Can a Document Examiner Trace the Author of an Anonymous Letter?
Anonymous letters are some of my favorite cases to work on.
Sometimes people leave a nasty note on your car, and you want to know who left it. Well, that’s just a car; no lasting damage is done. But what about a murder? What about Sirhan Sirhan and other cases where handwriting became a key piece of evidence?
Famous Anonymous Letter Cases
Remember the JonBenét Ramsey case? That entire ransom note was technically an anonymous letter. We don’t know who signed it. And so, they had to go through dozens of suspects to see if anybody actually had similar handwriting to that letter. And that’s a case I can’t speak about publicly because I talked with John Mark Karr. That was a pretty interesting conversation. His handwriting was the most similar to anyone else’s on the ransom note. Being the author of the ransom note… does that mean he killed her? Well, that’s the question that’s still up in the air 30 years later.
What It Takes to Solve an Anonymous Letter Case
It is possible to determine the authorship of anonymous letters. You just need the right suspect pool. What that means is you need two or three viable suspects.
This happens often in corporations and HOA settings. So, they need to know which employee is making these threats. To do that, and it’s not cheap, you need both the anonymous letter and handwriting samples from the suspect pool. That could mean employee files from dozens or even hundreds of people, narrowed down to the five or ten who had a reason to write it.
That’s an anonymous letter case. Now, it’s really easy to do if you have enough writing from the suspects and enough writing in the letter. But I’ve had cases where individuals say, “Well, it’s a typed letter.” “We have a very short address on the front and a zip code.” That’s not a lot of writing, especially if it’s in printed form.
When the Stakes Are High
Generally, it’s the quantity of writing, the quality of writing, and the pool of suspects that can help solve an anonymous letter case. We’ve even worked a case of anonymous writing on a bathroom wall. It happens: a student gets accused of writing something on a bathroom wall, gets suspended, and suddenly their college prospects are on the line. The parents might say, “We know he didn’t write that. He said he didn’t write that on the bathroom wall. We need a letter from you to prove it.”
Whether or not we can always share the outcome, the point is that these cases matter enormously to the people involved. There’s a lot at stake. It’s worth spending thousands of dollars on a forensic handwriting expert on a case like this, which we call anonymous letters or anonymous writing.
My name is Bart Baggett. If you’ve received an anonymous letter or if you’re being accused of writing one, a forensic document examiner can help determine the truth. That’s exactly the kind of case we take on. Reach out to us at handwritingexpertusa.com, and one of our team members will help you figure out the right next steps.
Bart Baggett
The Nation’s Leading Forensic Handwriting Expert
CEO of Handwriting Experts Inc.
Forensic Document Examiner • Expert Witness • Legal Consultant
“We solve million-dollar forgery cases.”
Telephone: 1-800-980-9030
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FAQ SECTION
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Q1: Can a forensic document examiner identify who wrote an anonymous letter?
A1: Yes. A forensic document examiner can determine authorship when provided with the anonymous letter itself and handwriting samples from a defined pool of suspects. The process is most effective when there are two or three viable candidates to compare.
Q2: How many suspects are needed to investigate an anonymous letter?
A2: Typically two or three viable suspects are needed. In corporate or HOA settings, investigators may start with dozens of individuals and narrow the pool down to five or ten people who had a credible reason to write the letter.
Q3: Does the length of the anonymous letter affect the investigation?
A3: Yes. The quantity and quality of writing in the letter are key factors. Short samples—such as a typed address and zip code—are significantly more difficult to analyze than longer handwritten letters.
Q4: What kinds of cases involve anonymous letter analysis?
A4: Cases range from threatening notes in workplace or HOA disputes to high-profile criminal investigations. Even handwriting on a bathroom wall has been examined when a student’s academic future—including college prospects—was at stake.
