How an Apple Watch could help solve a murder in Australia

Prosecutor says data supports allegation the home invasion was staged. Photo / Getty Images

Police in Australia have used data gathered from an Apple Watch as evidence in a murder trial.

Adelaide woman Myrna Nilsson was killed in 2016 and her murder is now on trial in Australia, with her daughter-in-law Caroline Nilsson being accused of staging an ambush.

The accused first claimed she had been tied up by a group of men who entered the house but data from the victim's Apple Watch suggests otherwise.

The daughter-of-law claims the woman was followed home by a group of men in the car and proceeded to spend 20 minutes arguing with them outside the house. She argued she did not hear the woman being killed, as she was in the kitchen with the door closed.

According to ABC News, the daughter-in-law emerged from the house around 10pm. She was gagged and appeared in distress.

A neighbour reportedly contacted police. The woman said her attackers had tied her up and she managed to escape from the house right after they left.

However, data from the victim's Apple Watch seems to suggest that she died hours earlier than her daughter-in-law claims.

Prosecutor Carmen Matteo says the data seems to suggest the daughter-in-law staged the home invasion.

"The evidence from the Apple Watch is a foundational piece of evidence for demonstrating the falsity of the defendant's account to police," said Matteo.

"A watch of this type … contains sensors capable of tracking the movement and rate of movement of the person wearing it ... it also measures the heart rate."

According to the data gathered from the victim's watch, which she was wearing at the time of her death, "the deceased must have been attacked at around 6.38pm and had certainly died by 6.45pm".

"If that evidence is accepted, it tends to contradict the accused's version of an argument occurring between the deceased and these men outside the laundry for a period of up to 20 minutes.

"Her emergence from the house was well after 10.00pm and if the Apple Watch evidence is accepted, that is over three hours after the attack on the deceased."

The trial continues.