Smart devices have invaded our lives and expanded to include all parts of the home;

From the phone to the refrigerator, the TV, and even the clock;

We are surrounded by a huge number of smart devices that monitor our movements and our dwellings.

But how can these devices assist law enforcement agencies in their search, verification, and pursuit of criminals?

And how can she reveal those involved in the crimes?

Did these devices become like detective "Colombo" (after an American television series that was shown in the seventies) who can find out the culprit by analyzing the evidence?

Murder

Smartphone and smartwatch data provided crucial evidence that led to a man confessing to killing his wife, as the data showed that his story about what happened could not be true.

Greek helicopter pilot Papis Anagostopoulos claimed that his wife was killed by burglars during a home burglary.

However, data from his phone, his wife's smartwatch and home monitoring system all contradict his version of events.

Police said a 33-year-old pilot had confessed to killing his young British wife, Caroline Crouch, in a crime that shocked Greece.

Anagostopoulos claimed that 3 thieves broke into the couple's home in Athens and tied him up, but after a lengthy investigation, police said his story did not stand up to the data they had.

They checked a range of technical devices to confirm his account;

The wife's watch, which measures biometric readings, revealed the presence of her pulse measurements on the day of her death, and they were also able to track Anagostopoulos' movements through his mobile phone, and the couple's monitoring system highlighted the inconsistencies in the husband's story.

The watch showed a heartbeat

Crouch's smartwatch showed her heart was still beating at the time her husband claimed she was murdered, and the activity tracker on his phone showed him moving around the house while he said he was tied up;

And the recorded time that the data storage cards were removed from the home security camera also tells a different story from his version of events.

After the memorial service, the investigators asked him to go with them to Athens, saying that there was a breakthrough in the investigation and they wanted to identify the suspect, and said that he confessed after 8 hours of interrogation, and after confronting him with the facts.

Wife Caroline Crouch's smart watch recorded her pulse on the day she died (Reuters)

What happened in our smart devices will not stay in them

This isn't the first time that data from a smartphone has helped solve a crime;

iPhone data also proved crucial in a very similar case in 2018, when a man once claimed that his wife was murdered by hackers.

A pharmacist in the UK killed his wife, then tried to make it as if hackers broke into the house and carried out the killing, but activity data from the iPhones of both the killer and the victim showed what really happened.

The husband's deception was exposed after police checked the iPhone health app, which tracks a user's steps throughout the day, on his and his wife's phone.

In the minutes after the wife's death, the husband's phone recorded a frenzied activity, as he wandered nervously around the house trying to imitate the burglary and running up and down the stairs.

The murdered wife's health app also remained consistent even after her death, recording 14 steps, as her husband took the iPhone from the body and put it outside to make it look as if the "thief" had dropped it as he was leaving.

There have been a number of other cases in which smartphone and smartwatch data have played an important role, by identifying activity or locations that conflict with a story told by a suspect.