Modern Digital Age

The Modern Digital Age has certainly made life easier. My trusty iPhone can bring me weather, traffic, sports scores, and breaking news instantaneously. No longer will I be stuck in a traffic jam in the rain not knowing how the Phillies did the night before.

Of course, the Modern Digital Age also can be used for nefarious means. How many research papers and college application essays are generated by a sneaky app? “This kid from China writes better than Shakespeare. We must admit him to Harvard.”

Who would think that good old Google could be used to cover up a murder? Brian Walshe reported his wife Ana missing on Jan 2. He claimed that she left their Boston area home for a “job emergency” in D.C. on Jan 1. There was no record of her flights or arrival there.

There was a record of Brian searching Google at 5:47 AM on Jan 1 with “10 ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to”. “If you really need to”? That is a dead giveaway that we are talking foul play here. Has Brian never seen the original “Fargo”? A wood chipper works, Brian.

Brian also Googled:

• 4:55 a.m. — How long before a body starts to smell.
• 4:58 a.m. — How to stop a body from decomposing.
• 6:25 a.m. — How long for someone to be missing to inherit.
• 6:34 a.m. — Can you throw away body parts.
• 9:29 a.m. — What does formaldehyde do.
• 9:34 a.m. — How long does DNA last.
• 9:59 a.m. — Can identification be made on partial remains.
• 11:34 a.m. — Dismemberment and the best ways to dispose of a body.
• 11:44 a.m. — How to clean blood from wooden floor.
• 11:56 a.m. — Luminol to detect blood.
• 1:08 p.m. — What happens when you put body parts in ammonia.
• 1:21 p.m. — Is it better to put crime scene clothes away or wash them

It’s always better to wash those bloody clothes. Viscera tends to stink up a chest of drawers or a closet after a while.

As if Brian’s Google search history was not damning enough, he was caught on security video at a Home Depot buying $450 worth of cleaning supplies on Jan 2. Brian disguised himself behind a black COVID mask, wore plastic gloves (no fingerprints!) and paid in cash. That’s not suspicious at all.

The Modern Digital Age is a double-edged sword. It may get you into Harvard but it may also get you into Shawshank for murder.

By Ed Dufton