Alexa-powered Amazon Echo speaker might solve a murder case

Amazon’s Alexa-powered Echo speaker is even more useful than we originally thought. The device just might help the police solve a murder case.

Back in November 2015, a man by the name of James Bates was charged with the murder of Victor Collins, who was found dead in his hot tub. Bates denies being involved in the murder, and says he was asleep at the time. In hopes of finding out exactly what happened that night, prosecutors tried all sorts of things. As there was an Echo speaker in the house, they thought that it might have recorded something that would help them solve the murder.

They contacted Amazon with a request to hand over any recording made on that night, but the request was denied. The company apparently takes customer privacy very seriously. However, things changed once the defendant gave his permission that the recordings can be handed over. Amazon has decided to agree to the customer’s demand and has provided the data to the prosecutors on Friday.

As of now, there’s no word if the Echo speaker did record something that will help solve the murder case. The chances of something like that happening probably aren’t very big. The device only starts recording after you wake it up by saying “Alexa”, “Amazon”, “Echo” or “Computer”, which probably aren’t the words someone would say right before committing a murder. But you never know, stranger things have happened.