Obsessive fans have more tools than ever to invade the private lives of entertainment figures. This chilling tale should make all celebrities shiver just a bit: a fan, Devon Townsend, has hacked the cell phone records, diverted emails, hacked email accounts, compromised PayPal accounts and accumulated private family photos of Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington. Oh yeah, she also made phone threats to Bennington’s wife, Talinda.
This is creepily fascinating, but even more interesting is the criminal complaint sworn out against Townsend. In an affidavit, Special Agent Jeffrey Fauver, who is with the office of the Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Services at the Department of Defense, spells out in detail how the stalker came to be known and how he pursued a cyber-trail until he found out who she is.
It started when Talinda began to suspect a stalker had hacked into the couple’s PayPal and Verizon Wireless accounts. The rocker’s wife then contacted the secret service, which investigated and turned over the sleuthing to DoD when they discovered that the offender used an IP address at a secure facility of a federally funded lab, Sandia National Laboratories, located at Kirtland Air Force Base.
Agent Fauver then engaged in serious forensic investigation, following IP addresses, mirroring hard drives and examining the contents of files to find out that the unhinged fan in fact is Townsend. He even worked with a postal inspector to track packages mailed to Townsend’s house. One of the creepiest bits of evidence (at least to me) is that Townsend diverted emailed photos that Talinda Bennington had taken of her husband, children and friends with a cell phone camera during a trip to Japan.
When confronted with the evidence, Townsend admitted to the cyber-stalking and threatening phone calls and prepared a signed statement explaining how she managed to hack her way into all the personal accounts. This last piece of crucial information didn’t make its way into the public record of Devon’s arrest…much to the relief of rock stars and their wives everywhere.
Cynthia Brumfield at 4:36 PM|Comments(0)
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