False Alibi

Sypnosis

The defendant, in a custody dispute with the mother of his child, devised a plan to have her killed while creating a false alibi. He left his phone at home, purchased a GPS tracker for the victim’s vehicle, and coordinated with a co-defendant to carry out the murder. While his phone sat idle to suggest he was at home, he and his co-conspirator stalked the victim across multiple counties. The prosecution relied on call detail records, phone extractions, and forensic timeline reconstruction to demonstrate the defendant’s role in the planning, execution, and cover-up of the crime.

Our Role

We were retained by the prosecutor’s office to analyze call detail records from multiple phones and examine full extractions of the defendant’s and co-defendant’s devices, as well as the victim’s. Our findings helped establish a timeline and exposed fabricated evidence during trial. The co-defendant accepted a plea deal, while the primary defendant proceeded to trial.

Technology Involved

Call Detail Records (CDRs) from multiple carriers

Full file system extractions: Apple iPhones & Android

MVNO app activity (used to spoof text content)

GPS tracker purchase, activation, and location logs

Web history, system logs, and app usage patterns

Device-to-device communications and link analysis

Key Findings

The defendant sent the GPS tracker URL to the co-defendant prior to the attack.

On the day of the murder, logs showed the defendant’s phone was locked and unused during the key window — an anomaly based on device history.

Location data from the co-defendant’s phone revealed they stalked the victim across two counties before the killing.

After the murder, the co-defendant’s phone returned to the defendant’s home; shortly after, the defendant’s phone was unlocked and resumed normal use.