We have to admit that our smartphone knows a lot about us. When connected to wearables like the Apple Watch, it even knows our health status. This not only helps us and our loved ones stay healthy, but it could also help the police solve a crime! This happened in a murder case in Australia.
In September 2016, 57-year-old Myrna Nilsson was found dead in her Adelaide home.
According to ABC News, Caroline Dela Rose Nilsson's daughter-in-law told police that a group of men had broken into her home and attacked her mother-in-law, while she was bound and gagged. In March, however, police charged her with murder after analyzing the victim's Apple Watch.
According to the report, prosecutor Carmen Matteo told the Adelaide Magistrates' Court that the watch's activity and heart rate readings indicated an attack took place at 6:38pm and that its owner "almost certainly" died at 6:45pm.
"If we accept this evidence, it contradicts the defendant's version of an attack on the victim that lasted 20 minutes," Matteo said.
Caroline Nilsson told police she left her home immediately after the attack at 10 p.m. to call for help. However, when Apple Watch data is taken into account, it appears there was a 3-hour gap between the victim's death and the defendant's statement. The case is expected to be heard again in June.
This is another case where fitness tracker proved crucial in criminal cases. In 2017, a Connecticut resident, Richard Dabate, was charged with murdering his wife after the victim's Fitbit data showed discrepancies with Dabate's confession to the crime.
In a similar German case earlier this year, similar data was used as evidence against a man accused of murder.
