Thief Leaves His Sliced-Off Finger Behind For Police

[matcom]

<snip>

A careless burglar in Germany left behind a vital clue at a break-in when he sliced off the end of a finger and left it behind, police said on Monday.

"We usually find fingerprints at the crime scene, but it's not every day that thieves leave the original there too," said a spokesman for police in the central town of Hildesheim.

Police wasted no time in matching the piece of finger with existing prints they had from a 15-year-old of Iraqi origin.

The youth initially denied breaking and entering into an office to steal a computer but confessed when police produced the digital remnant, which had been severed on a broken window.

"I don't know if the fellow asked for it (the fingertip) back afterwards," the police spokesman said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061031/od_nm/germany_finger_dc&printer=1