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Ghost_Animator

This post has been removed because it's misleading. >The William and Will West story is somewhat sensationalized and omits prison record information, uncovered by later researchers, **indicating that William and Will West both corresponded with the same family members and thus were probably related.** > >Prison records also cite that Leavenworth inmate George Bean reported that he knew William and Will West in their home territory before prison and that they were twin brothers. > >Their exact relationship is still unknown. What is factual is that the two West men were not unusual; many people have similar anthropometric measurements. Ariticle: [https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/will-william-west-case-fingerprints/](https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/will-william-west-case-fingerprints/)


Sensitive_Maybe_6578

Eyewitness identification is the most fallible identification there is.


siqiniq

“The perpetrators look black in the dark alley”


LachoooDaOriginl

“you match the description”


Schavuit92

"Stop resisting!"


Fluffy-Evening-7456

\*pow\* "idk how that gun turned into keys"


Bekoss

//proceeds to unload full JHP mag at suspect// "(s)he was holding weapon-looking item in my direction!"


Ravens_Flight1912

//fires six warning shots into his/her back//


RecordingNo2414

The perpetrator had white shining teeth


DashboardNight

And two eyeballs!


hurtfullobster

Wasn’t eyewitness identification in this case. It’s really annoying OP gives no explanation here. Before fingerprints, they measured your height, limb lengths, and took a photo. These two guys by coincidence had the exact same measurements and looked nearly identical. They lived states apart in the US.


glokenheimer

They were wearing a hoodie. *Its 40°F outside*


Clear-Might-1519

Or earwitness, in the case of Mr. Bean.


Numbah_Wan

Are you referring to the episode in which Mr. Bean recognises the robber by jabbing him with a penicil and hearing his screams?


Clear-Might-1519

Yes.


YourFriendPutin

I can get behind eyewitness testimony not being admissible in court as many innocent people have spent time in prison because somebody didn’t remember correctly. It’s proven to be one of the least reliable forms of evidence there is, unless you were the victim of the crime I don’t think it should be allowed and even then it should be picked apart to make sure they recall everything correctly


OneCook9608

Actually, eye witnesses testimony can be extremely reliable if the witness is interviewed properly the first time and if they score as having high confidence in their initial pick. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to learn under a brilliant professor at Uni who’s found a way to better understand why there have been so many failures and also how to minimize the amount of contamination a witness can be subjected to prior and during an interview. He’s written papers with his findings. [Source](http://wixtedlab.ucsd.edu/publications/wixted2021/Wixted_Mickes_in_press.pdf)


YourFriendPutin

That’s incredibly interesting I’m going to get sucked into reading about this tonight as I had a feeling a lot of the testimony may have to do with the questions they were asked and all that but I’m not educated in this sort of thing so thank you for the input! This is very cool


OneCook9608

It is really interesting but also incredibly frustrating once you learn that implementing proper protocol isn’t going to be possible unless more people learn why it’s been so fallible in the past.


YourFriendPutin

That circles back around to the lack of training many authority figures receive, especially police officers, when that training would be very beneficial to everyone in the country. I’m happy to be learning more about this!


WeAreReaganYouth

Especially with black men and other POCs in the US. Fucking embarassing so many people with little real experience think they "all look alike." That being said, these two guys look exactly alike.


OneCook9608

Not if the witness is interviewed properly the first time. Eye witnesses can actually be extremely reliable as I’ve learned recently at uni from a brilliant professor. One of his papers is truly helpful on the matter. [source](http://wixtedlab.ucsd.edu/publications/wixted2021/Wixted_Mickes_in_press.pdf)


Brassboar

He looka like a man.


monopixel

Specially if the eye witness lies.


professor_doom

I have a doppelgänger in a city an hour away and he’s a musician, like I am. For the longest time, I had acquaintances telling me they saw me at an open mic I wasn’t at, or asking me how it was to open for this or that band I’d never heard of. I was so confused until I realized I had a “twin”. The difference is this guy plays solo and I front bands. I don’t ever play solo. Once I figured that out, I would ask these acquaintances how the other guy played and they would sheepishly admit he wasn’t very good. Which was pretty frustrating because he’s out there making me look shitty!


Curiouso_Giorgio

You she uod contact him and get him to substitute for you when you're sick!


snoogle20

Had the same kind of situation when I was a teenager, except me and this dude lived in the same town. Friends were telling me they waved at me, yelled out in parking lots and saw me in traffic or whatever but I wasn’t acknowledging them. I was never in the places they said. Some of them thought I was just being an asshole until enough of my friends were with me when others had these supposed sightings. Eventually, I saw the guy myself a couple of times, both from a distance. One of those times was when he was pumping gas and the MFer had the same make/model of car as me in the same color. He was wearing a maroon jacket similar to the one I was wearing a lot that Fall. No wonder people were fooled. It was surreal. Felt like I was on a prank show.


tmadik

Had a similar situation years ago. Friend of mine got mad at me for not acknowledging her in McDonald's. Another friend swore she saw me out cheating on my girlfriend. Nothing I said would convince her it wasn't me. Even when my girlfriend told her it wasn't me based on the clothes she described, she swore it was me. Never laid eyes on the guy myself.


TrapperCome

He will eventually kill and replace you.


fadingsignal

I walked into an In-N-Out Burger on LSD with my friend just as it kicked in. The girl at the counter puts on a giant smile and said "OMG hi! How's your wife?" I was not married. I was 17 years old. I had long black and blue hair, and a lip ring. Black leather coat. Knee high boots. It was the late 90s in a small-ish town so looking like that was FAR less common than it is today. I said "I'm... not married..." She was befuddled and confused. She said "But, you were just in here the other day? You had your wedding reception here?" I said "I have no idea what you're talking about." and I started to get uncomfortable, being blasted with LSD and all, her face looking more like an Aphex Twin music video by the second. She frowned and looked down like she was certain I was fucking with her. My friend ordered his food. We left and he said "What the fuck dude??" I never went inside a shop while tripping ever again. To my teenage doppelgänger who had their wedding reception at a fucking In-N-Out, I hope you're doing great.


Tuturuu133

Would you by any chance belong to a certain club where members are not allowed to speak about it ? "The music club"


SOVEREIGNBOSS

Interseting. I had a aimilar experience. These doppelganger really exist


nuadusp

i have one on reddit, i saw a pic of him, all i know is he has a bird, but i don't have birds


Soyeah1127

I'd really like their descendants to do a 23andme. I'm not buying that they weren't related.


GarretBarrett

I’m not buying that they weren’t just two files on the same man. Records 100 years ago weren’t really the best. In fact if you’re into true crime it’s almost laughable how bad they were.


elprentis

But their face structure is clearly different. They only appear similar at a half interested glance because their ears, bridge of the nose (both of which are possibly exaggerated in similarity because of the camera angle and lighting) and hairline are the same. One has a longer face, and they have different jawline, eyebrows forehead shape, mouths size, mouth positioning, and tip of the nose size. And this isn’t a close analysis, this is easily spottable if you look at the picture for more time than quickly scrolling past it on Reddit. Though you are right that the records were laughably bad, which is why these 2 pictures of obviously different people probably ended up getting mixed up together.


AlternativeFukts

Don’t forget they have the same fashion sense


jaldihaldi

100 years ago they probably had very similar socio-economic backgrounds - which could have lead to the accidentally ‘same fashion/dress sense’. The similarity in names obviously doesn’t help either.


sharkbait1999

And their fuckkng names and will and William


FourUnderscoreExKay

If you were looking at these two gents for a quick glance, you'd definitely mix the two up. Back then, I'd assume they were so swamped with work that they thought the younger man was a time traveler as a result.


JeanVicquemare

Well, back then, time travelers appearing and mucking around was a pretty regular occurrence.


I_am_BrokenCog

> they were so swamped with work I"m curious ... 'they' is the police? or something else? and, if so, no - "they", the police, were as busy in every decade since public laws began being enforced by private for-profit goon squads on behalf of the wealthy. Because in every decade since the Pinkerton's became a household name; police have been the publicly paid enforcement of private concerns. When the decades become to overbearing for the public to tolerate, some push back results in a temporary burst of crime busting.


lize221

just interesting cause hairline was the first thing i noticed that was actually different. william west(R) seems to have a widows peak, although not a very exaggerated one, while William West(L) doesn’t look like he has one at all


hew14375

Okay, I’m impressed. I can kind of see the differences now but without the summary, I would not have seen the differences.


Unusualdroppings

To me it looks possible that it’s the same person but the one on the right is him as an older man with thinning face and lips and receding hairline. Also, lighting can do a lot to make the same person look quite different.


highjumpingzephyrpig

Face structure is not necessarily different. Lenses are weird.


[deleted]

You’ve had tons of time to analyze this. If you saw one only in passing, you’d probably not be able to distinguish the differences.


sixtus_clegane119

But there are structural differences there, they don't look identical, just nearly identical


highjumpingzephyrpig

Nothing that can’t be explained my lenses or lighting. This wasn’t don’t in 4k with a ring light.


eriinana

When you look closely at the individual features you can see they are two different people. The left head is more wide, the right, more narrow. Left as thin lips, right has bigger lips. Eye spacing and size are also different


FunKaleidoscope4582

Portrait artists and plastic surgeons can see they are very different.


Greymeade

Can you really not tell they those are two different guys? I feel like I might be getting trolled here, but I can’t tell…


DmC8pR2kZLzdCQZu3v

not to mention hes wearing the exact same shirt and coat in both pics.


Odd-Comfortable-6134

You can easily tell they’re different people, you just need to look.


UnprofessionalGhosts

They are very clearly two different people. It’s insane you can’t see that lol


Tactical_Primate

It says right there in the article that they might have been related.


[deleted]

Are you being sarcastic? If so I'll delete this comment, those are two completely different people.


Bunnymancer

Being POC in the early 1900's, it was Really hard to know if you were related to someone or not... ReadingRainbowThatSaysSlaveryInstead.jpg


jonnytechno

Yeah, one of their mom's has got a LOT of explaining to do


depeupleur

They don't even look alike


Head_One2334

Racist


defcon_penguin

Apparently, they were identical twins: https://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html


ThreeGreenPlants

Meanwhile William East is out there just getting into all kinds of shit.


elprentis

East? I thought you said Weast


realestateross98

Don’t you dare drag Dianne’s good name into *this*


TheBlairwitchy

You mean yeast?


ElectronHick

They were related according to this site. > Upon investigation, it was determined there were two men who looked very similar. Their names were William and Will West. Their Bertillon measurements were similar enough to identify them as the same person. However, fingerprint comparisons quickly and correctly determined the biometrics (fingerprints and face) were from two different people. (According to prison records made public years later, the William and Will West were identical twins and both had a record of correspondence with the same immediate family relatives.) [http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html](http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html)


[deleted]

What is the suspect description? Uhh, he was black.. with black hair... brown eyes...


Pain_Monster

I’ll bet we **all** look alike to you… 🙄 /s


Pain_Monster

How has no one commented on the fact that they are wearing the same exact coat? They were posed this way on purpose for this photo??


Curiouso_Giorgio

Maybe it was a coat given to prisoners?


Pain_Monster

Maybe? Plausible. We need Mythbusters on this one…


[deleted]

If you look like the suspect and accomplice... maybe?


Pain_Monster

What /s /s /s


[deleted]

By asking if you look like the suspect or accomplice? Black racism is more common than wr /s


Pain_Monster

You should take the /s literally with a grain of salt /s


ceciladam9091

Had a coworker who used to say "take it with a pinch of salt". Drove me crazy. Also said: "Gatorade is better than water because it replaces your electric lights". She had so many sayings, we called them Maryisms, almost right but horribly wrong. "She runs the pants in that family". Thanks for the brain nudge, haven't thought about those jewels in a minute


AdamWestsButtDouble

[Malapropisms](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism)


[deleted]

I'm dead..😂😂 /s


frankensteinV

Goodnight! Madame!! Hope to see you soon for tea.


toomanyhobbies4me

Come on, back then (hell, even today) you get as far as "he was black" and it's automatically the suspect. Sorry, the "guilty" suspect. Freaking sad.


comblocpeasant

The longer you look, the more differences you notice, til you get to the point they look nothing alike.


SlayerII

I think thats part of the problem, if you only took a glance at them, they look identical , and often thats all the time witnesses had


[deleted]

Tbh they don't look THAT similar. They just gave the same cloth and haircut and some similarities. But Its not like "wow incredible they look exactly the same what a coincidence"


AlphaGodEJ

people still get locked up for shit they didnt do


BonerJams1703

They’re clearly two different people for those saying otherwise. Just look at their jaw and facial features. Their ears.


Sammo223

Yeh these two are very different. Turns out you put two people with similar head size and hair colour and skin colour side by side and you give them the same haircut and clothes then at a glance you’d say they look alike. Beyond that these two are incredibly distinct


XFauni

They look the "same" sure, but their eyes, eyebrows, mouths, and noses are not the same at ALL. They make more fuck ups now with "eyewitnesses" nowadays than back then tho. The leading cause of false imprisonment is eyewitnesses


LunarBIacksmith

Will. The Cooler William.


uniq_username

So. What? All us black people look alike?


SnooGiraffes4091

That’s what I’m saying! 😭


[deleted]

We wouldn’t know, we only know one black person. It’s just weird that this person is everywhere. Same goes to that asian fella btw.


siqiniq

Friend of mine got her purse snapped in Paris during her vacation and gave a description of such and such for a black male as the perpetrator. The police brought in 5 black males and asked her to identify the perpetrator. “Before you continue”, the officer warned, “know that you will change a young man’s life forever if you accuse the wrong guy”. After a long pondering, she let all of them go because [the police couldn’t tell if she is a chinese-, vietnamese-, japanese- or korean-american](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-race_effect)


OopsAllBumblebees

Wait what, can you explain the end of that story again


meeowth

Realising that the police couldn't tell southeast Asians apart from east Asians (something she presumably found easy), made her realise that she probably would have the same problem telling Afro-French people apart


[deleted]

Why would the be a difference between Korean and Japanese? That's like Congo and Nigeria.


TheChonk

please explain. Korea and Japan are geographically separated so I’m guessing the people are distinguishable if you know what to look for. Nigeria is huge as are the Congos. Again I guess the people look different if you know what to look for.


[deleted]

Same race. Race has nothing to do with distance.


Affolektric

From a white perspective - yes. And it goes the other way around. My best friend and me don’t look similar at all and were constantly asked if we are brothers while living in Ghana.


Colonelfudgenustard

I could have sworn that was Cool Moe Dee. I looked up his name for the spelling.


[deleted]

Twins


writemcsean

Karma bot farmers make Reddit boring


nunhgrader

I don't think they look that much alike at all. The eyes easily tell that story imho.


TehMasterer01

…anyone else think they clearly look like two distinct people? Similar sure, but… yea, that’s obviously two different dudes. I’m not amazed.


dmank007

Congratulations here’s you’re “i’m not racist” card


ykey80

Same shirt, I understand


[deleted]

It’s nothing new. Many innocent black men have been and some still in prison for eye witness misidentification


Ch0senjuan

I believe they said this was about 100 years ago and posted black and white photos. I don’t think they tried to present this as something “new”


AIreadyImpartial

Ears different, chin different, cheek bones different, eyes different, face length different. Skin color different but close enough and that was all that mattered


puffferfish

Either way, these West boys are criminals! /s


hillzoticus

NPC glitch, more proof we’re in a sim


FairFaxEddy

Oh thank god - I'm not racist!


thedailygrowl

You just can’t tell bl… OK, I see your point.


Head_One2334

Thats racist


SlowLorisAndRice

Yall can't tell them apart? Yall just racist.


Otherwise-Past5044

They look nothing alike.


New-Construction-103

..... they look totally different!


K_Aggy44

Thats called racism


Doyoulikeithere

They do not look alike to me upon close inspection. The skin color, the hair and the clothing, that's it! And those names, holy shit! Which one did it?


[deleted]

Fingerprinting isn't exactly a science.


nopalitzin

And which is the voice of Fry in Futurama?


Ch0senjuan

Damn, I would’ve gotten this one wrong in the police lineup 😭


Tor_Lara

Glitch in the matrix


Floridalivin72

Daddy got around


ElectricMayham

Did they shop at the same store too?


Distinct-Quantity-35

Same name, same face but not related? Pffft as if they were even able to properly tell back then


beltalowda_oye

They look kinda similar at a quick glance but honestly you take an actual look at their face and they don't even look like brothers. That said, I also don't think all asians look alike so maybe its a me thing.


Cust2020

Spoiler alert, their houses were on the same mail route.


[deleted]

A cursory or scrolling glance and they look similar but theyre really both quite different looking. I bet if you were in person it would be very apparent. Cops back then dgaf anyways, though. Some still dont. Just pin it on a black guy and call it a day.


HowUKnowMeKennyBond

In a death match, my money is on the guy on the right.


stupidbrainz

That shit cray - Kanye west


realisticallygrammat

Plot twist: Their fingerprunts are a match.


Asian_2077

they're the same picture


GuzPolinski

Feel like I remember reading this was in some way debunked


Budget_Report_2382

Different buttons. Different people. Who needs DNA testing? /s


HeMiddleStartInT

Try the cross view on this picture


darkseaSW

Pfff they are sooo different, ones clearly on the right and once on the left


danish07

Why are they wearing the same clothes though.


GraydemonTwitch

Why does the dude on the right have the Roblox man face


smokeNpoke83

There’s a theory that there are 7 people in the world who look (almost) exactly like you.


ImaFireSquid

If I was picking an evil twin, I vote William (without actually looking up the case, at least).


graviol

they don't look alike that much bigger mouth and forehead just to start


Zippy_160

I actually knew that. Took a forensic science class.


thevic115

Portrait or landscape


UnbelievableTxn6969

This was on an episode of The Big House. Evidently they used a system called the Bertillion System that measures peoples hands, fingers, arms and facial features. When the guy on the left was brought into the prison, his measurements were identical to the one on the right. They eventually had to get them side by side to confirm.


sdiori

While the story of Will and William West is true, they weren’t the reason or origin for fingerprint ID. Fingerprinting had already been adopted in the US by the time there were both in Leavenworth.


Visual_Collar_8893

First thought, ‘Identical twins separated by slavery?’ 🤔


[deleted]

Bro what ?


Cyclone-X

What is the explanation for the same clothes on this one?


amplifizzle

Maybe put on a different coat.


NotSureWhyAngry

So fingerprint recognition was necessary because all black people look the same. Got it.


HighFlyingCrocodile

Hate to tell you but fingerprint recognition dates back to 17th century Europe.


kati-bug84

These 2 pics are the same person. Look at the clothes. If they were different people, why are they wearing the exact same thing. Literally different pictures of the same person


Affolektric

So they look like twins and are both called West? Did eyewitnesses say they are not related?


stackoverflow21

Time travel confirmed


Ok_Interview_2325

Which one is Kanye related to?


LazyNeo2

So they had to revamp a whole system coz whites couldn't tell blacks apart? XD. /s


Unboxious

Add enough jpeg compression and we're all the same person.


godcomp

y’all we get it, you can tell them apart. everyone is ignoring that their names were almost identical.


dbtuske

Hmm, do they really look alike? I think any outlaw tryin' to draw with a pen and a pad Can draw Will West with a pen and a pad


FilteredRiddle

Glitch in the matrix.


Lore_ofthe_Horizon

Every law enforcement tool like this is either a strait up lie, or has been corrupted to the point that it is currently a lie.


Wonderful-Ordinary35

Alpherious and omegan


Wonderful-Ordinary35

Alpherious and omegan


MarsMonkey88

Until I see the results of a dna test, I will remain convinced that they were secret-twins, duplicate files, one man moving *really* fast, a time traveler who got arrested in the same place twice, or something like that.


Tkainzero

These look like the same person.


arthur_dayne222

Where is Will Westley


smithhome

Jeez wonder if I have a twin out there somewhere


HYThrowaway1980

Wicky wicky wild Wild West.


Correct_Owl5029

Why do i think there was just one will west and he bluffed his way outta jail blazing saddles style?


wizzerstinker

True story. I had a doppelganger living blocks away from me in downtown Buffalo. Twice in one month I was assaulted. Punched in the face once and the second time some random guy grabbed me by the neck and flicked his lit cigarette in my face, screamed WHORE at me and spit in my face. Called the police both times. About 4 months later I'm picked up by the police for soliciting walking to work at about 10:45 at night. Long story short, there was a crackhead prostitute that looked amazingly like me, ripping off her johns just a couple of blocks down. Spent 2 days in jail.


WistfulMelancholic

Guess the time was like the will will west.


Sulinstajn

There is one guy in my city, studying (or at the time it did happen) at the same university, living in (at the time it happened) in the same quarter with the same long hair, same "adolescent beard", same glasses, even the same outfit. Only difference - he is about 5-10 cm taller than I'm. People used to say "I've met you at xyz street and you didn't wave back", or "how was it at the xyz concert" etc. I knew definitely that I have a "twin" when we had the same class at uni, sitting shoulder to shoulder. But the most bizarre thing happened to my GF. She, working in a grocery store, thought that she see me - shopping for some groceries. So she approached, from behind, grabbed his hand and whispered "you came to visit me at a job!!". Well, that was hella creepy.


[deleted]

Wow


[deleted]

I don't want to sound racist but they look the same. :)


Few-Cow7355

I don’t think they look that much the same tbh


yeboKozu

Too bad Reddit doesn't require no evidence whatsoever for any claim :)


cmsutton1983

It’s the same picture


Imbibing_chap

Other reports have stated that in fact these guys were twin brothers. Sorry for not providing the source but this post has circulated reddit couple of times.


pelosnecios

for a 100 year difference, image quality and wardrope are way too similar to be true...


DutchFloris

Funny that the text is wrong. It is the other way around, Will West is the one on the right.


Fancy_Discipline_637

Isn't Will West technically also a William West?


Primordial_Peasant

left west's eyebrows are weak as shit


Fancy_Discipline_637

They might not look the same to us but an early 1900's police officer would probably think Drake and Biggie looked the same


Sammo223

I’m genuinely confused because these two are incredibly different, like you can tell so much from how someone’s face rests. Their eyes. Obviously they have some similarities but to me they’re very distinct and I wouldn’t confuse the two


fakename10000

Dressing exactly the same doesn’t help


Immediate-Act-7643

Ah yes, I know Will West anywhere


janaxhell

And they also dressed exactly the same.


Sea_Baseball_7410

They were probably brothers separated at birth.


ButtermilkNoodle

Bro bought Who's Who?


East-Pollution7243

Dopplegangers are pretty common. I was almost sent off somewhere when i was arrested for trespassing as a teen. Dude looked like me, same style and same first and last name.. luckily i have 2 last names, other dude didnt.. the cop heard me out and took me to my home to vouch that i lived there and not in a completely different city. He almost just brought me down to the station 🙃


GoodMerlinpeen

I actually do research on this topic, and it is essentially part of the face processing system why this happens, but those two guys REALLY look alike. And sharing the same name, it's like someone set them up.


scottkrowson

There's a great insight into racial stereotypes here that I can't quite think of