“Life is like a fingerprint that can’t be changed so make the best impression with it. – Unknown.”

“Fingerprints have been used for years as the accepted tool in criminology and for identification. The first system of classification of fingerprints was introduced by Jan Evangelista Purkynje (1787-1869), a Czech physiologist, in 1823. He divided the papillary lines into nine types, based on their geometric arrangement. This work, however, was not recognized internationally for many years. In 1858, SirWilliamHerschel (1833-1917) registered fingerprints for those signing documents at the Indian magistrate’s office in Jungipoor. Henry Faulds (1843-1930) in 1880 proposed using ink for fingerprint determination and people identification, and Francis Galton (1822-1911) collected 8000 fingerprints and developed their classification based on the spirals, loops, and arches. In 1892, Juan Vucetich (1858-1925) created his own fingerprint identification system and proved that a woman was responsible for killing two of her sons…

On this day in 1962, Elizabeth Ann “Ma” Duncan was executed in the gas chamber at California’s San Quentin prison. Duncan had been convicted in 1958 for conspiracy to commit murder. She had paid two men, Augustine Baldonado and Luis Moya, to kill her daughter-in-law, Olga Duncan. Olga was seven months pregnant at the time. The two killers beat and strangled her, then buried her in a shallow grave. According to the coroner, she was still alive when they buried her. The elder Mrs. Duncan’s motive was her fear that the impending birth of her grandchild threatened her incestuous relationship with her son.

Ma Duncan and her two henchmen were tried and convicted. They were all sentenced to death. Sentence was carried out for all three on August 8, 1962.  It was the last triple execution in California, and the last execution of a woman in the state before the…