Peter Weinberger
Peter Weinberger
The infant son of a wealthy pharmaceuticals executive Peter Weinberger was kidnapped from the patio of his home in Westbury, Long Island, New York, on July 4, 1956, when his mother left him briefly alone. She returned to find an empty carriage and a ransom note demanding $2,000 for the boy’s safe return.
After the kidnapping, police attempted to hold off the news to report nothing on the case. All but The New York Daily News obeyed. By the following day, word of the kidnapping leaked almost immediately. News reporters circled the drop off area where the kidnapper demanded the money be left. The police left a false ransom package at the spot but the kidnapper did not show up.
On July 10, six days after the kidnapping, the kidnapper called the Weinberger home with further instructions on where to take the money. The kidnapper never showed up. At the second drop site, police searched a blue cloth bag found alongside a curb. Inside the bag was a handwritten note, apparently from the kidnapper telling the parents where to find the baby “if everything goes smoothly.” The note was examined by experts and agreed that the first ransom note and second ransom note were written by the same person.
On July 11th, after the required seven day waiting period the FBI entered the case. The only evidence officials had been the ransom notes.
After examining the ransom notes and eliminating almost two million handwriting samples they found a match. On August 22nd, 1956, they identified their suspect as one Angelo John Lamarca, a 31 year old truck driver and father of two, who lived in Plainview, New York. The next day Lamarca was arrested at his home. On August 24th, Lamarca quickly confessed to the kidnapping of Peter Weinberger. Lamarca told agents he went to the first drop site the day after the kidnapping with the baby in the car but was afraid by all of the reporters and police in the area. He drove away, and left the baby alive in a rural thicket, and
The infant son of a wealthy pharmaceuticals executive Peter Weinberger was kidnapped from the patio of his home in Westbury, Long Island, New York, on July 4, 1956, when his mother left him briefly alone. She returned to find an empty carriage and a ransom note demanding $2,000 for the boy’s safe return.
After the kidnapping, police attempted to hold off the news to report nothing on the case. All but The New York Daily News obeyed. By the following day, word of the kidnapping leaked almost immediately. News reporters circled the drop off area where the kidnapper demanded the money be left. The police left a false ransom package at the spot but the kidnapper did not show up.
On July 10, six days after the kidnapping, the kidnapper called the Weinberger home with further instructions on where to take the money. The kidnapper never showed up. At the second drop site, police searched a blue cloth bag found alongside a curb. Inside the bag was a handwritten note, apparently from the kidnapper telling the parents where to find the baby “if everything goes smoothly.” The note was examined by experts and agreed that the first ransom note and second ransom note were written by the same person.
On July 11th, after the required seven day waiting period the FBI entered the case. The only evidence officials had been the ransom notes.
After examining the ransom notes and eliminating almost two million handwriting samples they found a match. On August 22nd, 1956, they identified their suspect as one Angelo John Lamarca, a 31 year old truck driver and father of two, who lived in Plainview, New York. The next day Lamarca was arrested at his home. On August 24th, Lamarca quickly confessed to the kidnapping of Peter Weinberger. Lamarca told agents he went to the first drop site the day after the kidnapping with the baby in the car but was afraid by all of the reporters and police in the area. He drove away, and left the baby alive in a rural thicket, and