Detective: Spray at scene shortly before police
As murder trial continues in its second week, phone records were shown to trace whereabouts of the 37-year-old suspect in the death of a Pullman woman last March
COLFAX — Investigators confirmed Jacob Spray was at the scene the day an alleged murder occurred in Pullman last March by using his phone’s GPS data.
The Pullman man’s murder trial continued for its second week Tuesday at Whitman County Superior Court. The day was spent supplying testimonies and evidence that corroborated 37-year-old Jacob Spray’s whereabouts leading up to the death of 25-year-old Jamie Wilson-Spray.
Pullman Police Department Detective TJ Cornish, who specializes in cellphone and computer forensics, shared his findings from analyzing Spray’s and Wilson-Spray’s devices.
Cornish said authorities can pinpoint a phone’s location by reviewing Google Maps’ logged coordinates and cellphone tower connections when calls are made.
The Google Maps record presented in court places Spray at Sevdy’s Modern View Mobile Court on Fisk Street in Pullman from around 5:20-6:35 p.m. This was shortly before Pullman police officers responded to a trailer within the park a little after 6:50 p.m., where they found Wilson-Spray dead inside.
The log also reveals Spray’s location on Northwest Cleveland Street five minutes after leaving the mobile court. Cellular tower signals picked up a call he made north of Greyhound Way, an area Cornish said covers his apartment on Turner Drive.
Surveillance videos at University of Idaho were also shown in court to spot Spray’s vehicle arriving and leaving work that day.
Spray’s coworkers Jayden Ninefeldt and Tracey Duffield testified his red Ford Escape was always parked at a reserved spot in the Bruce M. Pitman Center parking lot when he worked. They said his car appeared in the lot around 8 a.m. when his shift started, and drove off near 5 p.m. when he clocked out.
Cornish said his Google Maps data shows similar coordinates around these times.
The information contradicts what Spray told police during his arrest. Law enforcement officials testified last week that during his arrest Spray claimed he left work around 6 p.m., stopped at Cougs Corner Mart for beer before returning home around 6:30 p.m.
Cornish said his GPS information never placed him at the local convenience store that day.
Spray’s and Wilson-Spray’s call logs and text messages were also presented in court Tuesday. It was revealed that Spray had called Wilson-Spray 20 times, of which she declined 11.
Wilson-Spray had sent a text to her sister, Jessica Schneider, later that day stating, “I just wish he would leave me alone.”
Cornish said the two had used their phones a lot throughout the day by looking at texts and social media messaging apps like Snapchat. The only time Jacob’s phone was inactive was between 5:20 p.m. to 6:40 p.m. He said Wilson-Spray’s usage stopped completely after 5:25 p.m.
Pearce can be reached at epearce@dnews.com.
