Most of us are used to asking Siri where the nearest pizza place or supermarket is. He/she has become an almost indispensable part of some iPhone users’ lives. But would you ever ask Siri how to hide a dead body? That’s exactly what one Florida man did two years ago.
Pedro Bravo, 20, is currently standing trial accused of kidnapping and strangling his friend Christian Aguilar in September 2012 after an argument started over Aguilar dating Bravo’s ex-girlfriend. One of the key pieces of evidence used by the prosecutors is a record of Bravo telling Apple’s famous digital assistant: “I need to hide my roommate”
Rather worriyingly, Siri responded “What kind of place are you looking for?” before offering four options: “Swamps, reservoirs, metal foundries, dumps”.
Further evidence on Bravo’s iPhone is also being used by the prosecution, who are hopeful of a swift conviction. They say that Bravo’s use of the phones’ flashlight app shows when he was using the light to hide the body in the woods where it was eventually found. Bravo used the phone’s flashlight function nine times from 11.31pm to 12:01am.
Prosecution also claim that internal GPS signals in the phone contradict Bravo’s testimony about where he was on the night of the murder.
The case highlights just how much personal information our phones carry about us and our movements.
The two friends had gone to a nearby Best Buy to purchase a Kanye West CD when they apparently had a fight in the car over Bravo’s ex-girlfriend. Bravo claimed that he only beat Aguilar, but prosecutors are accusing him of strangling his friend and dumping his body in the woods.
Aguilar, Bravo and Bravo’s ex-girlfriend were all students together at a local Miami high school. The case continues.