Originally published at: Sweet potato and The Wire led police to suspect in cold case murder | Boing Boing
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“Prosecutors say they can place Hampton at the home at the time of the murder because of data from a GPS monitor he was wearing due to a previous crime.”
It seems weird that this didn’t come up during the original investigation. I guess that Devarus Hampton wasn’t a person of interest at the time.
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Also the DNA thing. If he’s the kind of person who has to wear a GPS monitor it seems likely the cops would already have his DNA on file too.
I know real-life forensic investigations tend to fall laughably short of the standards set by TV dramas but I also suspect it wouldn’t have taken a dozen years to put the pieces together if the victim had been a rich white person instead of another young Black man.
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Out capering with a gps monitor huh?
That’s commitment!, or something.
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But wait, was the sweet potato used as an impromptu silencer, or did he just bring it and left it for some reason? It is implied, but not stated.
“I’ll be known as the Sweet 'Tater Killer, leaving my calling card at all the scenes.”
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Apparently potato-based silencers don’t always work out as well as they did on The Wire.
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Yeah, I think that’s one of those TV myths. Even if you drilled a hole so it wouldn’t blow up the gun, the potato is solid, there is nowhere for the gas to expand and slow down.
Little surprised Mythbusters didn’t tackle this.
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That exceeded expectations.
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Carrot-based silencers aren’t recommended either.
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Also the reason you never hold a rifle barrel down on the ground, which you maddeningly see TV characters do a lot. You’ll get a plug of dirt or mud in the end of the barrel and then when you fire, same thing will happen. This is the very first thing my dad ever taught me about guns. Well, second thing after “never point it at anything you don’t wish to stop existing”. Made an impression. 
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Leave the gun…take the potato
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I guess the GPS is normally write-only data: Never compared against crime sites or other GPS wearers.
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