Bernard Ellis "Ben" Kuhl

Bernard Ellis "Ben" Kuhl (1883–1958) was convicted for his role in the last known mail stagecoach robbery and murder in United States history — the December 5, 1916 ambush in Jarbidge, Elko County, Nevada. The driver, Fred M. Searcy, was killed by a .44 caliber gunshot; approximately $4,000 in cash was stolen (most never recovered). Kuhl was convicted with early use of palm-print forensic evidence on a torn mail envelope — reportedly the first time palm prints were used to secure a murder conviction in the U.S. Initially sentenced to death (he chose firing squad), the sentence was commuted to life. He served roughly 28 years (longest in Nevada history at the time) and was paroled in May 1945 during World War II labor shortages. He died November 4, 1958 in San Francisco; his body was used for medical instruction before cremation and interment at Greenlawn Memorial Park in Colma, California.