Francisca Rojas: The First Person To Be Found Guilty Through Fingerprint Evidence


On this day in 1892, Francisca Rojas murdered her two children, Ponciano Carballo, age 6, and his four-year-old sister Teresa in the town of Necochea, Argentina. She then slit her own throat to make it appear that she was also a victim and claimed that the family had been attacked by a neighbor, Pedro Ramón Velázquez, because Francisca had rejected his advances. Police arrested Velázquez and proceeded to torture him in hopes of making him confess, even tying him to the bodies of the dead children throughout the night. Despite being brutalized by the police, Velázquez maintained his innocence.

Meanwhile, Juan Vucetich, the head of criminal identification at the regional headquarters, had become intrigued by new theories of fingerprint identification that were emerging at the time. When he inspected the Rojas house he found a bloody thumbprint on the bedroom door that was a positive match to Francisca Rojas. Rojas, when confronted with the new evidence, confessed to the murders and admitted that her motive was a boyfriend who didn't like children. She is believed to be the first person in the world found guilty of a crime through fingerprint evidence.




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