NCJ Number
192374
Journal
Journal of Forensic Identification Volume: 51 Issue: 6 Dated: November-December 2001 Pages: 569-571
Date Published
November 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This case report describes the solution of two murders in Texas through the submission of fingerprints deposited in dust to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) IAFIS in Virginia.
Abstract
The two murdered schoolteachers were duct-taped, strangled, and placed into a water-filled bathtub in September and December 1996. Police from the Arlington, TX, police department developed single latent fingerprints from each murder scene. Searches of the Texas, FBI, and other AFIS systems produced no hits. However, 4 years later the author read an article about the solution of a 1991 murder case through the use of the FBI’s new IAFIS. The police decided to re-run the dust print from the bathtub murders and sent it to the FBI IAFIS. Two weeks later the FBI reported a hit; this result led to a positive identification and an arrest of the suspect. These successes suggest that it is important for police agencies to review their major cases and use this new technology by submitting latent fingerprints through IAFIS. Author contact information