CRUELLEST HOAX.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 458, 20 May 1932, Page 7

CRUELLEST HOAX.

Lindbergh Baby Ransom of 50,000 Dollars. THROWN OVER FENCE. Ransom totalling 50,000 dollars (£10,000) was paid for the recovery of the Lindbergh baby, as the climax to one of the cruellest hoaxes in history. The money was thrown over the fence of St Raymon’s Cemetery in the extreme eastern section of the Bronx, New York, on the night of Saturdav, April 2. The large package containing the money was hurled over the fence by Dr John F. Condon, who advertised under the pseudonym of “ Jafsie,” to three men in waiting on the other side. Less than a block away, Colonel Lindbergh waited in his automobile, presumably for some immediate sign that his baby would be returned. What led to this act of faith on the part of Dr Condon and Colonel Lindbergh was the exhibition of two long safety pins used on the child’s clothes. Dr Condon said that in his dealings with the emissaries of the kidnappers he was blindfolded and taken on a boat, and on this boat he was said to have been given other conclusive proof that the people he was dealing with were really the kidnappers. Promise of Immunity. Most of “ Jafsie’s ” notices were published in the “ Home News.” On March 8, Dr Condon, who is 72 and a former university lecturer, had published a statement that he would give “ all that he could scrape together ” if the child w,as returned, and that he would not betray the kidnappers. Dr Condon received a letter the next day, in which was enclosed a missive addressed to Colonel Lindbergh. The letter specified that the money must be delivered in 5, 10 and 20-dollar bills, which were to be placed in a box six inches by seven inches by fourteen inches. Dr Condon conferred with Colonel Lindbergh, and returned with a letter written by Lindbergh announcing that the 50,000 dollars had been deposited at the Fordham branch of the Corn Exchange Bank and that Dr Condon was authorised to withdraw that sum

“ if he sees my child.” Complying in every detail with the demands of the note he had received, Dr Condon even obtained a box with the exact dimensions described by the kidnappers. The money was kept in the box at the bank a short time ago. On March 10, Dr Condon inserted the first of his series of advertisements, using the pronunciation of his initials, J.F.C., as the signature. The announcement said:—■ “ Money is ready.—Jafsie.”

That night he received a telephone call, in which he w-as informed that his advertisement had been seen and he would receive another message on Saturday night, two days later, between eight and nine o’clock. Sharp at 8.30 on the appointed evening, a taxicab driver arrived, presented Dr Condon with an envelope and It ft at once. Marked Notes Detected.

It was on April 2 that, in consequence of these and subsequent negotiations, the money was thrown over the cemetery fence. It was not until some days later that Colonel Lindbergh was forced to believe that he had been shamelessly hoaxed. On the evening of April 11 an attractive middle-aged woman attempted to pass a ten-dollar bill on a Greenwich, Connecticut, bakery, in payment of a small purchase. The baker at once saw that it was of the Lindbergh series (the numbers of which had been published as soon as Colonel Lindbergh realised that he had been defrauded). The baker said so at once, and without a word, the woman snatched the bill from his hand, rushed from the shop, and jumped into a waiting motor-car and was driven hurriedly away. The news was at once flashed to the police, but the car eluded detection.

Although on April 11 Dr Condon still believed that the baby would be delivered by the men to whom he paid the money on April 2, others believed that the money had been secured by some parties who had double-crossed the real kidnappers, as certain other officials said to be dealing with the gang had been told that one of their members broke away, and, using his knowledge of the cryptic sign which the gang used, and bits of evidence he had purloined before the split, had carried out the deal which cost Lindbergh a fortune.