THOMAS, Judge.
Robert Grim was convicted of second degree murder, armed criminal action, and first degree burglary. He appealed his convictions, and the Court of Appeals, Eastern District, reversed, finding the evidence insufficient to support the jury’s verdicts. We granted transfer and now decide the case as if on original appeal. Mr. Grim offers four reasons why his convictions should be reversed; we treat each argument in turn and affirm the judgment.
I. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE
Mr. Grim first argues that the evidence does not support his convictions. The standard for appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction was stated by this Court in State v. Dulany, 781 S.W.2d 52, 55 (Mo. banc 1989):
On review, the Court accepts as true all of the evidence favorable to the state, including all favorable inferences drawn from the evidence and disregards all evidence and inferences to the contrary. [Citation omitted.] In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, appellate review is limited to a determination of whether there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror might have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Under this standard, the Court must review the evidence adduced at trial and examine the inferences reasonably supported by that evidence to determine whether the jury’s verdict is proper. The Dulany standard echoes the due process standard announced by the United States Supreme Court in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Missouri might choose to require more evidence to support convictions on appellate review, but due process mandates that all convictions be supported at least to this extent. For the most part, we have not required anything more than the constitutionally required minimum and employ the Dulany standard. One exception, however, has been in cases based upon circumstantial evidence. The State now questions the necessity of this different treatment and asks us to re-examine and reject the circumstantial evidence rule.
A. The Circumstantial Evidence Rule
The circumstantial evidence rule originated as a higher standard to which circumstantial evidence cases were held. Because of a basic distrust of criminal convictions based upon circumstantial evidence and nothing more, we required the prosecution in such cases to meet a different burden. The distrust took form in the rule, which was used both as a standard of appellate review and as a jury instruction. In its appellate form the rule was stated: “Where the conviction rests on circumstantial evidence, the facts and circumstances to establish guilt must be consistent with each other, consistent with the guilt of the defendant, and inconsistent with any reasonable theory of his innocence.” State v. Pritchett, 327 Mo. 1143, 39 S.W.2d 794, 796-97 (1931). Although this statement of the rule is quite similar to our modern rule, the older cases reveal the distrust of circumstantial evidence and the resulting higher standard.
Where a chain of circumstances leads up to and establishes a state of fact inconsistent with any theory other than the guilt of the accused, such evidence is entitled to as much weight as any other kind of evidence; but the chain, as it were, must be unbroken, and the facts and circumstances disclosed and relied upon must be irreconcilable with the innocence of the accused in order to justify his conviction.
Pritchett, 39 S.W.2d at 797 (quoting State v. Morney, 196 Mo. 43, 50, 93 S.W. 1117, 1119 (1906)) (emphasis added in Pritch-ett [406]*406).1
In more recent years, courts have come to view circumstantial evidence as no different from direct evidence. See, e.g., Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 140, 75 S.Ct. 127, 137, 99 L.Ed. 150 (1954). Missouri courts now apply a more relaxed version of the rule. Specifically, we have retained the language of the traditional standard but continue in the next sentence with a limitation on the rule:
Where the conviction rests on circumstantial evidence, the facts and circumstances to establish guilt must be consistent with each other, consistent with the guilt of the defendant, and inconsistent with any reasonable theory of his innocence. In such cases, the evidence need not be absolutely conclusive of guilt, nor must the evidence demonstrate the impossibility of innocence.
E.g., State v. Livingston, 801 S.W.2d 344, 347 (Mo. banc 1990) (emphasis added).
To withstand scrutiny under the Dulany standard, i.e., the due process minimum, a conviction must be supported by enough evidence that a reasonable juror, taking all evidence in the light most favorable to the State, would be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. Under the circumstantial evidence rule, the inquiry would turn to whether there exists a reasonable theory of innocence that is consistent with all of the evidence. The theory need not be so likely that no reasonable person could discount it. At this point, the circumstantial evidence rule provides no more guidance and a reviewing court, or a juror, must simply decide whether the theory presented is reasonable. Confusion as to how likely a theory has to be before it is “reasonable” adds to the overall confusion regarding the rule.
In a sense, the issue is whether the Du-lany standard and the circumstantial evidence rule require a different quantum of evidence to support a conviction. If the two rules lead to identical results in all cases, there is no need to retain the circumstantial evidence rule since it could only lead to confusion to have two rules for one standard. If, on the other hand, the two rules sometimes yield different results in the same case, problems arise.' Because the Dulany standard has a constitutional foundation, no conviction can be affirmed when the evidence fails under this test. If the circumstantial evidence rule is interpreted to require less evidence than the Dulany standard, then it will lead to the violation of defendants' constitutional rights and must be rejected. If the circumstantial evidence rule is used to require more evidence than the Dulany standard, we must consider what added quantum of evidence and convincing power is contemplated to overcome “a reasonable theory of innocence,” how this differs from the Du-lany standard for appellate review and the phrase “beyond a reasonable doubt,” and whether the circumstantial evidence rule can be applied consistently and fairly by diverse judges and juries passing upon a wide spectrum of facts and circumstances. Even overcoming these hurdles, we must ask ourselves whether there is any need to hold circumstantial evidence cases to a higher standard.
No reason remains to perpetuate this different rule. Any societal distrust of circumstantial evidence has long been abandoned. We no longer need to hold circumstantial evidence cases to a higher standard than direct evidence cases. If a jury is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, so long as the evidence meets the minimal appellate standard required by due process, we need not disturb the result simply because the case depended wholly, mostly, or partially upon circumstantial proof.
The State urges us to reject the rule because “the overwhelming majority” of jurisdictions have already done so. In fact, many jurisdictions have ceased to follow the rule, including the federal courts. Of course, we do not decide our cases based upon which rule wins favor in the most states. That other courts have reached the same conclusion reinforces our decision but [407]*407does not require it. Suffice it to say that we are not the first court to reach the issue, nor are we the first to reject the rule. Those interested in the reasoning employed by other courts may find profitable an examination of two recent decisions — one from Ohio, the other from Texas. State v. Jenks, 61 Oh.St.3d 259, 574 N.E.2d 492 (1991); Geesa v. State, 820 S.W.2d 154 (Tex.Crim.App.1991).
In Jenks, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the circumstantial evidence rule as an instruction to juries and as an appellate standard of sufficiency of the evidence. Jenks, 574 N.E.2d 492. Before doing so, the court reviewed the law of many states and the federal courts. Id. at 498-502. The court then overruled previous decisions that had examined the question and upheld the use of a circumstantial evidence instruction. Id. at 503. Almost as an aside, the court then disposed of the rule as a gauge of sufficiency of the evidence. Id. In reaching its conclusion, the Ohio court noted first that “[cjircumstantial evidence and direct evidence inherently possess the same probative value.... Hence, we can discern no reason to continue the requirement that circumstantial evidence must be irreconcilable with any reasonable theory of an accused’s innocence in order to support a finding of guilt.” Id. at 502. Thus, in the court’s view, the instruction to the jury was no longer warranted. “Proceeding to consider the proper standard of appellate review, where the evidence is either circumstantial or direct, we conclude that the relevant inquiry on appeal is whether any reasonable trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at 503.
Of similar import is the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decision in Geesa, 820 S.W.2d 154. In Texas, the circumstantial evidence instruction had already been rejected in Hankins v. State, 646 S.W.2d 191 (Tex.Crim.App.1983). Thus, in Geesa, the Texas court had to determine whether the “reasonable-hypothesis-of-innocence analytical construct” retained any validity as a standard of review. Noting that the theoretical basis for the rule disappeared with the demise of the jury instruction, the court also pointed out a number of problems that the analytical construct gave rise to. In Texas, the rule led appellate courts to place themselves “in the posture of a ‘thirteenth juror’.” Id. at 159. Also, the rule had served as a source of confusion in appellate courts as to what evidence should be considered in applying the rule, what light the evidence should be viewed in, and what the result should be in a given case. Id. at 160. Consequently, the Texas court rejected the rule, noting that many other jurisdictions had done the same. Id. at 161, n. 9.
The State argues, and we recognize, that Missouri’s circumstantial evidence rule is causing many of the same problems that Texas courts experienced. We might have chosen to try to solve these problems by redefining the phrase “reasonable theory of innocence” in such a way as to make it clear that the circumstantial evidence rule was equivalent to the Dulany rule. Such a redefinition would have disposed of the remnants of our distrust of circumstantial evidence and might have aided in eliminating confusion. However, maintenance of a different test, even one designed to produce identical results, could never entirely end the confusion surrounding the rule. Thus, rather than suffer an unnecessarily restrictive standard based upon an outdated view of circumstantial evidence or invite further confusion and error by adopting yet another version of the circumstantial evidence rule, we reject the circumstantial evidence rule as a standard for reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence.
The State also asks us to end the practice of giving to the jury that portion of the circumstantial evidence instruction that mirrors the appellate circumstantial evidence rule. Because we conclude that the circumstantial evidence rule is confusing to judges and lawyers, who make a career out of shoveling the smoke of abstract ideas, we cannot ignore the fact that the rule has to confuse, and often mislead, lay jurors. Everything we have said concerning the appellate circumstantial evidence rule applies with equal force to the same language found in the jury instruc[408]*408tion, MAI-CR3d 310.02.2 We have honed our reasonable doubt instruction with legal analysis brought on by decades of defendants’ attacks coming from every point of the compass. We believe the reasonable doubt instruction fully and accurately instructs the jury on the risk of non-persuasion. The circumstantial evidence instruction no longer serves the same purpose it did when we reaffirmed its use in State v. Lasley, 583 S.W.2d 511, 515 (Mo. banc 1979) (explaining that abrogation of the rule was proper only in jurisdictions that had an instruction defining reasonable doubt). The second paragraph of MAI-CR3d 310.02 shall no longer be given.
The rule might be seen as requiring less evidence than, the same amount of evidence as, or more evidence than the Dula-ny standard. No conviction can be affirmed on less evidence than Dulany requires. A different rule stating the same standard is confusing and redundant. The previous justifications for requiring more evidence have been abandoned. Under any interpretation of the quantum of evidence required by the circumstantial evidence rule, the rule is no longer valid. It should be, and is, rejected.
Having rejected the circumstantial evidence rule, we must now determine whether the state’s case is adequate under the Dulany standard. A brief narration of the relevant evidence is in order.
B. The Evidence at Trial
The crime took place in the City of St. Louis. The evening of July 28, 1988, Cora Bradford’s niece became worried when her aunt failed to answer repeated telephone calls. The niece called the police and asked them to check on Ms. Bradford, an elderly woman who lived alone. When Officer Scott arrived to investigate, he found the front door of the house locked. No one answered the bell or repeated knocks on the front door.
Upon further investigation, Officer Scott found the back door standing open and the screen door shut but not latched. The eye and hook arrangement normally used to latch the screen door had been broken loose and was lying on the floor. Officer Scott stepped through the back door and into the kitchen. In the short, narrow hallway leading from the kitchen to the front bedroom, Officer Scott found Ms. Bradford’s nude body.
As a part of the ensuing homicide investigation, the police took photographs of the scene and searched for fingerprints and other evidence. Ms. Bradford’s body was removed to the morgue for the purpose of conducting an autopsy. The police seized numerous items of evidence in an attempt to determine who had killed Ms. Bradford. The evidence was removed from the scene for further examination and testing.
Many of the photographs were admitted into evidence for the purpose of showing the layout of the house, the scene of the crime, and the position of the body. The photos also revealed the amount and location of blood spattered and smeared on the walls and floors from which the jury could draw inferences as to the nature of the attack. The photos of the bedroom show bloodstains on the sheets and bedspread, a puddle of blood on the floor next to the bed, and a few bloody shoeprints. In addition to the shoeprints, the pictures show a bloody print made by a bare foot and many drops of blood on the floor in a trail away from the bed and toward the hall. Also visible in the pictures are a few pieces of newspaper scattered about the floor, some of which have spots of blood on them.
The photos of the hallway show Ms. Bradford’s body as it was found by the police — face down, head pointed towards [409]*409the bedroom and feet towards the kitchen, and laying at an angle so that it extended from one side of the hall to the other. Anyone traveling down the hall from the kitchen to the bedroom would be forced to step over the body. The pictures show streaks of blood on Ms. Bradford’s legs and feet and a pool of blood under her face and chest. The pictures also reveal a number of drops of blood on the floor around Ms. Bradford’s body. Other pictures show two small areas of blood on the walls above Ms. Bradford’s feet on both sides of the hall, the blood in these areas is mostly in spots and drips, though there are some areas that look smeared.
The pictures of the kitchen show a table with a number of items on it, including a wallet, which looks like it has blood stains on it. Pictures of the floor reveal more pieces of newspaper and a few bloody shoe-prints, including one on the sill of the back door.
The autopsy showed that Ms. Bradford died from a wound to the left side of her chest that severed her aorta and her trachea. The medical examiner concluded that the wounds were consistent with stab wounds from a sharp object, most probably a knife with a blade more than four inches long. All of the wounds were on the left side of the body, one appearing on the left arm. He characterized the wound to the arm as a “defensive wound;” i.e., one suffered in an attempt to ward off a blow. The medical examiner was of the opinion that Ms. Bradford died seven to twenty-four hours before her body was found. He explained that, while this range was his best approximation, the actual time of death could extend out of this seventeen hour range. Blood samples were taken from the body for the purpose of comparison with blood stains on evidence seized from the scene.
The blood samples were delivered to the crime lab. Criminalist Margaret Owens tested the blood to “type” it with respect to five of the approximately one hundred enzymes present in human blood. Because these five enzymes were more resistant to the effects of temperature and drying, they could be detected and classified even after as long as a month outside of the body. Thus, the enzymes were most likely to be discernible in blood on the items taken from the house. Each of the five enzymes Ms. Owens tested had three possible types. For example, the enzyme abbreviated ESD could be type one, type two-one, or type two. Any particular person’s blood would have only one of these types. Thus, the enzymes served as points of comparison between the blood sample taken directly from Ms. Bradford’s body and any blood found on evidence seized from the house. Ms. Owens testified that fourteen percent of the black population in St. Louis has the same types for these five enzymes as Ms. Bradford did.
In addition, Ms. Owens tested some of the pieces of evidence to determine whether they had traces of blood on them, whether the blood was human, and whether the enzymes matched Ms. Bradford’s. Not all of the evidence seized had marks or stains to be tested. Each important piece of evidence will be discussed in turn.
The police found a large kitchen knife in some weeds in the backyard of the house. The size of the knife was consistent with it being the murder weapon. The knife was examined for fingerprints, but no identifiable prints were present. Although there were no visible stains on the knife, Ms. Owens scraped the blade and handle with a piece of test paper and was able to obtain a very small sample. The sample proved to be blood but was too small to be tested to determine whether it was human blood or animal blood such as from cutting meat or poultry.
The police seized some of the pieces of newspaper from the house. The three pieces of newsprint admitted into evidence each had at least a partial footprint. One piece of paper had a complete print made by a bare foot. The other two pieces of paper had shoeprints on them, which Crimi-nalist Harold Messier testified came from two sets of shoes.3 There was no evidence [410]*410as to how the prints compared to Mr. Grim’s shoes. Ms. Owens tested the prints and determined that they were made in blood, that the blood was human blood, and that all five enzyme types matched the enzyme types in Ms. Bradford’s blood.
The most important piece of evidence was the wallet found on the kitchen table. Ms. Bradford’s niece could not positively identify the wallet as her aunt’s, but she identified a picture inside the wallet as being her aunt’s husband, who had been dead for thirty-eight years at the time of the murder. The wallet could be held shut by a short strap fastened with a snap and, when opened, had a section for paper money; a place for coins, which also snapped shut; and a section for pictures that contained a plastic insert to hold the photos. The wallet had a few dark smears on the outside, and there were stains around each of the snaps that held the various parts of the wallet shut. Ms. Owens tested the stain on the coin flap of the wallet and found that it was blood, that it was human blood, and that four of the five enzymes matched those of Ms. Bradford. The test for the fifth enzyme was inconclusive; it did not reveal what type the enzyme was. According to Ms. Owens, seventeen percent of the black population in St. Louis shares these four enzyme types.
Inside the wallet was a partial fingerprint left on the plastic insert directly opposite the picture of Ms. Bradford’s late husband. Ms. Owens testified that the fingerprint appeared to be in blood that looked the same as the blood on the rest of the wallet. She further testified that she could definitely say, based on her visual examination, that there was blood on the insert. However, the fingerprint would have been destroyed if tests had been conducted to conclusively determine whether the print was in blood and whether any enzymes were present that matched Ms. Bradford’s blood. Rather than destroy the fingerprint, Ms. Owens preserved the print using a “super glue” process.
A St. Louis Police officer and a fingerprint expert from the FBI both testified that the fingerprint conclusively matched that of Mr. Grim’s right thumb.4 The FBI fingerprint specialist also testified that it is impossible to leave a fingerprint in dried blood. However, there was no evidence about the length of time it takes blood to dry, whether in small amounts, such as was on the wallet, or in larger amounts, such as were found in the bedroom and in the hallway, under the body. Officer Kroeck, the first evidence technician to arrive at the scene, did testify that the blood was dry when he got there, but that was at 11:34 p.m., about an hour after the body was discovered.
Following the arguments based on this evidence, the jury deliberated for about six hours and returned a guilty verdict on the burglary count but reported that they had not reached verdicts on the other charges. After receiving a “hammer” instruction,5 they went back to deliberate further on the other two counts. A little more than five hours later, they returned guilty verdicts on the murder and armed criminal action [411]*411charges.6 We must now determine whether the evidence supports the verdicts.
C. Sufficiency of the Evidence to Prove Second Degree Murder
In considering whether the evidence is sufficient to support the jury’s verdict, we must look to the elements of the crime and consider each in turn. Under the Dulany standard, we are required to take the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and to grant the State all reasonable inferences from the evidence. We disregard contrary inferences, unless they are such a natural and logical extension of the evidence that a reasonable juror would be unable to disregard them. Taking the evidence in this light, we consider whether a reasonable juror could find each of the elements beyond a reasonable doubt.
In this case, we believe a reasonable juror could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Grim was guilty of second degree murder. The State chose to submit the charge of second degree murder in the disjunctive, permitting the jury to convict if it found that Mr. Grim aided and encouraged another person in committing the murder or if it found that Mr. Grim committed the murder himself.7 For the sake of clarity, we will discuss the two disjunctive theories separately.
First, the jury could have found that Mr. Grim was guilty as a principal. Essentially, the instruction required the jury to find 1) Mr. Grim stabbed Ms. Bradford to death and 2) it was his purpose to cause serious physical injury or death. The testimony of the medical examiner directly supported the conclusion that someone stabbed Ms. Bradford to death. The second element of the crime is supported because the evidence of the nature of the attack supports the conclusion that the attacker intended to cause Ms. Bradford serious physical injury; a person stabbing an elderly woman four times with a sharp object could scarcely intend anything less. The remaining issue is whether there is sufficient evidence to support a conclusion that it was Mr. Grim who stabbed Ms. Bradford.
The evidence regarding the thumbprint on the wallet provides support for concluding that Mr. Grim was the one who stabbed Ms. Bradford. Because fingerprints are unique, it is possible for experts to compare a latent print found on an object with prints on file and establish the identity of the person who left the latent print. In this case, the experts were thorough in their explanation of how fingerprints worked and how the print found on the wallet matched the thumb of Mr. Grim.
A fingerprint can also prove presence at a particular place because prints are left [412]*412through physical contact between people and things. If there is adequate evidence of where the object was when the person left the print, the print is evidence that the person was in the same place. The wallet was found inside Ms. Bradford’s house following her murder and contained a picture of her long dead husband. Prom these facts the jury could conclude that the wallet was in the house before the murder, during the murder, and after the murder until the police took it to the lab. This conclusion is all the more reasonable because it is overwhelmingly improbable that anyone breaking into Ms. Bradford’s home would bring along a wallet containing a picture of her late husband and then leave it behind for the police to find. This conclusion in turn supports the conclusion that Mr. Grim was inside the house when he left the print.
A fingerprint, by itself, normally proves little more than identity and presence. However, in some cases the circumstances surrounding a print or the peculiar location or nature of the fingerprint provide additional evidence of how, when, or why the person touched the object. For example, in State v. Boyington, 831 S.W.2d 642 (Mo. App.1992), a bloody palmprint was found on the inside of a car trunk that contained a bullet-riddled corpse. This sort of location of a print tends to show that the person making the print was involved in the murder both because the print was in blood and because the print was inside the trunk with the body.
In this case, the jury could conclude that the print was made in Ms. Bradford’s blood. As a preliminary matter, the jury could conclude that the blood on the wallet was Ms. Bradford’s. Ms. Bradford was stabbed to death and found face down in a pool of blood. There was blood on the floor in the bedroom and some blood on the walls near her body. Given the nature of the murder, the jury could conclude that all of the blood surrounding the body belonged to Ms. Bradford. Further, the laboratory tests indicated that the blood on the coin flap of the wallet matched Ms. Bradford’s blood, at least as to the four enzymes that were testable on the wallet. Absent any other reasonable source of blood, the logical and sound inference from the evidence was that the blood on the coin flap of the wallet was Ms. Bradford’s. The conclusion that the thumbprint was made in Ms. Bradford’s blood follows from this conclusion because Ms. Owens’ testimony that the fingerprint looked the same as the blood on the rest of the wallet supports the conclusion that it was the same; i.e., it was blood and it was Ms. Bradford’s blood. In addition, Ms. Owens testified directly based upon her visual examination that there was blood on the insert. Though this testimony might not have the weight of the chemical tests performed on the other blood, on review we consider the evidence favorable to the State to be true. Thus, the print was made in Ms. Bradford’s blood.
Suppose that the police had caught Mr. Grim in the house minutes after the murder. The testimony of police officers that Mr. Grim had blood on his hands would be admissible for the purpose of showing that Mr. Grim committed the murder. The fact that there was blood on Mr. Grim’s thumb would tend to prove that Mr. Grim committed the murder. Other inferences would be possible; having blood on his thumb would also be consistent with trying to assist Ms. Bradford or trying to determine whether she was dead. However, it is left to the jury to resolve which is true.
In this case, there is no direct testimony that Mr. Grim had the victim’s blood on his hands. However, there is evidence from which the jury could conclude that Mr. Grim was standing only a few feet from the dead body and that he left a print in the victim’s blood. Of course, we are not deciding the admissibility of this evidence. Rather, we are faced with the question of whether this thumbprint in blood is enough to support the conclusion that Mr. Grim stabbed Ms. Bradford. That the print was in blood supports a number of inferences. One reasonable inference is that Mr. Grim got blood on his thumb as he held the knife and stabbed Ms. Bradford in the chest and arm. Another inference is that Mr. Grim came into the house after the murder, but before the blood was dry, touched some [413]*413wet blood, and then touched the inside of the wallet. However, we are bound to consider the inferences favorable to the State unless the contrary inference is such that it would necessarily give rise to a reasonable doubt in a reasonable juror’s mind. See Dulany, 781 S.W.2d 52, 55.
Nor should we consider this thumbprint in isolation from the other circumstances. To reach any of the pools of blood, a person coming through the back door would have to step over the body and walk into the bedroom, or would have to reach under Ms. Bradford’s head or chest. Even the blood on the floor and walls is confined to areas immediately around the body and is in relatively small amounts. Further, the testimony that a fingerprint cannot be made in dried blood limits, to a certain extent, the time during which Mr. Grim might have wandered into the house and left his print. These circumstances reduce the persuasive force of the argument that Mr. Grim came in later and got blood on his thumb in some way other than by participating in the killing. Further, his print was left inside a wallet that was found closed. If he came along later, Mr. Grim chose to thumb through Ms. Bradford’s wallet, close the wallet, lay it on the table, and leave without telling anyone about the crime. While this is a permissible inference, the question of which version of the facts actually happened is precisely the sort of issue that should be left to a jury to decide.
The bloody thumbprint inside Ms. Bradford’s wallet gives rise to a reasonable inference that Mr. Grim was involved in the murder. There are other potential inferences, but they are not so believable and inescapable as to convince us that they would give rise to a reasonable doubt in the mind of a reasonable juror. The surrounding circumstances further reduce the believability and the validity of the “innocent” inferences. If we voted as jurors rather than judges, we might well vote not guilty on this charge, but our role is fixed by the rule from Dulany. Wé decline to force ourselves into the posture of a thirteenth juror. We hold that the evidence in this case was sufficient to support the conclusion that Mr. Grim stabbed Ms. Bradford and, thus, was sufficient to support the conviction under the first theory of second degree murder.
The second theory was based upon Mr. Grim’s liability for aiding and encouraging or participating in the murder. Essentially, the jury had to find 1) someone else stabbed Ms. Bradford, 2) the person acted with the intent to cause serious physical injury, and 3) with the purpose of furthering the commission of the murder, Mr. Grim acted together with or aided and encouraged the other person. The first two elements are adequately supported by the evidence; Ms. Bradford was stabbed by someone, and whoever did it intended serious physical injury. The third element was supported by the evidence that the thumbprint was in Ms. Bradford’s blood. One reasonable inference from this piece of evidence was that Mr. Grim actually stabbed Ms. Bradford. Another reasonable inference is that he helped the person that had the knife. The same “innocent” inferences described with respect to the first theory are relevant here but are, again, merely possible inferences and not necessary ones. A reasonable juror could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Grim committed the crime of second degree murder, either through his own actions or by assisting another in the crime.
The bottom line of the dissent’s reasoning is that the inference to be drawn from the evidence that Mr. Grim was present before and at the time the murder was committed is of equal validity with the inference that sometime after the murder but before the blood dried, the defendant wandered into Ms. Bradford’s backyard, saw the open door, entered and was confronted by the murder scene, in some manner acquired blood on his thumb, opened the billfold and made the thumbprint, then closed the billfold and left. We believe there are two fallacies in the dissent’s rationale. First, these two inferences are not equally valid, the latter being so unique and unusual as to be implausible; and, second, we think that the dissent has ignored the requirement that “the Court accept ] as true all the evidence favorable to [414]*414the state, including all favorable inferences drawn from the evidence....” Dulany, 781 S.W.2d at 55.
If an appellate court sets itself up to select between two or more acceptable inferences, it ceases to function as a court and functions rather as a juror, actually a “super juror” with veto powers. It is not the function of the court to decide the disputed facts; it is rather the court’s function to assure that the jury, in finding the facts, does not do so based on sheer speculation. The bloody thumbprint of the defendant is adequate and sufficient evidence of the defendant’s presence in Ms. Bradford’s house at the time of her murder. Given that single fact and the physical evidence in this case, it is reasonable for a juror to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of second degree murder.
While we have based our decision upon the law as stated in Dulany and the unique facts of this case, our decision is not entirely unprecedented; two cases decided under the circumstantial evidence rule are substantially similar. In State v. Maxie, 513 S.W.2d 338 (Mo.1974), a division of this Court faced a case with similar facts and upheld the sufficiency of the evidence to support second degree murder. In Maxie, the defendant’s thumbprint was found on a cardboard box top in the victim’s apartment amid various papers and debris scattered around the scene. While the defendant in Maxie did not leave his print in blood, he testified that he had never seen the outside of the apartment building, the inside of the apartment, the victim, the crime scene, or the box top. As explanation for the print on the box top, the defendant argued that he might have picked up the piece of cardboard and put it in the trash, from which the victim or her husband could have picked it up and brought it into their home. The jury was essentially left with two possible conclusions as to what happened, and the trial became a believability contest. In such a situation, this Court held that the evidence supported the jury’s verdict.
Even closer to the case at bar is State v. Gales, 507 S.W.2d 35 (Mo.App.1974). In Gales, an elderly woman who lived alone in the city of St. Louis was found murdered in her home. The defendant’s fingerprint was found on a jewelry box in the house, and the evidence established that the defendant had some of the victim’s property in his possession shortly before her body was discovered. The defendant’s print was not in blood, so the print was less probative on the issue of involvement in the murder.8 Although the police found the house locked up and had to break open a back door to enter the house and discover the body, the jury in Gales still had to find that the defendant had been present during the murder. In Gales, the defendant’s possession of some of the victim’s property was probative on the issue of whether the defendant had been inside the house but did not bear on the issue of when he’was in the house. On evidence essentially equivalent to that in the present case, i.e., the fingerprint, the jury found, and the evidence supported the finding that, the death occurred in connection with the robbery. The evidence in this case was sufficient to support Mr. Grim’s conviction for second degree murder.
D. Sufficiency of the Evidence to Prove Armed Criminal Action
In this case, the charge of armed criminal action was submitted by reference to the instruction for murder. As we have just explained, the evidence was adequate to support the conviction for second degree murder under either theory of liability. For the conviction for armed criminal action to be proper, the evidence had to support the additional finding that the murder was committed “by or with or through the use or assistance or aid of a dangerous instrument.”9 The evidence in this case [415]*415supported the conclusion that Ms. Bradford was stabbed with a sharp object, probably a knife. That evidence is sufficient to support the additional element contained in the crime of armed criminal action.
E. Sufficiency of the Evidence to Prove First Degree Burglary
As noted, a fingerprint usually proves little more than presence of a person in a particular place. Sometimes, however, presence in a particular place is a violation of the criminal code. There are a number of cases where a fingerprint supplemented with little else has been held sufficient to support a conviction for a crime focusing primarily on presence of the defendant in a forbidden place. See, e.g., State v. Schleicher, 442 S.W.2d 19 (Mo.1969) (burglary); State v. Anderson, 671 S.W.2d 383 (Mo.App.1984) (burglary); State v. Sanders, 619 S.W.2d 344 (Mo.App.1981) (burglary); State v. Clemmons, 579 S.W.2d 682 (Mo.App.1979) (tampering); State v. Parker, 535 S.W.2d 126 (Mo.App.1976) (burglary)-
As to the charge of first degree burglary, the jury had to find beyond a reasonable doubt that 1) Mr. Grim knowingly entered unlawfully Ms. Bradford’s house, 2) that he did so for the purpose of stealing, and 3) that while Mr. Grim was in the house, Ms. Bradford was there too and was still alive.10 The first element, unlawful entry, is supported by the evidence provided by the thumbprint that Mr. Grim was in the house during the murder, and the evidence that the latch was broken from the screen door. The fact that Mr. Grim’s thumbprint is on the wallet supports the conclusion that Mr. Grim had the intent to steal when he entered the house because it supports the inference that he looked for things of value while in the house. The third element of first degree burglary is also supported because, as explained with regards to the murder charge, the fact that the print is in Ms. Bradford’s blood supports the conclusion that Mr. Grim participated in the murder. If Mr. Grim was in the house while Ms. Bradford was being stabbed, then Mr. Grim was in the house while Ms. Bradford was in the house. The conviction for first degree burglary is sufficiently supported that we will not disturb it on appellate review. Because Mr. Grim’s convictions were adequately supported by the evidence, we deny his first point and turn to the second.
II. ADMISSIBILITY OF THE KNIFE
Mr. Grim’s second point on appeal has to do with the admission, over his objection, of the knife found in Ms. Bradford’s backyard. Mr. Grim claims there was no evidence to connect the knife to him or to the crime charged and, therefore, it was irrelevant and prejudicial to him. It is worth mentioning in passing that the knife was relevant to the crimes charged in that it formed a part of the body of the crime. Insofar as the knife was not tied to Mr. Grim in any way, it tends to weaken the [416]*416State’s case against Mr. Grim rather than strengthen it. Thus, there would be little if any prejudice to Mr. Grim even if the knife were irrelevant. The point is denied.
III. DEPRIVAL OF BATSON CLAIM
Mr. Grim’s third point of error relates to the way the trial court dealt with his Batson claim. Mr. Grim’s attorney indicated that he believed that the prosecution had exercised its peremptory strikes in a discriminatory manner contrary to the teachings of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). The trial judge indicated that if the motion were made, he would quash the jury and start from scratch. Apparently the trial court and Mr. Grim’s attorney were operating under the assumption that the proper relief for a violation of Batson is to quash the jury. To the contrary, the proper remedy for discriminatory use of peremptory strikes is to quash the strikes and permit those members of the venire stricken for discriminatory reasons to sit on the jury if they otherwise would. Because all concerned misunderstood the proper relief under Batson and because Mr. Grim’s attorney thought the jury was better for Mr. Grim than the jury that might have been chosen if a new panel were selected, he withdrew his motion. Mr. Grim now argues that this action of the trial court was improper.
This point has not been properly preserved, however. Mr. Grim was entitled to challenge the strikes of the prosecution but did not do so. Had Mr. Grim’s attorney asked for relief and then objected to the trial court’s means of dealing with the problem, the point would be adequately preserved for our review.
IV. IMPROPER PRESENTATION OF STATE’S EXHIBIT 60
Finally, as his fourth point of error, Mr. Grim claims that the trial court committed an error when it sent the jury State’s Exhibit 60, a chart of the blood enzyme types found on different items in the house and showing Ms. Bradford’s blood enzyme types. The chart had been admitted into evidence, but was inadvertently left out of the exhibits sent to the jury. The omission was not discovered until well into the jury’s deliberations when the jury asked two questions.
The jury’s questions were “Was the thumbprint of Robert Grim found inside the wallet in Cora Bradford’s blood?” and “Was the blood on the outside of the wallet Cora Bradford’s?” The court responded that the jury must be guided by the evidence as it recalled it. However, it was at this time that the prosecutor discovered Exhibit 60 had not been sent to the jury. Faced with this situation, the court proposed to remedy it by sending the exhibit to the jury. Mr. Grim’s counsel objected to the prejudicial effect of sending the exhibit immediately after the question, so the court delayed sending the exhibit another twenty minutes. Mr. Grim’s attorney still objected to this irregular procedure, but was overruled. On appeal,. Mr. Grim asserts this error as a reason for reversing his convictions and granting him a new trial.
We hold that the irregularity, though to be guarded against and avoided, was not sufficiently prejudicial to Mr. Grim that it warrants reversal. Given the other evidence before the jury, including the testimony regarding the blood enzymes, and given the arguments made by counsel, any additional weight the jury may have given the exhibit because of the irregularity was not likely to have made a difference in their verdicts. The jury deliberated another one and one-half hours before coming back with the burglary conviction and then an additional five hours before returning the guilty verdicts for murder and armed criminal action. While it is impossible to tell exactly what weight the exhibit was given and exactly what effect the irregular presentation may have had, we remain unconvinced that the prejudice to Mr. Grim was sufficient to warrant reversal of the convictions.
The judgment is affirmed.
COVINGTON, HOLSTEIN, BENTON, PRICE and LIMBAUGH, JJ., concur;
ROBERTSON, C.J., dissents in separate opinion filed.