After Death, Police Want Answers— From Alexa

Amazon turns over recordings from couple's home
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 3, 2019 9:35 AM CST
After Fatal Fight, Police Ask Alexa for Answers
Police are going over recordings from Amazon that could shed light on a woman's death.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Police trying to figure out how a fight between a Florida couple ended with a woman dead, a spear in her chest, are analyzing recordings to see if the Amazon Echo Dot smart speakers in their home hold the answer. Sylvia Galva Crespo, 32, was killed at her home in Hallandale Beach, north of Miami, in July. Her husband told police he didn't intentionally stab her, that the spear broke during the fight, per the Guardian, with its 12-inch blade piercing her chest. He said he then pulled the spear out in hopes the wound was "not too bad." A police report said the force he used "in an unknown way caused the blade to pierce the victim which caused the loss of life." Adam Crespo, 43, is charged with second-degree murder.

It wasn't known whether Alexa was listening during the struggle. An Amazon spokesman said Echo devices record only short bits of talking, per the Sun Sentinel. "By default, Echo devices are designed to detect only your chosen wake word," he said; so the wake word would had to have been used. But investigators sought a search warrant for the two devices in the house, and Amazon has turned over their recordings. Crespo's attorney welcomed their use, per People. "They will show he had nothing to do with this and called 911 and tried to save her life." (More Alexa stories.)

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