Since the mid-1980s, computer forensics has been allowed in criminal court as evidence. It continues to be a highly important aspect of investigation. Pertaining to any type of legal evidence discovered on computers, this branch of digital forensics science is one of many ways that helps clients in their pursuit of the truth. Here are a few examples of how computer forensics experts helped to either solve cases or prosecute them:
- BTK Killer: A man named Dennis Rader began to send letters to police on floppy disks. A computer forensics investigation used data mining software to uncover Meta data within files that implicated Rader as the author. Forensic data recovery provided the evidence needed. He was indicted and charged with multiple murders conducted over a period of 16 years.
- Sharon Lopatka: After her lifeless body was found, police seized her computer and handed it over to a forensic computer specialist. He found hundreds of disturbing emails on her computer from a male. This information led them directly to Robert Glass, the man who killed her.
- Conrad Murray: As the personal physician to deceased pop stat, Michael Jackson, evidence on Murray’s computer helped to convict him in Jackson’s death. Investigators found evidence on Murray’s computer, that he had researched how to inject lethal amount of Propofol. Data extraction software collects search histories and records as well as “hidden” or “deleted” files on computers.
These are just a few of many landmark cases involving digital forensics. Each time digital forensics proves that an individual has questioning searches in the search history or the use of spy ware to steal personal information and data from another person’s computer, our world is no longer surprised.
Instead, we are reminded that because of today’s technology, we can’t usually get away with a wrongdoing for very long without leaving some type of trail. This truth comes in very handy for . In the midst of computer forensics investigations for any of our clients, our goal is always the same; to identify, preserve, recover and present facts, directly from the computer evidence we discover during our forensic computer analysis. We then preserve this untainted information for the possibility of use as evidence in a court of law.
-Brenda McGinley, CEO, All in Investigations, All in Investigations
