Epitaph - An Unforgeable Signature

In the thirteenth 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 Kiwi conviction 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." But some of the evidence throws doubt on Gunn's murder conviction. 

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

Paul Gittins

Director, Presenter, Writer, Original Concept, Research, Executive Producer

John Harris

Producer, Executive Producer

Terry Murphy

Sound Mix

John Gibson

Composer, Post-Production Coordinator - Sound

Christine Munro

Editor

Michael O'Connor

Cinematographer