Anyone want to fall down the rabbit hole?

[anodyne]

This started as a post in a nearby neighborhood on my Nextdoor app.  A guys hears someone trying to start his car.  He confronts her and she says a friend told her she could borrow the car.  He tries to run her off but she is asking for her stuff out of the car.  When he starts to return things he notices the bags are filled with their stuff.  He runs her off.  Her phone was in the bag, with no screen lock.  He got into her Facebook, changed the contact info and password and has been posting all of her crime-ing.  Like how she was living in a storage locker and stealing from other lockers with the help of the manager, or other car thefts, drugs, etc.  As the guy digs deeper, it looks as if her and her friend hot shot an older guy that she met a week before.  He was supposed to be getting a settlement and she had a POA and a will signed over to her the day before he died of an overdose in her home. 


Start here:  www.facebook.com/100001240434573/videos/555104392344003/ 

[pixy0stix]

I don't want to watch the video. From what you posted, the guy should not have posted online, but turned over the phone to the police. I always wonder how much of this can be considered tampering with the evidence, since he's not affiliated with law enforcement in any way.

[hellomarriedlife]

MUD

[anodyne]

Aug 13, 2021 14:18:16 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I don't want to watch the video. From what you posted, the guy should not have posted online, but turned over the phone to the police. I always wonder how much of this can be considered tampering with the evidence, since he's not affiliated with law enforcement in any way.

This said he did turn the phone over to police, but gained access to her FB and downloaded a bunch before he did.

m.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2021/08/13/wild-elizabeth-cooke-saga-grips-internet-sleuths-in-st-louis-and-beyond

[AJL]

Aug 13, 2021 14:18:16 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I don't want to watch the video. From what you posted, the guy should not have posted online, but turned over the phone to the police. I always wonder how much of this can be considered tampering with the evidence, since he's not affiliated with law enforcement in any way.

Is it evidence before the alleged thief is charged? Right now he just has someone's personal property.

[aurora]

Aug 13, 2021 16:36:22 GMT -5 AJL said:

Aug 13, 2021 14:18:16 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I don't want to watch the video. From what you posted, the guy should not have posted online, but turned over the phone to the police. I always wonder how much of this can be considered tampering with the evidence, since he's not affiliated with law enforcement in any way.

Is it evidence before the alleged thief is charged? Right now he just has someone's personal property.

I have no legal training but if I found out someone committed murder and interfered with the evidence (e.g., by messing with their phone to change tracking settings), I'm pretty sure that would be illegal.

ETA even before they were charged.

ETA2 seeing below that my post wasn't clear, I wasn't trying to say that I thought she had committed murder and I'm sorry if it came across that way. I was trying to use a straw man at an extreme where I know I shouldn't tamper with evidence before someone (generic person, not this case) was charged with a crime.

[aliciabella]

Aug 13, 2021 16:36:22 GMT -5 AJL said:

Aug 13, 2021 14:18:16 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I don't want to watch the video. From what you posted, the guy should not have posted online, but turned over the phone to the police. I always wonder how much of this can be considered tampering with the evidence, since he's not affiliated with law enforcement in any way.

Is it evidence before the alleged thief is charged? Right now he just has someone's personal property.

The cops can't do anything with the phone without a warrant. They cannot look or go through unless there is enough evidence for said warrant. And honestly,the police are not that motivated for petty thefts and I am not even touching the murder accusation.

Also,the defense would have an argument about the admissibility of the phone evidence since it is a break in the chain of custody.

What a weird story. I don't think there is anything more the guy can do.

[AJL]

Aug 13, 2021 17:08:55 GMT -5 aurora said:

Aug 13, 2021 16:36:22 GMT -5 AJL said:

Is it evidence before the alleged thief is charged? Right now he just has someone's personal property.

I have no legal training but if I found out someone committed murder and interfered with the evidence (e.g., by messing with their phone to change tracking settings), I'm pretty sure that would be illegal.

ETA even before they were charged.

That's a big leap. In the article that was posted, all it said was that the guy who was snooping through her phone found something he thought was suspicious. He didn't say that he saw pictures of her murdering a guy or a photo of a dead guy or anything like. She hasn't been charged with murder, so as far as we know, she didn't commit a murder.

[UMaineTeach]

This feels super icky.

Someone attempted car theft and that deserves revenge in the form of identity theft, irreversible public shaming, and baseless accusations of other crimes? All for people to judge and debate on the internet?

[sonrisa]

Aug 13, 2021 22:42:45 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

This feels super icky.

yes.

[pixy0stix]

Yes about the identity theft. He changed her passwords to everything, not just Facebook. It sounds like he changed them to her icloud account and everything associated with it to continue mining the information after he turned in the phone.

[aurora]

Aug 13, 2021 20:36:36 GMT -5 AJL said:

Aug 13, 2021 17:08:55 GMT -5 aurora said:

I have no legal training but if I found out someone committed murder and interfered with the evidence (e.g., by messing with their phone to change tracking settings), I'm pretty sure that would be illegal.

ETA even before they were charged.

That's a big leap. In the article that was posted, all it said was that the guy who was snooping through her phone found something he thought was suspicious. He didn't say that he saw pictures of her murdering a guy or a photo of a dead guy or anything like. She hasn't been charged with murder, so as far as we know, she didn't commit a murder.

I wasn't saying she committed murder. I was giving a generic example of where I'm pretty sure it would be illegal for me to mess with something (tampering with evidence) before someone was charged with a crime. I see now that my post wasn't clear and I'm sorry about that. It wasn't my intent to pile further accusations on this woman.

As in many things legal, I imagine there is grey area in between.

[foundmylazybum]

Why would I read this?