Matthew Hyde interview

Friday, October 27, 2023 – 9:30 a.m.

Matthew Hyde works at Capture It Data Recovery on Sisk Avenue.

Detectives Beckwith and Magee visited him at his job.

Participants

• Detective P. Beckwith
• Detective J. Magee
• Matthew Hyde

Detective Magee: Thank you for seeing us today, Mr. Hyde. We won't disrupt your business for too long, but we do have some questions we need to ask you.

Matthew Hyde: No problem. I usually don't have too many drop-in customers.

Detective Magee: Great. Before we get started, please state your name and address for the record.

Matthew Hyde: I'm Matthew Hyde, and my address is 1221 Rogers Road.

Detective Magee: Thank you. What's your occupation, Mr. Hyde?

Matthew Hyde: I'm a data recovery specialist here at Capture It Data Recovery.

Detective Beckwith: And what does a data recovery specialist do?

Matthew Hyde: We recover data lost when electronics crash or fail. We also work with companies to recover security video from DVR or CCTV systems.

Detective Magee: Were you recently approached by this person or this person?

Matthew Hyde: Yes. Both.

Detective Magee: Do you know their names?

Matthew Hyde: Her name is Shiloh Bates. His name is Wyatt … something. It might be on the paperwork.

Detective Magee: When did they come in?

Matthew Hyde: A little over a week ago.

Detective Magee: Can you be more specific?

Matthew Hyde: Um … a week ago Wednesday. That would've been the … 18th. Late afternoon.

Detective Beckwith: Do you recall what time?

Matthew Hyde: Yes. I remember because they rushed in at 4:15 p.m., demanding that we stay open to handle their emergency.

Detective Magee: And did you?

Matthew Hyde: Well, we don't close until 6:00 p.m., so yeah, I was able to get them checked in and receive their item.

Detective Beckwith: What item was that?

Matthew Hyde: A backup drive from a network video recording system. It was odd. There was something not right about their behavior.

Detective Magee: Such as?

Matthew Hyde: Well, once I told them the store was open until 6:00 p.m., so there was plenty of time, they spent the next few minutes by the front door engaged in a … conversation of sorts.

Detective Beckwith: Could you hear what they were saying?

Matthew Hyde: Not really. It mostly sounded like her hissing orders. Not that I heard anything specifically, just words here and there, and she said his name a lot—with emphasis.

Detective Beckwith: You didn't ask them to leave?

Matthew Hyde: Uh, no, they weren't a threat to me. I think they just had some sensitive images on the drive, so I just waited until they got it together.

Detective Magee: How long were they here in your store?

Matthew Hyde: Until 6:00 p.m.

Detective Beckwith: What were they doing here for so long?

Matthew Hyde: We sell used equipment on consignment, so they were looking at a couple of cameras and just generally jawing about making movies.

Detective Beckwith: What kind of movies?

Matthew Hyde: Just movies in general.

Detective Magee: Did they tell you what the drive contained?

Matthew Hyde: The images? No. They just said— or rather, she just said it was her property, and she wanted everything that depicted her and/or she and her boyfriend copied off the source material.

Detective Magee: She said source material?

Matthew Hyde: No. She used profanity. She intimated that she had been recorded in flagrante delicto with her boyfriend, and she wanted those images in particular, but also anything "with her face," whatever that meant.

Detective Magee: She said in flagrante delicto?

Matthew Hyde: No. She used profanity.

Detective Beckwith: Is there any reason she couldn't just pull the video off herself? It seems like everyone is making digital videos and posting them to social media.

Matthew Hyde: Could be any number of reasons. Maybe she doesn't have a computer. This can't be done on a tablet or a phone. Or maybe it's encrypted. Like if it's saved in an avid format, she'd need an avid system to open the files.

Detective Beckwith: Okay. When did you complete the job?

Matthew Hyde: I didn't. I haven't even started it.

Detective Beckwith: So you haven't seen anything on the drive?

Matthew Hyde: Correct. Ms. Bates calls here at least twice a day to check the status, even though I told them when they dropped off the source material that I couldn't start the job for a week at least.

Detective Magee: Do you still have the drive?

Matthew Hyde: Yes.

Detective Beckwith: Has the drive or anything it contains been altered in any way?

Matthew Hyde: No. Like I said, I didn't start the job, so I haven't touched it since they dropped it off.

Detective Magee: Thank you, Mr. Hyde. We're going to need to take that drive into evidence. Would you keep it here, as-is and untouched, until we return with a warrant?

Matthew Hyde: No problem.

Detective Magee: That's great. We appreciate your time today, and we'll be back as soon as we get that warrant.

Interview ended – 9:46 a.m.