Fitbit Assists Homicide Case Involving Father Killing Daughter

SANTA CLARA, CA -- A 90-year-old man who has been charged with the murder of his stepdaughter last month in San Jose was assigned a defense lawyer in Santa Clara County Superior Court last week.

Anthony Aiello, who is currently in custody without bail, was arrested on Sept. 25 after police responded to a welfare check from a co-worker and found 67-year-old Karen Navarra dead on Sept. 13. Aiello, who did not enter a plea on Oct. 4, appeared in front of Judge Arthur Bocanegra and will be represented by defense attorney Steven Nakano.

Navarra was located five days after a Fitbit tracker registered her heartbeat spiking, then slowing to a stop at her San Jose home, according to a police statement of facts. It was unclear whether Navarra had been killed when officers first arrived to the seem and found her sitting in a chair with a deep laceration in her neck, according to police.

There were spots of blood located in different places throughout the apartment, a slice of pizza wrapped in foil on the ground and a couple of chairs inside the home had been turned over.

Police began piecing together a timeline of events and submitted a Fitbit Navarra was wearing on her wrist to the company's headquarters in San Francisco to scrape its data. Aiello and his wife Adele, who lived nearby near Alum Rock Park, were first interviewed by Detective Brian Meeker and Sgt. Mike Montonye on the afternoon of Sept. 14.

Aiello told police that he had stopped by at his daughter's house for about 15 minutes on Sept. 8 to give her pizza and she walked him out of the house when he left. Later that day, he said she had driven past his house and waved, and that someone else was seated in the car but he could not make out their gender or identity.

Court documents repeatedly state that Navarra lived a solitary life and was not in a romantic relationship at the time of her death. She worked as a pharmacy technician for about 45 years, according to her parents' statement to police, and the co-worker who requested the wellness check said Navarra typically kept to herself.

Police reviewed surveillance footage from the area of Navarra's home as well as the Aiellos' home, and found they could not corroborate Aiello's statement saying his daughter had driven past his home on the day she died. When detectives received data from Fitbit on Sept. 20, they discovered the time when Navarra's heart stopped beating coincided with surveillance footage showing Aiello's car at the scene during the time of her death.

Police issued a warrant at Aiello's house on Sept. 25 and discovered clothing with splotches of blood and evidence pointing to blood cleanup. Aiello told police during an interview after his arrest the blood was a result of frequently cutting himself. Aiello's plea hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 29.

-Bay City News/Image via Shutterstock