Digital Forensics Dispatch

Annapolis Murder Solved with Help from Digital Evidence

September 17, 2020

Baltimore ABC Affiliate WMAR recently reported on the story of a murder case in which Calum Thomas of Annapolis Maryland was found guilty and sentenced to 55 years in prison for second degree murder and related firearms charges. Digital forensic analysis of Thomas’s cell phone was instrumental in solving the case.

It all started back on January 2, 2017 when Anne Arundel County police were called to a report of shots fired in Annapolis. At the scene, they discovered the victim, Terry Crouse. Crouse had been shot multiple times and unfortunately was pronounced dead at the scene. Through the course of the investigation Mr. Crouse’s son was interviewed. He indicated to police that Thomas may have been involved because he believed Thomas was potentially angry about a debt Thomas thought Crouse’s son owed him.

On January 13, 2017, Maryland State Police pulled over a car Thomas was driving. In the car they located a firearm that fired the same type of ammunition used in the murder. Also found in the car was Thomas’s cell phone. The Digital Forensics Unit of the Anne Arundel County Police analyzed the phone. During the course of the analysis, investigators found browser history indicating the phone had been used to search for both the type of firearm and ammunition which ballistic examiners had already linked to the crime. With the assistance from the FBI, they were able to determine that the phone was connected to cell towers surrounding the crime scene around the time of the murder.

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