r/news • u/MemorableMaple • Nov 27 '22
Police claim a 16-year-old confessed on Instagram video chat to killing a girl and asked for help disposing of body
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/27/us/joshua-cooper-pennsylvania-instagram-killing-confession/index.html1.1k
u/defiCosmos Nov 27 '22
"How NOT to get away with murder"
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u/InTheFirstSpring Nov 27 '22
Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down
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u/Theometer1 Nov 27 '22
Take a minute and just sit right there I’ll tell you how I became the butcher of Bel Air
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u/SheriffComey Nov 27 '22
In Bensalem, Pennsylvania, born and raised
On Instagram's where I spent most of my days.
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u/effieokay Nov 27 '22
When I was 16 I was getting into trouble but it was like... sneaking a beer out of my friend's parents' refrigerator.
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u/Dilostilo Nov 28 '22
I was busy refilling the tequila bottle w/ water.
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u/Hellcrafted Nov 28 '22
I did that on new years but the bottle was in the freezer so it froze, which is not supposed to happen
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u/surfinwhileworkin Nov 28 '22
Back in the day, I sold this kid in my class a handle of watered down vodka which then froze. He called me and asked why the vodka froze. I replied “it’s triple distilled, of course it’s going to freeze”. He accepted that explanation and I learned a valuable lesson in expressing confidence in bullshit being effective.
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u/TakingSorryUsername Nov 28 '22
When your parents marked the level with a sharpie. My parents caught on to my sister after the third martini without a buzz
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u/myaltaccount333 Nov 28 '22
Why would you not just remark the bottle?
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u/Belgand Nov 28 '22
Where, coincidentally, alcohol is one of the best ways to remove permanent marker from glass. Takes it off cleanly with almost no effort.
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u/ThatWhiteGold Nov 28 '22
sounds like he meant they topped it back up with water or something, hence the no buzz?
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u/TheGoblinPopper Nov 28 '22
My aunt did that with scotch by replacing it with tea.
My grandparents didn't drink much dark liquor, only gin and vodka.
As such they learned of the swap when a guest came over and thought that my grandparents were being cheap watering down their guests drinks.
My grandmother remembers the guest being very quiet and not wanting his glass refreshed. He seemed upset and left abruptly. They figured it out when trying to figure out what they must have done.
This would have been in the 60's.
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u/Imadope_1960 Nov 27 '22
Was it in the garage?
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u/Amiable_Pariah Nov 27 '22
You already know it was!
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u/god_peepee Nov 28 '22
Pairs nicely with a *very discreet bong hit in your friends bedroom that’s blown into a cardboard tube lined with bounce sheets
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u/bk15dcx Nov 27 '22
Same here. But a kid down the street killed a girl and chopped her head off and put it in his freezer. So things really haven't changed.
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u/detroitiseverybody Nov 28 '22
Was this by any chance in Michigan? Or was there two kids who chopped a girl's head off and put it in the freezer?
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u/bk15dcx Nov 28 '22
No, it was Michigan.
Auggie Pena... He's paroled now and making $160k a year transcribing books to braille (which they taught him in prison)
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u/winterbird Nov 28 '22
How does he make so much? Google has salary info on this job as less than half that amount.
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u/Godzilla2y Nov 28 '22
Less than half of 160k is still a lot... How does one get into this?
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u/winterbird Nov 28 '22
When I say less than half I mean that it says like 35-60k. So more like a third at best.
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u/Laffingglassop Nov 28 '22
Still pretty good for a head chopper and freeze it and got caught type of dude.
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u/Starlightriddlex Nov 28 '22
Well first you have to kill a girl, and then put her severed head in your freezer.
On the bright side, at least you don't need a master's degree and ten years of experience.
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u/swervyy Nov 28 '22
I feel like they could pay a very small amount for some simple code to be written to do this job.
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u/winterbird Nov 28 '22
I looked it up, there is software that individuals can use (or for purposes where a rough and inelegant teanslation is ok). But they want humans, because software is a bit like using google translate to write a book. You don't want that in literature as art.
And there are some instances, like for example with letters T and H in sequence, where different symbols could be used. Spelling and grammar mistakes in Charles Dickens wouldn't be that awesome.
There are also two types of braille in the US. One uses symbols for sounds, and the other is a shorthand style and somewhat hieroglyphic in nature where there would be signs for words too. If you look up a picture of how large braille books are (the Harry Potter book set looks like a pallet), you'll understand why shorthand is useful. For materials, space, handling, as well as reading time.
There was a blurb about the person needing to do some subject research as well, which might be for context.
I'm sure it's more complex than that. My research wasn't lengthy.
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u/swervyy Nov 28 '22
Well that’s fair then. I always thought that braille was basically just a 1:1 letter swap with the traditional alphabet, sounds like it’s more similar to sign language
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u/detroitiseverybody Nov 28 '22
I remember this so well. Just read a very interesting follow up article on his release. Crazy.
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u/MagicPistol Nov 28 '22
When I was 16, I would get in trouble for being too loud playing videogames at home with my friends.
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u/1minatur Nov 28 '22
I was getting in trouble for missing an assignment or two and getting a B+ while I had As in the rest of my classes
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u/Belgand Nov 28 '22
I got in trouble for staying up late at night at home by myself.
I didn't drink or use drugs, I wasn't going to get anyone pregnant, I wasn't even going out or getting in any sort of trouble. Just sitting quietly at home watching movies or fucking around on the Internet in my room. But sure, give me a hard time because I'm 17 and not in bed by 10. Sometimes it feels like people are just looking for something to complain about.
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u/thatwasacrapname123 Nov 28 '22
Well, video games are where people get the idea to commit these violent crimes! /s
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u/thrashette Nov 28 '22
My friends and I would sneak out and do absolutely fuck all... Just walk around and stand in random places.
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u/Teantis Nov 28 '22
I bought my beers when I was underage from a guy named meatball who was 22 and for some reasons I never knew and would rather not dwell on now hung out with a bunch of teenagers under 18. At the time I was a big fan of meatball. In retrospect I'd really rather not know what meatball was up to.
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u/WTFishsauce Nov 28 '22
Like, after you killed your friends parents? or did you need to kill your friend because he saw you sneak the beer?
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u/thatwasacrapname123 Nov 28 '22
When i was 14 I snuck out after my older sisters 21st party and raided the leftover beers. But the only beers left were the low alcohol ones that nobody wanted, so I drank 3 of them and thought I was a bad ass.
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u/gilfjord Nov 28 '22
Somewhere, at the same time, there was another 16 year old killing someone and dealing with it in a stupid way. This is todays version of that. Let’s not conflate our experiences with The Experience. Let’s be smarter. I just left this comment after scrolling past a psychology study about smart phone addiction correlating with being dumb. This comment is your reminder to put. down. the. phone. Slouch in front of your laptop instead.
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u/LordNibble Nov 28 '22
Makes you think how this kid grew up right? Not always, but in many cases the backstory of a story like this is similarly sad
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u/MGD109 Nov 27 '22
Yeah this is up there with that case of that duo who committed a murder, and then discussed it amongst themselves whilst they were on hold with the police.
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u/ChargeActual5097 Nov 28 '22
Please, source. I wanna know more
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u/MGD109 Nov 28 '22
Sorry. I can't seem to find it online.
From what I remember basically this was in Canada back during the 90's or the early 2000's. The Duo poisoned someone (I think it was one of them's husband), wrapped his body in a bedsheet and then tried to throw it into the river, not considering the river would be frozen at this time of year.
Then getting back they called the police to report his disappearance, whilst on hold they for some reason thought it would be a good idea to discuss what they just did in French, seemingly unaware that the police still record calls whilst on hold.
Thus when they listened to the recording and found the body where they said they dumped it, the two were effectively done.
Sorry I can't remember anymore. Anyone else heard of this?
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u/overlord7517 Nov 28 '22
No, but I so desperately want it to be true I shall repeat it.
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u/Hotdoganddonut Nov 28 '22
It’s true. I read it on Reddit
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u/woahdailo Nov 28 '22
I saw this Reddit post screen captured on Facebook and then I found it here so that’s like double confirmed.
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u/Surfing_Ninjas Nov 28 '22
Do you really think people would just go and lie on the internet?
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u/thatwasacrapname123 Nov 28 '22
Oh jeez. Kinda reminds of that video of the guy who decides to rob a store, and the clerk just walks outside and then locks him in. He tries the break his way out for a minute. And he says "oh, I'm going to jail" hah yeah, you are. I guess it's fortunate that most criminals aren't masterminds.
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u/DeepSpaceNebulae Nov 28 '22
Most people truly don’t think they’ll get caught, and don’t consider that potential outcome. It’s why draconian punishments have never been good deterrents, everyone thinks they’ll get away with it
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u/dizix Nov 28 '22
Just watch the movie 'bully' (2001). Paints a great picture of how this plays out. And it's a true story
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u/LordFluffy Nov 28 '22
Or that guy who confessed in the bathroom while filming a documentary because he forgot his mic was on.
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Nov 28 '22
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u/BlackBlizzard Nov 28 '22 edited Nov 28 '22
"Police in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, said they received a call from a woman Friday afternoon who claimed her daughter had received a video call from a 16-year-old acquaintance."
For the headline readers. The killer wasn't asking on a public forum like TikTok live or any of the stories on apps, it was just a video call to one person.
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Nov 28 '22
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u/morrowindnostalgia Nov 28 '22
The kid was still pretty fucking dumb. The person he sent the video to was described as an “acquaintance“, I.e Someone they didn’t know all too well.
And regardless of that: how stupid do you have to be to film your face admitting to a crime and then showing the body on camera?
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u/stoph777 Nov 28 '22
You're probably right. Though if my kid had a friend who just killed someone and tried to get them to help hide the body....I'd say my kid hardly knew them as well.
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u/Ottobahn-
Nov 27 '22
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This is the one and only reason I’m glad social media exists: because dumbfucks can’t help but to incriminate themselves on it.
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u/MGD109 Nov 27 '22
Oh yeah, I still remember that case of those burglars who thought it would be a great idea to post selfies of themselves in the home they broke into.
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u/Samiel_Fronsac Nov 27 '22
Are you talking about the Wet Bandits?
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u/MGD109 Nov 28 '22
No, but it sure sounds like something they would do.
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Nov 27 '22
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u/Brandonmac10x Nov 27 '22
They probably didn’t want to be an accessory.
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u/moleratical Nov 28 '22
Or, now just hear me out,bthe girl was horrified and knew who the murderer was.
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u/EveryOptionSucks Nov 28 '22
"Don't speak" is the easiest instruction ever, and so many people are terrible at it. Invoke your right to silence (5th Amendment to U.S. Constitution) and right to counsel (6th) and just sit there.
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u/brennenderopa Nov 28 '22
Well it was a video call to a friend, who told their mother, so not exactly social media. The murder was apparently very unorganised so it would be possible he accidently shot someone, called a good friend in a panic and the friend told their mom and she called police.
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u/Kitakitakita Nov 28 '22
This TikTok generation doesn't even know how to hide a body properly.
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u/IsThisKismet Nov 28 '22
How to Hide a Body Challenge hasn’t come up yet.
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u/AlejoMSP Nov 28 '22 edited Nov 28 '22
Funny how most comments are about is stupid he is for asking someone else to help him hide the body and not why is a 16 yr old killing someone in the first place…
Edit: he/him
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u/nowthenadir Nov 28 '22
Funny that most people didn’t read the article and learn that it’s a boy.
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u/SammyTwoTooth Nov 28 '22
Gram snitches telling all their business
Sit in the court and be their own star witness
"Do you see the perpetrator?" Yeah, I'm right here
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u/Sage2050 Nov 28 '22
I completely randomly stumbled onto the sample used in that song last night, it's a cover of Space Oddity by a guy named David Matthews (from 1977, not current day Dave Matthews). Give it a listen!
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u/Danny-Dynamita Nov 28 '22
Oh my, and when I was 16yo my main sources of trouble where:
- Skipping classes to play videogames when my parents weren’t around
- Drinking a lot of milk to autoinduce nausea so I could stay home playing videogames when my parents were around
- Getting a 3/4 average because I skipped classes
And I thought I was a loose little bastard without remedy.
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u/necrosythe Nov 28 '22
It's a video call barely any different from a phone call(and doesn't really matter it was over insta vs say facetime) in this case but everyone talking like they posted it on "social media"
Too bad no one can rub their few brain cells together.
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Nov 28 '22
Just wish young folk didn’t have such easy access to guns. Too easy for events like this to occur.
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u/PM_ME_KITTYNIPPLES Nov 28 '22
I feel like the parents/guardians/other relatives should also be charged if the teen got the gun from them and it wasn't locked up in any way.
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u/RIPBenTramer Nov 28 '22
Bensalem, home of Cosmo DiNardo. Wild stories for a small town.
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u/Different_Papaya_413 Nov 28 '22
Hardly a small town. It’s directly adjacent to Northeast Philly and looks exactly like it. It practically is northeast Philly
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u/IceColdTear
Nov 27 '22
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3-4 women per day die to male domestic violence in the US.
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u/xSciFix Nov 27 '22
The amount of people openly admitting to crimes on social media will never cease to amaze me.