La perizia grafica e documentale nel caso Lindbergh

Abstract

Graphology experts operate in two main areas: verification of the authenticity of a piece of writing in cases of imitations or counterfeits, and the search for the identity of the writer in the case of anonymous letters. Letters have an expressive power relating to the author, as the author unwittingly expresses a complete set “fugitive gestures”. Such individual habitual slips are of particular value as they escape conscious control. In an investigation it is a essential to go from testimony to proof, and scientific research therefore aims at finding something, rather than someone. These somethings are of demonstrative objective value, and are called “silent witnesses”. In the case of the Lindbergh kidnapping and murder in America in 1932, the 14 ransom letters sent by the kidnapper turned out to be the main indictment for the prime suspect, Bruno Richard Hauptmann: the comparison between his handwriting and that of the anonymous letters represented a reliable clue to the kidnapper’s identity, thus showing graphology expertise to be a valid investigative technique.