Angelo LaMarca
Angelo John LaMarca (April 13, 1925 - August 7, 1958) was an American man responsible for the 1956 abduction and murder of one-month-old Peter Weinberger in Long Island, New York. The case led to the FBI's waiting period in kidnapping cases being reduced from 7 days to 24 hours.
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| “ | Attention! I'm sorry this had to happen, but I am in bad need of money, & couldn't get it any other way. Don't tell anyone or go to the police about this, because I am watching you closely. I am scared stiff, & will kill the baby at your first wrong move. Just put $2000 in small bills in a brown envelope, place it next to the sign Post at the corner of Albemarle Rd. Park Ave. at Exactly 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. If everything goes smooth, I will bring the baby back leave him on the same corner "Safe Happy" at exactly 12 noon. No excuses, I can't wait! Your baby sitter. | „ |
| ~ LaMarca's ransom note (sic). |
Biography edit
LaMarca was born in New York State in 1925. He has two children, future police detective Vincent LaMarca and a daughter named Vivian. He was arrested for bootlegging in 1954 after he and his brother were caught running an illegal still that produced 500 gallons of whiskey and received a year's probation. Documents filed in relation to his probation would later be crucial in solving Peter Weinberger's kidnapping.
On July 4, 1956, 32-day-old Peter Weinberger was left outside by his mother Betty Weinberger in a pram on the patio of the family house in Westbury, Long Island. She returned a few minutes later to find that someone had taken her son and left in his place a ransom note threatening to kill the baby unless the family left the kidnapper an envelope containing $2000 by 10 a.m. the following day. The Nassau Police advised the parents to do as the kidnapper said in order to ensure their child's safety, but they were unable to deliver the ransom due to a large number of reporters being present at the drop-off scene.
On July 6, police held a press conference in which they appealed to the kidnapper to feed Peter a supposedly medically recommended baby formula that they claimed would require pharmacy preparation. In reality this formula did not exist and police were hoping that the kidnapper would give himself away by attempting to purchase it, but no such attempts were heard of. On July 10, the kidnapper called the Weinberger household and asked them to leave the ransom on a nearby highway, but although the drop was made the kidnapper did not retrieve the ransom and called again later that day asking them to leave it somewhere else only to once again not retrieve it.
Once the legally mandated seven-day waiting period had elapsed, the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation into the kidnapping. The ransom note was analysed by handwriting experts, who compared it to millions of public records over the next six weeks before eventually matching it to Angelo LaMarca's handwriting in his probationary documents. LaMarca was arrested and initially denied involvement in the kidnapping, claiming he had written the notes as a joke and a friend of his must have used them in the kidnapping. He eventually confessed after changing his story several times, admitting that he had abandoned Peter Weinberger by the roadside only 24 hours after the kidnapping. His motive had been to pay off $1, 800 in debts. LaMarca directed police to the area where he had dumped Peter Weinberger, and his decomposing body was eventually found on August 24. He had died from a combination of starvation and exposure.
LaMarca's defence at trial was that he had been temporarily insane due to his mounting debts. This defence was rejected and LaMarca was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed by electric chair at Sing Sing prison on August 7, 1958.