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Ohio man may face homicide charges after YouTube drunk driving admission

by Reuters
Friday, 6 September 2013 20:55 GMT

By By Kevin Murphy

Sept 6 (Reuters) - An Ohio man who confessed in a video posted on a social media site to driving drunk and killing another man may face homicide charges next week, a spokeswoman for a prosecutor said on Friday.

Matthew Cordle, 22, posted a 3-1/2 minute video on YouTube in which he admits to driving the wrong way down a highway directly into oncoming traffic, striking and killing Vincent Canzani, 61, on June 22.

"When I get charged, I will plead guilty and will take full responsibility for everything I have done to Vince and his family," Cordle said. "I will give the prosecution everything they need to put me away for a very long time."

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien viewed the Cordle video on Wednesday, spokeswoman Christy McCreary said Friday. He will take the case to a grand jury on Monday to recommend a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide involving alcohol, she said.

In the video, Cordle said he has struggled with drinking and depression. "On that particular night, I completely blacked out and tried to drive home," he said.

Cordle said he talked with some "high-powered attorneys" who said blood tests have been thrown out in similar cases.

"All I would have to do for that is lie," he said. "Well, I won't go down that path."

Cordle begged viewers not to drink and drive.

"Don't make the same excuses I did," Cordle said. "Don't say it's only a few miles or you only had a few beers or you do it all the time or it will never happen to you. Because it happened to me. I can't erase what I have done, but you can still be saved. Your victims can still be saved."

The video is the latest in a series of recent online confessions to crimes in the United States and abroad.

Early last month, a Florida man named Derek Medina posted a Facebook message to "friends" that he had killed his wife after she started punching him, and posted a picture of her lying on the floor. He pleaded not guilty to second degree murder last week.

In April, a man in Vietnam named Dang Van Khuven surrendered to authorities there after confessing on Facebook to killing his wife. (Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Greg McCune and Eric Walsh)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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