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The Latent That Couldn’t Be Lifted...And Was! (This article appeared in the 1994 Third Quarter Issue of “The Pacific Northwest Examiner”)
Written by DON KIRST (The following letter was forwarded to the Editor [PNW Editor] and I found it to be quite interesting; Don was able to use a product to lift the unliftable latent...) Last year I lifted a latent print that couldn't be lifted. The only reason I did this was because I didn't know it couldn't be lifted. This print became the prime factor in convicting a man for two counts of first degree murder. I was assigned to conduct a latent search at the scene of a double homicide near Sequim, Washington. I noticed blood on a deep freeze near one of the deceased. Looking closer at the blood, I observed some ridge detail. I did not have any Amido Black, so the State Identification Section was called. A partial print was produced using Amido Black, and it was photographed. After the State had finished and left, I decided to see if there was any more ridge detail that hadn't been produced with the Amido Black. I dusted the area with black fingerprint powder and developed more ridge detail. The powder did not adhere to the stain of the Amido Black. Because the back ground surface of the freezer was textured, I covered the surface of the latent with Liquid Lift and let it dry. I then applied lifting tape and placed the lift on a card. The result was a completed fingerprint which was partly blue and partly black. The FBI agent that identified the latent stated that this was the first time in his twenty years with the FBI that he ever saw an Amido Black lift. I haven't had the opportunity to experiment with this any further. I am assuming that without the Liquid Lift the Amido Black latent would not have lifted. (I [PNW--Editor] talked to Don on the phone to get his permission to publish this letter and we had a discussion regarding Liquid Lift. My concern was for surfaces that are textured such as the “orange peel” surface of a computer or the small texture in the plastics used on modern electronics (televisions, stereos, etc.). Don says that if the powder processing was successful and developed a print (normally, the texture overrides the ridge detail when the print is lifted with tape) Liquid Lift may be an alternative. Liquid Lift is sold by the Lynn Peavey Co. Thank you...the Editor.)
This article was reprinted in “THE PRINT” |