MySpace Used To Nail Crime Suspects

A party in Boulder, Colorado turned into an ugly scene of rape and robbery, and police turned to the MySpace networking site to identify those responsible.

An unidentified 18-year-old woman found an old high school friend on MySpace and set up a drinking party at her mother's house in Boulder. What happened next became the real-life scenario MySpace critics will recount for some time. The underage drinking party that took place on February 23rd became out-of-control, the Daily Times-Call reported. "At some point, the victim was no longer aware of what was happening, and she was sexually assaulted," Detective Ali Bartley of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said. The property damage committed by a number of the attendees left blood in virtually every room of the house. Bartley said in the report one boy opened wine bottles by breaking them on a counter, while another boy broke a mirror. The criminals caused plenty of other property damage to the house:
During the party, the home's interior and cars at the home were heavily damaged, and about $40,000 worth of goods - including electronics, snowboarding equipment and a handgun - were stolen, Bartley said. The revelers also drove the three cars at the home and damaged the cars' bodies, engines and interiors, according to sheriff's office reports. Bartley said some of the stolen items have been found. "We have recovered $13,000 worth of the merchandise."
Investigators soon found that the victim's friends list on MySpace contained links to profiles of some of the attendees. With the information published by the criminals, authorities arrested and charged six suspects, and have a warrant out for a seventh. While most of the suspects have been charged with theft and criminal mischief, one Nicolas Brinson, 18, was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault. The article noted how he responded to the legal process on his MySpace profile:
Brinson changed his MySpace .com profile name to reflect his arrest. It reads "PROFECY BEEN STEADY POSTED IN THE JAIL HOUSE." "Profecy" is apparently a nickname.
That profile has apparently been deleted from MySpace.com.