Buzz
In 2014, police in Tenerife, Spain, received a report about a supposed gorilla spotted outside the Loro Park zoo. A veterinarian was promptly dispatched to handle the situation and managed to stop the alleged escape attempt with a tranquilizer shot.
The story took an unexpected turn when the veterinarian discovered that the so-called gorilla was actually a human wearing a gorilla costume. It turned out the zoo was conducting an escape drill, and one of the employees had dressed up to simulate a gorilla escaping.
While this could have been a humorous case of mistaken identity, the zoo later clarified the details. They confirmed that although an employee had indeed been shot during the escape drill, he was not dressed as a gorilla or pretending to be one. The shooting was purely accidental.
Despite the confusion, here are 10 real-life cases of mistaken identity.
10. Guy Goma and Guy Kewney
In 2006, Apple Inc., creators of the iPhone, found themselves in a legal dispute with Apple Corps, the record label founded by The Beatles. To cover the case, the BBC planned a special segment and invited Guy Kewney, a tech writer and internet expert, to discuss the lawsuit on-air. However, the day Guy Kewney arrived at the BBC London studio for the interview, another man named Guy Goma showed up at the same office for a job interview.
The BBC staff mistakenly identified Guy Goma as Guy Kewney and began preparing him for the live interview, including setting him up with a microphone. Unaware of the mix-up, Guy Goma thought he was being prepped for his job interview and only realized the error when the ‘interview’ began. His confused expression at that moment was absolutely priceless.
Despite the misunderstanding, Guy Goma kept his cool, though his answers were somewhat baffling. When asked about his reaction to the verdict in the legal case, he responded, 'I’m very surprised to see this verdict come on me. I was not expecting that.' Well, he wasn’t expecting it—and he didn’t get the job either.
9. Adolf Beck and John Smith
On December 16, 1895, 54-year-old Adolf Beck stepped outside his London home and was confronted by an unknown woman who accused him of stealing her jewelry three weeks earlier. He denied the accusation but fled when she began shouting that he was a thief.
The woman, Ottilie Meissonier, chased him until they met a police officer, who took them to the Rochester Row police station. There, officers linked the robbery to a similar incident reported by another woman, Daisy Grant, several months prior. They set up a lineup of seven men, where both Daisy and Meissonier's maid, who claimed to have seen Beck during the crime, identified him as the thief.
Following the media coverage of the incident, more women came forward with similar accusations, each identifying Beck as the criminal. He was recognized by different women in subsequent lineups of eight, fourteen, and even eighteen men.
A handwriting expert analyzed Beck's writing and concluded that it resembled a modified version of the handwriting he had used in fraudulent activities. Beck was put on trial and sentenced to seven years in prison.
After being released in 1901, Beck remained a free man until 1904, when another woman accused him of stealing her jewelry. More women came forward with similar charges and identified him in several lineups. Beck was sentenced to an additional five years in prison.
This time, however, fortune favored Beck as the real criminal was caught just 10 days into his second imprisonment. The imposter was a man named John Smith, though his real identity was believed to be Frederick Meyer.
Beck and Smith shared a resemblance, but not to the extent that they were indistinguishable. Despite this, 16 women wrongly identified Beck as Smith. Beck was released and awarded £5,000 for his ordeal, while Smith was sent to prison.
This case had a significant impact on British criminal law, leading to a shift in how suspects are treated, particularly in regard to the reliability of eyewitness testimony.
8. Will West and William West
Before fingerprinting became the standard, security and prison systems relied on the Bertillon system, which identified criminals using measurements of various body parts. This system was considered infallible—until 1903, when an inmate named Will West arrived at Leavenworth prison.
Will's measurements were taken like any other prisoner’s until a prison worker suggested that Will had been incarcerated at Leavenworth before. Will denied this, and the clerk pulled his file based on his chest measurement.
This is when things took an unexpected turn. The file contained not only Will's measurements but also his picture and name—listed as William West. Even Will acknowledged that the picture was indeed his, but he couldn’t fathom how it was in the prison's records, as he had never been there before.
It turned out that Will and William were look-alikes. This event prompted the government to reconsider the reliability of the Bertillon system and consider switching to fingerprinting as a more accurate method of identification.
7. Laura Van Ryn and Whitney Cerak
On April 26, 2006, Robert Spencer was driving on a highway when he fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his truck into a school van traveling in the opposite direction. The collision resulted in the deaths of four students and one staff member from Taylor University in Indiana.
Among the deceased students was Laura Van Ryn, whose body was mistakenly identified as that of Whitney Cerak, a student who survived but was seriously injured. Believing their daughter was dead, Whitney's devastated family buried Laura's body, while Laura's family cared for Whitney as she recovered, thinking she was Laura.
The mix-up was only discovered when 'Laura' woke up from a coma and identified herself as Whitney. Although the two women had blonde hair and similar features, they were still distinguishable. The confusion occurred because emergency medical personnel mistakenly swapped Laura’s ID for Whitney’s.
The mistake went unnoticed earlier because Whitney's head had been bandaged before being taken to the hospital. Whitney returned to school four months after the accident, while Spencer, the truck driver, was sentenced to two years in prison.
6. Thomas Berdue and James Stewart
James Stewart, known as 'English Jim', was a notorious outlaw from California active during the 1840s and early 1850s. In December of 1850, he was apprehended for the murder and robbery of a sheriff, stealing approximately $4,000.
Stewart managed to escape from custody but was captured again in February of the following year. This time, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison, and later, death for the sheriff's murder.
Stewart denied the accusations against him, not out of fear of facing his crimes, but because he was actually an innocent look-alike named Thomas Berdue. In a strange twist of fate, Berdue had a missing left forefinger and a scar above his left eye and ear, just like Stewart.
Berdue avoided execution due to multiple delays in his scheduled execution. His plight came to an end when the real Stewart was arrested following a failed ship robbery in July of 1851. Stewart never denied his crimes and was executed just two hours after being sentenced.
Berdue was released from prison and given $2,000 as compensation for the ordeal he went through. He decided to leave California after the entire incident.
5. Robert P. Casey, Robert E. Casey, and Another Robert P. Casey
Robert P. Casey was a prominent member of the Democratic Party and a well-known political figure in Pennsylvania. He held various significant positions, including state senator, state auditor general, and governor.
His popularity was so immense that voters mistakenly elected another Robert E. Casey as state treasurer in 1976, believing he was Robert P. Casey. Robert E. Casey, a county official, took advantage of Robert P. Casey’s fame, spending only $1,000 on his campaign.
This wasn't the only time Robert P. Casey faced such confusion. During another election, a schoolteacher and ice cream vendor named Robert P. Casey ran for Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor as a Democrat, causing confusion for the real Robert P. Casey, who was campaigning for governor at the same time.
To avoid further confusion, the real Robert P. Casey used the slogan 'The Real Bob Casey Committee' during his successful 1986 campaign for governor.
4. Ralph Alsman and John Dillinger
In the United States, John Dillinger became notorious during the Great Depression for his violent criminal activities across the Midwest. Alongside his gang, he robbed banks, injured and killed people, raided police armories, and escaped from jail three times. In 1934, US authorities initiated a nationwide manhunt, ordering Dillinger to be shot on sight if spotted.
This posed a significant challenge for Ralph Alsman, the unfortunate doppelgänger of Dillinger. Both men shared similar features, including moles near their eyes, cleft chins, and scars on their left wrists. As a result, Alsman was arrested 17 times across various cities by security agents who wrongly identified him as Dillinger.
Several of these arrests nearly ended tragically. On one occasion, three machine guns were pointed directly at Alsman. On another, he was abruptly awoken with a gun pressed close to his face. Fortunately, he escaped unharmed and was never shot.
Alsman's troubles finally came to a halt on July 22, 1934, when three FBI agents shot and killed Dillinger outside a theater.
3. Alfred Nobel And Ludvig Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel is widely known as the creator of the Nobel Prize, which includes the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. Ironically, he was also the inventor of dynamite, a dangerous explosive with a variety of uses, including in warfare.
Alfred Nobel initially developed dynamite for purposes such as mining, construction, and demolition, not for combat. However, the military quickly found alternative uses for it. Although Alfred did not publicly endorse or condemn its military application, the weapon's use in warfare was beyond his original intention.
Alfred Nobel reconsidered his invention after the death of his brother Ludvig in 1888. A mistake in the newspapers published his obituary, falsely accusing him of accumulating wealth through the destruction of life. One headline even referred to him as 'The Merchant of Death.'
This false image devastated Nobel. In an effort to redeem his legacy, he decided to allocate a substantial portion of his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes.
2. Daniel Ott And Daniel Ott
On May 26, 2006, Chad South entered the home of Daniel Ott in Burton Township, Ohio, and fatally shot him. South was a hitman working for Joe Rosebrook, a criminal who operated a chop shop where stolen vehicles were dismantled and sold for parts.
Ott, a car thief, had been hired by Rosebrook to murder an associate, Curtis Frazier. However, instead of carrying out the murder, Ott betrayed Rosebrook by informing on him, leading to Rosebrook's imprisonment in 2004.
Chad South’s murder of Daniel Ott was intended to be Rosebrook’s revenge, but in a tragic twist, South killed the wrong man. The only connection between the two men was their shared name and their residence in Ohio. After nine years of investigation, Rosebrook and his associates were charged with Daniel Ott’s murder.
1. Richard Jones And Ricky Amos
On May 31, 1999, Richard Jones was at his home in Kansas City, Missouri, celebrating Memorial Day and his girlfriend’s birthday. Meanwhile, across the state line in Kansas City, Kansas, Ricky Amos and his gang stole a woman’s phone at a Walmart store.
Neither the woman nor the security guard at the store could identify Ricky Amos, who had committed the actual robbery. All they could describe was a slim, light-skinned black or Latino man. Based on this vague description, the police mistakenly arrested Richard Jones. He was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Fifteen years into his 19-year sentence at a Kansas correctional facility, Richard Jones learned from his fellow inmates that there was someone in the same prison who looked remarkably like him. That person turned out to be Ricky Amos, the real robber.
Richard Jones and Ricky Amos shared striking physical similarities. Both had dark eyes, thick eyebrows, similar skin tones, and braided hair. They also had goatees and were both nicknamed Rick. After spending 17 years wrongfully imprisoned, Richard Jones was finally released when the truth came to light.
