-
Francisca Rojas
First person to be found guilty based on fingerprint evidence. She beat her two children to death and blamed the murder on a man named Velasquez. Juan Vucetich found a bloody fingerprint in her home, compared the fingerprint with Rojas', and found it to be hers. -
The Farrow's
The neighbors of Thomas and Ann Farrow discovered their bludgeoned bodies in their home.One print on the Farrow's cash box did not match the victims. A local milkman reported seeing two young men in the vicinity of the Farrow house on the day of the murders. Soon identified as brothers Alfred and Albert Stratton.Alfred’s right thumb was a perfect match for the print on the Farrow’s cash box. -
Thomas Jennings
First person in the United States to be convicted of the murder of Clarence Hiller based on his fingerprints. The Illinois Supreme Court confirmed that fingerprints were a valid source of identification. -
Vicenzo Perugia
Man convicted of stealing Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum in Paris. His fingerprint was found on the glass protecting the painting, and two years later, Vicenzo Perugia was arrested. -
John Dillinger
Burned off his fingertips with acid but failed to remove all of it. The FBI were able to track him down and shoot him. Significance: revealed that fingerprints do grow back and are present in several layers of the skin. -
Jerry Watson
In 1978, 61-year-old Carroll Bonnet was stabbed to death in his apartment.In late 2008, the Omaha Police Department received an inquiry on the case, prompting technician Laura Casey to search the prints against IAFIS. In less than five hours, IAFIS returned possible candidates for comparison purposes. Casey spent days carefully examining the prints and came up with a positive identification, Jerry Watson, who was serving time in an Illinois prison on burglary charges. -
Kevin Ford
Grace Hayden, 79, was raped and killed in San Diego in May 1987. a single fingerprint was left from a left ring finger on Hayden's kitchen stove. They found a match to 62-year-old Kevin Ford in Robeson County, North Carolina. -
Richard Ramirez
Known as the Night Stalker, he committed several murders in Southern California. His last crime occurred in Mission Viejo where he shot a man and raped the man's wife. Still alive, the wife got a hold of Ramirez car, and left it abandoned. The LA Police Department were able to recover a partial fingerprint from Ramirez' car and scan it through the AFIS system, successfully identifying him in minutes. Ramirez was caught and sentenced to death in 1989. -
Richard Allen Davis
Man convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
In 1993, Polly Klaas was kidnapped from her home in Petaluma, California. Richard Allen Davis appeared at her window with a knife and abducted her. The FBI found Davis' palm print on a bunk bed using special light and fluorescent powder. Investigators also found a car in a ditch with torn children's clothing, and were able to match the palm print found on the bed to Richard Davis. -
Timothy David Nelson Jr.
After the abduction and sexual assault of a young girl in Cairnbrook, Pennsylvania, law enforcement searched tirelessly for the perpetrator. When the victim guided police to the exact location of her assault, police found a paper bag with the offender’s fingerprint. There were no matches. They had the fingerprint re-checked in fall 2018.there was a hit on the fingerprint. Timothy David Nelson Jr., was arrested, and he later pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexual abuse charges.