Shutterstock / Michael Wapp
Police in Hallandale Beach, Florida, believe that an Amazon Alexa device may have witnessed a murder. Cops are hoping that audio recorded on an Amazon Echo can help solve the murder mystery where a 32-year-old woman was impaled to death by a spear-like bedpost.
In July, Silvia Galva and her boyfriend Adam Reechard Crespo got into an argument at their Hallandale Beach home after they had been drinking. Silvia told police that he grabbed his girlfriend by the ankles to pull her off the bed. “At the foot of the bed was a spear with a 12-inch double-sided metal blade,” NBC News reports.
Crespo alleges that Galva grabbed onto the 12-inch-long bedpost that had a double-sided blade on the top. “While he was still pulling her from the bed he heard a snap,” according to the affidavit. “The defendant turned around and discovered… the blade had penetrated the victim’s chest.”
Crespo’s attorney, Christopher O’Toole, said, “Mr. Crespo was sleeping when Silvia came into the bedroom, knocked the door down.” He added that Silvia Galva broke off one of the spear-like bedposts and “it ended up inside of her.”
“[Mr. Crespo] pulled the blade out of the victim’s chest ‘hoping it was not too bad,'” the police report said. “He tried to save Silvia’s life,” O’Toole said. “This was the woman he loved.”
Galva died from a lethal stab wound to the chest. Crespo allegedly told a friend who was also at the home to call 911. The female friend called 911 and said, “there is blood on the floor,” and Galva was “100% unconscious.”
Galva was taken to the hospital, and the staff said the blade pierced the victim’s sternum “at an angle.”
“Based on the information received the actions of the defendant caused the victim to grab the spear to keep herself on the bed,” the affidavit read. “The force used by the defendant to remove the victim caused the shaft to break and in an unknown way, caused the blade to pierce the victim, which caused the loss of life.”
The 43-year-old Crespo has been charged with second-degree murder. He has denied that he murdered his girlfriend and insists it was a tragic accident. Crespo was bailed out of jail on a $65,000 bond.
Florida man claimed he was arguing with his girlfriend when she was killed when a spear she was holding onto snapped, impaling her chest, disbelieving his tale, police have charged Adam Crespo, of murdering Silvia Galva… https://t.co/0pQ9i2bUSa pic.twitter.com/3lRA0prvVk
— konniemoments1 (@KonnieMoments1) July 17, 2019
Police believe Crespo’s two Amazon Echo devices may provide them with what really happened to Silvia. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office has acquired audio from Amazon, but it may not be from the time that Galva died. Smart speakers will hear keywords such as “Alexa,” “Echo,” “Ok Google,” or “Hey Siri,” but the voice-activated personal assistants are not supposed to listen to conversations.
Amazon released a statement that said the company “does not disclose customer information in response to government demands unless we’re required to do so to comply with a legally valid and binding order.”
A police warrant stated: “Audio recordings capturing the attack on victim Silvia Crespo… may be found on the server[s] maintained by or for Amazon.com.” Police said that Amazon provided multiple recordings from Crespo’s Alexa device, but did say if they when they were from Silvia’s death or if the audio convicted or acquitted Crespo.
Hallandale Beach Police Department spokesman Sgt. Pedro Abut said the department is “in the process of analyzing the information that was sent to us.”
O’Toole is in favor of having the audio played in court. “Ordinarily, I’d be jumping up and down objecting, but we believe the recordings could help us,” O’Toole said. “If the truth comes out, it could help us.”
“We want to hear these recordings as well,” O’Toole said in an interview with NBC’s Weekend Today show. “I believe in my client’s innocence 100 percent. And I think that these recordings are only going to help us.”
[NBCNews]