Crossbow Murder Solved Using Car Tracking Telemetry
kazzie writes:
A recent murder trial involving the most medieval of weapons has recently concluded with a guilty verdict, thanks to some high-tech sleuthing.
From the BBC's report:
Some modern, expensive cars are installed with electronic systems which can track and store information about its movements. This so-called telematics system can be used as a tracking device if the car is stolen. It can also tell when a car's engine is started or stopped and even when a window, door or boot is opened and closed. When combined with evidence of owning a crossbow and bolts of the type used in the murder, it was enough to secure a conviction.
Like a mobile phone on wheels, the system uses a SIM card. Nick Harvey, risk data manager for Plant-I telematics company, said data is live constantly and GPS tracking could be accurate within 5m.
He said over the past 10 years, such tracking had become more commonplace in car technology and security systems and could now help with investigations. "Wherever a vehicle is going, it is sending into a cloud - no matter what happens to that vehicle there is always data behind," he said.
A car belonging to the defendant was found burned several miles away two weeks after the murder, but the incriminating data had long since been sent to the cloud. It placed the owner outside the victim's house at the time of the murder, with timestamps indicating details like the engine being turned off, and when the doors and boot (trunk) were opened and closed.
The complexity of the case saw it generate 5,500 documents and involve a team of 50 police officers before going to a trial lasting five weeks.
"If it wasn't for the electronics, the black box in the Land Rover - which didn't just record information but sent it to Jaguar Land Rover, [the defendant] Whall would have got away with his lies," the jury was told.
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