Cell phones are playing an increasingly important role in the courtroom, but not always to the owner’s advantage. Apparently, some people believe the messages they send are only seen by the intended viewer’s eyes, and then disappear, never to be seen again. They failed to heed the age-old advice that everything sent over a computer is traceable (and FYI, cell phones are basically modern day mini-computers). The role of best supporting actor in murder cases is now being played by your trusted cell phone, which likely never leaves your side.
In this first case, Kyle Navin was charged with two counts of murder in the death of his parents. Text messages showed that Kyle, an alleged heroin addict, was growingly frustrated with his father and may have discovered he was at risk of being cut out of his parents’ will. Take a look at these selected text messages from Kyle to his girlfriend:
“We need to figure out what the best way to take them down.”
“I really like that idea” (“that idea” was never fully defined or deciphered from text messages in the case).
“No contact ever again with the bad people.”
“Wipe out the infection and get $ for life.”
In discovery, although they paid in cash, it was revealed that Kyle and his girlfriend bought a number of incriminating items from Home Depot, including bleach, drain opener, stain removers, trash bags, dryer sheets and bug spray.
In another murder case, an 18 year old female, Michelle Carter, was accused of tirelessly pushing 18 year old Conrad Roy to commit suicide. Conrad died of carbon monoxide poisoning from locking himself inside his truck with a portable engine running inside. Police found him dead in his truck in a Kmart parking lot, alongside his cell phone, with these text messages from Michelle:
“The more you push it off, the more it will eat at you,”
“You need to do it, Conrad,”
“You’re ready and prepared. All you have to do is turn the generator on and you will be free and happy. No more pushing it off. No more waiting.”
“I think your parents know you’re in a really bad place…They know that you’re doing this to be happy and I think they will understand and accept it. They will always carry you in their hearts,”
“If you emit 3200 ppm of (carbon monoxide) for five or ten minutes you will die within a half hour,” she wrote. “You lose consciousness with no pain. You fall asleep and die.”
Michelle apparently asked Conrad over and over, over text: “When are you doing it?” and also texted him: “You better not be bullshitting me and saying you gonna do this and then purposely get caught.”
In Virginia, six gang members were recently found guilty for the murder of Waynesboro, Virginia reserve police Captain Kevin Quick. Kevin was in the wrong place at the wrong time, as the gang members were committing carjackings when they crossed paths. The gang members abducted Kevin at gunpoint, drove him offsite, and forced him to disclose his ATM PIN code at gunpoint. Once they obtained the pin code, the gang members took Kevin into the woods and shot and killed him.
A representative from the local sheriff’s office spent two hours reading chronological dates and times of hundreds of text messages, phone calls, emails, Facebook posts and Internet searches sent by or received by cell phones associated with the six gang members. Although many of the messages were deleted, the sheriff’s office called in special cell phone forensics experts to analyze the data and obtain them using special software. A sampling of some of the more incriminating texts include the following:
“Tell them that … everybody’s prints is in the whip [car],”
“They gotta do it asap. It’s all over the news.”
“We need to find a ride to Montana asap” and “We have to start all over. New names.”
One of the gang members texted another asking if they had received “the ATM card.” A message sent from another responded with: “I wouldn’t touch that with a 1,000-foot pole.”
In hindsight, it’s painfully obvious that these messages can be strung together to help paint a comprehensive portrait to make a murder. While it’s unlikely that criminals will stop relying on technology to coordinate their every move, we can expect to see an increase in cell phone and technology forensic experts called into the courtroom. It’s just another example of living in our modern day, connected digital age.