[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

Like millions of motorists, Eric Hanson used a GPS unit in his Chevrolet TrailBlazer to find his way around. He probably didn't expect that prosecutors would eventually use it too — to help convict him of killing four family members.

Prosecutors in suburban Chicago analyzed data from the Garmin GPS device to pinpoint where Hanson had been on the morning after his parents were fatally shot and his sister and brother-in-law bludgeoned to death in 2005. He was convicted of the killings earlier this year and sentenced to death.

Hanson's trial was among recent criminal cases around the country in which authorities used GPS navigation devices to help establish a defendant's whereabouts. Experts say such evidence will almost certainly become more common in court as GPS systems become more affordable and show up in more vehicles.

"There's no real doubt," said Alan Brill, a Minnesota-based computer forensics expert who has worked with the FBI and Secret Service. "This follows every other technology that turns out to have information of forensic value. I think what we're seeing is evolutionary."

Using technology to track a person's location is nothing new. For years, police have been able to trace cell phone signals and use other dashboard devices such as automatic toll-collection systems to confirm a driver's whereabouts.

But the growing popularity of GPS systems — in cars, cell phones and other handheld devices — gives authorities another powerful tool to track suspects.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,413041,00.html

[TDDance234]

Moral of the story: don't kill anyone.

[Hold My Own]

Or turn your GPS off if you do

[thepostman]

then how would he have found his parents house! haha...come one!

[HenryGale]

You would have to think that in the future, they would be able to do this though cell phones???

[justagirl]

they already do do it through cell phones!! dateline nbc teaches you SO much

[adam42381]

More of the story: don't kill anyone.

Was that supposed to say "Moral of the story: don't kill anyone."?

[HenryGale]

they already do do it through cell phones!! dateline nbc teaches you SO much

I was thinking more along the lines of GPS....can they prove you were in a particular location due to the GPS on your phone?

[TDDance234]

More of the story: don't kill anyone.

Was that supposed to say "Moral of the story: don't kill anyone."?

Yes.

[RagingTireFire]

can they prove you were in a particular location due to the GPS on your phone?

They can prove your phone was there, yes.

[Hold My Own]

I really think an old fashioned map with a simple bullseye around the house could have gotten him there just as easy...and if you're questioned on why the bullseye simply say you knew there was a nearby Target

[Schfourteenteen]

can they prove you were in a particular location due to the GPS on your phone?

They can prove your phone was there, yes.

Thats how they caught Scott Peterson in Arizona. His phone was on

[PAmedic]

^^^ yes. It's done all the time