UPDATE:
Despite numerous local and national outlets reporting that Bravo used Siri to try and find out where to stash Aguilar's body, WUFT-TV and the Gainesville police have clarified that was never testified to in court:
Following a story posted by WPXI and other Cox Media affiliates, many national and international media outlets are running with a story that Bravo, who is accused of killing Christian Aguilar, asked Siri where to stash his “roommate’s” body.Two things are wrong with that narrative: according to Gainesville Police, and our reporters in the courtroom, Detective Goeckel never testified that Bravo performed that Siri search, and Aguilar and Bravo were not roommates.
GPD public information officer Ben Tobias took to Twitter this morning to start to debunk some of the rumors:
Multiple reports of Bravo asking Siri to hide a roommate are incorrect... GPD Det. Goeckel certainly did not testify to that. #BravoTrial
— Gainesville Police (@GainesvillePD) August 13, 2014This information on the Siri image is correct: https://t.co/7nrbzlC4BC. Thank you @CBSmiami @CBS4Ted for your attention to detail #BravoTrial
— Gainesville Police (@GainesvillePD) August 13, 2014The original story referenced in TheBlaze's article has been taken down by the outlet.
The CBS station in Miami explains how the confusion may have originated. Apparently, there was a screen shot on Bravo's phone of such an inquiry, but the inquiry did not originate from his phone:
On Tuesday, prosecutors showed a screen grab of Bravo’s iPhone which read “I need to hide my roommate.”Bravo’s attorney pointed out the screen grab was among hundreds of pictures that were on Bravo’s phone and that the search may not have been initiated by his client.
“This is not evidence that he ever did an inquiry, looking for some information online for needing to hide his roommate,” Bravo’s attorney asked Gainesville police department Det. Matthew Goeckel who had taken the stand.
“Correct,” replied Goeckel.
Original story below.
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"I need to hide my roommate."
Those are the alleged words Pedro Bravo spoke into his iPhone -- the man whose accused of killing his roommate [UPDATE: the two were friends, not roommates], Christian Aguilar, in 2012. According to KIRO-TV, the phone replied, "What kind of place are you looking for? Swamps. Reservoirs. Metal foundries. Dumps."
Pedro Bravo attends jury selection in courtroom 1B of the Alachua County Criminal Justice Center, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014 in Gainsville, Fla. Bravo is charged in the 2012 death of a University of Florida student Christian Aguilar. (AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Doug Finger) AP Photo/The Gainesville Sun, Doug Finger
That conversation has now been introduced into evidence at Bravo's murder trial in Gainesville, Florida. Police say that Bravo and Aguilar went to a local Walmart, and that after an argument Bravo strangled Aguilar to death and ditched his body in the woods.
The station has more:
Gainesville Police Department Detective Matt Goeckel said the Siri conversation between Bravo and his phone happened on Sept. 20, 2012. Goeckel also said Bravo's flashlight was on nine times and used for over 48 minutes on that date as well.From 11:31 p.m. to 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2012, Goeckel said there was no activity of any kind on Bravo's cell. At 1:23 a.m. on Sept. 21, 2012, Bravo's cellphone could be seen to be back on the network at Spyglass Apartments.
The Daily Mail has more background:
Bravo was charged with murder on Friday 28 September 2012.But his friend's body was not found until weeks later when hunters stumbled across Aguilar in a shallow grave in a Levy County forest, about 60 miles southwest of Gainesville.
[…]
Police have said Bravo was using the phone's flashlight function to hide the body in the woods.
The Gainesville Sun reports that police believe Bravo killed Aguilar out of anger because Aguilar was dating Bravo's ex-girlfriend.
The trial is set to conclude this week, according to KIRO.
This story has been updated.
