The Jury From Missouri

Twenty-four Years Ago Fingerprint Evidence Was a Novelty in British
Columbia's Upper Country—Prov. Const. Greenwood Pioneered the
Dactyloscopic Art and Won His Case.

RETURNING FROM work early in
the morning of August 6th, 1923, Michael
Devlin was tired and ready for a good
sleep. As he walked up the path towards
his house, he reflected on the night’s
events during his tour of duty as a watch-
man on the Canadian Pacific Railway
right-of-way. Yes, everything had gone
well, and there was nothing to mar those
next few hours of well earned rest.

As he reached for the padlock on the
front door, key in hand, his eyes met
only empty hasps, until his glance low-
ered and there on the ground were the
remains of what had once been the guar-
dian of the Devlin household. The pad-
lock was wrecked. Quickly entering the
house, his anxious gaze wandered over a
scene of disorder and chaos. Every ar-
ticle of furniture in the house had been
ransacked. A trunk, which usually Dev-
lin kept locked, now yawned open, its
contents strewn all over the floor.

The little village of Spences Bridge did
not have a police detachment, so Devlin
hurried to the railway station and put
through a call to the Lytton Detachment
of the British Columbia Provincial Police.
Const. William Greenwood, in charge of
the detachment, on being advised of
the burglary, crisply replied, “I’ll be up
on the next train. Don’t touch anything
till I get there, and see that no one else
enters your house.’ Those were the days
before the highway was constructed
through the canyon of the Fraser River,
and most of the patrols had to be made
by train or railway speeder.

Constable Greenwood arrived at
Spences Bridge in the early afternoon,
and was met by a disconsolate Devlin.
“Did you do as I said?” Greenwood asked.
“You bet,” replied Devlin, “I can’t even
tell you what has been stolen, as I thought
I better not look through my stuff till you
got here.” “Good,” replied Greenwood,

“We may have a chance to pick up a
lead.”

Fincer Prints ONLY CLUE

Going systematically through the small
house, Constable Greenwood examined
everything, particularly objects that might
have been touched by the culprit. These
he deposited on a nearby table, and taking
a compact little kit from his pocket, he
began to work on the objects. Yes,

Bill’ Greenwood was fingerprint con-
scious. So much so, in fact, that he had
taken a special course in fingerprinting
at his own expense. He had found that

EIGHTEENTH EDITION

securing the services of a fingerprint ex-
pert in those days was fraught with many
difficulties, particularly in those parts of
the province where transportation was a
problem. So Bill had reasoned that to
be sure of having a “fingerprint” man
around when he wanted him, he would
have to become one himself. As he dusted
the various objects, he regretfully noticed
that most of the prints were too badly
smudged for comparison purposes, o1
those that were good enough belonged to
the complainant. His work completed,
Bill stood up and looked around.
reasoned, “The thief must have known
this place pretty well, and from the pad-
lock being on the door, figured that Dev-
lin was away on shift. He probably knew
when Devlin would return, so he had no
fear of being disturbed in this isolated
spot. Now, he made a very thorough
search and must have required light, so
he probably took down the coal oil lamp
and lit it.” Acting on this hunch, Green-
wood took down the lamp carefully and
began his “dusting’’ operation. At first
there were only Deylin’s prints. However,
one small print which was not familiar
began to take form. Taking great care,
Greenwood finally developed a portion of
a fingerprint which was sufficiently well
defined to permit an identification. At
last he was on the right track. Now to
find someone with a print to match.
Now, the old saying, “Lightning never
strikes twice in the same place,” certainly
does not apply to thieves and burglars,
and Greenwood knew this quite well. The
year before, Terry O'Brian had been con-
victed of breaking into Devlin’s house
and had been “sent up” for a term of six
months.
Terry was a ne’er-do-well and had quite
a record for sneak thievery. He prowled
about by night and was seldom seen dur-
ing daylight hours. Whenever he was out
of gaol there would be an epidemic of
thefts, but as soon as he was again con-
victed and sent back to the provincial
gaol, complaints decreased materially.

While Greenwood had been investt-
gating, and examining articles for finger-
prints, Devlin took a quick inventory of
his possessions. “Well, I can tell you
now what has been stolen,” he called to
Greenwood. “My good blue serge suit,
and a heavy grey overcoat have been
stolen. I’ve.also lost an Elgin watch, and
here’s a list of what has been taken.”
Greenwood quickly made notes and left
with his exhibit, the coal oil lamp. Re-

CITY CARTAGE COMPANY
DEALERS IN WOOD, COAL and ICE
“We Move Anything”

Phone 19

AGENTS FOR IMPERIAL OIL

Office: Downey's Store. Day Phcne, 66;
Night Phone, 131F.

GRAND FORKS B.C.

E. B. MITCHELL |

General Insurance
)

Grand Forks British Columbia

|

He-

CY
FLOUR and FEED

nEEG

E. C. HENNIGER & CO. LTD.
GRAND FORKS

STEPHEN FARION, Proprietor
LICENSED PREMISES

Dining Room in Connection - Good Clean
Comfortable Rooms - Running Hot and Cold
Water - Rooms with Bath
GRAND FORKS . B. C.

GRAND FORKS HOTEL

GRAND FORKS DRY CLEANERS

MASTER CLEANERS
Hats Cleaned and Blocked
Repairs and Alterations

® Individual Personal Service
© 24-Hour Service |
© Emergency Service — 4 Hours

Box 124

Grand Forks, B. C.

PHONE 24 BOX 477

Grand Forks Garage

J. S. ANTIFAEV, Proprietor
CHRYSLER - PLYMOUTH - FARGO
DEALERS - PARTS CARRIED

Fully equipped garage for Tourists and
Commercial Men

Blacksmithing Welding

GRAND FORKS B.C.

O.K. TAXI

IVOR MORRIS, Prop.
PHONE 203

DAY

NIGHT
Sit Back and Relax

GRAND FORKS

Page Ninety-one

a = as =