GPS Tracking

Vehicle Tracking Device was Key to Conviction

CHENANGO COUNTY, N.Y. – A New York man was sentenced June 11 to 25 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder of his former babysitter, who he ran over with his truck.

George Ford Jr., a contractor from Piscataway, N.J. who has a seasonal residence in South Otselic, had insisted that he accidentally killed 12-year-old Shyanne Somers on July 8, 2007, while returning her home from a babysitting job. But evidence uncovered from a Global Positioning System vehicle tracking device inside the truck contradicted his telling of events.

Ford was convicted of the crime Feb. 19, 2009 by a Chenango County Court judge.

“This might be the first murder trial in the nation where charges hinged so heavily on GPS evidence,” said Steven Moehling, Vice President of Sales at LandAirSea Systems in Woodstock, IL. A LandAirSea GPS Tracking Key® vehicle tracking device was operating in Ford’s truck and documenting the vehicle’s location as the murder occurred. The vehicle tracking device was placed there by Ford’s wife, Cindy, because she suspected that her husband was having an affair. Moehling testified at the trial about the company’s GPS Tracking Key®, interpreting the data collected on the device the night of the murder, and speaking on the accuracy of its readings.

GPS tracking systems record the time, speed and geographic position of a receiver at regular intervals. Location is determined by the capture of radio signals from Department of the Defense satellites orbiting the earth. In passive systems such as the GPS Tracking Key®, the user later retrieves the vehicle tracking receiver and downloads the data stored on it for viewing on a personal computer. (more…)