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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
CSI Wireless Asset-tracking Technology Helps Jail Pennsylvania Murderer
GPS device helps jail killer
Sept. 29, 2005
Sherri Zickefoose
Calgary Herald
The electronic eyes of a Calgary-made GPS tracking device may not have witnessed the murder, but they helped put an American killer behind bars last week.
The tracking technology in a rented Lincoln Navigator was a crucial element that placed a New York City man at the scene of the crime in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
The SUV's global positioning system allowed police to retrace Jimmy (Crush) Davis's path, punching holes in his story along the way.
Davis, 30, pleaded guilty in Pennsylvania's Luzerne County Court on Sept. 19 to third-degree homicide and other charges in the shooting death of 42-year-old Sheryl Spiros in February 2004 in her apartment.
He was sentenced to 19 to 40 years in jail.
The expertise of Calgary-based CSI Wireless Inc. is being praised for helping build a case against the killer.
"When we started, we had no leads," first assistant district attorney Jacqueline Carroll told the Herald.
"GPS played a very big role here, placing this person at the scene. It was going to lend a lot of corroboration and credibility to our witnesses who otherwise may not have been accepted as readily.
"The crux of it was really the GPS system. We started calling it 'the black box,' " Carroll said Wednesday.
CSI Wireless manufactures Asset-Link -- telematic tracking devices that help businesses keep tabs on vehicle fleets. The device tracked the movements of the SUV that Davis drove back and forth across three states before he was arrested in July.
The company sent one of its experts to help the Luzerne County district attorney's office put the case together in May.
"I really thought it was great. Before, people would use it for navigating, not to find out where you've been," said CSI geomatics engineering expert Ronald Ramsaran. "Finally, it's being recognized for what it is."
Ramsaran trained the district attorney's office in the accuracy and technology behind GPS, which records points of longitude and latitude.
It records dots on a map marking the vehicle's location, speed and direction of travel.
"Here I was with laymen, the average Joe on the street, and they were actually understanding it and not bored. They showed enthusiasm," said Ramsaran, a University of Calgary graduate who normally finds himself presenting in conference rooms, not courtrooms.
"It's just like that show CSI. You can merge all the technologies together and use it as a crime-fighting tool," said Ramsaran, an admitted crime television show fan.
The real-life crime drama took place on Feb. 12, 2004, when Davis shot Spiros to death and started a small fire in her apartment, police say.
GPS points on a map showed investigators that the ignition in the Lincoln Navigator parked outside Spiros's home was started one minute before Wilkes-Barre firefighters responded to the fire. The tracker data recorded the SUV leaving the scene of the crime, travelling along the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 80 into New Jersey.
Police were able to pinpoint hotels he had checked into along the way and stops at convenience stores.
"We pulled the surveillance tapes, and, lo and behold, there he was walking inside," said Carroll.
Carroll has high praise for the Calgary company and Ramsaran.
"They went above and beyond in co-operating with us to make sure we had everything we needed for trial."
CSI Wireless provided Asset-Link units for last summer's North American Solar challenge, the world's longest solar-powered car race. In 2002, the Calgary company received a $20-million order from Brightstar Corp. for its new Motorola-branded desktop cellphones.
A jury was chosen and Ramsaran was prepared to return to testify, but Davis pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and the case never went to trial.
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