Thoughts on Keybase

[Robert J. Hansen]

> Aside from only demonstrating possible earlier intent rather later
> actions, the fraction of comments of "I'll kill you" that actually convert to
> murders is vanishingly small. If I were a juror, this evidence would
> tell me nothing about guilt or otherwise.

Sure it does — premeditation.  Murder committed with premeditation and malice aforethought is punished much more severely (in most places) than a heat-of-the-moment killing.  Knowing the offender’s state of mind is thus a perfectly legitimate avenue of inquiry, and requires investigation into background.

>> If the dead guy is
>> named McCoy and the living one is named Hatfield,
>> that’s a strong hint the death is connected to a blood
>> feud and the police need to be on the lookout for
>> revenge killings.
> 
> The reference is lost on me. Neither is exactly an uncommon name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield%E2%80%93McCoy_feud

Or just Google “hatfield mccoy”.

> And of course it is a privacy invasion to go delving into records of
> past events if the subject has not shared them with you and does not
> generally broadcast them. When the penalty has been paid, the debt to
> society is discharged and it is no longer anybody else's business.

I understand you believe there is a right to be forgotten; I hope you will understand I consider that to be Pollyannic fantasy.

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