Nearly 70 years after a man was convicted of murdering Charles Lindbergh's baby, people are still debating his guilt.

Keeping the story alive are books and Internet message boards that promote alternative conspiracy theories, most of which conclude that Bruno Richard Hauptmann, an illegal German immigrant from the Bronx, was framed by New Jersey state police and a prosecutor anxious to solve the kidnapping and murder of a national hero's infant son.

But www.famoustrials.com doesn't promote theories. The Web site touts a re-creation of the famous trial in the same courthouse where jurors heard testimony that Hauptmann killed 20-month-old Charles Lindbergh Jr. despite receiving $50,000 in ransom.

Each fall for the past 11 years, Century Productions of Flemington, N.J., has put on a two-act play that re-enacts the Hauptmann trial from a script adapted from a 32-volume court transcript. On the Web site, visitors can find information about the re-enactment and the effect the trial had on the small central New Jersey community of Flemington, which was deluged with journalists, celebrities and others drawn to the Hunterdon County Courthouse for the month-long trial.

Harry Kazman, who co-produces "The Trial of the Century" with his wife, Reva Kazman, said the local chamber of commerce approached him about producing the play in 1990 as part of a local history celebration.

"I became very excited about the prospect of doing it, so I went ahead with my wife. We wrote it, put it together and we were immediately amazed at the kind of response we got for it," said Kazman, a retired high school theater teacher. "We actually had no idea at the time there was so much interest in the trial. Now we're in our 11th season of doing it."

Working now with the Flemington Economic Development Commission, the Kazmans produce a two-act play each September and October with about 15 actors.

The first act re-creates the prosecution of Hauptmann — including the homemade ladder that linked him to the kidnapping and the handwriting analysis that tied him to the ransom note left on the windowsill of the second floor room from which the Lindbergh baby was snatched.

The second act reenacts the defense, including Hauptmann's own testimony that he had nothing to do with the kidnapping and murder, or any knowledge of anyone who did.

The play ends with the announcement of Hauptmann's conviction and the setting of a date for his execution by electric chair. That came in 1936.

"I think the whole issue became very controversial because Mrs. Hauptmann was so convinced of her husband's innocence that she spent her life trying to get the conviction overturned," said Kazman, 55, whose theater group also re-enacted two other lesser-known murder trials.

"He was definitely guilty," he added. "My own feeling is he was working with other people."

Built in 1828 on the site of a previous courthouse destroyed by fire, the Hunterdon County Courthouse is being restored to look like it did during Hauptmann's trial. The main courtroom holds 175 to 200 people. For a higher ticket price, 14 people will sit in the jury box for this fall's performances and will cast votes at the conclusion of each, Kazman said.

One person who plans to buy a ticket, available online, has already made up her mind.

"I plan on attending, but it will be hard for me to sit through," said Ronelle Delmont of Florida, creator of www.lindberghkidnappinghoax.com. "For people like me who believe it was an unfortunate and outrageous trial, it is difficult."

Delmont's nearly 3-year-old Web site is devoted to exposing what the 56-year-old former belly dancer says is evidence that Hauptmann was made a scapegoat to appease Lindbergh and the public.

"To me, the focus of this atrocity should be the fact that an immigrant, an unpopular person in society, could be scapegoated as Hauptmann was," said Delmont, who makes her living leading book review discussions.

Although prosecuting a defendant accused of murdering a baby is never a happy event, Flemington is not hiding its role in the Lindbergh baby case but embracing it as part of its rich history. The "Trial of the Century" production and www.famoustrials.com helps keep that history alive, said Erica Edwards, chairman of the Flemington Economic Development Commission.

"One of our primary focuses is on the historical resources of the town and, following from that, heritage tourism," Edwards said. "Mr. Kazman's production is a significant element of that ... It tells the story of one critical and very public moment in Flemington's history."

More Caught on the Web