The Lindbergh Family's Plan to Kill the Kid and Dispose of the Body

The hole in the skull really suggests that the abductor for an associate just decided that the kid was no longer needed. They had accomplished what was needed to do, which was to put the fear in the Lindbergh family so that the family was willing to provide money in exchange for their son. But trying to care for this child over the course of several months, that's a lot of work. And they probably don't want to deal with that. I would not be surprised if with the planning going into this case, the intent was was to kill the kid early on and dispose of the body, but keep the ruse and deploy going on the ransom.