Police Use Snapchat, Facebook Messages To Arrest Two Men In Double Homicide

Florida police used a Snapchat conversation and Facebook Messenger to arrest two suspects in the slayings of two men during the robbery of a drug dealer.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office released a report Wednesday showing how Rahsaan Jerome, 20, and Scott Cinevert, 24, planned the April 27 robbery that led to the shooting deaths of Matthew Makarits, 22, and Marcus Stukes, 21 near Greenacres in Palm Beach County. The Palm Beach Post reported investigators pieced together several social media exchanges between Jerome and Cinevert that showed premeditated plans to rob the two victims during a marijuana deal.

Cellphone data was used to pinpoint the suspects' exact location at the crime scene during the time of the double murder, the police report states. This comes as Snapchat rolls out its new mapping feature that shows the location of app users.

Read: New York Robbery Suspect Broadcasts On Facebook Live, Falls To Death

The police report said the two “came prepared with multiple firearms” to Bowman Park where Cinevert had set up an arrangement to purchase a quarter-pound of marijuana from Makartis, the Palm Beach Post reported. Snapchat user names associated with the suspects exchanged a series of plans between 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on April 26, the night before the shootings. Police also used 13 confidential witnesses and park security cameras in addition to the Facebook and Snapchat conversations.

Makartis' Facebook page was covered with poses depicting gang signs, but his mother told the Palm Beach Post that was just a front.

Social Media Provides Ties To Crime Scene

Police found 100 grams of marijuana in the blue Nissan Sentra that witnesses said Makarits and Stukes were sitting when the shooting began. Thirteen shell casings from a Draco 7.62 semiautomatic rifle were found at the scene. A cell phone belonging to Makarits was recovered in the vehicle. Investigators used it to read Cinevert’s Facebook Messenger comments to arrange the drug deal.

A witness provided investigators with Jerome’s Snapchat account name and cell phone number that police used to track his movement within the park at the exact time of the shooting. Jerome told Palm Beach investigators he heard about the double homicide on the news and said just because his phone was found at the crime scene, it didn’t mean he was present.

Jerome also denied knowing his alleged accomplice, Cinevert, whom he blamed on memory loss tied to the amount of marijuana he smokes.

Cinevert told witnesses at the scene he stayed in the vehicle during the shooting because he needed money and “no one was supposed to get hurt,” the report says. He was arrested on June 13 and charged with two counts of premeditated murder and two counts of robbery with a firearm. He is set to appear in court again on July 13. Jerome refused his first court appearance on Wednesday. He was represented by attorney Kenneth Hassett in absentia.

Officers first obtained Cinevert’s cell phone during their initial questioning of him on May 5. The April 26 Snapchat conversation with Jerome detailed the plans for the robbery one day before it occurred and the Facebook Messenger conversation with the victim laid out the arrangement for the fatal encounter.

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The incident is only the latest example of law enforcement across the country using social media to locate and arrest individuals using Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat accounts tied to the suspects. In San Antonio this week, sheriff’s deputies were able to arrest a wanted man who posted a photo of himself showing off concert tickets — and his location.