A young man thought it would be wise to ask Apple iPhone mobile assistant Siri to help him commit murder at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Pedro Bravo allegedly kidnapped and strangled his friend Christian Aguilar in 2012, after an argument about dating his ex-girlfriend. Bravo then reportedly asked Siri for advice: “I need to hide my roommate.” Surprisingly, the mobile device answered with: “What kind of place are you looking for? Swamps. Reservoirs. Metal foundries. Dumps.”
The Gainesville Police Department introduced the conversation between Bravo and Siri as evidence in the murder trial to prove that the young man’s story didn’t match what he told investigators. The screen grab of the conversation is said to have been taken on September 20, 2012, the same day Aguilar went missing.
The Siri conversation is just a piece of the puzzle as prosecutors attempt to prove that Bravo killed his former roommate after a heated argument. Along with the evidence, investigators said that the phone’s flashlight was used 48 times, possibly while he was attempting to discard the body in the woods. Location information obtained from the phone also doesn’t match Bravo’s story.
The iPhone comes programmed with standard Siri responses to common questions regarding a myriad of topics, such as food choices, setting appointments, and commands to help the user with everyday tasks. It’s definitely not to serve as an accomplice to criminal activity.
Apple has removed the response from Siri, 9to5Mac reports. When asked the question, Siri now responds “What, again?” Apparently the engineers didn’t think someone would actually ask how to hide a corpse.