Snapchat Selfie At Scene Of Alleged Crime Is Key Evidence In Murder Case

A teenager from Jeanette, Penn. is facing first-degree murder charges after taking a selfie with the body of the alleged 16-year-old victim and sharing it via Snapchat.

Investigators told the Pittsburgh Tribune Review that the picture, screencapped by a recipient and shown to authorities, was a key piece of evidence in the case against Maxwell Marion Morton, 16.

The photo led to a search of Morton’s home, where police found a 9mm handgun, as well as a discharged 9mm casing in his room. Morton eventually confessed to the murder, and is now being held in a juvenile detention center without bail.

County District Attorney John Peck told the Tribune Review it was the first time he’d seen this in 30 years of prosecuting.

There are a number of cases in which people have posted evidence of their own guilt to social media. In November, a Washington State man was apprehended after posting gruesome photos of his deceased girlfriend on 4chan. The same happened back in 2013 when a Florida man posted a murder confession and a photo of his dead wife to Facebook.

What exactly the alleged killer was thinking by sending a Snapchat of a murder is unknown but it’s clear that social media is now the bearer of both joy and horror.

[via Verge]

[IMG by Darrell Etherington]

from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/BxVo0AS8o9A/

via IFTTT