YouTube speeds police hunt for murder suspect

 

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By John McCrank

Posted on 22 Dec 2006 at 13:17

A YouTube video has helped Canadian police find a man they believe responsible for a murder.

Police in the Southern Ontario city of Hamilton said that they uploaded a one-minute, 12-second clip from a surveillance tape onto the video-sharing YouTube site.

The video, which showed suspects arriving at a local nightclub for a Sean Price hip-hop concert, garnered media attention and was viewed more than 30,000 times.

'This is the first time Hamilton police have used video web posting in an investigation, and to the best of its knowledge, the first time that law enforcement has ever used it as a direct investigative tool,' Staff Sgt. Jorge Lasso told a news conference.

George Gallow, 24, of Hamilton, who is seen in the clip wearing a baseball cap with the word 'JOKER' on the front, turned himself into police on Tuesday and has been charged with second degree murder and attempted murder.

Gallow is accused of stabbing Ryan Milner, 22, and his friend, whom police did not name, in a parking lot after the November concert.

Police said Milner died shortly after being stabbed in the chest. His friend is still recovering.

'(There is) little doubt that the extra media generated by the use of YouTube contributed to the fact that this man turned himself in,' Lasso said.

Police said they turned to YouTube due to its popularity with young people. Most of the concert-goers were in their late teens or early 20s.

The video can be viewed here.