Tausha Fields: Can you solve a murder with Google?

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Tausha Fields (Personal Photo)

(CBS) - It was a broken heart that may have helped solve this murder...

In January 2008, 26-year-old Dewayne Barrentine of Marianna, Fla., discovered his girlfriend, Tausha Fields, had been cheating on him. Hurt, angry, and humiliated, Dewayne went online to learn all he could about his now ex-girlfriend, including how long she had been seeing another man.

This wouldn't be the first time Dewayne searched the Internet for information on the woman he loved. Right from the start, Tausha had made it clear to Dewayne she didn't like talking about her past. What few stories she did share were so bizarre, so disturbing, and so unbelievable that Dewayne felt compelled to try and confirm them. One online search led him to an old marriage license with Tausha's name on it. When he confronted Tausha with the document, he said his 32-year-old girlfriend admitted she had been married before: not just once but five times!

But it was the revelation of Tausha's infidelity that sent Dewayne's investigative skills into overdrive. What he ultimately discovered was far more shocking than he could have ever imagined. It turns out one of Tausha's ex-husbands had been missing for four years. After countless Google searches and candid conversations with Tausha's old acquaintances, Dewayne began to suspect Tausha may have had something to do with her ex-husband's disappearance. So he presented his findings to police. Soon, Dewayne wasn't the only one wondering about Tausha's connection to the man who had vanished without a trace.

Almost a year after Tausha's infidelity compelled Dewayne to dig even deeper into his ex-girlfriend's past, authorities arrested Tausha and charged her with murder.

Prosecutors tell "48 Hours | Mystery" they may never have been able to build a case against Tausha Fields without the help of Dewayne and his investigative skills. Fields, they say, "ran into the wrong boyfriend with Dewayne Barrentine."

Watching Dewayne Barrentine testify at the murder trial of his ex girlfriend, the woman who broke his heart, makes you think how the old saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" could use a rewrite.

For more on Tausha Fields, watch 48 Hours Mystery Saturday at 10/9 c.

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by allisonburness July 11, 2011 10:01 AM EDT: Hwoodhd: It's the internet--you've got no right to privacy. If you don't want it out there for the world to know, don't write it, type it, post it, upload it, or sign it.; Reply to this comment


by cwtloki July 11, 2011 9:41 AM EDT: You have to watch the whole 48 hour episode to understand why he started doing research. He brought a family justice!; Reply to this comment


by Jhihmoac July 9, 2011 10:38 PM EDT: When he found out she was cheating, he should've said "Bye" then, and just kept it moving...; Reply to this comment