Google Searches Used in Murder Case

New Jersey authorities are prosecuting the wife of a murdered man for allegedly killing him with the heldp of prescription drugs prescribed by her then-lover and are using internet logs of searches from her own computer to prove she was the murderer, according to a story in New Jersey's Daily Record.

While the prosecution did not seem to subpoena search engines, the story was published on the same day Google announced it was changing its data retention policy in order to protect users's privacy.

At exactly 5:45:34 on April 18, 2004 a computer taken from the office of the attorney of Melanie McGuire, did a search on the words "How To Commit Murder."

That same day searches on Google and MSN search engines, were conducted on such topics as instant poisons, `undetectable poisons,' 'fatal digoxin doses,' and gun laws in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Ten days later, according to allegations by the state of New Jersey, McGuire murdered her husband,
William T. McGuire, at their Woodbridge apartment, using a gun obtained in Pennsylvania, one day after obtaining a prescription for a sedative known as the "date rape" drug.