Three teenagers were convicted of murdering an 18-year-old with the help of evidence uncovered by police after they unlocked a phone dumped in a river, it can be revealed.
Hans Beeharry, Benjamin Gil and Cameron Palmer, all 19, have been found guilty of murdering Joe Dix near to his flat in Vale Green, Mile Cross, Norwich following a stabbing attack in January last year.
They were convicted at Norwich Crown Court on Wednesday (August 30) in the second trial they faced following an earlier one in January this year.
Jurors in that trial had to be discharged towards the end of the case in the light of new evidence which was obtained after police managed to unlock a phone belonging to one of the defendants.
The handset, belonging to Palmer, had been disposed of in the river Yare near Stoke Road together with phones belonging to Beeharry and Gil.
Beeharry and Palmer's phones were recovered in February 2022 with Beeharry's being accessed before the first trial and Palmer's being unlocked earlier this year as the initial trial was reaching its climax.
It meant jurors had to be discharged and the trial refixed for August this year to allow the new evidence, uncovered on Palmer's phone, to be introduced in the case.
As well as group chat messages about the unlocking of the phone also enabled police to be able to locate burnt-out clothing worn by the killers on the night of the murder.
Detective Superintendent Phill Gray, who led the murder investigation on behalf of the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team (MIT), said: "We were able to narrow down an area that we hadn't been to where they had been to through GPS data on the phone and that led us to search a different area that we hadn't previously."
As a result Mr Gray said police found "burnt remains of clothing" worn by the defendants on the night of the murder.
Unlocking the phone also revealed details of snapchat conversations Palmer had with others around the time of Mr Dix's death.
Palmer left a voice note on the chat stating it had been "nice and quick, quick as you like".
Mr Gray said the unlocking of Palmer's phone was "obviously of benefit" in the case but insisted it was one part of "lots of evidence" they were able to put before the jury.
He said his job - and that of the police - was to carry out a "diligent, professional and thorough investigation" in order to be able to "put the evidence in front of the jury" which allows them to make their decision.
Mr Gray added: "We need to make sure we do all reasonable lines of enquiry and that continues even when the trial starts."
Although the phones of Beeharry and Palmer were found it was clear they had gone to "some lengths" to break the phones before dumping them in the river.
Gil's phone has never been recovered but after finding handsets belonging to the other two defendants Mr Gray said they both had to be dried out and fixed before they could be interrogated.
They then had to "go through the process" of trying to work out PIN numbers as neither defendant provided them.
A new trial, with a fresh jury, was started earlier this month with the new evidence from Palmer's phone being introduced to jurors.
Mr Gray accepted the resulting discharge of the jury in the first trial and the subsequent retrial some months later was a "difficult process" for Mr Dix's family to have to endure.
He said: "I'm very grateful for the support they've given me over the past 18 months and I hope the verdicts, while they cannot bring Joe back, can bring some closure for them and his friends".
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