Francisca Rojas
Encyclopedia
Francisca Rojas is believed to be the first criminal found guilty through fingerprint
evidence in the world.
On June 29, 1892, 27-year-old Rojas murdered her two children in Necochea
, Buenos Aires Province
, in Argentina
. Her six-year-old son, Ponciano Carballo Rojas, and his four-year-old sister Teresa were found brutally murdered in their home. Francisca tried to simulate an attack by cutting her own throat and then blaming the murders on her neighbor Pedro Ramón Velázquez. He did not confess to the murder, and so the investigation needed to find incriminating evidence. Instead, they found a bloody fingerprint on the door post of the house. Since the mother denied touching the children's bodies, the fingerprint could have only come from the killer. With Juan Vucetich
's help, the fingerprints were found to belong,not to Pedro, but to Francisca. Rojas was confronted with the evidence and confessed to murdering her children and blaming Pedro for the crime, intending him to die for it. Her reasons included Pedro's interference with a romance with another suitor and feeling that she would be more attractive to that suitor if she did not have children. Rojas was the first in the world to be convicted based on fingerprint evidence.
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
evidence in the world.
On June 29, 1892, 27-year-old Rojas murdered her two children in Necochea
Necochea
Necochea is a port city in the southwest of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located on the Atlantic coast, on the edge of the Quequén Grande river, from Buenos Aires City and southwest from Mar del Plata...
, Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
, in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Her six-year-old son, Ponciano Carballo Rojas, and his four-year-old sister Teresa were found brutally murdered in their home. Francisca tried to simulate an attack by cutting her own throat and then blaming the murders on her neighbor Pedro Ramón Velázquez. He did not confess to the murder, and so the investigation needed to find incriminating evidence. Instead, they found a bloody fingerprint on the door post of the house. Since the mother denied touching the children's bodies, the fingerprint could have only come from the killer. With Juan Vucetich
Juan Vucetich
Juan Vucetich was a Croatian-born Argentine anthropologist and police official who pioneered the use of fingerprinting.-Biography:...
's help, the fingerprints were found to belong,not to Pedro, but to Francisca. Rojas was confronted with the evidence and confessed to murdering her children and blaming Pedro for the crime, intending him to die for it. Her reasons included Pedro's interference with a romance with another suitor and feeling that she would be more attractive to that suitor if she did not have children. Rojas was the first in the world to be convicted based on fingerprint evidence.