Art, obsession, and identity
When May Millete went missing on January 7, 2021, it didn't take police long to focus on her husband, Larry Millete. Larry had been acting strangely that day and didn't show up for work. When investigators seized his phone, they found texts from May stating that she intended to divorce him. Larry had then searched the internet for information on drugs that can be used to knock someone out, like Rohypnol.
Casey Anthony was just 22 years old when her two-year-old daughter Caylee disappeared in 2008. The mother and daughter had been living in Casey's parents' home. It was her mother, Cindy, who first reported Caylee missing. Caylee had reportedly already been missing for a month by that time, although Cindy told police that Casey continuously tried to explain away her daughter's absence.
The defense claimed that Casey's father, George Anthony, was responsible for Caylee's murder and that he had abused Casey as a child—claims he denied at trial. They argued that Caylee had died in an accident and that George and Casey had covered it up. She was acquitted of the murder and in a documentary 10 years later, she changed her story saying she never actually knew how Caylee died but that George was certainly to blame.
Bridger was convicted of her murder at trial, but never revealed the whereabouts of her remains. A prison chaplain who visited Bridger said that the convicted murderer confided in him, claiming that he had disposed of the body in a nearby river.
Investigators searched his home, finding blood and possible bone fragments in his fireplace, as well as some damning evidence on his computer. Bridger had been searching for child abuse material and information about local child murders online. He had also saved photos of April Jones and her sisters that were posted on Facebook.
Nikolas Cruz was the gunman responsible for the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018. The horrifying massacre left 14 students and three staff members dead. Nineteen-year-old Cruz was apprehended at the scene and his guilt was never in doubt, but some disturbing internet searches supported the prosecution's case in court.
Maribel Ramos was a 36-year-old Army veteran studying for a degree in criminal justice at California State University. She met Kwang Chol Joy when she started renting out the spare room in her apartment to him to lighten her financial load. They became friends after she observed that he was somewhat isolated, and she started inviting him to family occasions.
They searched the area Joy had been examining online and found Ramos' body within 45 minutes. Joy was convicted of her murder and sentenced to 15 years.
Brian Walshe was on house arrest in his Boston home for selling stolen paintings when his wife, real estate executive Ana Walshe, went missing in early 2023. Brian failed to notify police when his wife first disappeared, which quickly put him at the top of their suspect list.
The internet search history on his phone revealed searches like "shooting people massacre," as well as many other phrases related to gun violence and even assault. Cruz plead guilty just before his trial was due to begin in 2021, and was given 17 consecutive life sentences.
A hard drive Garland had hidden in his home revealed searches pertaining to painful torture methods, human dissection, and grinding bones. He had also researched "how to drill out a Schlage lock," which was the type of door lock used by the missing Liknes family. Garland was convicted of the murders in 2017, and sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.
It was shown in court that he used his son's iPad at around 5 am on January 1 for some damning research. Internet searches like "How to throw away body parts," "Can you be charged with murder without a body," and "How long for someone to be missing to inherit" pretty much gave away Brian's plan. A large amount of blood and a damaged knife suspected to be a murder weapon were found in his basement.
Following his 2018 arrest, investigators supplemented the DNA evidence with the disturbing search history found on his work computer. Burns had been looking up extremely violent material, particularly that which featured young blonde women—similar to Michelle Martinko. This suggested to prosecutors that he still had the same violent predilections all those years later. He was found guilty of the murder in 2020 and sentenced to life in prison.
Jensen was called to stand trial for the murder of his wife again in January 2023. This time, new evidence was introduced, including forensic analysis of his computer. It showed that he had searched for information about using antifreeze as a poison, after which he deleted his browser history. Jensen was convicted again in February 2023.
In 2014, a Canadian man named Douglas Garland was arrested for the murder of his former business partner, Alvin Liknes, as well as Liknes' wife and five-year-old grandson. Sadly, the bodies were never found, but there was still a mountain of evidence against Garland, including his search history.
In the year prior, Larry had also searched the internet for "subliminal wife training," as well as for someone who might be able to sell him a spell to prevent his wife from leaving him. Larry was charged with May's murder and is awaiting trial. Her remains still have not been found.
On May 3, 2013, Ramos disappeared. This was shortly after she and Joy had been heard arguing about the rent. It turned out that Ramos had even called 911 a week earlier, saying she didn't feel safe with Joy in her home. Police found that Joy had used a library computer to research how long it takes a human body to decompose, and used a satellite map to scout a nearby canyon.
In 2008, Wisconsin man Mark Jensen was convicted of killing his wife, Julie, by poisoning her with antifreeze and sleeping pills before suffocating her. He received a life sentence, but his conviction was overturned following an appeal in 2021. The defense showed that a letter from Jensen's wife used as evidence by the prosecution was improperly introduced. Julie's letter had been written to a neighbor saying that she had suspicions that her husband would try to kill her, and that if anything happened to her, she wanted it known that she would never take her own life.
What's more, Kessler's browser history revealed searches like "autopsy," "cadaver," and, most incriminatingly, "Joleen Cummings no body no crime." Kessler was convicted of the murder in 2022 and sentenced to life in prison. Cummings' remains still have not been found.
In 2021, Kimberly Kessler stood trial for the murder of her colleague, Joleen Cummings. The two women had worked together at a hair salon and were alleged to have a contentious relationship. In 2018, Cummings disappeared the day after they had a big bust up at work. Blood was found at the salon and surveillance footage showed Kessler abandoning Cummings' car in a parking lot at night.
Caylee's remains were later found buried near the family home. The young mother was charged with murder and the prosecutors were gunning for the death penalty. During the trial, it was revealed that Casey had searched the internet for information about chloroform dozens of times, as well as searching terms like "household weapons" and "neck breaking."
Among the evidence against Sweetser was his internet search history. He had been researching how to break up the family's estate, and even searched "hydrochloric acid and dead bodies." He wasn't charged with the 2016 murder until 2018, when the police finally recovered the murder weapon from a creek. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2022.
In 2016, a Texas real estate agent named Tom Niblo was found shot and killed in his home. Police discovered that the person with the greatest cause to kill Niblo was his brother-in-law, Luke Sweetser. Sweetser was married to Niblo's sister Eloise, but Sweetser and Eloise had become estranged from Niblo. The Sweetsers and the Niblos had a disagreement about the family estate, and Sweetser was allegedly unhappy that Niblo had been named the executor of his late father's will.
In 1979, 18-year-old Michelle Martinko was stabbed to death in the parking lot of a mall in Cedar Rapids, Ohio. The gruesome murder remained a cold case for decades. However, in 2018, advances in DNA technology allowed police to link the crime to a 66-year-old man named Jerry Burns. He was in his twenties at the time of the murder.
When investigators accessed Nwobodo's internet search history, they found that he had researched "how to be a serial killer" prior to Johnson's disappearance. He also searched for information about how to completely erase DNA evidence and how to kill without being caught. Nwobodo also searched for "the most forested part of Houston." A bloody scene was discovered when police entered Nwobodo's home. However, there was no sign of either Nwobodo or Johnson. A warrant is out for his arrest, but he remains at large. Johnson's body hasn't been found.
In April 2022, a young woman named Felicia Johnson went missing from Houston, Texas. She worked as an escort and had left the hotel room of a man named Chukwuebuka Nwobodo shortly before vanishing. The next day, Nwobodo purchased a number of suspicious items including trash bags, towels, and a mechanical saw.
In 2018, 13-year-old Trysten Mullis found his mother, Amy Mullis, facedown with a rake in her back in a shed on the family's farm. She was rushed to hospital, where she was sadly pronounced dead. Her husband, Todd Mullis, claimed that Amy must have fallen on the rake in a terrible accident. However, there were only four tines on the rake, and there were six wounds in Amy's back. This led the coroner to believe that she had been hit with the rake twice, and her death was ruled a homicide.
Todd Mullis quickly became a suspect when it was revealed that Amy previously had two known affairs and was thinking of leaving him. He had frequently said that he wouldn't lose the farm he had spent years building, and if Amy left she would take half of everything. Investigators found searches like "what happens to cheaters in history" and "killing unfaithful women" on Todd's iPad. He was convicted of first-degree murder.
Sources: (Grunge) (CBS)
See also: Murderous mementos—the trophies of famous serial killers
In 2012, a five-year-old girl named April Jones was abducted from her home in a small town in Wales, leading to a nationwide search across the UK. The police soon honed in on a suspect named Mark Bridger who had been seen prowling the area around the time of her disappearance.
One of the greatest benefits to the criminal justice system has been the development of DNA technology. However, advancements in other kinds of technology are also playing an increasingly important role in police investigations and criminal trials. For instance, there are a wide variety of cases in which your online search history can be used against you in court. Many criminals have used the endless resources of the internet to find out how to destroy DNA evidence and dispose of a body without getting caught, but in the end it was their browsing history that landed them in prison!
Click through this gallery to learn about the shocking murder trials that used the search histories of the accused as evidence.
The internet search histories of suspected murderers
These suspected killers were caught out by their browsing data
LIFESTYLE Crime
One of the greatest benefits to the criminal justice system has been the development of DNA technology. However, advancements in other kinds of technology are also playing an increasingly important role in police investigations and criminal trials. For instance, there are a wide variety of cases in which your online search history can be used against you in court. Many criminals have used the endless resources of the internet to find out how to destroy DNA evidence and dispose of a body without getting caught, but in the end it was their browsing history that landed them in prison!
Click through this gallery to learn about the shocking murder trials that used the search histories of the accused as evidence.