Digital Detectives: Custody Battle Leads to Facebook Double-Sting
Time.com
A woman pretended to be a 17-year-old to draw out incriminating evidence from her ex-husband via Facebook. But an investigation after his arrest showed that he was the true online mastermind. Oh, the e-intrigue!
According to the Smoking Gun, 29-year-old Angela Voelkert created a fake account for 17-year-old “Jessica Studebaker," complete with a trashily attractive photo, and friended her ex-husband. Then, in an attempt to gain information she could use against him in a custody battle, she chatted him up. He said he put a GPS tracking device on his ex-wife's car, the more easily to monitor her every move. And he told "Jessica" that "you should find someone at your school…that would put a cap in her ass for $10,000." He had plans to "take care of" old Angela, he said. Heavily based on the exchanges, the FBI arrested 38-year-old David Voelkert on Friday, but did he ever have a surprise for them.
Suspecting it was Angela all along, David Voelkert had gotten a notarized affidavit shortly after Jessica came online. In it, he said that he believed this was not a real person but rather his ex-wife or someone she knows. He said he was engaging with this person and lying in order to gain proof that his ex-wife was tampering with his personal life, proof he would then use himself in court. "In no way do I have plans to leave with my children or do any harm to Angela Dawn Voelkert or anyone else," he wrote above the Indiana notary's stamp. He then kept one copy and gave another to a relative for backup.
The timeline worked, his affidavit coming days before he said anything incriminating. The notary was interviewed, the document authenticated, and his case was dismissed. Situations like this are why the phrase "Oh, snap!" was invented.
Time.com
A woman pretended to be a 17-year-old to draw out incriminating evidence from her ex-husband via Facebook. But an investigation after his arrest showed that he was the true online mastermind. Oh, the e-intrigue!
According to the Smoking Gun, 29-year-old Angela Voelkert created a fake account for 17-year-old “Jessica Studebaker," complete with a trashily attractive photo, and friended her ex-husband. Then, in an attempt to gain information she could use against him in a custody battle, she chatted him up. He said he put a GPS tracking device on his ex-wife's car, the more easily to monitor her every move. And he told "Jessica" that "you should find someone at your school…that would put a cap in her ass for $10,000." He had plans to "take care of" old Angela, he said. Heavily based on the exchanges, the FBI arrested 38-year-old David Voelkert on Friday, but did he ever have a surprise for them.
Suspecting it was Angela all along, David Voelkert had gotten a notarized affidavit shortly after Jessica came online. In it, he said that he believed this was not a real person but rather his ex-wife or someone she knows. He said he was engaging with this person and lying in order to gain proof that his ex-wife was tampering with his personal life, proof he would then use himself in court. "In no way do I have plans to leave with my children or do any harm to Angela Dawn Voelkert or anyone else," he wrote above the Indiana notary's stamp. He then kept one copy and gave another to a relative for backup.
The timeline worked, his affidavit coming days before he said anything incriminating. The notary was interviewed, the document authenticated, and his case was dismissed. Situations like this are why the phrase "Oh, snap!" was invented.