Ever wondered before Oxford introduced words like photo
ID and fingerprints, how did the cops ever know for sure if they were even
talking to the right guy? Like if a suspect just straight up said, "Sure,
Steve did it, but I'm not Steve -- I just look like him!" How did they
know if he was lying?
Something called the "Bertillion method,"
was used to literally size up crooks, which was basically a whole bunch of
measurements they took of the size and shape of different parts of your body
and face. As well as being an unflattering additional humiliation if you're a
fatty, it served as a pretty reliable system -- that was until 1903, when these
two guys came along:
They're not the same man -- the one in the left
mugshot is who, after being arrested, was asked if he'd ever been in trouble
with the law before. He answered no, but an examination of his measurements told
a different story. And he wound up being charged more harshly for lying, much
to his confusion. Where West caught a break was that the criminal who matched
West's measurements was already in the same prison (That's the guy in the second
mugshot) whose name was -- get this -- also William West (though he went by
"William" instead of "Will").
After a thorough examination to make sure one of
them wasn't a liquid metal terminator, authorities
realized this to be a new problem, telling the two wests apart, which could
have been disastrous for one of them: William was serving a life sentence for
murder, while Will was in for a much lesser charge.
Thankfully, the prison warden, Major Robert McClaughry, started to hear
word about a new method of identification that used fingerprints instead
of facial measurements. After switching over to the new system, the prison was
finally able to tell the difference between West and West, and the example
served as proof that the fingerprinting method was far superior and that’s how
Oxford got to work.
