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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday February 27 2020, @06:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the put-an-arrow-in-the-map dept.

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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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday February 27 2020, @07:54AM (14 children)

    by sjames (2882) on Thursday February 27 2020, @07:54AM (#963365) Journal

    I have no intention of killing anyone, let alone with a crossbow, but I DO find the idea of a car keeping a log in the cloud of everywhere I go more than a little creepy.

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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @08:20AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @08:20AM (#963370)

    the biggest problem is that other guys with crossbows can buy access to this data when they want to kill their next victim.

    • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday February 28 2020, @03:20AM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday February 28 2020, @03:20AM (#963926) Homepage

      The biggest problem is that unlike firearms, convicted felons can walk right into a sports store and walk right out with a crossbow.

      Hell, if a convicted felon wanted something deadly enough to level "big game" and had the money to afford it, they could easily and legally buy an air rifle [airforceairguns.com] that was up to the task.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @08:22AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @08:22AM (#963371)

    How can it be turned off?
    Are people required to sign away their rights when buying?
    Do they tell people?
    Who pays for this?
    Who ownes the data?
    Is this data collection legal?

    • (Score: 2) by kazzie on Thursday February 27 2020, @08:44AM (1 child)

      by kazzie (5309) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 27 2020, @08:44AM (#963377)

      And that gets even murkier for any second-hand sales...

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:02PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @12:02PM (#963430)

        You can stops and won't move because it hasn't spoken to home base via phone sim call in 3 months.

    • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday February 28 2020, @03:25PM

      by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Friday February 28 2020, @03:25PM (#964132) Journal

      n.b.: And will enough people care to make any difference?

      --
      This sig for rent.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @10:53AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @10:53AM (#963404)

    1 coronavirus apocalypse, 1 kill

  • (Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:19PM (6 children)

    by driverless (4770) on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:19PM (#963477)

    I just killed someone with a crossbow about fifteen minutes ago. Well, technically something, fourth possum in the last two weeks. Crossbows are brilliant for this, completely silent, fit them with a torch and a RDS and they're perfect for taking out nocturnal pest animals without having to worry about someone panicking about hearing a gunshot at night. Hope they're finally being thinned down, the damage they do to the fruit trees is tremendous.

    Sometimes medieval weapons are the best ones...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:55PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @02:55PM (#963509)

      Real Gentlemen use a mace.

    • (Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:13PM (1 child)

      by sjames (2882) on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:13PM (#963852) Journal

      Sounds like you need one of these [youtube.com].

      • (Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:24PM

        by driverless (4770) on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:24PM (#963858)

        In theory the ideal thing would be the Cobra Adder which was derived from Joerg's work, but really you don't need repeat-fire capability so much as an ability to track a dark moving target at night. Possums move pretty slowly so once you've acquired the target you're almost certain to hit it, the problem is finding the thing. So a coaxial long-throw torch paired with an RDS is the perfect combination.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:40PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 27 2020, @11:40PM (#963861)

      Entertainment and dinner in one.

    • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday February 28 2020, @03:23AM (1 child)

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday February 28 2020, @03:23AM (#963928) Homepage

      I actually considered that option for home defense, because if I had to defend myself with a firearm in California, myself rather than the invader would be treated like the criminal and would be bankrupted by legal fees. Then I'd be sued in court by the criminal for racism and cruel and unusual punishment.

      Only problem with the crossbow is, you only get one shot through the eye-socket and into the skull, and if you miss that shot, that jumped-up crackhead is going to have your ass even with the ass-end of a bolt sticking out of his chest.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 28 2020, @03:30PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 28 2020, @03:30PM (#964133)

        Backup with a good kitchen butcher knife. (Why, yes, I'd been enjoying some nice cheese and crackers in bed earlier and thus my best knife was right at the bedside! ... Also, gives an excuse and mandate to enjoy cheese and crackers in bed every evening if you can avoid the crumbs.)

        And you'll be just as screwed for using a crossbow as with a firearm. Moreso, probably. You'll likely need to defend yourself either way, and that can happen even in the reddest-of-red Stand Your Ground states if the prosecutor thinks it will get him or her good publicity.