Mystery Question–Can Your Devices Convict You?

Patricia Bradley Mystery Question 60 Comments

Can Your Watch Convict You; Psalm 19:1

Can Your Devices Convict You? is the Mystery Question for this week. My research into court cases involving health apps and our electronic toys was really interesting. But first the photo and verse. I don’t know how anyone can look at the heavens and not believe in God.

Now for last week’s Mystery Question–Mass Hysteria Cases. Three of these cases actually happened and I made one of them up. Can you guess which one?
  1. After three teenagers in a small town in Alabama read about mass hysteria, they decided to test the theory. One of them claimed to authorities to have been attacked by Big Foot, a few hours later a second one claimed she’d been attacked by the same creature, and the next day the third teenager made the same claim. Soon the story ran rampant in the small town. Within six hours twenty plus people called authorities claiming to have been attacked by this same Big Foot.
  2. Several girls from a school in Blackburn, England, began complaining of dizziness, and many fainted. Within hours, 85 girls had to be rushed to the hospital after fainting. A year later, it was determined that the fainting was caused by mass hysteria among the girls of Blackburn.
  3. In 1976, 15 students at a school in Mount Pleasant, Mississippi, fell to the ground and began writhing in pain. School officials and police suspected it might have had something to do with drugs, but there was no evidence to suggest this. The students believed it to be some sort of curse and one-third of the school’s students stayed home the next day so they wouldn’t be “hexed.
  4. A nun in a German nunnery started biting all her companions. In the course of a short time, all the nuns of this convent began biting each other. But it didn’t stop there. It spread to the Netherlands and Italy.
And the answer is…

#1. Congrats on all who guess correctly. One note, I’ve taught classes at the school in #3…not when this happened, but lots of interesting things happened there. 🙂

Now for this week’s Mystery Question–Electronic Toys As Evidence. Three of these cases actually happened and I made one of them up. Can you guess which one?
  1.  Data from a defendant’s smartphone’s health app played a role in his conviction. His testimony that he was asleep at the time of his wife’s murder was contradicted by data from the activity app on his cell phone.
  2. It was after 10 p.m. when a woman reported her mother-in-law had been murdered by intruders. However, the victim’s Apple watch indicated the victim’s activity and heart rate measurements indicated an attack occurred at 6:38 p.m. and that the wearer had “almost certainly” died by 6:45 p.m.
  3. Police arrested a jewelry store owner after he called in a break-in and the theft of an antique Philippe Patek watch from his safe insured for two hundred thousand dollars. He claimed he’d been home all night with his wife, but a cell tower indicated he’d made a call two miles from his store at eleven p.m. the night of the burglary.
  4. The suspect claimed he was asleep when the fire started that burned his house down. He was able to pack some items in a bag and climb out of his bedroom window to escape the flames. However, his pacemaker showed he was active during the time he claimed he was asleep.
Okay, Super Sleuths, which one did I make up? Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll enter you in a February drawing for a book from my library.
Mystery Question--Electronics As Evidence. Four crimes where electronics played a role in a conviction. Three are true, I made up one...can you guess which one? Share on X

By the way, if I don’t answer comments, it means the snowstorm bearing down (or would it be up since it’s coming from the Gulf Coast?) knocked out power for our area. The South doesn’t do snow well!

So far the frigid temps and about 4″ of snow and ice haven’t knocked out my internet to power! But if I suddenly stop answering comments, rest assured I will eventually when poser is restored. 🙂


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  1. Delores Topliff

    These are all good but I have a pacemaker and the majority are fixed rate so I’ll go with #4. There are dual chambers like I have that indicate some activity demand uptake, but I think the other devices were better indicators in these cases. Well-done!

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  2. Betti

    After reading those, I think it is time to get rid of all my technology…lol. #4 – after all he could have been tossing and turning – that would account for activity.
    Hope you are staying warm and your power is running just like it should!

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      Patricia Bradley

      My thoughts exactly, Betti! I’m staying warm in the 16° weather…at least it didn’t get down to 2° last night like they said. lol Thanks for stopping by and we’ll see next week if it’s #4.

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  3. Anonymous

    On the picture, I totally agree with you, I can’t believe how anyone can look at the sky or the Grand Canyon and Not believe in God. I am 65 and I’m still over awed when I see a dawn, I even named my daughter, Dawn! I have been to the Grand Canyon many times and can’t hardly speak above a whisper. God is such an architect!
    As for the mystery question, I think #4 as I am not sure a pacemaker can hold the info yet.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Thank you for stopping by my blog! I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, but I’m sure I’d feel the same way…a rainbow will render me speechless! Check back next week and see if it’s #4. 🙂

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  4. Melissa Romine

    These single digits and teen temperatures in Mississippi and Alabama are freezing my brain!
    I’ll guess #4.

    I am so enjoying Obsession on this cold day!!

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  5. Tim Johnson

    Pat, I’m glad you’re OK. Your blog is usually waiting for me when I come down and turn my computer on. It wasn’t there this AM, and it’s thrown my whole schedule off today. I’ve been late for everything since then. Well, that’s my story and I’m stick’n to it. 🙂

    Done in by smart devices. I love it! These folks need some jail time to get their brains an update. I believe you made up #3.

    A very cold snap several years ago caused Tucson’s natural gas pressure in the El Paso, TX pipeline that serves us to drop so low due to very high usage along the way, that the gas company here shut it off in my part of town. We had no gas for almost 4 days! Never take utility service for granted!

    Pat, you should really plan a vacation to the Grand Canyon! I promise you will not regret it. That first look will blow you away. Then you can post a GC picture on your blog!

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      Patricia Bradley

      I do want to go to the Grand Canyon! Maybe one day soon! I hope and pray our gas doesn’t get shut off. I have a neighbor who is all electric and his heat pump went out last night and UPS isn’t delivering from Memphis…we’ll see next week if I made up #3. 😉

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  6. Gloria A

    Great photo, Pat. It looks like some that we have taken from our sailboat. I am guessing #2. The coroner would have decided time of death, I am thinking.

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  7. Priscilla Bettis

    Beautiful photo. I agree, I can’t look at the heavens and not believe in God! I feel that way every time Dear Husband gets the telescope out and shows me the vast night sky.

    ANYWAY, this is a difficult one, but I guess number four only because if there’s a fire, would a person really pause to pack clothes or just run for his life?

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  8. Trixi

    I say #3 could be circumstantial evidence because who’s to say that the jewelry store owner was the one to make the call on his cell phone? It could have been someone else who made the call on his phone. To me, that would merit further investigation. Only you know the answer to the question this week Patricia and I can’t wait to find out 🙂

    I hope you are staying safe and warm! This freak snow/ice storm has taken so many by surprise! I know many who are without power & heat. My prayers are with everyone!

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      Patricia Bradley

      My prayers are with those who are without power, too, Trixi! I can’t imagine anything much worse than temps in the teens and no electricity! And we’ll see next week if your logic brought you to the correct answer. 🙂

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  9. Edward Arrington

    What a day! I love the picture and verse. I wish I could just sit and watch that sunrise or sunset in person for a while. That would be so relaxing. I could use some relaxing right now. It seems I have hardly had time to even read these past two or three weeks.

    I think #3 was made up. The details are too sketchy to know when the burglary actually occurred, how far the jeweler lived from the store, and if anything else was stolen. “All night” for some people may mean from midnight to 6 AM. While working with an ATM program years ago, I was told that evening is from 6 PM to midnight, night is midnight to 6 AM, etc. So the man may have spent the night at home and the store could have been burglarized at 5 AM. I don’t see enough proof to convict on this one.

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  10. Diana Hardt

    Beautiful photo. I’m going to go with #4. I don’t think that he would have much time to pack a bag while the house was burning down unless he had the bag already packed.

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