Man charged with stepdaughter's murder after chilling discovery on her Fitbit
A 90-year-old man has been charged with the murder of his stepdaughter, 67, after police looked at data from her Fitbit.
Her stepfather, Anthony “Tony” Aiello, claimed to have brought pharmacy technician Karen Navarra some pizza and then left in his car.
A colleague then found her blood-spattered body at her San Jose house on September 13, slouched over her kitchen table next to a knife and an uneaten pizza.
But police examined data from Ms Navarra’s Fitbit and found the timing was suspicious.
The woman’s Fitbit Alta HR showed a ‘spike’ in her heart rate and then recorded her heart stopping.
When police compared the time in the Fitbit data to surveillance camera footage outside her house, it showed Aiello may have still been in the house.
“After explaining the abilities of the Fitbit to record time, physical movement and heart rate data, he was informed that the victim was deceased prior to his leaving the house,” San Jose police detective Brian Meeker said.
Aiello was arrested and is due in court this week.
It is not the first case where Fitbit data has been crucial.
Richard Dabate told officers his partner, Connie, had been shot dead by a masked burglar minutes after she came home from a morning spinning class.
Records from her fitness tracker appeared to show she was alive in the house for almost an hour after the time she supposedly died.
Dabate pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
