State v Bradley Cooper 4-5-2011

[NCEast]

This isn't a building block. It's more nonsense added by the prosecution. Now if they turn around and show that a disc was wiped from July 12th -> July 15th, then it would make sense. That would show when/where he requested software with this capability. But you act like wiping a hard drive is some uncommon event.

Maybe they are coming to it.
Perhaps this witness today was the foundation that in some capacity will show that Brad had the ability to wipe the drive from 7-12---7-15? I don't know, just guessing. I am just barely able to turn my computer on and off.

 

[gracielee]

The deal with hard drives is that even though you delete it, it doesn't actually remove the data from the hard drive. It really just makes it normally inaccessible from the operating system. If you use the recycle bin it is still accessible even.

Using special utilities you can sometimes recover what is still on the hard drive if new data hasn't overwritten the locations where the old data was on the disk. These utilities use low level calls to scan the disk byte-by-byte without going through the operating system.

The DoD spec is nothing special. It just means that the disk (or even just one file) is wiped clean and then overwritten with 0's 3 to 7 times (or as many as you want).

The overwriting with 0's is what truly wipes the disk. Now the old data has been replaced with 0's.

DBAN is a freely downloadable program that does this and there are dozens more. This isn't classified government software.

why would Brad have to ask this guy about it then?

 

[NCEast]

I really don't like 4 weeks of foundational witnesses in what was supposed to be a 6 week trial. I would really like to see the actual evidence they have linking him to the crime so I can get my numb @$$ of of this fence.

I totally agree with you.
I had lost 10 pounds from Jan. 1 to March 1 and was so proud of myself. And I'm sitting here each day gaining it right back while waiting for the smoking gun.

 

[222NCMom]

I remember Brad saying that one of his tower computers was wiped clean because they were getting ready to donate it and I think he said that at Cisco they had a box, or place, whatever, where you could do that. Is that the computer he needed this program for? That would make sense as for it not being a work laptop.....I believe he also said that there were a few of them that had done this in his group....or something to that affect.

I don't know enough about this stuff to know if this is why he wanted it or not.

Something I noticed with Nancy's sister, has nothing to do with this,was that she mentioned helping Nancy go through toys or something like that.....Also, I looked at the affidavit or rebuttal affidavit of Brads, and it mentioned that Nancy sold toys and stuff at a garage sale the Simmons had and I thought it was July 2008, but I don't know how with the trip and all. I may have read it wrong. Anyway, both of those activities would have gotten rid of some of the garage stuff to help with clearing it out more.

 

[otto]

I wish I had missed the last 6 days, but I'm gonna miss the next 3, thank God! Productivity in NC has fallen 3.6% over the last month.

I think the prosecution's slow start to the case ... dumping all the local gossip on the jury ... was probably a bad decision and a waste of time. The prosecution should have focused on their strongest points and re-inforced them throughout the trial. It seems they've spent the entire time reinforcing the gossip ... which is hardly grounds for conviction. It seems to me that the jury would have looked at the gossip and decided that it's not proof of murder. With that as the first response to the evidence, there's a good possibility they'll view all the evidence in the same way.

The experts just keep tripping ... like the entomologist that has bug activity while Nancy is at the neighbor's party. Of course he can fudge the results and omit that small problem ... I could fudge the results and omit all the problems.

 

[SleuthyGal]

I believe it points towards pre-planning a murder.

JANUARY 2008 - The New Year starts with Nancy finally finding out the truth of Brad's affair. After months of denials he finally admits it and claims he is in love with H.M. Nancy is 'done' with the marriage and done with trying to work on the marriage.

FEBRUARY 2008 - Brad removes Nancy from all accounts.

MARCH 2008 - Nancy gets Alice Stubbs, Attorney and first draft of separation agreement starts.

APRIL 2008 - Brad realizes he's going to have to pay beaucoup bucks to Nancy. Brad abruptly cancels NC's move back to Canada when previously he couldn't wait for the 3 of them to leave. NC was supposed to leave April 25.

APRIL 2008 - Brad has all of NC's emails forwarded to his own account. From April 2008 through July 11 2008.

APRIL 2008 - Brad is laying some foundation of his own. Finding out how to completely wipe a hard drive (why he had to ask someone else I don't know, but he did).

This is the start of his planning, or, at least where I think it really started to gel in his mind. The 'when' was not set yet, but the thought to kill Nancy was formed, IMHO.

 

[SleuthinNC]

So what's the general concensus at this point ... is the case against Brad getting stronger? Are there any pieces of evidence that stand out as fairly clearly establishing Brad's involvement in the murder?

In my view the case has gotten progressively weaker.

 

[Wyn]

In my view the case has gotten progressively weaker.

I don't think so. The small things are adding up...........it may be boring but this is real life, not a made for tv show. We just need patience.

 

[otto]

Nope. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Brad does seem like the most likely suspect, but that isn't enough to convict.

I also don't think that wiping a computer harddrive is a big deal. I've done it. I didn't know which program to use to wipe it, but a friend pointed me in the right direction ... searched it on the net, downloaded it, ran the program about 7 times ... and poof ... fresh start on the computer. Then I passed the laptop to someone else. With a desktop machine, the easiest thing is to pull out the harddrive and replace it with a new one ... no real reason to wipe it.

 

[otto]

I believe it points towards pre-planning a murder.

JANUARY 2008 - The New Year starts with Nancy finally finding out the truth of Brad's affair. After months of denials he finally admits it and claims he is in love with H.M. Nancy is 'done' with the marriage and done with trying to work on the marriage.

FEBRUARY 2008 - Brad removes Nancy from all accounts.

MARCH 2008 - Nancy gets Alice Stubbs, Attorney and first draft of separation agreement starts.

APRIL 2008 - Brad realizes he's going to have to pay beaucoup bucks to Nancy. Brad abruptly cancels NC's move back to Canada when previously he couldn't wait for the 3 of them to leave. NC was supposed to leave April 25.

APRIL 2008 - Brad has all of NC's emails forwarded to his own account. From April 2008 through July 11 2008.

APRIL 2008 - Brad is laying some foundation of his own. Finding out how to completely wipe a hard drive (why he had to ask someone else I don't know, but he did).

This is the start of his planning, or, at least where I think it really started to gel in his mind. The 'when' was not set yet, but the thought to kill Nancy was formed, IMHO.

I thought it was April when the accounts were changed ... but that's going on memory. Sadly, all of those points could just as easily occur when a divorce or separation is imminent. Brad would have been told that everything could be used against him in divorce ... maybe he needed to wipe out some emails from some girlfriends, hidden finances and so on.

 

[NCEast]

I have made a small note that the science and computer folks on here are primarily the people who want/need to see the evidence. I can understand that--brother and dad were engineers and I understand that sort of mindset. Most of the ones here who think he did it are thinking with their hearts to a degree, myself included, and are going on basic instinct.

 

[otto]

In my view the case has gotten progressively weaker.

That's unfortunate for Nancy and her family.

 

[wuffin]

I really don't like 4 weeks of foundational witnesses in what was supposed to be a 6 week trial. I would really like to see the actual evidence they have linking him to the crime so I can get my numb @$$ of of this fence.

I'm with you on that one! Not only get the numb hiney off the fence, but off of the couch listening to the proceedings!

 

[Palomine]

In my view the case has gotten progressively weaker.

you won't be disappointed when he is found guilty?

 

[Palomine]

Brad does seem like the most likely suspect, but that isn't enough to convict.

I also don't think that wiping a computer harddrive is a big deal. I've done it. I didn't know which program to use to wipe it, but a friend pointed me in the right direction ... searched it on the net, downloaded it, ran the program about 7 times ... and poof ... fresh start on the computer. Then I passed the laptop to someone else. With a desktop machine, the easiest thing is to pull out the harddrive and replace it with a new one ... no real reason to wipe it.

I wouldn't think that just anyone could do any sort of wiping/erasing of work computers, I think that would be for security reasons and also internal investigations...the first thing employers do is grab the computer when someone is fired

 

[Albert]

Yes... I'm not sure what you are getting at. Calling the DID number in france was essentially the same as calling BC's phone extension on the Alpha network. Is that the manipulation being referred to?

My only goal has been to indicate the following by SleuthyGal, "Brad had control of that specific test phone number that was setup in France." is not correct.

 

[SleuthinNC]

That's unfortunate for Nancy and her family.

I agree.

 

[SleuthinNC]

My only goal has been to indicate the following by SleuthyGal, "Brad had control of that specific test phone number that was setup in France." is not correct.

Oh! Yes exactly, he did not have control over that phone! And I think you and I were saying the same thing. I confused myself

 

[otto]

I wouldn't think that just anyone could do any sort of wiping/erasing of work computers, I think that would be for security reasons and also internal investigations...the first thing employers do is grab the computer when someone is fired

It's not difficult at all, and I think anyone that wanted to do it could ... even with a work computer.

 

[Albert]

I really don't like 4 weeks of foundational witnesses in what was supposed to be a 6 week trial. I would really like to see the actual evidence they have linking him to the crime so I can get my numb @$$ of of this fence.

I think we should be thankful that the DA office is taking this very slow approach. It is not like they have a mulligan and if the case is based on circumstantial evidence then they must carefully lay out all of the evidence they have.