None of the anti-tamper measurements that are based on odometer readings would catch this, it simply measures how many revolutions the wheels are doing, multiplies that with a set value depending on the wheel circumference, and increments the odometer value accordingly. For Teslas, that number is 742 revolutions per mile.
If the Tesla software would "accidentally" set itself to lets say 450 revolutions per mile, your odometer would simply start ticking up a mile for every 0.6 miles you actually travel.
The only way to catch that is to use a GPS to measure how far you've actually travelled and do a comparison. Good thing for Tesla, GPS is an extremely rare technology nobody has access to, and with EVs, nobody ever even notices such things as "range" and "distance traveled".
Oh, right. So uh, how exactly did they think they wouldn't get immediately caught..?
Death penalty is an ineffective deterrent mostly because people tend to commit the crimes it's used as a punishment for while not thinking, or caring, about the consequences at all.
Now, forget cutting off the internet, if you'd get the death penalty for getting caught pirating music, it would prove to be a very effective deterrent at stopping it. I guarantee, zero piracy after a few years.
A lot smaller population left to buy the legal media too, though, but hey, no pesky pirates!