Epitaph - An Unforgeable Signature

In the 13th episode of Epitaph's second season, Paul Gittins goes digging in Waikumete Cemetery. The epitaph for 25-year old convicted murderer Dennis Gunn, hanged in 1920 for shooting the Ponsonby Postmaster, includes an intriguing inscription: "sadly wronged". Gittins unearths the story of a post office robbery, and the first conviction in New Zealand based on fingerprint identification. The judge called the print an "unforgeable signature". Before he died, Gunn claimed innocence: "if only my brother-in-law will speak up I will be saved".

In what was claimed to be a world first for a capital crime, Gunn’s conviction was based almost entirely on fingerprint evidence.

– Website NZ History, on the Dennis Gunn case

Key Cast & Crew

John Harris

Producer

Michael O'Connor

Cinematographer

Hamish Hill

Editor

Paul Gittins

Director, Executive Producer, Writer, Original Concept, Presenter

Beth Tredray

Sound Recordist

Philippa Mossman

Associate Producer