The Power and Peril of Celebrity: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Gary Hylander, PHD The Power and Peril of Celebrity: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Called the “Crime of the Century”, someone had dared to kidnap and murder the infant son of one of America’s heroes. Even by today’s standards, the media frenzy surrounding the trial was extraordinary. Radio stations carried hourly updates of the investigation and journalist filed countless stories, as the defendant, Bruno Hauptmann, a German immigrant, stood trial for the kidnapping and murder of the “Eaglet”.