Post by Rab on Mar 5, 2006 11:20:00 GMT -5
[Originally posted on LindyKidnap September 5 2002.]
I have again been looking at the stream of ransom money found and wanted to address some of the enduring assertions about how the amount and timing of the money found supposedly supports Hauptmann's Fisch story.
In this analysis I have concentrated on the $10 gold certificates, for a number of reasons. Firstly, all of the $10 bills were gold certificates, arguably making them easier to spot, especially after May 1 1933. There were more $5 bills than any other denomination in the ransom but since these were so common in circulation they could often not to traced to the original passer. And, finally, it was predominantly $10 bills (and four $20 bills) that Hauptmann admittedly passed in Aug/Sept 1934 and I think it is illuminating to consider that overall stream, as will hopefully become apparent.
The first enduring assertion is that the money found in Aug/Sept 1934 was found in Hauptmann's neighbourhood. This is clearly untrue. As an example, consider the $10 bill that led to Hauptmann's arrest. This was tendered at Warner-Quinlan in Harlem at about 10am on a Saturday morning for the purchase of 94c of gasoline. It can be seen clearly from the map that this is a significant distance from Hauptmann's house and the fact that he would travel this distance on a Saturday morning to buy a small amount (5 gallons) of gasoline is perhaps illustrative.
The second enduring assertion is that the ransom money found in Aug/Sept 1934 was in areas where ransom money had not previously been found. And that there is a clear distinction of locales between where Hauptmann admittedly passed money and where previous ransom money had been traced. The list below is of all the $10 bills found [up to Hauptmann's arrest]. The first "Hauptmann" bill is August 20th 1934. (For purposes of clarity "Manhattan" has been used to signify those areas of Manhattan Island other than Harlem and Yorkville).
A-74137326 Oct 20 1932 (Manhattan)
A-70412014 Oct 27 1932 (Queens)
A-73682326 Oct 28 1932 (Brooklyn)
A-45271903 Dec 21 1932 (Yorkville)
A-79742843 Feb 19 1933 (Cherry Valley, NY)
*-13447722 Mar 1 1933 (Yorkville)
A-27452504 Apr 13 1933 (Brooklyn)
A-68440693 Apr 13 1933 (Manhattan)
A-42040299 Apr 18 1933 (Manhattan)
Multiple $240 Apr 27 1933 (Manhattan)
Multiple $260 Apr 29 1933 (Manhattan)
Multiple $500 Apr 29 1933 (Manhattan)
Multiple $2960 May 1 1933 (Manhattan - Faulkner)
A-60846145 May 7 1933 (Yorkville)
A-18300206 May 9 1933 (Manhattan)
A-12859632 May 29 1933 (Manhattan)
A-35186638 Jun 10 1933 (Bronx)
A-72984929 Dec 26 1933 (Manhattan)
*-01122111 Dec 27 1933 (Bronx)
A-13727291 Dec 28 1933 (Harlem)
A-76464756 Dec 29 1933 (Bronx)
A-34408398 Jan 16 1934 (Bronx)
A-94624481 Jan 17 1934 (Bronx)
[A-76315177] Feb 13 1934 [though passed December 26 1933 in the Bronx]
A-75873174 Aug 20 1934 (Manhattan)
A-73697975 Aug 28 1934 (Yorkville)
A-17385388 Aug 28 1934 (Bronx)
A-02441968 Aug 30 1934 (Bronx)
A-76444003 Sep 5 1934 (Yorkville)
A-57232100 Sep 6 1934 (Yorkville)
A-27063410 Sep 15 1934 (Bronx)
A-73976634 Sep 15 1934 (Harlem - Warner Quinlan)
A-44293574 Sep 17 1934 (Bronx)
A-77310232 Sep 18 1934 (Bronx)
A-74151743 Sep 18 1934 (Bronx)
What is patently clear from this listing is that the pattern of passing $10 bills in areas frequented by Hauptmann did not begin in August 1934. As far back as December 1932, a $10 bill was traced to Yorkville. The first $10 traced to the Bronx was in June 1933. And there is a very clear pattern of spending in December 1933 and January 1934 where there were four bills passed in the Bronx and one in Harlem.
Finally the third, and perhaps most misunderstood, assertion: that there is a gap in the discovery of ransom money between February and August 1934 and that this supports Hauptmann finding the shoebox in August. As...has [been] posted recently, there was in fact no gap in the overall discovery of ransom money during that period. $5 bills and a non-gold $20 were found during the summer and this is recounted in Kennedy and elsewhere. But there was a gap in the discovery of gold certificates and it is perhaps the FBI's focus on this that has caused the "gap" story to become so prevalent. But on examining the $10 gold certificates in isolation, what is clear is that this gap is not a unique characteristic - which supports Hauptmann - but rather a repetition of the pattern of passing the $10 gold certificates going back prior to 1934. Consider:
It seems that no $10 bills were found between February 13th 1934 and August 20th 1934, a gap of six months. This would seem to be significant. It supports circumstantially Hauptmann's story of finding the shoebox, especially as it is followed by an intense flurry of note passing. But in looking back to 1933, we can see EXACTLY the same pattern. A $10 bill was passed on June 10th 1933 (in the Bronx) but the next was not discovered until December 26th 1933, six months later [actually two on that date]. So exactly the same gap as is evident in 1934. And after the December 26th bill was found, there was another flurry of bills on the 27th, 28th and 29th and two more in January (one in Harlem, four in the Bronx), just as there was a flurry in August/September 1934.
So what to make of this? While it does not disprove Hauptmann's story of finding the shoebox, it would seem that if someone other than Hauptmann passed the pre-August 1934 $10 bills, that person did so in uncannily the same manner as Hauptmann himself did when he supposedly found the shoebox. It also seems to me that the intensity of the bill passing, the location of the bill passing and the gap between bill passing can no longer be used as indicators of Hauptmann's pattern of spending as all of these characteristics are clearly identifiable in pre-August 1934 $10 bill discoveries.
I have again been looking at the stream of ransom money found and wanted to address some of the enduring assertions about how the amount and timing of the money found supposedly supports Hauptmann's Fisch story.
In this analysis I have concentrated on the $10 gold certificates, for a number of reasons. Firstly, all of the $10 bills were gold certificates, arguably making them easier to spot, especially after May 1 1933. There were more $5 bills than any other denomination in the ransom but since these were so common in circulation they could often not to traced to the original passer. And, finally, it was predominantly $10 bills (and four $20 bills) that Hauptmann admittedly passed in Aug/Sept 1934 and I think it is illuminating to consider that overall stream, as will hopefully become apparent.
The first enduring assertion is that the money found in Aug/Sept 1934 was found in Hauptmann's neighbourhood. This is clearly untrue. As an example, consider the $10 bill that led to Hauptmann's arrest. This was tendered at Warner-Quinlan in Harlem at about 10am on a Saturday morning for the purchase of 94c of gasoline. It can be seen clearly from the map that this is a significant distance from Hauptmann's house and the fact that he would travel this distance on a Saturday morning to buy a small amount (5 gallons) of gasoline is perhaps illustrative.
The second enduring assertion is that the ransom money found in Aug/Sept 1934 was in areas where ransom money had not previously been found. And that there is a clear distinction of locales between where Hauptmann admittedly passed money and where previous ransom money had been traced. The list below is of all the $10 bills found [up to Hauptmann's arrest]. The first "Hauptmann" bill is August 20th 1934. (For purposes of clarity "Manhattan" has been used to signify those areas of Manhattan Island other than Harlem and Yorkville).
A-74137326 Oct 20 1932 (Manhattan)
A-70412014 Oct 27 1932 (Queens)
A-73682326 Oct 28 1932 (Brooklyn)
A-45271903 Dec 21 1932 (Yorkville)
A-79742843 Feb 19 1933 (Cherry Valley, NY)
*-13447722 Mar 1 1933 (Yorkville)
A-27452504 Apr 13 1933 (Brooklyn)
A-68440693 Apr 13 1933 (Manhattan)
A-42040299 Apr 18 1933 (Manhattan)
Multiple $240 Apr 27 1933 (Manhattan)
Multiple $260 Apr 29 1933 (Manhattan)
Multiple $500 Apr 29 1933 (Manhattan)
Multiple $2960 May 1 1933 (Manhattan - Faulkner)
A-60846145 May 7 1933 (Yorkville)
A-18300206 May 9 1933 (Manhattan)
A-12859632 May 29 1933 (Manhattan)
A-35186638 Jun 10 1933 (Bronx)
A-72984929 Dec 26 1933 (Manhattan)
*-01122111 Dec 27 1933 (Bronx)
A-13727291 Dec 28 1933 (Harlem)
A-76464756 Dec 29 1933 (Bronx)
A-34408398 Jan 16 1934 (Bronx)
A-94624481 Jan 17 1934 (Bronx)
[A-76315177] Feb 13 1934 [though passed December 26 1933 in the Bronx]
A-75873174 Aug 20 1934 (Manhattan)
A-73697975 Aug 28 1934 (Yorkville)
A-17385388 Aug 28 1934 (Bronx)
A-02441968 Aug 30 1934 (Bronx)
A-76444003 Sep 5 1934 (Yorkville)
A-57232100 Sep 6 1934 (Yorkville)
A-27063410 Sep 15 1934 (Bronx)
A-73976634 Sep 15 1934 (Harlem - Warner Quinlan)
A-44293574 Sep 17 1934 (Bronx)
A-77310232 Sep 18 1934 (Bronx)
A-74151743 Sep 18 1934 (Bronx)
What is patently clear from this listing is that the pattern of passing $10 bills in areas frequented by Hauptmann did not begin in August 1934. As far back as December 1932, a $10 bill was traced to Yorkville. The first $10 traced to the Bronx was in June 1933. And there is a very clear pattern of spending in December 1933 and January 1934 where there were four bills passed in the Bronx and one in Harlem.
Finally the third, and perhaps most misunderstood, assertion: that there is a gap in the discovery of ransom money between February and August 1934 and that this supports Hauptmann finding the shoebox in August. As...has [been] posted recently, there was in fact no gap in the overall discovery of ransom money during that period. $5 bills and a non-gold $20 were found during the summer and this is recounted in Kennedy and elsewhere. But there was a gap in the discovery of gold certificates and it is perhaps the FBI's focus on this that has caused the "gap" story to become so prevalent. But on examining the $10 gold certificates in isolation, what is clear is that this gap is not a unique characteristic - which supports Hauptmann - but rather a repetition of the pattern of passing the $10 gold certificates going back prior to 1934. Consider:
It seems that no $10 bills were found between February 13th 1934 and August 20th 1934, a gap of six months. This would seem to be significant. It supports circumstantially Hauptmann's story of finding the shoebox, especially as it is followed by an intense flurry of note passing. But in looking back to 1933, we can see EXACTLY the same pattern. A $10 bill was passed on June 10th 1933 (in the Bronx) but the next was not discovered until December 26th 1933, six months later [actually two on that date]. So exactly the same gap as is evident in 1934. And after the December 26th bill was found, there was another flurry of bills on the 27th, 28th and 29th and two more in January (one in Harlem, four in the Bronx), just as there was a flurry in August/September 1934.
So what to make of this? While it does not disprove Hauptmann's story of finding the shoebox, it would seem that if someone other than Hauptmann passed the pre-August 1934 $10 bills, that person did so in uncannily the same manner as Hauptmann himself did when he supposedly found the shoebox. It also seems to me that the intensity of the bill passing, the location of the bill passing and the gap between bill passing can no longer be used as indicators of Hauptmann's pattern of spending as all of these characteristics are clearly identifiable in pre-August 1934 $10 bill discoveries.