MEANS’ STORY

Grey River Argus, 15 May 1933, Page 5

MEANS’ STORY

i OF LINDBERGH BABY Beats Baron Munchausen (Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.) NEW YORK, May 12. Is Charles Augustus Lindbergh, the infant son of Colonel and. Mrs. Lindbergh, dead? Sensational evidence was given at the trial to-day of Gaston Means on the charge of attempting to defraud Airs. Evelyn Walsh McLean, of thirty-five thousand dollars, for use. as a. ransom in the Lindbergh abduction case. This leads to the belief that he is alive and in the hands of those who kidnapped him over a year ago. Another sensational twist, to the case was given when, after Means had stated that men named Max Hassell and Max Greenberg had been responsible for the kidnapping, these men were found murdered at. Elizabeth. New Jersey. WASHINGTON. May 12. Means testified to-day that the Lindbergh baby was stolen by Now Jersey liquor runners. He said that Max Hassell ami Max Greenberg were responsible for the kidnapping. lb' did not know them, but they had sold beer to the servants at Lindbergh’s house. r _, Irving Penton described previously by him as one of those responsible for the kidnapping had told him that Colonel Lindbergh, as a practical joke, on occasions had placed the baby in a closet, and told the servants that the baby had been stolen. This joke, said Means, gave the kidnappers the idea, and one of the members of their ring went to the Lindbergh’s house with beer, picked the baby from the crib, and went away. 'Means testified that the infant’s body found in Now Jersey, and identified by Lindbergh, a year ago as his child, was a “plant. ” according to information. Means said had been given to him by one, Wellington Henderson, whom ho had identified previously. as one of the kidnappers. Means said that. Henderson visited him when Means was out on bail, following his arrest in the McLean case, and said he and the real Lindbergh baby were at Jaurez. This was on May 17 last year. Means said that Henderson told him the baby was still alive ar that date, also that, the autopsy performed on the body of the baby found in New Jersey had disclosed different measurements from those of the real Lindbergh child.

HASSELL AND GREENBERG MURDERED. ELIZABETH (New Jersey) May 12 Max Hassell ami Max Greenberg,! known as boor racketeers, were slain l here, to-day, presumably by gangster enemies. A hefty deposit box rented by Hassell was opened by Federal officials on April 28 on a Court order. It contained 213.000 dollars in cash, and a ! note for 50,000 dollars, signed bv an Elizabeth lawyer. MEANS’ STORY SCOUTED. WASHINGTON. May 13. To-day a Federal official, after investigating Easton E. Means’ story re the Lindbergh baby, pronounced the tale “the figment of a weird imagination that makes Baron Munchausen look like a piker.’’