Apple Health App Data Helps Send a Man to Prison for His Wife's Death

A man who claimed to be innocent following the death of his wife was found to be guilty after police used evidence sourced from the Apple Health app on his iPhone to convict him.

apple health app steps feature
As outlined by The Birmingham News (via Cult of Mac), Kat West, Jeff West's wife, was found dead in January 2018 after suffering a blow to the head. Jeff West claimed that she was drunk and fell while he was asleep in bed, but the Health app on his ‌iPhone‌ said otherwise.

West told investigators that he fell asleep around 10:30 p.m. and was in bed until 5:15 a.m., but his Apple Health app showed that he took a total of 18 steps from 11:03 p.m. to 11:10 p.m., a fact that contradicted his claims. Data from Kat West's ‌iPhone‌ showed that she stopped moving after 10:54 p.m., corresponding to the time when Jeff West claimed to be in bed.

West's fingerprints were also found at the bottom of the bottle that was used to hit his wife in the head. Prosecutors believed that Jeff, a trained crime scene investigator, killed his wife after an argument about her line of work and then staged the scene to make himself look innocent.

Despite proclaiming that he was uninvolved with the murder, West has been in prison for the past three years as the murder trial has unfolded. He has now been convicted of reckless manslaughter and ordered to serve a total of 16 years.

Tag: Health

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Top Rated Comments

oneMadRssn Avatar
56 months ago

Hey, he killed a lady and staged a crime scene with only 18 steps. You have to admire the efficiency, right?
And I bet the Apple Watch didn't count it as a standing hour either.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D.T. Avatar
56 months ago
Oh wow, I'm going to reset all my devices right now, because, I, umm ... I'll be right back.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DogHouseDub Avatar
56 months ago
Hey, he killed a lady and staged a crime scene with only 18 steps. You have to admire the efficiency, right?
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diego.caraballo Avatar
56 months ago
“West's fingerprints were also found at the bottom of the bottle that was used to hit his wife in the head”
“Jeff, a trained crime scene investigator”
A not very well trained one I must say....

Would be interesting to see his BPM...
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
56 months ago
While I’m glad they figured this case out, assuming it’s correct, I’m worried that this type of data will be used to make incorrect conclusions in the future
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
56 months ago

Incorrect conclusions have been happening from day one and it will keep happening, unfortunately.
I know. This story just makes me very uneasy. What if someone in my house is murdered at 11pm, and I happen to be using the bathroom at the same time as the murder? Then police can say “you took 16 steps at 11pm” or whatever. With all this data, I feel like more mistakes could be made.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)