

Man Confesses to Killing Someone in Promotional Video for New Startup - danso
http://betabeat.com/2013/09/man-confesses-to-killing-someone-in-promotional-video-for-new-startup/

======
bastawhiz
To anyone reading the comments before the article like I did: the title is
misleading. A person was not killed on video to promote a startup. The article
is about a video of a man confessing killing someone, and the man is using the
video to promote his startup.

~~~
danso
As the submitter, I'll just point out that I'm following HN's rules and used
the OP's title. However, in defense of the OP, the title is not misleading.
This man is confessing to killing a man and the source of this video, i.e. its
original poster, is a new startup

Here's how a local newspaper covered it:
[http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2013/09/05/ma...](http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2013/09/05/man-
uses-youtube-to-admit-to-drunk-driving-
killing.html?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer78e90&utm_medium=twitter)

edit: Also in reply to the parent comment, the man who is confessing is not
the man who owns the startup (though that would create a pretty interesting
legal/business situation)

~~~
Twisol
Most people, I would guess, read the headline as "Man Confesses to (Killing
Someone in Promotional Video ...)", even though it's meant to be read as "(Man
Confesses to Killing Someone) in Promotional Video ...". It's very easy to
misunderstand.

------
jychang
If this is real, confession to a murder is good. It offers closure to the
family of the bereaved.

However, confession to advertise, before doing it to the police, is bad. It
cheapens the worth of the life of the person that's killed. He's expecting
backlash because he deserves it; in doing so, he's reducing the value of life.

I can only hope that in the end, good comes out of this.

~~~
danso
In defense of the confessor...I have to disagree. He made this statement
_before being charged_...some HN readers might remember the lawyer from this
video:

[http://youtu.be/6wXkI4t7nuc](http://youtu.be/6wXkI4t7nuc)

That lawyer would go ballistic at this video...the confessor has basically
given up any easy way to get a reduced charge, even though, with a good
lawyer, you can bring charges down quite a bit. For starters, this was not a
murder. At most, this was a _vehicular homicide_ , and while all murders are
homicides, the reverse is not true. Furthermore, vehicular homicide has to
show (in most states) gross and reckless negligence. And yes, while the
average person would agree that being drunk and driving seems to automatically
to fill that bill, courts have shown otherwise. At the very least, I think we
can applaud this man for not making a horrible situation worse by prolonging
the court battle.

The startup-side of this seems crass, but in their defense, they did not
solicit this confession:

[http://becauseisaidiwould.com/saveyourvictim/](http://becauseisaidiwould.com/saveyourvictim/)

~~~
uptown
"The startup-side of this seems crass, but in their defense, they did not
solicit this confession"

No - they're just happy to exploit the death and name of a man, who can't
possibly consent, in order to promote their shitty Wordpress blog.

~~~
danso
I agree that the website looks sloppy and the viability of its mission is
doubtful, but what's the insinuation here? That if they hired a better
designer and followed the lean startup book, that what they've done here would
be more acceptable?

Like most everyone here, I know of a few people personally who've either been
killed or nearly destroyed by drunk drivers. When I was younger and more
idealistic, I couldn't understand why it was so hard for people to get a
goddamn designated driver. Now I kind of shrug...we have a culture of denial
and selfishness, and carelessness comes naturally and fuck-it-it'll-never-
happen-to-me is easy to be lulled into. Add to that, the ability for those
with money and charisma to talk their way out of serious punishment, and there
doesn't seem to be much else to feel but cynicism about it all.

But I'll admit this video surprised me with its message. Statements of sorrow
are common after you've been sentenced to prison and had time to think about
it and nothing to lose...they're pretty rare between the indictment phase and
the verdict, and virtually unheard of before the charging process. So some
website I'll never go to again will get an upsurge in traffic...small price to
pay if it means more people watch the video and, hopefully, really understand
the tragedy and take it to heart.

~~~
uptown
What I'm saying is that the blog using this as a marketing platform is crass
and offensive to me. The video was on YouTube - bound to get far more traffic
than any promotion they'd compel, and could have been produced without their
promotion.

And we're supposed to be impressed that this idiot has now decided to take
responsibility for his actions? You're supposed to - it's part of the social
contract you enter into with the world when you decide to drink.

Take a look at their twitter feed. They're reaching out to media outlets
boasting that they "made the video" and that it's "going viral". To them, this
isn't about awareness, or honoring the guy that got killed ... it's about
themselves.

------
frozenport
I want to say that a confession does very little and life altering changes
like not drinking and driving might have done more good in the long run.
Imagine if the guy confessing dedicated his life to charity work, instead of
languishing in a prison cell?

~~~
Apocryphon
I wonder if that's how Scandinavian countries, who are renowned for having
much better prison conditions and rehabilitation programs, would handle such a
case. For a repentant person convicted of manslaughter, assign them a lifetime
of community service to make up for their crimes.

~~~
nmridul
The challenge is to correctly identify the deserving candidates. You can fake
remorse.

And there also is the other side. The lives that were lost and the lives that
got shattered for no mistake of theirs. Not everyone has a large heart. Its
difficult for some to see one of your close relation's killer walking free.

------
solve
This is fake.

~~~
GigabyteCoin
I would suspect so. Otherwise this has to be the strangest thing I have read
in a while.

~~~
solve
Just Google "Vincent Kanzani", zero hits except for this story. Normally, I
wouldn't complain, but I think that the idea of using fabricated, emotionally
charged stories to try to "teach" is awful. People eat this kind of
manipulation up, even here.

~~~
petroica
It's Vincent Canzani.

[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=vi...](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=vincent-
v-canzani&pid=165659783&fhid=8706#fbLoggedOut)

[http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2013/06/24/columbus-
vict...](http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2013/06/24/columbus-victim-in-
wrong-way-driver-crash-identified.html)

