Prison Chronicles: Leavenworth

Kansas leaders break ground on new Leavenworth penitentiary

Scary on Instagram: "The case of the two William Wests, identical in appearance and sharing the same name, played a significant role in the development of fingerprinting as a means of identification. As prisoners at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, their similarities highlighted the need for a more reliable method of identification, contributing to the increased use of fingerprinting in law enforcement. This pioneering technique has since become a crucial tool in forensic s

Factsnreel IG on Instagram: "In 1903, a remarkable case at Leavenworth Prison helped transform criminal identification methods. Two unrelated men named William West were both sent to the Kansas facility around the same time. They not only shared the same name but also looked nearly identical and had matching physical measurements under the Bertillon system, a method then used to identify prisoners based on body dimensions. When the second William West arrived, prison staff believed he was alread