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San Diego Police Department wins FBI 2024 Biometric Identification Award after 1975 cold-case fingerprint match
Summary
The FBI awarded its 2024 Biometric Identification Award to the San Diego Police Department after latent prints lifted in a 1975 homicide were run through the FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI) system and matched to Dennis LePage, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation presented its 2024 Biometric Identification Award to the San Diego Police Department after fingerprints preserved from a 1975 homicide were matched in the FBI’s Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, officials said.
In remarks accompanying the award, Speaker 2 (an unidentified presenter) described the original case: a 28-year-old dental technician was found murdered in 1975. Investigators found a bloody print on the victim’s chest and lifted multiple latent prints from the bathroom, including a high-quality thumb impression taken from the sink. At the time, detectives could only compare prints directly to known suspects; when no match was found the case went cold and the evidence was stored.
Speaker 3 (an unidentified latent-print examiner) said the cold-case file was later re-examined. “So I submitted that through the FBI’s NGI database and it resulted in a hit to an individual named Dennis LePage,” Speaker 3 said. The examiner said they manually compared the latent print to LePage’s print card, determined it was an identification, and had that identification verified by another examiner before providing the information to the cold-case unit.
The presenters described use of “major case prints” — a technique that captures full-palm and finger friction ridges — to create high-quality records for comparison. Speaker 2 said major case prints were taken after LePage’s arrest and digitally shared with San Diego personnel; those prints matched the bloody impression from the victim’s body.
According to the presentation, Dennis LePage pleaded guilty before trial to first-degree murder and was sentenced under California’s 1975 sentencing guidelines to a range of six years to life in prison. Speaker 2 and Speaker 3 emphasized the importance of preserving and re-examining latent evidence and said access to NGI substantially increases the chances of identifying suspects in cold cases.
The award recognizes law enforcement agencies that use biometric identification tools to solve major cases. For information on NGI services, the presenters directed listeners to the FBI’s website at https://www.fbi.gov and said nominations for the biometric identification award may be submitted by email to biometrichit@leo.gov.
