NCJ Number
72228
Journal
International Criminal Police Review Issue: 337 Dated: (April 1980) Pages: 110-118
Date Published
1980
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A restaurant break-in is used as a case study to illustrate the importance of careful examination of the crime scene for evidence.
Abstract
At about 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 25, 1977, the owner of the Terrace Restaurant, located at 49 Hall Street, Bondi, Australia, contacted the local police station and reported that his premises had been broken into during the weekend and that property had been stolen. Investigating police were unable to locate witnesses or to find any useful information in the neighborhood. A search of the premises the following morning revealed blood stains on the broken glass and window sill and a spiraling trail of blood on the cement path outside the building. An examination of the window sill located a piece of human flesh with papillary ridge characteristics. Evidence searching commenced on the assumption that the flesh was torn from a left finger; progress, however, was slow. Finally, the searching staff at the Central Fingerprint Bureau was supplied with photocopies of the fingerprint pattern and told to watch for particular offenders whose fingerprints showed large scars or whose fingerprint form showed an endorsement that one of the digits could not be inked because of injury. Finally, a drug raid in the Bondi area revealed that a 21-year-old Tasmanian could not be fingerprinted properly due to bandages to his left ring and little fingers. Confronted with the fingerprint evidence, the suspect pleaded guilty. A reference and photographs are given.