Social media to the rescue

In just one day, social media has proven to be a helpful tool in generating tips for homicide detectives.

“Having the post on Facebook and YouTube has definitely generated more tips that have come through,” said Noreen Remtulla, police spokeswoman.

On Thursday, Det. Dan Jones announced the unit would be turning to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as way to generate tips and reach out to a younger audience for a jump in solving homicide cases.

One example of these new tools is a short video posted on YouTube by police that outlines the case of Edmonton’s 32nd homicide of the year.

As of Friday afternoon, one day after its posting, there were almost 300 views on the video that walks viewers through details of the case and includes photos.

Remains of the victim, tentatively identified as 27-year-old Kyle Gayda pending autopsy results, were found in Gayda’s burned-out Chevrolet Impala found half a kilometre west of 156 Street near St. Albert Trail in a field near trees.

The blaze was reported at 2 p.m. last Wednesday.

A Facebook memorial site has been set up for Gayda.

Tracy Ewanchuk joined the group not because she knew Gayda, but rather because she finds the circumstances of his death tragic and wanted to offer her condolences to the family.

“(I) felt I needed to say something,” said Ewanchuk. “Regardless of life’s path, a young death, (and) homicide to boot, is not acceptable and I still care.”

Police said the body was burned beyond recognition and there’s no doubt the blaze was intentionally set with the victim inside the vehicle.

Jones said Gayda was originally from British Columbia, but has been in Edmonton for several years.

To view the video search EPSVideoOnline on YouTube or visit youtube.com/watch?v=1_nDMOtnpCg

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222- TIPS or police at 780-423-4567.

jasmine.franklin@sunmedia.ca

@SUNJasmineF

 

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Facebook Says It Has "Smoking Gun" Proof That Ceglia Lawsuit Is Fraud

The lawsuit filed by a man who says Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg owes him an 84 percent stake in the company is based on forged documents, according to Zuckerburg’s lawyers, who now say they have a “smoking gun” that proves it. New York state resident Paul Ceglia sued Facebook last year, alleging that Zuckerberg signed a contract with him in 2003, entitling him to part ownership of the company. The contract’s authenticity is hotly disputed, and Reuters reports that in a court filing Thursday, attorneys for Facebook say they’ve uncovered documents on Ceglia’s computers that prove he’s an “inveterate scam artist.”

Facebook attorneys have not yet revealed what the smoking gun is exactly (nothing yet on The Smoking Gun either), because they need a judge’s permission to make the gun public. In the court filing, they write that Ceglia “does not want the public to know what was discovered on his computers, because it includes smoking-gun documents that conclusively establish that he fabricated the purported contract and that this entire lawsuit is a fraud and a lie.”

Both sides agree the two men had contact when Zuckerberg was at Harvard. But Zuckerberg claims their agreement applied solely to a Ceglia project called StreetFax, and his attorneys say they’ve recovered emails from Zuckerberg’s Harvard email account that support this claim. Ceglia, for his part, says he found the contract after looking through old papers when Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit against him (claiming he defrauded customers of his wood-pellet fuel company). He’s currently living in Ireland, according to court documents obtained by the Post.

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