History of Sorts

I know all these W’s in the title would nearly make you dizzy , unfortunately there are more to come.

What happens if you are arrested and brought to jail and it is claimed you were there before and you know you weren’t but there is an eye witness placing you there.

This happened to Will West in 1903

Will West arrived at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1903. After seeing his mug shots, the prison clerk took one look at the photos and insisted she had seen him before. Mr. West explained he had never been to Leavenworth, and that she was mistaken.

The clerk, convinced that she was correct, collected Mr. West’s Bertillon measurements (the identification method used to identify prisoners up until this case) and dug through the archives of inmates.

Eerily, she pulled out a file that undoubtedly was the face of the man standing in…