Featured Image Credit: Disney+/Kerry Gerdes/ Getty
A new documentary has showcased how smart home devices can be used to help police convict people of crimes committed in connected homes.
Alexa Catches A Killer, part of the true crime series Deadliest Families, tells the sad story of a Welsh woman called Angie White, 45, who was murdered in late 2022.
She was killed by her husband Daniel White, but what is interesting about the case was how an Alexa speaker helped lead to a conviction.
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In the following court case, Swansea Crown Court heard that Daniel, 36, had a long history of domestic violence, including against Angie, who had installed a mortis lock on her bedroom door.
After an argument started on WhatsApp, Daniel kicked through the lock on her door and killed her. He strangled her before cutting her throat, before eventually calling local police to confess his crime.
In the following investigation, police were able to use an Amazon Alexa speaker in the bedroom to help them piece together a clearer timeline of events.
In the documentary, you can hear the recordings from around 3:00 AM, including Angie turning her television down as a row escalates.
Later, you can also hear Daniel, out of breath or in panic, as he attempts to use Alexa to turn on lights and to turn the television off - at this point, police were able to deduce, he had already killed his partner.
It's a tragic situation and the recordings are, unsurprisingly, pretty chilling. As explained by prosecutor William Hughes KC: "Police have been able to discover that at 3:03 AM Angie in her bedroom said, 'Alexa, volume three'. At 3:16 AM Daniel's voice can be heard saying, 'Alexa stop'."
Later, said Hughes, Daniel "goes back downstairs into the living room and says, 'Turn on - Alexa' but what can also be heard is that he is out of breath and these appear to be the moments when, the Crown say, he has gone to get the knife".
In March 2023, he was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years and 10 months.
While in this case Alexa wasn't the sole reason that Daniel was convicted, the way police were able to use Alexa to help pinpoint events shows the role connected tech can have in solving crimes.
Deadliest Families is on Saturdays on Quest Red. Stream on discovery+.
