A young driver has confessed in a video posted online that he’s to blame for a wrong-way car crash stemming from a night of heavy drinking that killed another man.
Matthew Cordle says he’s willing to take “full responsibility” for his actions in a brief, dramatically edited 3.5-minute video, posted online last week. The video – first posted on the non-profit Ohio-based web site becauseisaidiwould.com – begins with a young man’s face pixelated and his voice distorted recalling being out with friends, drinking heavily at different bars, just trying to have a good time. The screen fades to black and at the 1:40 mark, he reappears. You can see his face, hear his real voice. “My name is Matthew Cordle and on June 22, 2013, I hit and killed Vincent Canzani. This video will act as my confession.”
Cordle ends the video confession by “begging” people not to drive drunk.
“I beg you, and I say the word beg specifically, I’m begging you, please don’t drink and drive. I can’t bring Mr. Canzani back, and I can’t erase what I’ve done, but you can still be saved. Your victims can still be saved. So, please,” Cordle says before a message appears on the darkened screen: “make the promise to never drink and drive.”
