Hard Evidence
While handwriting analysts did not definitively link Heirens’ handwriting to the "Lipstick Message", police claimed that his fingerprints matched a print discovered at the scene of the Frances Brown murder. It was first reported as a "bloody smudge" on the door jamb. Further, a fingerprint of the left little finger also allegedly connected Heirens to the ransom note with nine points of comparison. As Heirens' nine points of comparison were loops, this could also provide a match to 65% of the population. At the time Heirens' supporters pointed out the FBI handbook regarding fingerprint identification required 12 points of comparison matching to have a positive identification.
On June 30, Captain Emmett Evans had told newspapers that Heirens had been cleared of suspicion in the Brown murder as the fingerprint left in the apartment was not his. Twelve days later, Chief of Detectives Walter Storms confirmed that the "bloody smudge" left on the door jamb was Heirens'.
Read more about this topic: William Heirens
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