Alexa Might Have Recorded Fatal Spear Stabbing in Florida, Police Say

Hallandale Beach Police, in Miami, Florida, are trying to find out if Alexa, the personal assistant from Amazon, recorded the death of a 32-year old woman stabbed in Miami with a spear outfitted with a 12-inch steel tip.

A friend of Sylvia Galva Crespo was still trying to save her life when police arrived at the scene. Adam Crespo, the husband, was arrested. Now, police think an Alexa-powered Amazon Echo smart speaker might have recorded the murder and uploaded it to Amazon servers.

The main question mark in the case is that Adam Crespo says it was an accident. He said that, during an argument with his wife, he stabbed her with the spear by mistake. He said he quickly removed the blade, thinking it’s just a superficial wound. There’s a big difference between killing someone by accident and first-degree murder.

The Internet of Things connects many devices, including the Amazon Echo. The personal assistant can be woken up with specific words, and police consider that Alexa could have recorded the argument, the murder, or both.

“It is believed that evidence of crimes, audio recordings capturing the attack on victim Silvia Crespo that occurred in the main bedroom … may be found on the server maintained by or for Amazon,” police wrote in a legal filing seeking to secure any available recordings, the Sun Sentinel reported.

From the looks of it, Amazon complied with the request and sent some recordings back to the Florida police. “We did receive recordings, and we are in the process of analyzing the information that was sent to us,” said the Hallandale Beach police department.

It’s not the first time personal assistants are used in criminal cases, and the more the Internet of Things expands, the more this type of evidence will be sought by authorities.