Francisca_Rojas_Case_Study.- Fingerprint

First Case in history solved using Fingerprint evidence

1. Francisca Rojas Case (1892) First Conviction Using Fingerprints in Forensic History

2. Background • Location: Necochea, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina • Year: 1892 • Crime: Two children murdered at home • Mother, Francisca Rojas, accused neighbor Velasquez

3. The Crime Scene - Discovery of the Murders On June 29, 1892, a horrifying scene unfolded in the slums of Necochea, a city in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province. Ponciano Caraballo and his neighbor Ramón Velázquez stumbled upon a gruesome sight in the Caraballo family home. In the bedroom, they found Ponciano’s two children, six-year-old Ponciano Ernesto and four-year-old Feliza, lying lifeless on the bed. Beside them was their mother, Francisca Rojas de Caraballo, who had sustained injuries but was still breathing. The children’s throats had been brutally slit, and they had already succumbed to their wounds. Francisca Rojas, however, had only superficial injuries and was soon able to provide an account of the events. This shocking discovery marked the beginning of a case that would significantly impact criminal justice and forensic science.

4. Forensic Evidence • A bloody fingerprint was found on a doorframe • At the time, fingerprinting was not a standard forensic tool • Police inspector Juan Vucetich had been experimenting with fingerprint classification

5. Investigation • Vucetich collected Rojas’s fingerprints • Compared them with the bloody print • Concluded that the print matched Rojas • Rojas confessed to killing her children

6. Outcome • Rojas convicted of the murders • Velasquez was released • Case became the first in history to use fingerprint evidence for conviction

7. Significance in Forensic Science • First criminal conviction using fingerprints • Proved the reliability of fingerprint evidence • Marked a shift from anthropometry to fingerprinting

8. Legacy • Juan Vucetich’s fingerprint system gained recognition worldwide • Fingerprinting replaced anthropometry as the primary identification method • Established physical evidence as a cornerstone of forensic science

9. Conclusion • The Francisca Rojas case highlights the birth of forensic fingerprinting • Demonstrates the importance of physical evidence in criminal justice • A milestone in the history of forensic science