Agatha Christie was inspired to write her fictional novel, Murder on the Orient Express, by true events. In 1932, Charles Lindbergh, Jr, the son of famous aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was kidnapped from his crib and held for ransom. The 20-month-old child was found dead a few months later on the side of a road. 

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At the time of the novel's publication in January of 1934, the crime had not yet been solved, and remained a major news story for many years. In September of 1934, nine months later, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the crime. His trial lasted through the first few months of 1935 before he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. The case was labeled by one journalist as “the biggest story since the Resurrection.”