The story that birthed fingerprinting as a forensic for identifying criminals

The guy on the left is named William West.


The guy on the right is also named William West.


The first William West was sent to Leavenworth Prison in Kansas in 1901.


When the second William West arrived at the same prison for a minor crime two years later in 1903, he was told that he was already in prison serving a life sentence for murder.


After some confusion, the staff realised that they had two inmates with the same name that looked pretty much the same.


The two men were not related in any way, and law enforcement quickly realised that a more reliable method of identification was necessary.


The case of William West and William West changed the face of forensics forever.


Fingerprinting soon became the standard method for identifying criminals. #HistoryVille

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/historyville_historyville-activity-6811917883904401408-ODQL

Seun
Mynd44
nlfpmod
OAM4J

take to fp

They indeed look alike

Wow!!! Very nice story. They are legend criminals.

YinkaOlusesi16:
Wow!!! Very nice story. They are legend criminals.

This happens when a randy man, probably a criminal, travels to different states impregnating different ladies.

You can't tell me these criminals aren't related by blood.

Updated: just Googled it. This is what I found.

The William and Will West story is somewhat sensationalized and omits prison record information, uncovered by later researchers, indicating that William and Will West both corresponded with the same family members and thus were probably related.

Prison records also cite that Leavenworth inmate George Bean reported that he knew William and Will West in their home territory before prison and that they were twin brothers.

Is it just me or does the guy in the right look like Eric Baily?