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The same forensic science recently used to ID victims of the Gilgo Beach serial killer could now determine whether German immigrant Bruno Hauptmann notoriously murdered the Lindbergh baby nearly more than 90 years ago.
This month, three people — a history professor, retired teacher and developmental psychologist — filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey State Police, seeking access to ransom notes the Lindberghs received in 1932, Newsday reported.
The lawsuit cites a genetic genealogist, who said “it has only been recently that DNA testing and analysis have evolved with the potential of testing those envelopes to produce definitive investigative leads that could resolve lingering uncertainties.”
The same technique the plaintiffs hope will finally decide who licked the Lindbergh stamps was recently used to identify the remains of Valerie Mack, Karen Vergata and Tanya Denise Jackson and her young daughter, Tatiana.
The four bodies were among the 11 found along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County with between December 2010 and April 2011.
Architect Rex Heuermann has been charged with the murders of seven of the 11 Gilgo Beach victims.
Over the years, historians have argued someone close to Charles Lindbergh — a household name after completing the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927 from Long Island’s Roosevelt Field — had to have been involved in his son’s March 1, 1932 kidnapping.
Even after the famous aviator paid $70,000 in ransom, the 20-month-old wasn’t returned — in a mystery that captivated the nation.
Eleven days later, the boy’s bludgeoned remains were found dumped in woods not far from Lindbergh’s home.
Hauptmann, who lived in the Bronx, was convicted for the crime in 1935 and electrocuted on April 3, 1936.
But some have long-maintained Hauptmann’s innocence.
If provided with the envelopes, the trio will look to lift DNA from the undersides of the stamps, in hopes of identifying the sender using advanced genetic genealogy research, according to Newsday.
Heuermann has not been criminally charged with killing Vergata or Jackson and her child.
During a press conference last month, Nassau Country Homicide Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick was asked if investigators believe Heuermann was involved in their murders.
“We’re not saying it’s him, but we’re not saying it’s not him,” Fitzpatrick said. “We are proceeding as if it’s not related.”
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