On September 18, the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia (POG) released a statement on various new findings, including the results of a medical autopsy, confirming substance intoxication as the cause of death of the young programmer Tamar Bachaliashvili.
The POG also addressed other issues and allegations regarding the controversial case, including the satellite photos disseminated by the defense lawyer of the deceased’s family, as well as rumors claiming that Bachaliashvili may have been a hacker.
Medical Autopsy
According to the POG, the medical autopsy revealed substance intoxication to be the cause of death, noting medicaments were taken orally, not injected. POG reiterated that the young programmer’s body had not suffered physical injuries and no traces of injections were to be found.
Satellite Photos
After disappearing on July 18, the young programmer was found deceased in her own automobile near southern Tetritskaro municipality, on July 22. The deceased’s family ruled out suicide, arguing that the programmer was murdered, voicing distrust in the investigation and accusing the police of inaction and malpractice. Recently, Mikheil Ramishvili, the lawyer of Bachaliashvili’s family, released two satellite photos, which allegedly showed that the automobile was not on the location either on July 18 or on July 22.
In response to allegations, the Prosecutor’s Office noted that after examination, the photos were found to be falsified, pointing out various signs indicating that the images were fabricated. POG added, that Ramishvili did not provide the source of the images and did not name the satellite from which the photos were allegedly taken. It assessed the photos as falsification of evidence and as an attempt to deliberately mislead the investigation. POG spoke of legal consequences in response to the provision of the “falsified” satellite images.
Defense lawyer Mikheil Ramishvili denied that the photos were falsified and instead, provided the name of the person from whom he had obtained the images.
Google Maps Timeline
Prosecutor’s Office also accessed the deceased programmer’s Google account, noting that she had activated Google Maps Timeline settings, which tracked her movement to and from locations. According to Google data, POG identified the route Bachaliashvili took on the day of her disappearance. She reportedly left her home on July 18, 10:09, made a stop near Ponichala Park at 10:15 and was on the Rustavi highway at 10:25. POG noted that Google data recorded her en route to Marneuli and Tetritskaro and at 12:13, Bachaliashvili made the last stop, at the location where eventually her body was discovered.
According to the statement, police and CCTV footage confirmed the route recorded by Google. According to traceological analysis, tire traces found on the location belonged to the programmer’s automobile, ruling out the possibility, that it was manually moved to the site.
Rumors and Allegations Regarding Hacking
POG addressed rumors, claiming that the young programmer was a hacker, stating that no hacking tools were found on Bachaliashvili’s phone or laptop. Upon examination, the programs found on her laptop confirmed that Bachaliashvili was a programmer, working on web-development.
Also Read:
Autopsy Report on Young Programmer’s Death Case Released
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