How a Murderer's Lies Were Exposed by His Cellphone and a Smartwatch (theguardian.com) 57
"Modern technology makes it so much harder to commit a crime of passion and get away with it," writes long-time Slashdot reader knaapie, summarizing a story from the Guardian:
A Greek pilot claiming he and his wife were robbed, and his wife strangled by the assailants, has now admitted that he himself killed his wife. Police were already suspicious of him and found evidence from phones and the watch of the deceased that implicated him.
In staging the scene of a crime, the suspect even tied up his own hands and those of his dead wife — and strangled their dog. And he'd insisted on his version of the story for five weeks, according to the Guardian.
But then... A pulse monitor on the watch showed his wife was dead at a time before he claimed the raid had taken place, while a fitness app on his phone proved he was moving around the house at the time he said he had been blindfolded and tied up.
In both cases, the findings conflicted with the timeline of events the professional pilot had previously given. A memory card removed at 1.20am from the security camera of the couple's home, several hours before 4.30am when he claimed the thieves had broken in, provided further evidence.
In staging the scene of a crime, the suspect even tied up his own hands and those of his dead wife — and strangled their dog. And he'd insisted on his version of the story for five weeks, according to the Guardian.
But then... A pulse monitor on the watch showed his wife was dead at a time before he claimed the raid had taken place, while a fitness app on his phone proved he was moving around the house at the time he said he had been blindfolded and tied up.
In both cases, the findings conflicted with the timeline of events the professional pilot had previously given. A memory card removed at 1.20am from the security camera of the couple's home, several hours before 4.30am when he claimed the thieves had broken in, provided further evidence.
Re:But, but, privacy!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Had this been about an attack against the US [wikipedia.org] or some other symbol of Capitalism, instead of celebrating the bringing of a criminal to justice, we [slashdot.org] and they [theguardian.com] would be discussing the police' "questionable" use of the suspect's electronic devices and the manufacturers' failure to make them more resilient against such unwarranted [slashdot.org] (even when a warrant had been issued) "power grab".
The controversy in San Bernardino was about forcing a manufacturer to break their own encryption, including the implication that they should design the encryption with a built in backdoor for law enforcement (knowing how hard it would be to stop that back door from getting out).
No one had an objection to data being obtained with a lawful warrant. Especially data from a fitness app that is pretty clearly available in unencrypted form to a 3rd party.
Re:But, but, privacy!! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yes, Greece has a Socialist government, that can do no wrong — ergo, we're just happy a criminal was caught.
Because who does it (or says it) determines your reaction — and the consequent spin.
Re: But, but, privacy!! (Score:2)
Re: But, but, privacy!! (Score:2)
Only if it was the first unlock after a boot. At that point OS has not decrypted all your/user stuff, but only the OS stuff (unless u have FDE configured to ask for a pin before even starting boot ie at boot loader - that's there at least on android, windows, macos, linux. Don't remember about iOS)
Subsequently the lock security goes to shit because the OS then keeps your credentials cached securly and user stuff decrypted - since it has to run a 100 apps in the background or on triggers and receive new msgs
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It's quite well known on both iOS & Android. called AFU “After First Unlock” - the OS necessarily keeps your full disk encryption "decrypted" once its taken your PIN/PWD/FP as the OS is doing background stuff with multiple apps on your user data/partition.
BUT before the first unlock, it doesn't have any way to decrypt your FDE disk (excluding the system partition which it needs to boot) since you haven't entered your PIN or pvt key that it needs to decrypt. It will still do certain OS / sys
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God, you're stupid! Try this experiment: reboot your iPhone and wait for an SMS (or a call) from one of your contacts... Notice, how the contact's name will not be displayed, only the number.
Guess, why that is?
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More bullshit. If they can install COVID-tracking software without your consent — and keep reinstalling it too [iotwreport.com] — they can do anything.
God, you're stupid — get it through your clueless scull: if it is — or can be presented as being — for the Greater Good[TM], tech companies will do it. (And you'll applaud them too.)
And my point is, they simply didn't think, revealing an America-hatting terro
Re:But, but, privacy!! (Score:4, Interesting)
In Romania the secret police did it pretty much for arbitrary reasons, like you not being of the correct ethnicity, you being interested in learning foreign language or about foreign culture. Literally anything that suggested you might not be a 105% loyal fool that swallowed all that socialist crap got you on their watch list.
In this Greek case however it was far less arbitrary.
A homicide happened, because it sure didn't look like suicide. Furthermore it did look like murder, which is a very serious form of unlawful homicide (there's many other forms including lawful homicide, like self defense).
In most justice systems the authorities are obliged to investigate the circumstances of such a serious crime and find out what happened. They'll obtain warrants that allow exceptions to privacy protection of probable suspects. Direct eye witnesses that were at the scene and had the possibility to interact with the scene are usually also suspects. Furthermore, from the sound of it they obtained the data from platforms that weren't designed for privacy anyway.
You know, at some point it's the people's own fault if they use such insecure applications that keep detailed digital track records of all the shit they do.
Anyway, cases like these are justifiable because it only happens in very specific situations and after warrants for that specific situation are obtained (assuming that the process of issuing those warrants aren't corrupted, like they would have been in Communist Romania).
What is not justifiable is to constantly invade privacy under some kind of blanket probable cause that operates under the bullshit principle of "nothing to hide nothing to fear". It's problematic because of how easily this is abused to find any kind of dirt on someone that can be used for blackmailing them.
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Of course, these are justifiable — be it a single murder, or that of 14 people.
My point is, Slashdot's and world's media reactions are quite different — because that murder of fourteen people was done by a couple of Muslim terrorists hating America...
What is the world coming to (Score:3)
Modern technology makes it so much harder to commit a crime of passion and get away with it,
An honest working man can't even commit the odd murder once in a while anymore. Really, is there anything that speaks well for the modern world? Gee...
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Modern technology makes it so much harder to commit a crime of passion and get away with it,
An honest working man can't even commit the odd murder once in a while anymore. Really, is there anything that speaks well for the modern world? Gee...
Law-abiding people are until they are not. -- Asst. US Attorney Yoda
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He should have cooked up a more plausible story. The crooks strangled the woman and the dog, but then tied him up, let him witness their crimes, and then left him unharmed. Really?
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Or, destroy these smart devices After you commit a crime.
It's the same and taking off all your clothes, shoes, and gloves after a crime and Destroying them.
Are you all too young to remember the OJ Trial?
Gosh, even CSI, Law and Order, and every modern murder TV show and movie teaches this!
Re: What is the world coming to (Score:2)
Pilot (Score:5, Interesting)
Good point (Score:1)
I don't understand why they kept referring to this guy's profession of being a pilot.
Yes I kept waiting to hear the part where he flew her out somewhere to kill her, or dump the body over a forest or something... nope, the whole story was at home. He could have been a baker or and auto mechanic.
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The story was written to clickbait the retarded beastmob, so including terms which excite morons has some effect.
SEOspeak is corrosive but it won't be called out much on Dicedot because tardposting low quality b8 is the business model.
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Because "pilot" is the most awe-inspiring answer possible to the question "what's your job?"
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Greek media (Score:2)
It's what Greek media routinely does. Usually when somebody in the news has a particular property, very often a not very common profession, some "journalists" start referring to them with that property. It is also dependent on what bias the media will want to give, e.g. this guy was from an affluent background and they believed (or wanted to believe, as his story made no sense at all from the start) he was an innocent victim of an attack by foreigners who robbed/killed. Otherwise, if he was not reputable th
How could DNA evidence incriminate HIM ? (Score:1)
"From the outset, he said, investigators had suspected the pilot but were flummoxed by the lack of DNA, or other evidence, that pointed to his culpability."
He lived with her and was attacked beside her ( and the child, and the dog ).
How could DNA evidence possibly show that he was guilty ?
( It's the Granuiad, so assume journalist incompetence. )
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How could DNA evidence possibly show that he was guilty ?
1. If his skin cells were on the strangling rope.
2. If his DNA was under his wife's fingernails because she clawed him during the struggle.
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Except that, if the rope was his, his skin cells would have perfectly valid reasons for being on the rope and an intruder would have worn gloves, explaining why his and his wife's would be the only ones found.
His DNA could be under his wife's fingernails because she clawed him during... something else.
The point is that, in a home, the dna of the occupants is going to be on pretty much everything. Makes it very hard to prove something against one of the occupants based on DNA evidence.
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Hmm. Just noticed my post had a -1 redundant mod. That seems odd to me. I'm wondering if anyone can point out how my post was redundant on this thread.
Re: How could DNA evidence incriminate HIM ? (Score:1)
The wording in TFA is not very clear, but I suspect that the absence of other peopleâ(TM)s DNA was suspicious. Especially since she was strangled.
Re: How could DNA evidence incriminate HIM ? (Score:2)
Maybe his DNA was suspiciously missing
Professional Pilot (Score:2)
Remind me not to fly on that airline. Guy doesn't realize that he is carrying around his own flight data recorder 24x7.
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Remind me not to fly on that airline.
He is a helicopter pilot.
He didn't work for any airline.
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He is a helicopter pilot.
So it's confirmed. Helicopter parents [wikipedia.org] are the worst ...
Don't talk to the police! (Score:2)
Ever!
Then this won't happen to you.
How was it harder to commit this crime ? (Score:2)
"Modern technology makes it so much harder to commit a crime of passion and get away with it,"
The tech made it harder to get away with this crime.
But, alas, tech did not make it harder to commit this crime.
Police detectives, circa 2025. (Score:4, Insightful)
D 2: He has no cell phone, does not wear a fitness app. Does not have a security camera in his house.
D 1: OK, so he is our prime suspect, lets bring him in.
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Smartwatches (Score:2)
I wear a smartwatch most waking hours, like many people, and generally when I sleep as well.
If I ever planned to commit an in-person murder, that would present quite a problem, as my watch would clearly say where I was and roughly what I was doing. Or, if I took my watch off, it would raise a fairly obvious question as to why the one time I took it off was when so-and-so got killed.
If the victim was also in the habit of wearing a smartwatch it should be pretty easy for police to establish time and location
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Ditching your watch and getting another would easily solve that problem. Either before, in the case of premeditation, or after, in the case of passion. With phones, watches, TVs, laptops, PCs, washers, refrigerators, and all the other smart devices, people change them all-the-time. How is changing your smart device an indicator of a crime? It isn't -- especially with a good/smart lawyer.
Most honest people are too ignor
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Yeah, other than records or your buying a new one.
Timing of the change.
One of the ways to get caught is hubris.
You do understand that in this case, there would be *no* evidence of anyone else being at the scene.
It's also Greece. I'd bet Simpson wouldn't have gotten away either, Cockren or no.
Re: Smartwatches (Score:2)
Re: Smartwatches (Score:2)
Why identify him as pilot? (Score:2)
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Nothing to do with crime, nor technology for nerds ...
Maybe he pilots a flying car.
Privacy was also murdered. (Score:1)
And yet no one is creeped out by all these gadgets recording and tracking everything you do? Right, you all love it. It is for your protection.
I don't want to live on this planet any more.
Crime of passion? (Score:3)
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He even strangled then hanged their own dog because as he put it "nobody would believe I did that". Oh, and he strangled his wife while she was sleeping, then put the baby next to her before accidentally tying himself. I mean it was not an elaborate plan at all, he might have come up with it in a minute, but it definitely was premeditation, you can't kill someone who's been sleeping for a few hours (from the fitness data) and claim it was heat of passion etc...
And to think . . . (Score:2)
People laugh when they find out I have a flip phone, no "smart" devices of any kind, and I'm not on any anti-social media sites (does this site count?). It's amazing what you can do when you're not being tracked or stupidly giving out information about yourself.
Re: And to think . . . (Score:2)
A perfect crime free world (Score:2)
why not setting up his e-mail server, like Hilary? (Score:2)
Learn from the best, just like in any other business...
Donâ(TM)t need actual evidence (Score:1)