DNA, Cell Tower Analysis and Computer Forensics all Instrumental in Coleman Murder Conviction

Last Updated on Monday, 23 May 2011 08:16 Written by kelly.solid Monday, 23 May 2011 08:08

Prosecutors are using numerous forensic techniques – physical and technology to convince jurors of Chris Coleman’s murder of his wife and 2 kids.  A recent article discusses the forensic evidence to refute Mr. Coleman’s testimony that he showed up after going to the gym and found his family dead.  As the article states “ Prosecuting attorneys are trying to prove that despite Chris Coleman’s claims, there is no physical evidence that anyone else was in the Coleman house the day his wife, Sheri and the couple’s two young sons, Garett and Gavin, were murdered.”  They are trying to show that no one else’s DNA was found in the house.

In addition, they have analyzed Mr. Coleman’s cell phone records and determined that one of his calls hit a certain cell tower on his way home from the gym the morning of the murders.  The article continues ” Coleman has contended he rushed home from the gym the morning of the murders because he tried calling, but couldn’t reach his family. Monday afternoon an AT&T Network Director testified about the calls made by Coleman that morning. James Kientzy said one of Coleman’s calls on his return home hit a cell tower North on I-255, which suggests he passed up Rt. 3 to give police extra time to get to the scene. It took him 15 minutes to get home after a call placed on the JB Bridge, a drive that should only take 5 minutes.” 

Finally, there are some damning computer forensics acquired from Mr. Coleman’s emails.  The defense is contending that someone else wrote these emails, but the forensic expert has stated that they originated form Mr. Coleman’s Dell laptop. Again the article states “The defense tried to argue that someone else could have logged on remotely and sent the emails. They provided no evidence and the technician said it was unlikely since no program can remotely power on a computer that requires a wireless card to connect to the internet.”

Interesting evidence.  Glad they got him!

Internet Forensics Needs a National Web Hub for Law Enforcement

Last Updated on Friday, 12 February 2010 02:10 Written by kelly.solid Friday, 12 February 2010 02:10

A recent survey indicated that cybercrime personnel are becoming more and more frustrated with the timeliness of receiving subpoenaed information back from ISPs.  The article that I read stated that the survey based on questionnaires completed by 100 police investigators (authored by Frank Kardasz of the Phoenix PD), “says that 61 percent of them had their investigations harmed “because data was not retained” and only 40 percent were satisfied with the timeliness of responses from Internet providers.” The survey also stated that “89 percent of investigators agreed that a nationwide computer network should be established for the purpose of linking ISPs with law enforcement agencies so that they may exchange legal process requests and responses to legal process. Authorized users would communicate through encrypted virtual private networks in order to maintain the security of the data.”

Although there are a few ISP companies that offer a web interface to subpoena data (Sprint is one of them), there is no excitement in the ISP world for setting up a national system to handle this type of data.  There are too many security and privacy issues to overcome.  This is exacerbated by a recent Justice Department’s 289 page report that claimed the “FBI obtained Americans’ telephone records by citing nonexistent emergencies and simply asking for the data or writing phone numbers on a sticky note rather than following procedures required by law.”

Maybe a national web interface is not the answer, but a better system needs to be put in place to allow law enforcement to obtain legal and timely information from ISPs and the Social Networks (Facebook, Myspace, etc.) to assist them in solving their cases.