Luke S. May

Luke Sylvester May (December 2, 1892 – July 11, 1965) was an American forensic scientist and detective. Nicknamed "America's Sherlock Holmes", he was a major influence on the field of forensics.

Early life and education May was born on December 2, 1892 (sometimes erroneously stated as 1886), in Hall County, Nebraska, to William and Mary May,

May was educated in public schools and business college, as well as the Gordon Academy in Salt Lake City. His graduation status from the academy is unknown. Researcher Jan Beck has suggested he left, because his interest in criminology eclipsed that of formal schooling. In 1918, May joined the International Association for Identification.

In 1925, May served as an expert witness in the trial against former Seattle police chief Joel Franklin Warren. Warren had caused the death of another man with his firearm, and claimed he didn't know his gun would go off by him twirling it; May objected his claim. In 1928, May was an expert witness in State v. Clark, a Roy, Washington, child abduction case. In the trial, he identified the defendant's pocket knife, which was used to cut branches and build a hideout. A landmark case in toolmark identification, it was appealed, then upheld by the Washington Supreme Court, as well as being cited as a precedent in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial.

Also a writer, he wrote Scientific Murder Investigation and Field Manual of Detective Sciences, as well as the book Crime's Nemesis. In 1936, May moved to Los Angeles. In 1937, he helped create a crime lab in Regina, Saskatchewan, at the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. During World War II, he served in the Office of Naval Intelligence.