TY - JOUR
T1 - Finding Makhubu
T2 - A morphological forensic facial comparison
AU - Houlton, T. M. R.
AU - Steyn, M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Thanks is given to Mandy Weiner and Eye Witness News for entrusting us with this case. We are also grateful to the family and friends of Mbuyisa Makhubu, who have allowed for the journalistic attention and forensic facial comparison to be conducted. The research of M. Steyn is supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this study are those of the author and therefore the NRF does not accept any liability in regard thereto.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2018/4
Y1 - 2018/4
N2 - June 16, 1976, marks the Soweto Youth Student Uprising in South Africa. A harrowing image capturing police brutality from that day comprises of 18-year-old Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying a dying 12-year-old Hector Peterson. This circulated international press and contributed to world pressure against the apartheid government. This elevated Makhubu's profile with the national security police and forced him to flee to Botswana, then Nigeria, before disappearing in 1978. In 1988, Victor Vinnetou illegally entered Canada and was later arrested on immigration charges in 2004. Evasive of his true identity, the Canadian Border Services Agency and Makhubu's family believe Vinnetou is Makhubu, linking them by a characteristic moon-shaped birthmark on his left chest. A performed DNA test however, was inconclusive. Following the continued 40-year mystery, Eye Witness News in 2016 requested further investigation. Using a limited series of portrait images, a forensic facial comparison (FFC) was conducted utilising South African Police Service (SAPS) protocols and Facial Identification Scientific Working Group (FISWG) guidelines. The images provided, presented a substantial time-lapse and generally low resolution, while being taken from irregular angles and distances, with different subject poses, orientations and environments. This enforced the use of a morphological analysis; a primary method of FFC that develops conclusions based on subjective observations. The results were fundamentally inconclusive, but multiple similarities and valid explanations for visible differences were identified. To enhance the investigation, visual evidence of the moon-shaped birthmark and further DNA analysis is required.
AB - June 16, 1976, marks the Soweto Youth Student Uprising in South Africa. A harrowing image capturing police brutality from that day comprises of 18-year-old Mbuyisa Makhubu carrying a dying 12-year-old Hector Peterson. This circulated international press and contributed to world pressure against the apartheid government. This elevated Makhubu's profile with the national security police and forced him to flee to Botswana, then Nigeria, before disappearing in 1978. In 1988, Victor Vinnetou illegally entered Canada and was later arrested on immigration charges in 2004. Evasive of his true identity, the Canadian Border Services Agency and Makhubu's family believe Vinnetou is Makhubu, linking them by a characteristic moon-shaped birthmark on his left chest. A performed DNA test however, was inconclusive. Following the continued 40-year mystery, Eye Witness News in 2016 requested further investigation. Using a limited series of portrait images, a forensic facial comparison (FFC) was conducted utilising South African Police Service (SAPS) protocols and Facial Identification Scientific Working Group (FISWG) guidelines. The images provided, presented a substantial time-lapse and generally low resolution, while being taken from irregular angles and distances, with different subject poses, orientations and environments. This enforced the use of a morphological analysis; a primary method of FFC that develops conclusions based on subjective observations. The results were fundamentally inconclusive, but multiple similarities and valid explanations for visible differences were identified. To enhance the investigation, visual evidence of the moon-shaped birthmark and further DNA analysis is required.
KW - Facial Identification Scientific Working Group (FISWG)
KW - Forensic facial comparison
KW - Morphological analysis
KW - South African Police Service (SAPS)
KW - Soweto Youth Student Uprising
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041647135&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.01.022
DO - 10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.01.022
M3 - Article
C2 - 29427704
AN - SCOPUS:85041647135
SN - 0379-0738
VL - 285
SP - 13
EP - 20
JO - Forensic Science International
JF - Forensic Science International
ER -