Comparison Microscope in Valentine’s Day Massacre

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was a violent event in which seven gangsters were killed by rival Al Capone mobsters dressed as Chicago police officers in 1929. Colonel Goddard, who used a comparison microscope in a previous controversial case, became the key forensic expert in solving this case. His investigation also led to the establishment at Northwestern University, United States’ first independent criminological laboratory, which Goddard headed. The said laboratory brought ballistics, fingerprinting, blood analysis, and trace evidence under one roof.

With the use of a comparison microscope adapted for the ballistics comparison by his partner, Phillip Gravelle, Goddard employed similar techniques to absolve the Chicago Police Department of participation in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

The case of Sacco and Vanzetti, which took place in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, is responsible for making popular use of the comparison microscope for bullet comparison.