| Author | Message | ||
     Kasey |
Anastasia, Even the most extreme attempts at this have failed. In a recent case (1990's) a doctor in Mexico cut "Z" shaped incisions in all 10 fingers and stretched the resulting triangular sections of skin into the void created when the other was moved, switching them around. Even this procedure was reversed by the FBI and his original fingerprints were found. To completely avoid identification by fingerprints, a suspect would have to cut off his hands at the wrists. Even then he would have nub-prints of non-friction ridge skin. Sounds funny... but the funny part is the person who thinks they can completely avoid Locard's principle... of ALWAYS leaving something behind at a crime scene from contact transfer. | ||
| Webservant |
The puckering effect caused by damage of the dermal layer of skin is easily recognized by latent print examiners. It normally provides little or no benefit insofar as evading detection, but may have the opposite unwanted effect of stirring interest in the suspect's prints as a challenge. Hong Kong fingerprint experts noticed on many occasions that illegal immigrants attempted transmogrification involving the cutting of circular formations in the focal points of fingerprints (core and delta areas) followed by rotation of the skin (and sometimes transfer to other fingers). The resulting scars were instantly recognized as an attempt to evade detection and caused exceptional scrutiny ensuring great efforts to complete all possible IDs. Roscoe Pitts was the American gentleman who had the fingertips of each hand sutured to his chest for several weeks to cause growth of smooth skin on his fingertips. When police picked-up Pitts after the transformation, they printed him and were amazed at the ridgeless fingertips (not dysplasia)... and then easily completed the identification using the lower finger joints (from the bottom of the fingerprint card where plain impressions are recorded). | ||
| Anastasia |
There was an episode where a man cut his finger tips deep enough to change his finger print, because according to CSI when your skin grows back and heals it heals inward, causing new grooves and lines? How would police and FBI get around this problem, or it is just TV? |
