God’s Fingerprints in Forensic Files

I have a confession to make: I like true crime stories. Since the COVID-19 restrictions began in March, I have watched several episodes of Forensic Files on Netflix. Besides heightening my awareness of personal safety, Forensic Files has surprised me with the wonders of God’s creative handiwork. Consider the following mysteries, unveiled relatively recently in human history.

1. Fingerprints

In 1892, the British anthropologist Sir Francis Galton published the first book on fingerprints in which he identified their individuality and uniqueness. Such distinguishing characteristics officially became known as minutiae, but they are still referred to as Galton’s Details. Over the years, fingerprints have been accepted as a reliable means of identification and are used as evidence in finding and convicting criminals.

In 1980, the first computer data base of fingerprints was developed, which came to be known as the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Today AFIS houses the fingerprints and criminal histories of 70 million subjects in the criminal master file, 31 million civil prints, and 73,000 known and suspected terrorists processed by the U.S. or by international law enforcement agencies.

For more than a century, fingerprints have remained the most commonly used forensic evidence worldwide. Compared to DNA evidence, fingerprints are relatively inexpensive to process and their conclusions may be obtained much more quickly. For each specimen, DNA costs 100 to 400 times more to analyze than fingerprints and can require additional months or even years.

While DNA evidence is typically harvested from violent crimes, fingerprints are often the primary evidence for lesser crimes like burglaries and vehicle break-ins.

Nearly every episode of Forensic Files mentions fingerprints, even if only to lament that the authorities could not obtain them in that particular case. Every human fingerprint is unique, but did you know that the nose prints of dogs are also distinctive? These too, I learned, have been used to place a suspect at the scene of a crime.

2. Blood

Before the discovery of DNA, criminalists could use blood typing to eliminate potential suspects, but they couldn’t use it to conclusively identify one.

But in 1986, a British molecular biologist used a DNA pattern recognition technique he had developed to assist the police in catching a serial killer. It was the first time in history that DNA evidence was used in a criminal case. (See Forensic Files, Original TV Season 1, Episode 4, “The Footpath Murders.”)

I’m amazed at how a drop of blood or other bodily fluid can identify a criminal. In several episodes of Forensic Files, we see a detective watching for a suspect to discard a drinking cup or cigarette butt so that a sample can be obtained.

3. Bugs

God designed each insect species to have a specific developmental cycle. A forensic entomologist can use this information to determine a victim’s approximate time of death.

4. Bones

From skeletal remains, a forensic anthropologist can determine a victim’s gender, race, approximate height and age, an estimate of how long ago the person died, and sometimes the cause of death.

5. Hair

A strand of hair can reveal the race of the victim. It can also be examined to detect traces of certain poisons, even those that do not show up on a toxicology report.

6. Animal DNA

Who knew that animals also have distinctive DNA? How incredible that a single cat hair can be used to catch a criminal! (See Forensic Files, Netflix Collection 8, “Purr-fect Match.”)

7. Plant DNA

Apparently individual trees—not just specific species but individual trees—have unique DNA profiles. In one episode, a murderer fled the remote scene of his crime; but, in his haste, his truck brushed up against a Palo Verti tree and knocked two of its seed pods into the bed.

A detective later noticed the tree’s freshly broken branch and connected it with the seed pods found in the suspect’s truck. Since police had no evidence placing the suspect near the victim’s body, the detective contacted a plant geneticist. He tested a hundred different Palo Verti trees in the area and determined that each has a separate and distinct genetic profile. The tree near the victim’s body—the one with the broken branch—matched the seed pods found in the suspect’s truck bed. He was found guilty of murder. (See Forensic Files, Netflix Collection 4, “Planted Evidence.”)

8. Pond Water

Even bodies of water have a particular “fingerprint.” In one episode, two boys are assaulted and left for dead in Stenger’s Pond in Waterford, Connecticut. Fortunately, the younger boy rescues his older friend. Both survive the ordeal.

Three suspects are later identified, and police confiscate the dirty sneakers of the trio’s ringleader. A persistent detective finds a forensic limnologist—a scientist who examines the microscopic organisms inhabiting freshwater environments. He takes water samples from Stenger’s Pond and compares it with the residue on the suspect’s shoes.

Each body of water contains unique numbers and species of diatoms, single-celled organisms that come in hundreds of different shapes and colors. (Under a microscope, you can see how ornate and artistically beautiful God created them.) By identifying and counting the diatoms, the limnologist proves that the ringleader’s shoes had been in Stenger’s Pond. The suspect is convicted and found guilty of assault and attempted murder. (See Forensic Files, Netflix Collection 9, “Reel Danger.”)

If you have any doubts about the sinful nature of humankind, just watch a few episodes of Forensic Files. But along with the bad, there is also much good. We see the dogged determination of detectives who pursue troubling cases for decades until they are solved. We hear the redemptive stories of survivors whose tragedies prompt them to help others and to advocate for change. The world will grow increasingly wicked as the end of time draws near. But, in these last days, the LORD has revealed the unique features of many living things, helping law enforcement render justice. His fingers have formed countless fingerprints.

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