Case of a couple receiving harassing messages on their TV?

[choie]

Okay this really is a double post, sorry, but this fascinates me.

I found this (unfortunately unsourced) news article on a message board that at least states that the messages stopped after Labor Day (2000) but the TV still turned off by itself as late as October:

Neighbors say the Smiths keep to themselves and are not seen much.

“I’m walking around scared to death,” said Charlotte Smith, 51. “We just
want to know why” this is happening.

So does Benjamin Moore and his family, who live across the street. A
retired GM supervisor, Moore said he sleeps with a loaded shotgun by his
bed after threats against him, his wife and their three children appeared
on the Smiths’ television.

The Smiths, meanwhile, have reactivated the alarm system and replaced the
18-inch satellite receiver on the roof. There have been no threats since
Labor Day but the televisions still turn off mysteriously every night,
Judge Smith said.

Man. This, Max Headroom, and number stations… for some reason people screwing around with broadcasts really bothers (aka scares the crap out of) me, I don’t know why.

[Rhythmdvl]

It was either the 13 year-old son or they built their house on a former cemetery but they never moved the bodies!

[MikeS]

@rogerbox

Did you remember this case too, or are you just a better googler than me?

Google News; I did an advanced search for “tv messages couple” between 1995 and 2003, and it was the top result. It’s a damn useful tool, and I was really disappointed that Google pulled the plug on the archiving project earlier this year. Thankfully, stuff that they’ve added already is still accessible, even if it’s a little harder to get to than it used to be.

[Tim_T-Bonham.net]

@Doug_K

The Dish Network remotes use RF, so it wouldn’t be hard for someone with the same model remote to control a neighbor’s television.

There is a very funny scene of that in Grumpy Old Men. From 1993, several years before this. Video here.

[JoelUpchurch]

@rogerbox

I’m wondering how they just typed onscreen with a remote control. Like, what part of the GUI on a TV lets you just type over the screen? I’ve never seen that ability on a TV, which makes me wonder if the criminal had special cable company equipment, like a technician remote? Could’ve worked for the cable company or stolen.

Anyone have experience with a TV that would just allow them to type in real time on the screen like that? Also you would have to be pretty close or modify your remote, RF signals get weaker squared with distance if I remember correctly.

I actually had a device that would you overlay a computer image on a composite video image. Anything that appeared on the computer would appear on the tv image as an overlay. I just used it to draw adjustable alignment marks on the screen. It was something like this.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/221361-REG/AV_Toolbox_CS_450R_CS_450_Scan_Converter_with.html

You could probably could attach a parabolic antenna and a signal booster to a unit like below and freak out your neighbors.

http://www.amazon.com/Tv-Wireless-High-Res-Converter/dp/B00123SAV0

[rogerbox]

@choie

Edited to add: ooh turns out it wsn’t a double post since you crept in there after me. Thanks for the extra info, rogerbox. I don’t blame you for not wanting to press her for details. But I’d very much like to hear how you broached the subject in the first place! I’m so impresed.

This is the first time I’ve ever called someone from a news story out of my own curiosity, but I worked on my highschool newspaper and got used to calling strangers to get information. It went something like:

(Gentle voice to try to not alarm her at all):

Woman picks up “Hello?”

Me: “Hello, can I speak to Judge Smith?”

Her: “He’s not here right now.”

Me: “Is this Charlotte Smith?”

Her: “Yes”

Me: “Hi, my name is _____, you don’t know me but I saw the news report many years ago about the case of the person harassing you through your TV. I can’t find ANY information about the case online, I was wondering if they ever caught the person?”

(Before calling I was 90% sure they would catch this person either as a disgruntled Cable person or someone within RF distance of their house, I assumed it would be pretty easy to catch this person)

Her: “No. They never found out who it was.” (I can’t describe to you how this one sentence sounded coming from her. Charlotte sounded like a sweet, dignified and intelligent lady, but she definitely sounded like I was reminding her about the worst time in her life.)

Me: “I’m so so sorry to hear that, that was an awful thing. Well I hope everything is alright now, take care.”

That was about it. As soon as she said the person was never caught and sounded distraught, I chose not to ask any of the questions I wanted (My number 1 question was “Did they ever have a suspect?” I totally would’ve tried to track down that guy and call him if she had a name).

I felt somewhat guilty about upsetting a sweet old lady, but her and Judge chose to appear on the news in the first place to share their story, so I was only asking the resolution to what they chose to make public.

[rogerbox]

Since the FBI got involved, does anyone know how to do a freedom of information act request to find out what they found?

[Senegoid]

@rogerbox

This is the first time I’ve ever called someone from a news story out of my own curiosity, but I worked on my highschool newspaper and got used to calling strangers to get information. It went something like:
<snip>

You might next find the F.B.I. calling YOU with some upsetting questions.

[rogerbox]

Yeah I thought of that but considering I was proveably not even in her state at the time and I was 15, I am not that worried even if they do ask me questions.

[rogerbox]

The provider of the satellite service, California-based DirecTv, has told
the FBI that its signal has not been compromised, spokesman Robert Mercer
said. The company is owned in part by Hughes Electronics, a subsidiary of
General Motors Corp.

Mercer said company officials suspect someone is using a radio-frequency
remote control to type the messages. The remote control is not supplied by
the satellite provider.

So like I suspected, the remote control capable of doing this is not consumer grade. I hope the authorities investigated Dish Network technicians and also checked to see if any equipment with those capabilities was reported stolen. I found a newsgroup for a technology security group discussing the case and they posted the specs of an RF remote needed to carry this out, it definitely sounds like specialist equipment. And if the TV really responded to Charlotte’s voice, I wonder if their house was bugged during the initial break-in.

[Senegoid]

@rogerbox

Yeah I thought of that but considering I was proveably not even in her state at the time and I was 15, I am not that worried even if they do ask me questions.

See this current thread for more thoughts about THAT. See especially the posts about the advisability of answering questions. Be worried.