Question

On May 12, 1932, a badly decomposing body was discovered, just outside of Hopewell. Col. Lindbergh and Betty Gow identified the body as the baby. Betty Gow recognized the fabric still attached to the body as the fabric she used to make the flannel shirt the night of the kidnapping. An autopsy report concluded that the baby died due to a fracture of the skull caused be external violence.

Answer 1

The provided texts discuss instances of violence, death, and historical investigations ranging from ancient communal graves to the modern forensic analysis, including the Lindbergh kidnapping case and the Jean Gianini case.

Step-by-step explanation:

The discovery of the decomposing body on May 12, 1932, outside of Hopewell marked a tragic end to the Lindbergh kidnapping case, where the victim was identified by the recognizable flannel shirt made by Betty Gow. This incident, along with other examples from the provided texts, highlights the grim reality of violence, maltreatment, and death of individuals, including children, throughout history. For instance, the grave FS 162 discovery underlines the hurried burials during a period of crisis, with an indeterminate sex newborn among the remains. In the Elizabeth Smart case, the careful preservation of eyewitness memory led to the successful recovery of the victim, contrasting with the Cotton case where false memories resulted in a wrongful conviction.

The importance of material evidence, such as the set of five buttons found in the grave (EU26 1173), and personal belongings like a potential amulet associated with a child, are critical in understanding, solving, or bringing closure to cases of death and violence. The texts collectively demonstrate various aspects of historical investigations of death, whether from ancient communal graves or modern forensic analysis, as in the Jean Gianini case where a button tied the perpetrator to the crime scene.