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Search History Exposes Intent for "Black Widow" to Kill Husband

posted by martyb on Tuesday June 15 2021, @12:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the Always-clear-your-history-when-planning-crimes dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

A woman's search history has been used by authorities to convict her of murder after her husband died. Natasha Darcy was found guilty of murdering partner Mathew Dunbar with her plans to inherit his $3.5 million farm exposed as she attempted to lie to police about her actions and intent. Key evidence was found in her search history which matched up to physical evidence found.

Natasha Darcy guilty of murdering partner Mathew Dunbar

Natasha Darcy has been found guilty of murdering her partner Mathew Dunbar by drugging him with a sedative cocktail blended in a Nutribullet and gassing him in his bed in a bid to inherit his $3.5 million farm.

In the months before Mr Dunbar was found dead, dozens of incriminating searches were recorded on Darcy's iPhone, among them: "How to commit murder."

A jury of 11 declared the 46-year-old mother guilty on Tuesday after deliberating since last Wednesday.

Mr Dunbar, 42, was a sheep farmer who lived and worked on his property Pandora on the outskirts of Walcha in northern NSW.

Darcy claimed she found her partner of three years in the early hours of August 2, 2017, with a plastic bag over his head that was hooked up to a helium cylinder. She rang triple-0 and he was declared dead at the scene.

The ram sedative acepromazine and medications temazepam, clonidine and seroquel were found in both Mr Dunbar's blood and a dirty blender cup and glass left in the dishwasher.

Darcy pointed to Mr Dunbar's finances, history of depression and suicidal ideation, "unclear sexual orientation" and a severe calf infection he suffered weeks before his death as reasons he might have killed himself.

But her search history told a different story, the jury heard during the 10-week trial in the NSW Supreme Court.

Same things goes for porn and your marriage.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by rigrig on Tuesday June 15 2021, @01:41PM (5 children)

    by rigrig (5129) Subscriber Badge <soylentnews@tubul.net> on Tuesday June 15 2021, @01:41PM (#1145485) Homepage

    Eight years earlier, shortly after taking out a $700,000 life insurance policy, Darcy had launched attacks on Mr Crossman, hitting him on the temple with a hammer while he slept.
    Three days later, she set the house alight while he slumbered under the influence of several sedatives he did not knowingly take.

    Darcy wrote to a friend while in custody and offered her $20,000 to lie about Mr Dunbar’s depression and suicide attempts.

    She tried at two different veterinary clinics to obtain acepromazine but was rebuffed — the first vet growing so alarmed by the request that she called the police

    she rang Supagas in Tamworth to order a 3.5 cubic metre bottle of pure helium on July 31, 2017.

    Darcy and Mr Dunbar together picked up the bottle on August 1, hours before he died.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday June 15 2021, @03:43PM (4 children)

    by nitehawk214 (1304) on Tuesday June 15 2021, @03:43PM (#1145540)

    I had a feeling that "has been used by authorities to convict" in the summary was mostly bullshit. Search history has been used before, and there is always plenty of other evidence in a conviction.

    In fact, I don't think they needed with the search history at all in this case.

    A more accurate summary would be "search history was used as evidence in a trial." It would not be the first time, and hardly even be remarkable.

    What might be remarkable is someone going to all this effort to kill someone and leave so much evidence behind.

    --
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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 15 2021, @06:42PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 15 2021, @06:42PM (#1145619)

      and how stupid the husband was.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 15 2021, @10:48PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 15 2021, @10:48PM (#1145678)

        Stupid?

        more likely naive and lonely.

        Not many women out in remote farming communities.. The men tend to take what they can get.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @12:07AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @12:07AM (#1145695)

          He may have had problems as well... if she would rather kill him than live with him, he was probably not the perfect guy.

        • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:47AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 16 2021, @06:47AM (#1145786)

          The men tend to take what they can get.

          Wadda hell ye talking about? He was a sheep farmer, clearly it wasn't missing anything needed in this respect.