Computer Expert Says Files Accessed After Police Seized Computer
Murder and kidnapping trial will take 11-day break
Last updated Friday, April 15, 2005 9:40 PM CDT in News
By Robin Lipscomb
The Morning News
BENTONVILLE -- A murdered man's computer was used to access dozens of Internet pornography Web sites after being seized by police in September 1999, a computer forensic expert testified Friday.
"I would say they were improperly trained individuals," said Tim Hanners of Vogon International, a private company hired by attorneys defending Albert Kieth Smith against kidnapping and capital murder charges.
Just turning a computer on could generate hundreds of files, Hanners said, and police should have called in someone specially trained in computer forensics before trying to retrieve data.
Deputies with the Bella Vista division of the Benton County Sheriff's Office seized the computer from Howard's home on Sept. 20, 1999 -- two days after his body was found along an Oklahoma highway with two gunshots to the back of his neck.
On Sept. 21 and 22, 1999, the computer was hooked up to the Internet and the sites were accessed, Hanners testified. He also gave additional detail about files he said were printed, deleted on those dates.
Deleted files included photos of Howard and Lena Ford, a Louisiana woman with whom Howard had a long-distance relationship.
Jurors passed several lengthy written questions to Benton County Circuit Judge Tom Keith, which Hanners responded to. For instance, he explained he can't tell exactly when a file is deleted, but the photos were last accessed on Sept. 21, 1999, and he recovered them from being deleted.
The files may have been pulled from the recycle bin on Sept. 21 to be examined, he said, and then they were deleted.
Hanners was the sole person to testify Friday for the defense in the murder trial, which began March 11 with jury selection.
Prosecutors took 13 days to present their case of alleged "obsessing, stalking, planning and ultimately killing," in the words of Prosecutor Robin Green.
Smith, 57, faces life in prison if convicted of kidnapping and murdering Howard in 1999. Howard had begun dating Smith's ex-wife just weeks before his death.
Prosecutors accuse Smith of installing a program on his former wife's computer to read her e-mail, then tracking Howard, enticing him into a fictitious business proposition -- and kidnapping and murdering him.
Defense attorney Joel Price began presenting his case Thursday afternoon. In opening statements, he promised to show others had motives to kill Howard. He described his client as "suspicious, jealous and an amateur sleuth" -- but insisted that didn't make him a murderer.
Prosecutors have no DNA, fingerprints, footprints, hair or traces of fiber from Howard's clothing, tire tracks, footprints or other evidence incriminating Smith, he has said.
The case will take an 11-day break, as Circuit Judge Tom Keith must travel out of town next week. Testimony will resume April 26.
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