Richard Hauptmann - Execution

Execution

On April 3, 1936, Hauptmann was executed in "Old Smokey", the electric chair at the New Jersey State Prison. Hauptmann's last meal consisted of coffee, milk, celery, olives, salmon salad, corn fritters, sliced cheese, fruit salad, and cake. Reporters present at the execution reported that he went to the electric chair without saying a word. He had addressed his last words to his spiritual advisor, Rev. James Matthiesen, minutes prior to being taken from his cell to the death chamber. He reportedly said, "Ich bin absolut unschuldig an den Verbrechen die man mir zur Last legt", which Matthiesen told Gov. Hoffman meant "I am absolutely innocent of the crime with which I am burdened."

After the execution, Hauptmann's widow applied for and received the special permission that was required to take her husband's body out of state so that it could be cremated at the U.S. crematory (also called the Fresh Pond Crematory) in the Maspeth neighborhood of Queens, New York. The memorial service there was religious (two Lutheran pastors conducted the service in German) and private (under New Jersey law, public services were not permitted for felons, and Anna Hauptmann had agreed to this as a condition of receiving her husband's body) and was attended by only six people (the legal limit under New Jersey rules), but a crowd of over 2,000 gathered outside. Hauptmann's widow had planned to return to Germany with the ashes.