Van Nuys : Fingerprint Match Cited in Gallion Trial

In a dramatic move that somewhat surprised the jury, a Los Angeles police fingerprint expert took prints of accused murderer Harlan Omer Gallion in court Thursday and testified that the prints matched those taken from the home of Gallion’s slain mother-in-law 23 years ago.

Prosecutor Robert L. Cohen said the match corroborates testimony from Gallion’s daughter, Catherine, who testified earlier that her father had confessed to killing Catherine Halgren and forgetting to wipe away a set of fingerprints from the cupboard of Halgren’s North Hollywood home.

Prosecutors allege that Gallion, 66, strangled his mother-in-law for the insurance money that went to him and his then-wife, whom he later divorced.

In the second day of testimony, prosecutors marched in a string of current and retired Los Angeles Police Department employees who specialized in fingerprint-testing to bolster his daughter’s testimony.

Riley Maxwell, a retired LAPD officer, lifted a set of fingerprints from the cupboard after the 1972 slaying and testified Thursday to the authenticity of the prints.

Additional testimony from a retired coroner’s investigator also was used to back up Catherine Gallion’s account that her father said her maternal grandmother broke his glasses in her struggle for her life.

Investigator George Borth told prosecutors that in getting Halgren’s body ready to go to the coroner’s office, he found a small shard from an eyeglass while looking through Halgren’s hair for any additional wounds.

Prosecutors have been trying to prove that Gallion purchased a different set of eyeglasses soon after the murder.