SALT LAKE CITY — Messages sent on Facebook may have helped police build their case against a man wanted in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found under a mattress in a Salt Lake motel.
The incident is the latest example of how police are just as interested in the Facebook wall posts and tweets of criminals as much as their friends are.
Thomas Kumalac, 28, is charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, in connection with the death of Jessica Jensen, 25.
On June 2, an employee of the Capitol Motel, 1749 S. State, called police on a report of a bad smell coming from one of the rooms. Detectives found Jensen's body under the bed mattress. The cause of death was determined to be multiple stab wounds.
Investigators believe she may have been dead up to five days before her body was discovered.
The room was previously rented by Kumalac, who had checked out on May 31. Police released Kumalac's name to the media on June 2 as a person they wanted to interview.
That night, acting on a tip, detectives stopped a bus in Tooele County headed to Wendover. On the bus, they found Kumalac and his girlfriend. As of Tuesday, the girlfriend has not been charged in connection with the crime.
The girlfriend had filed for divorce from her husband in February, according to court records. On June 2, the estranged husband handed over to police several messages his wife had sent him using Facebook.
"The messages talk in detail regarding (the girlfriend) and Thomas' involvement in the murder," according to a search warrant filed in 3rd District Court. The girlfriend "told detectives details regarding the murder that Mr. Kumalac had given her after the murder."
The warrant does not contain details about what the Facebook messages said.
For investigators, monitoring social media networks and collecting information off of people's Facebook, Myspace and Twitter pages to be used in court has become common practice.
If bad guys are going to use social media, then police officers say they also have to use it.
"There's no limits to the criminal as far as what they're going to use to facilitate their crimes, so we have to keep up with them," said Salt Lake police detective Mike Hemideh. "If we were not monitoring, it could be open air drug markets or prostitution."
Hemideh, who has worked previously in both the homicide and drug units, said it's not unusual for drug dealers to make deals right on their Facebook pages, using code words so they're not outwardly advertising what they're doing.
"It's become a routine part of the investigation. For narcotics, (drug dealers) have the ability to reach a huge group of people to let them know a load has arrived through covert words," he said. "People feel free to express themselves on the social media and those (messages) can became evidence in a crime."
Hemideh compared a Facebook page to a house. There's due process in obtaining a search warrant for a home. And like a house, if there is enough other evidence, investigators can request a search warrant for a person's Facebook page.
Or, depending on a person's privacy settings, sometimes the information is posted for everyone to see.
"We look at those social media sites much like you'd look at a home. We enter the home based on facts of the crime. Social media sites are the same. We have the ability through due process, we'll develop probable cause," the detective said.
There have been times, he said, when investigators have found people bragging on their Facebook pages about crimes they've committed.
In June, a man who was in a standoff with police in Ogden continued to update his Facebook page throughout the incident.
Messages sent by Army Spec. Brandon Barrett to a friend using Myspace were investigated by police after Barrett, wearing full combat gear, died during a shootout with Salt Lake police in 2010.
Nationally, police in places like Chicago and Philadelphia have been monitoring a new trend called "flash rob" in which groups of mostly young people gather to commit crimes based on tweets sent out by others.
In Utah, gang detectives for several years have been warning about gangs recruiting members using Facebook and Myspace. The Salt Lake Police Department got involved with social media in 2008 when it announced its own Myspace page.
They have also warned juveniles for many years about predators who use social media pages to prey on young people.
By monitoring a person's Facebook status history, Hemideh said investigators can also learn about a person's pattern of behavior. It's something that some departments have used when considering whether to hire an officer, as well as monitoring criminals, he said.
Kumalac's next scheduled court hearing is Thursday.
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