Cellphone data defined 2025’s biggest criminal cases as expert calls them a 'crime scene in their pocket'

A forensic idiosyncratic said that cellphones person turned into a "crime scene" successful the pockets of mundane Americans, arsenic the instrumentality has been astatine the halfway of respective large transgression cases implicit the past year.

In cases specified arsenic the University of Idaho murders and Brian Walshe’s sidesplitting of his wife, Ana, prosecutors and defence attorneys leaned heavy connected cellphone information to contiguous juries with grounds that simply didn’t beryllium a decennary ago.

Forensic idiosyncratic and Jacksonville State University Professor Joseph Scott Morgan told Fox News Digital that mundane Americans whitethorn not beryllium alert that they're carrying a "crime country successful their pouch everyplace they go" due to the fact that of the magnitude of information that the instrumentality perpetually collects.

"We're truthful joined to it that radical cannot spot themselves absent this thing. They're gonna clasp onto it, adjacent if it means that it's gonna bring them down due to the fact that truthful overmuch information is captured connected there," Morgan said. "People are, you know, surely not alert of the information that, that they are, they're carrying a transgression country successful their pouch wherever they go."

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Clients complaint their phones astatine the Miracle City Empowerment Center connected Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, successful Conroe, Texas. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Morgan said there’s overmuch much grounds connected a person’s cellphone than galore expect, specified arsenic hunt history, metadata, deleted conversations, GPS data, clip stamps and more.

"Now you've virtually got integer breadcrumbs that mightiness beryllium hiding successful the information and you tin statesman to way them," Morgan said. "And the happening astir it is they're time-stamped. And this goes to, if idiosyncratic is trying to alibi themselves, for instance, 'Wow, I wasn't there,' oregon ‘I ne'er thought astir that, contemplated that.’ Well, we amusement present successful the information that we've collected retired of your telephone it."

Here are 3 transgression cases successful 2025 that relied heavy connected cellphone data:

University of Idaho murders:

Bryan Kohberger pleaded blameworthy to execution successful the Nov. 13, 2022 killings of University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

Bryan Kohberger appears astatine the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, successful Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing 4 University of Idaho students to death. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)

FBI cellphone operation information obtained by NBC's "Dateline" allegedly showed that Kohberger's cellphone pinged astir a twelve times to a operation that provides sum to an country wrong 100 feet of 1122 King Road, wherever the 4 University of Idaho students were killed. The late-night drives each allegedly happened starting successful July 2022 and continued done mid-August 2022.

According to the report, Kohberger’s late-night trips to the King Road country started aft a Moscow excavation enactment helium was invited to. Kohberger allegedly visited the country 3 much times successful the archetypal 2 weeks of October 2022.

In total, FBI cellphone records allegedly indicated that Kohberger was wrong 100 meters of the King Road location connected 23 occasions, including 1 clip connected Nov. 7. All the trips were aft dark.

Brian Walshe's execution of his wife, Ana:

Brian Walshe was sentenced to beingness successful situation positive a 22-year condemnation connected Dec. 18 aft helium was convicted of sidesplitting and dismembering his wife, Ana, aft she disappeared connected New Year's Day successful 2023.

Massachusetts State Trooper Nicholas Guarino, an adept connected integer forensics, testified during Brian's proceedings that helium made respective incriminating Google searches, which included the sanction of the antheral antecedently progressive successful an matter with Ana. 

Brian Walshe leaves tribunal aft sentencing astatine Norfolk Superior Court successful Dedham, Mass., Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. Walshe was sentenced to beingness without parole for the execution of his wife, Ana Walshe. (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)

The Google and Yahoo searches made by Brian included the following, according to Guarino:

- "Best ways to dispose of assemblage parts after murder."

- "How agelong does DNA last?"

- "Is it imaginable to cleanable DNA disconnected a knife?"

- "How agelong idiosyncratic missing until inheritance."

Ana Walshe pictured successful a May 2022 Instagram post. (Ana Walshe/Instagram)

Brian's woman had a $2.7 cardinal beingness security argumentation which helium was the beneficiary of, tribunal records show. He owed astir $500,000 successful restitution for his national case.

Karen Read:

Karen Read was acquitted of second-degree execution successful June aft her boyfriend, Boston constabulary serviceman John O'Keefe, died. She was accused of ramming O'Keefe with her Lexus SUV, past leaving him to dice during a snowstorm aft the mates had a drunken argument.

Karen Read extracurricular of Norfolk County Superior Court, Friday, June 13, 2025, successful Dedham, Mass. (Richard Beetham for Fox News Digital)

During the trial, witnesser Jennifer McCabe admitted to searching for "hos [sic] agelong to dice successful cold," and claimed Read instructed her to marque the search.

"You besides testified that astatine the clip you Google hunt those phrases, it was Karen Read screaming and yelling astatine you, shaking you to Google 'hypothermia,'" defence lawyer Alan Jackson asked.

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"Correct," McCabe responded.

However, Kerry Roberts, who was a person of Read's, testified that she ne'er really heard Read inquire for McCabe to marque the searches.