Season 7 - Episode 52

DESCRIPTION: 

In modern-day investigations, fingerprints are some of the most valuable clues in identifying a suspect. Automated fingerprint identification systems have reduced the time it takes to compare prints from hundreds of hours to a matter of minutes. Before the revolutionary introduction of automated analysis, investigators had to manually compare prints from a crime scene in order to exclude or implicate suspects in the commission of a crime. In May 1948, an unthinkable murder led to one of the most extensive mass fingerprinting operations in UK history. It solidified fingerprint comparison as one of the most accurate means of identification in criminal investigations…

*** LISTENER CAUTION IS ADVISED *** 

This episode was researched and written by Eileen Macfarlane.

Edited by Joel Porter at Dot Dot Dot Productions.

Script editing, additional writing, illustrations and production direction by Rosanna Fitton

Narration, editing assistance, additional writing, and production direction by Benjamin Fitton.

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Listen to our companion podcast ‘They Walk Among America' here: https://play.acast.com/s/they-walk-among-america

More information and episode references can be found on our website https://theywalkamonguspodcast.com

MUSIC: 

The Edge by Caleb Etheridge 

Sussex by Stephen Keech 

Bamburgh by Stephen Keech 

Salvation by Moments 

Quiet Desperation Part 2 by JCar 

Recognize by Grant Borland 

Growing Pains by Featherland 

Ripley by Falls 

Apex Program by Cody Martin 

Petalstone by Cody Martin 

Shadow Passage by Cody Martin 

Woven by Alice in Winter 

They Walk Among Us is part of the Acast Creator Network - https://www.acast.com/theywalkamongus

SOCIAL MEDIA: 

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REFERENCES: 

NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, May 15 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, May 17 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, May 18 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, May 19 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, May 20 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, May 24 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, May 29 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, June 21  

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, Aug 9  

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, Aug 14 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, Aug 26 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, Oct 15 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, Oct 18 

Coventry Evening Telegraph - 1948, Nov 19 

Manchester Evening News - 1948, May 15 

Manchester Evening News - 1948, May 18 

Manchester Evening News - 1948, May 21 

Manchester Evening News - 1948, May 22  

Manchester Evening News - 1948, May 25  

Manchester Evening News - 1948, May 29  

Manchester Evening News - 1948, June 4  

Manchester Evening News - 1948, June 11  

Manchester Evening News - 1948, June 14  

Manchester Evening News - 1948, June 15 

Manchester Evening News - 1948, Sept 2 

Manchester Evening News - 1948, Oct 11  

Manchester Evening News - 1948, Oct 15 

Manchester Evening News - 1948, Oct 23  

Manchester Evening News - 1948, Nov 19  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, May 17 

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, May 19  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, May 20 

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, June 12  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, June 15  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, June 21  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, June 22  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, June 23  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, Aug 14  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, Sept 3  

The Daily Telegraph - 1948, Oct 16  

Liverpool Echo - 1948, Jun 3  

Liverpool Echo - 1948, Aug 14  

Liverpool Echo - 1948, Aug 19 

Liverpool Echo - 1948, Sept 2 

Liverpool Echo - 1948, Oct 15  

Liverpool Echo - 1948, Oct 18 

Liverpool Echo - 1948, Oct 19 

Sunday Pictorial - 1948, Jun 13 

Evening Standard - 1948, May 24  

Evening Standard - 1948, Jun 1  

Evening Standard - 1948, Aug 19 

Evening Standard - 1948, Oct 15 

The Guardian - 1948, May 24 

The Guardian - 1948, Oct 19 

The Guardian - 1948, Nov 1  

The Guardian - 1948, Nov 4  

Evening Sentinel - 1948, May 24 

Evening Sentinel - 1948, May 25 

Western Morning News - 1948, May 24 

Western Morning News - 1948, Nov 20  

Daily Herald - 1948, May 25 

Daily Herald - 1948, Sept 3 

Daily Herald - 1948, Oct 16 

Daily Herald - 1948, Oct 19 

Daily Herald - 1948, Nov 22 

Herald Express - 1948, June 21 

Herald Express - 1948, Sept 2 

Herald Express - 1948, Nov 10 

Herald Express - 1948, Nov 19 

Leicester Evening Mail - 1948, Oct 18 

Grimsby Evening Telegraph - 1948, Oct 18 

Grimsby Evening Telegraph - 1948, Oct 27 

Leicester Mercury - 1948, Oct 18 

Lincolnshire Echo  - 1948, Nov 18 

ONLINE ARTICLES

https://leb.fbi.gov/file-repository/archives/march-1949.pdf

https://legaldesire.com/fingerprint-evidence-an-infallible-of-identification-the-case-of-mass-fingerprinting/

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-brutal-murder-begins-an-unusual-investigation

https://www.library.kent.edu/special-collections-and-archives/crime-photographs-collection

https://archive.org/details/trialofpetergrif0000grif/ 

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/welsh-guards 

https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/6019700.murdered-boys-friend-recalls-stabbing-horror/

https://livingwithdying.leeds.ac.uk/2019/10/25/violet-van-der-elst-on-the-gallows/

https://www.blackburn.gov.uk/facts-and-figures

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/6010731.murder-horror-lives-53-years/

https://www.cottontown.org/Pages/home.aspx

https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/209075

https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/blackburn-child-killer-rapist-who-17118836