Page "Richard Hauptmann" Paragraph 16

Hauptmann denied being guilty, insisting the box found to contain gold certificates had been left in his garage by a friend named Isidor Fisch, who had returned to Germany in December 1933 and died there in March 1934.

Taking the witness stand, Hauptmann claimed that he had found a shoe box left behind by Fisch, which Hauptmann had stored on the top shelf of a kitchen broom closet, later discovering the money which, upon counting, added up to $ 15, 000.

He further claimed that since Fisch owed him around $ 7, 500 in business funds, Hauptmann claimed the money for himself.

A ledger was found in Hauptmann's home of all his financial transactions, yet no record of the alleged $ 7, 500 debt was listed.