Inside Newsday's 1956 coverage of baby Peter Weinberger's kidnapping and murder
Read Newsday's original coverage of the 1956 kidnapping and murder of baby Peter Weinberger. Credit: Newsday
Peter Weinberger, a month-old infant, was abducted from a stroller on the back patio of his parents' home in Westbury on July 4, 1956.
The abduction shocked Long Island and brought national news attention as his parents, Beatrice (Betty) and Morris Weinberger, pleaded for his safe return.
After a handwriting analysis, investigators zeroed-in on a suspect: Angelo La Marca, a 31-year-old father and mechanic from Plainview, who was pressed for cash. La Marca confessed to the crime and brought investigators to where Weinberger was buried — a wooded area off Exit 37 of the Northern State Parkway in Plainview.
La Marca was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed on Aug. 7, 1958 at Sing Sing Prison in upstate Ossining.
Newsday documented the abduction and trial with wall-to-wall coverage, featuring stories on its front-page.
Read our coverage here:
Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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