Guns / Firearms, Murder, Technology

Did This Alleged Murderer Get Some Help From a 'Little Buddy'?

Did this man use a GPS tracking device to help him commit murder?

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Well, this is chilling. We’ve heard a lot recently about the privacy implications of warrantless wire tapping. But this is the first we’ve heard of a murder allegedly committed with the help of a GPS device designed to help parents keep track of their children.

A man is currently facing trial for allegedly shooting his wife’s lover after following her with a Little Buddy GPS device.

And to think, normal people feel bad after occasionally creeping around an ex’s Facebook profile….

The Times-News has the details of last week’s testimony in the murder trial of Raul Zuniga Contreres (gavel bang: Threat Level):

Mark Harrison had known Contreres more than 10 years when Contreres showed up at his home July 17, 2010, with a Little Buddy GPS tracking device asking Harrison’s help to activate it. Contreres said he planned to put the tracker in his daughter’s backpack in case she got lost, Harrison testified.

Aww, that sounds cute. He was concerned about his daughter’s safety. What a conscientious parent. NOPE, at least according to law enforcement:

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Just before 8:30 p.m. that night, 911 calls came in saying David Wayne Smith had been shot inside his garage at 4071 Cedar Hill Drive, Haw River.

The state alleges that Contreres planted the GPS device in the car of his estranged wife, who was having an affair with Smith. Investigators believe Contreres tracked his wife, Yanet Sales Zuniga, to Smith’s home the evening of July 19, 2010, and shot him. Smith died from his injuries.

Mother, tell your children husbands not to track you down.

Police found the Little Buddy — with a name that will never again be cute, considering the circumstances — hidden inside the trunk of Zuniga’s Toyota Corrolla. (Technology has come so far from those old school baby monitors that Contreras allegedly bought the thing at Best Buy, and was allegedly able to use the device through his smart phone, even though he didn’t have a computer.)

If Contreras is convicted, maybe someone should amend the old adage: hell hath no fury like a man, with substantial knowledge of technology, scorned.

Friend: Murder defendant wanted help using GPS tracking [Times-News]
Murder Suspect Allegedly Used GPS Tracker to Find Wife’s Lover [Wired / Threat Level]

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