In a YouTube video posted this week, a 22-year-old confessed that he was drunk when he crashed his pickup truck into another car while driving the wrong way on a highway, resulting in the death of another man.
Matthew Cordle contacted the website Because I Said I Would on Aug. 9 to arrange his confession regarding the June 22 crash, according to a post on the site.
Because I Said I Would encourages people to make promise cards to "remember the importance of your commitments and goals." Ohio native Alex Sheen started the site last year to honor the memory of his recently deceased father, an avid keeper of promises.
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The YouTube confessional above, which was embedded in the post on Because I Said I Would, includes Cordle's attempt to explain his actions and reason for fessing up.
While driving east in the westbound lane of I-670 in Ohio, Cordle's Toyota Tundra hit Vincent Canzani's Jeep. Canzani, 61, was pronounced dead at the scene, as reported by the Columbus Dispatch.
The confession video opens to ominous music with a blurred and voice-altered figure speaking about drinking to escape his depression. The unidentifiable man confesses to killing a man while driving drunk. In the video, he says "high-powered attorneys" told him if he lied, they could get his blood tests thrown out.
"I won't go down that path," he says as the music softens. In an unaltered voice and clearer focus, Cordle offers his confession, describing his guilt as "insurmountable."
"When I get charged, I will plead guilty and take full responsibility for everything I've done to Vincent and his family," he says.
The music eventually cuts out entirely as Cordle makes his plea to viewers to never drink and drive. Because I Said I Would initially posted about the video on its Facebook page on Tuesday and followed up with this post on Thursday night:
Post by Because I said I would.
The Columbus Police Department could not be reached for comment at publishing time and Because I Said I Would has not yet replied to our request for comment. We will update this post as soon as we have more information.
Image: YouTube, Because I Said I Would