Spanish police said they told FBI fingerprints weren't Mayfield's

By Mar Roman
The Associated Press

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most e-mailed articles

The prints of a thumb and finger were only partial and ill-defined because the bag was plastic, the police official said in a phone interview, speaking on condition his name not be used.

Spanish police found only several points of coincidence between Portland-area attorney Brandon Mayfield's fingerprints and those on the bag, the official said, adding there should be at least 12 such similarities.

Suspected Islamic terrorists set off 10 backpacks of explosives in four commuter trains the morning of March 11 in or near downtown Madrid, killing 191 passengers or bystanders and injuring more than 2,000.

Fingerprints were found on a plastic bag that was in a van left near the Alcala de Henares train station, from where three of the four bombed trains had departed.

The fingerprints were sent to Interpol, and Spanish police reportedly met FBI agents in Madrid on April 21. The latter were convinced the print was Mayfield's. The Spaniards weren't.

On May 6, Mayfield, 37, was arrested as a material witness in the bombings. He always said he was innocent.

Last Thursday, Spanish forensics police disclosed they finally made their own match: an Algerian identified as Ouhnane Daoud. Within hours, Mayfield was released from jail and the FBI subsequently apologized.

Spanish police said the plastic bag never left Spain and that a digital copy was sent to Paris-based Interpol.

The official also noted today that police told the FBI there was no record of Mayfield having been in Spain recently.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More nation & world headlines...