Tag: GPS

The State Police Report of the Sandy Hook shooting has revealed some interesting inconsistencies about the Garmin GPS system that investigators examined to provide a snap shot of Adam Lanza’s whereabouts, months and days, before the shooting.    

Ablechild long has believed that the entire medical/mental health history of Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was needed in order to make informed decisions about the future of the State’s mental health services.  Despite suing the State, in early 2013, for these records, including Lanza’s autopsy and toxicology results, the State denied the organization’s request, explaining that, as a 501c3, Ablechild was not an “interested party.”

Nevertheless, in an effort to try and understand the deadly actions of Lanza, and perhaps glean some mental health information, that may shed some light on the circumstances surrounding the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Ablechild has painstakingly combed through the entire (thousands of pages) State Police Report of the incident.  The documentation regarding what is reported to be Adam Lanza’s GPS system is confusing, at best.

The first report of the “Examination of GPS (Garmin Nuvi 200)” is dated May 11, 2013 (File ending in 59, Book 3, #0051670) and the investigating officer is Michael Mudry, who explains that he is tasked with examining the Garmin Nuvi 200 that was seized from the Lanza residence.

Officer Mudry further explains in this report that the GPS was originally seized by the Eastern District Major Crime Squad (EDMC), turned over to the FBI for extraction and Mudry burned a CD-R of the information for his examination of the GPS.  Officer Mudry also explains in this report that in February of 2013, he contacted a customer service representative at Garmin, who provided detailed information about ” the Garmin Nuvi 200…”

In another report regarding Lanza’s GPS (File ending in 59, Book 8, #001180469) dated August 29, 2013, Officer Mudry explains that the contents of a white plastic garbage bag found in the closet of Lanza’s bedroom include “one -Garmin Nuvi .”

Now, in a September 11, 2013 report (File ending in 59, Book 2, # 00171468) by Officer John Kimball, the Garmin Nuvi 200 suddenly and inexplicably is being identified as a “Garmin Nuvi Model 550) – that’s right a “550.”  Officer Kimball explains that his supervisor has asked him to examine the GPS that was seized from the Lanza home, but “it was later learned that Detective Michael Mudry already has examined the GPS.”

Officer Kimball acquiesces to officer Mudry’s report, which is part of this file.  This is where it gets interesting. Officer Mudry explains in this report that on July 31, 2013, he was assigned by Sgt. DeCesare “the task of examining a Garmin Nuvi Model 550 Global Positioning System (GPS) device which had been removed from a 2010 Honda Civic (Connecticut Passenger Plate: 872YEO) located at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.”

Weirder still, Officer Mudry no longer is relying on the FBI extraction data, as claimed in the May 11, 2013 report but, rather, “upon first examination, I determined the device battery was dead. I used a Mini-USB cable to connect the Garmin to my department Hewlett Packard laptop computer. In addition to powering the unit, this method allowed me to inspect the internal memory of the GPS device from my laptop.”

So in this report Officer Mudry is actually connecting the Garmin Nuvi Model 550 device – not the Garmin Nuvi 200 data extraction obtained from the FBI – to his computer for his examination. Furthermore, the GPS was “removed from the 2010 Honda Civic located at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” not seized from the Lanza home as reported in the May and August reports.

In a “Summary for Sergeant Michael DeCesare,” which still is part of this same report, Officer Mudry advises “I have begun going through the Garmin Nuvi Model 550 GPS device removed from Lanza’s 2010 Honda Civic (Ct Plate: 872YEO).”

If Officer Mudry was examining a “Garmin Nuvi Model 550,” why would he contact Garmin customer service for information about a “Garmin Nuvi 200?”  For that matter, why would the FBI be examining a “Garmin Nuvi 200” if the 550 was actually removed from Lanza’s car?

Certainly one would expect these detectives are capable of determining the accurate model number of the evidence they’re examining.  So which is it? Was the Garmin 200 or 550 removed from the Lanza home or Lanza’s Honda Civic at the school?

According to Officer Mudry’s report (depending on how one decides which Garmin device was examined, and from where the device was seized) the “journey” data provided by police, from whatever Garmin, ends on December 13, 2012 – the day before the shooting.

This isn’t a small issue.  Here’s why.  If the Garmin Nuvi Model 550 was removed from Lanza’s Honda Civic located at Sandy Hook Elementary School, then one would expect the “journey” data would reflect Lanza’s travel to Sandy Hook Elementary School on the morning of December 14th. It doesn’t.

Given the seriousness of this investigation, it is difficult to accept that law enforcement is unable to provide accurate and consistent reporting of important physical evidence.

But for Ablechild’s purposes, the information gleaned, from whichever Garmin, reveals dozens of “journey” entries, including numerous trips to the now well-known movie theatre where Adam Lanza utilized the “Dance, Dance Revolution” game.

In fact, what is odd about these “journey” hits is that it appears that Lanza was not the “recluse” the public has been led to believe, considering that he often would arrive at the theatre sometimes as early as 1:00 a.m. and not return home until dawn.  What is odd about these particular “journey” hits is that the theatre closes by 2:00a.m.  No explanation is provided as to what Adam Lanza was doing during these early morning hours.

There are other “journey” hits that may suggest Adam Lanza may have been traveling to these locations for some kind of mental health treatment.  Several of the “journey” hits are locations where behavioral and cognitive health centers are located. Another location is a private school that offers Mandarin lessons which, reportedly, Adam was taking.

Of course, because the State Police Report fails to provide any mental health data for the last five years of Adam Lanza’s life, it’s anyone’s guess what Adam Lanza’s mental health status is and whether his travel “journey” data has any connection to mental health treatment.