• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, December 29, 2016

Here’s one for the “devious psychopath” file, which seems to get bigger every day: an Iowa woman is accused of murdering a romantic rival and then impersonating her on social media to make everyone believe she was still alive, according to the Omaha World-Herald, which first reported the news.

Shanna Golyar, 41, is charged with murdering Cari Farver, then 37, in November 2012, after discovering they were dating the same man. Golyar then sent messages to and from Farver’s mobile phone and on social media to make it seem like she had simply left town.

Police have been unable to locate a body, murder weapon, or witnesses, but they did find traces of Farver’s blood in the apartment of the man the women were dating. Farver’s vehicle was discovered abandoned in Omaha, where the murder allegedly occurred, and Golyar’s fingerprints were found on a pack of gum in the vehicle.

Social media seems to play a role in all kinds of convoluted crimes nowadays. Earlier this month I wrote about the plight of Tyler Parkervest, a California man who was arrested four times and hit with a huge bail payment after his ex-girlfriend used Facebook to make it look like he was stalking her.

Parkervest’s ex, 25-year-old Stephani Lawson, set up a fake Facebook profile using his image and various personal details under the name “Tyler Parker,” then sent herself threatening messages from the account, in which Parkervest for example supposedly vowed to kill her and her young daughter.

Lawson’s scheme finally fell apart when police obtained search warrants for her personal mobile device and social profile with T-Mobile and Facebook, and discovered that her IP address matched that of the Facebook profile sending the messages.