiest of Holies." I was hoping that week was one of the vacations you spent at the archives and that I'd run into you but no such luck. Sadly, I only had a day to spend there and no game plan. I tried to be methodical and "start from the beginning," but was quickly overwhelmed and ended up getting lost in the photo binders. That is where I came across the Scanlan story. This is great to hear! Mark is a great guy isn't he? Sadly, we missed each other by about a month. It's hard to envision the size and scope until one see's it with their own eyes. I am really glad you got your feet wet and can see how much fun researching there can be.
|
|
|
Post by hurtelable on Oct 16, 2017 18:37:23 GMT -5
Many are of the opinion that Amandus Hockmuth and Millard Whited lied on the stand when they testified that they had seen BRH around Highfields the day of the kidnapping.
What if it was merely a case of mistaken identity?
Lieutenant Robert Hicks is one of the many investigators associated with the LKC, most notably in the area of ballistics tests. In the attached report below, he presented the story that a Menlo Park realtor named Robert Scanlan may have been mistaken as a "striking double" for Hauptmann, who was in the area inspecting a property adjacent to Lindbergh's. He even drove a "dirty green sedan" up Featherbed Lane and remembered talking to an "old man in a hallow of ground." Could Hockmuth have been that old man?
The New York Evening Post went so far as to make photo mock-ups comparing the two. See for yourself as there is at least a passing resemblance if Scanlan were to be observed driving by.
Could Hockmuth and Whited have been telling the "truth" in a simple case of mistaken identity? Does anyone have any personal data on Scanlan in 1932: Age, height, weight, hair color, eye color, etc.? The fact that both Scanlan and Hauptmann are wearing similar hats in those photos might obscure easily distinguished features that demonstrate that they are not the same man. At any rate, I'd bet the house that Hochmuth and Whited were lying in "identifying" Hauptmann. How can anyone, yet alone these two - one blind and the other known for his lying - possibly identify a man whom they saw only once, about two and a half years before? This holds true regardless of the of the appearance of Scanlan as a "red herring" in the case.
|
|
|
Post by Michael on Oct 17, 2017 17:01:41 GMT -5
Does anyone have any personal data on Scanlan in 1932: Age, height, weight, hair color, eye color, etc.? Born in 1897, blue eyes, brown hair -- partly bald in the front, 5'7", 130 pounds.
|
|
|
Post by Sue on Aug 3, 2023 11:14:53 GMT -5
Michael,
Hi. Thank you for looking for a picture of Alfons Kersthold. Maybe a picture of Kersthold does not exist? I am answering under this thread about people who could have passed for Hauptmann's double.
In a newspaper called The Daily Worker, there is a passing reference to someone who looked like Hauptmann.
The writer says that a man named Tobi Geibig "bears a striking resemblance to Bruno Hauptmann." I'm not sure why this comparison was pertinent to that news story.
Geibig was a cohort of Fritz Kahn, leader of The Friends of New Germany. I think Geibig might have been associated with the Detroit chapter of FONG.
Apparently, there is a photograph of Geibig in Today Magazine, issued April 7, 1934, one in a series of articles about Nazis. I wonder if someone can find this picture so that it can be compared with Hauptmann?
(Weren't there many excellent articles about the LKC from Today Magazine? Raymond Morley was the editor.)
I also wonder if Geibig is in some way tied into the Mersman tabletop brace confession because the article says that he is a member of the National Socialist Party of Germany. Wasn't the table block signed by N.S.D.A.P.?
"Military Training Stressed in Commands to Nazis Here"
Page 2 (Continued from Page 1) Daily Worker New York, New York Saturday February 22, 1936
|
|