Abduction The murder of one-month-old baby Peter Weinberger on July 4, 1956, on Long Island, New York, resulted in former President Dwight D. Eisenhower passing a new law during his term that allowed federal investigators to become involved in kidnapping cases after a 24-hour waiting period, as opposed to the 7-day waiting period for original investigations.
At noon on Independence Day in 1956, Beatrice “Betty” Weinberger wrapped her baby in a blanket, placed him in a cart on the family’s front porch, and went inside the house for a few minutes while the baby slept.
When she returned to the porch, the car was empty and the kidnapper had left a ransom note.
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Angelo LaMarca confessed to kidnapping and murdering one-month-old baby Peter Weinberger in 1956. (NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
“I hate to do this to you, but I’m in a lot of trouble,” the pencilled note read, according to the New York Daily News. It added that the kidnapper “wasn’t asking for a lot of money” but only what he needed and that he was “very serious about it.”
He also threatened to kill the child if he made the “first wrong move” and also said that he regretted his actions but was in dire need of money. According to the FBI website, the criminal demanded $2,000 in small notes to return the child. If the ransom was paid, he promised to return the child “safe and happy” the next day.
She signed the letter, “Your baby sitter.”
Weinberger called the Nassau County Police Department, about 35 miles away from the city. New York CityAnd her husband, Morris Weinberger, a drug salesman, urged newspapers to avoid reporting the kidnapping at the time. However, the New York Daily News covered Peter’s story as a front-page headline, and reporters immediately besieged the Weinberger home.
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Peter Weinberger was abducted from the front porch of his home while he was sleeping in a car outside. (John Drennan/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
The police left a fake ransom packet at the scene, but The kidnapper He never came to pick her up. Later, after his arrest, it was confirmed that the kidnapper had come with the baby but left immediately because of the commotion outside the house.
The FBI set up a temporary investigative headquarters for the case in Mineola, Long Island, beginning on July 11, 1956, just one day after the kidnapper made a second attempt for ransom money. On July 10, he called Weinberger’s home twice demanding $5,000 and giving new instructions about where to keep the money, but he did not show up at either location.
Police found a bag containing a note in the same handwriting as the first ransom note. It was a place where the child could be found “if everything goes well (sic).” FBI agents and FBI handwriting experts analyzed nearly 2 million writing samples, many of which were provided by the BMV and probation offices and schools, as well as other federal and state municipalities, according to the FBI website.
On August 23, 1956, Angelo John LaMarca, a truck and taxi driver and Plainview, New York resident, was arrested for kidnapping Peter. Police matched His handwriting is visible on the ransom notes.
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Following the arrest of Angelo John LaMarca, police found the decomposing remains of Peter Weinberger. (Sam Platnick/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Although LaMarca initially denied any connection to the kidnapping, it was later revealed that he was living with his wife and two children in a $15,000 house he could not afford, and he admitted to the kidnapping.
LaMarca also told police that he killed the child for the sake of his children because he was in financial debt with a Brooklyn loan shark. He said he was walking around the neighborhood looking for some quick money and saw Weinberger leave Peter on the porch.
According to the FBI website, he told police that on the day he went to drop off the baby and collect the ransom money, he became frightened by the crowd of reporters and officials and threw the baby off the highway.
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The FBI rushed to the scene reported by LaMarca and found Peter’s decomposing remains. During the trial, where lawyers attempted to argue temporary insanity, it was determined that Peter had died of suffocation, starvation, and cold at approximately 6 weeks of age.
LaMarca was tried on charges of kidnapping and murder, and was found guilty by a jury on December 14, 1956. sentenced to deathAlthough he appealed several times, LaMarca was hanged at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York on August 7, 1958.
