Current Events

 Fingerprint Evidence: Current Events

Locate at least two current articles on the internet or the Purdue Global Library that discuss how an offender got caught by fingerprint evidence. Give a brief description of the article, being sure not to use another classmate’s posting.

Allison Melvin

The first case I found in the Purdue Global Library was an article from October 2022 detailing how a fingerprint helped identify a suicide victim from 2014. Previously just known as Jane Doe, Cynthia Gunnerson was finally identified after she was found floating in a river in Twin Falls, Idaho. Finally police were able to identify her using her fingerprints against the Idaho State Forensics database in conjunction with the Idaho Cold Case Advanced DNA Methods Working Group (ICCADM). This is the second case the group has solved since forming in December 2021 (Twin Falls, 2022). 

The second article I found in the Purdue Global library is about a 63 year old man who was arrested for a murder he had committed when he was 19 years old. State police were finally able to identify him by first identifying their victim. For 44 years, they only had the victim’s fingerprints, dental records, and the killer’s DNA. None of which was useful until police identified the victim using the fingerprint evidence. Once she was identified as Evelyn Colon, who was 15 years old and pregnant at the time of her death, they were able to rework the case and eventually pinpoint her killer and bring him to justice, 44 years after he committed the heinous act (Christman, 2021). 

Jesse Hjelmstad

Using the Purdue Global Library I found an article that highlights several celebrity arrests that were facilitate, at least partially, by fingerprint evidence. The first case I found interesting was the case of the murder of Sharon Tate. Sharon Tate and her husband, Roman Polansky, were found dead in their home along with 3 other victims. Several other murders occurred shortly thereafter, and LAPD struggled to connect them all together. Eventually, suspicion was raised about Charles Manson and his followers and the case began to take off. Fingerprints were found in Sharon Tates house that belonged to one of Manson’s followers, which was a key piece of evidence that helped get Manson and his ‘family’ arrested of first-degree murder. This evidence was important as many other pieces of evidence had been muddled and mishandled.

Another interesting case was the first case solved with fingerprints, regarding the murder of  Clarence Hiller in 1910. A robbery had gone awry and the suspect, Thomas Jennings, shot Clarence and fled. He was found a half mile away in bloody clothes and holding a handgun, but the focal point of the investigation revolved around fingerprints he had left on a freshly painted railing which he used to lift himself into the home. The railing was cut off and used as proof Jennings was there as the fingerprint matched, which formed the basis of the art of reading fingerprints.