Your best friend tells you they killed someone

jbm1986

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I'd scold them for the poor choice they've made and possibly call the cops. Or I'd try to talk them into confessing to the cops. NOBODY friend/family/etc should get away with killing somebody "...because they absolutely hated this person...". Also, assuming the police eventually catch your friend, you could be charged as an accessory to murder.
 

chadachada123

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manic_depressive13 said:
While I agree it is stupid and terrible, and I in no way condone murder, I'm not going to take some imaginary moral high ground and sell out my best friend.

I buy shit I don't need all the time. I buy coffee and sweets and other stuff which, if I abstained from them and at the end of the year donated all that money to charity, I could probably save the lives of hundreds of people in poor nations who can't afford food or medicine. I am effectively killing people because I am able to create a disconnect in my mind between buying daily coffees and children dying in Nigeria. I genuinely cannot see the difference between actively killing someone in cold blood and passively killing someone through apathy.

Furthermore, who would I turn my friend in to? The state? The same state that supported a war which resulted in the death of 500 000 civilians in the middle east, and which sends refugees either to detention centres indefinitely, or back to their war-torn countries because they "jumped queue" by risking their lives on a boat. People are dying preventable deaths daily because we, collectively and individually, don't give enough of a shit to stop it. It happens all the time.

So would I turn in one of the two people I actually care about if they killed a person? No.
I'm not going to bother reading the rest of the responses, because this about sums up my thoughts.

On top of this, if my best friend really killed someone, there is a massive chance that it was morally justifiable, and I value morals a hell of a lot more than I value laws, especially when our laws defy logic, reason, and justice to begin with.

Edit: As for selling out people I know...If my friend told me he killed someone, it means that he truly trusts me, and to turn him in would be a disgusting violation of that trust. There are few exceptions to this, and "killing one guy because reasons" isn't nearly far enough.
 

spartan231490

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SanAndreasSmoke said:
Yes, a moral dilemma thread.

So, one day your best friend calls you up and tells you he/she needs to talk to you in private - they sound worried.

You get to your friend, and they tell you they just murdered someone. The specifics are not necessary - but you know that they killed someone in cold blood (wasn't involuntary) because they absolutely hated this person, and now they're looking to you for consul.

Assuming you believe them, and they are telling the truth, how would you react, and what would you do?
This is not a moral dilemma. I trust my best friend's judgement, if he killed someone, I believe him to be in the right and assist in whatever way possible.
 

JLML

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Feb 18, 2010
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If our best friend killed someone? But we don't really have a best friend. <.<

Unless. . . are you referring to the voices? 'Cause they say we have killed people before. And they tell us that we should do it again.


Seriously though: I don't really have a person I'd call my best friend. If this is some theoretical best friend who I'd be close to and actually trust more than I trust my dog to not eat my sandwich, on the other hand, I'd probably help them vanish. Yeah, vanish. Not covering it up ('cause let's face it, covering up a murder is not going to work unless it was well-planned from the beginning), but helping my friend vanish and start a new life somewhere else.
 

dyre

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Someone who murders someone else in cold blood (presumably just because he didn't like him and not out of revenge for something terrible, judging from the tone of the post) and then plans not to turn himself in is, as far as I'm concerned, not qualified to be my friend anymore. So I'm fairly confident that the scenario would never happen. But if it did...you don't get to commit a crime of that level and just walk it off. Someone willing to do so is a threat to everyone else around him, including my family and I.

It'll only end in three ways: me convincing him to turn themselves in (perhaps the friend just needed a nudge in the right direction); him refusing to turn himself in, which therefore makes him a lunatic who is unsafe for society, resulting in me turning him in; or me attempting to convince him to turn himself in and getting killed in the process.
 

awesomeClaw

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Well, that depends on the situation. If my friend was genuinly remorseful and it was a person I could understand wanting to hate, I´d probably help them out with one murder. Well, maybe not help them, but offer them consolation and other things.

However, if it becomes a regular thing, or my friend seems very unstable, or both, I´d either pull out or call the police, depending on what. It´s one thing risking something for your friend, another to routinely risk your life for them.

Look, if you want to stick with your make-believe Code Of Ethics than that´s just dandy. But if you really think about it, humans have always killed those they perceived as their enemies. In the days of tribal warfare, we slaughtered the other tribes with only the meek excuse of them not being us on our side. That wasn´t some other race, some whole other species. It was us.

We´re animals. Sometimes animals do strange things. Ain´t nothing more to it.
 

Henkie36

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Aug 25, 2010
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No. Simple. One can always make more friends, but you only have one conscience. Gotta take care of it.
 

Dead Seerius

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SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
SanAndreasSmoke said:
The specifics are not necessary -
Actually, they are.

What I would do would depend completely on why they hated this person. Maybe it was the evil baby of Satan, Hitler and Stalin, raised from the depths of hell to enslave the world under a banner of nazi satanist communism. Maybe someone killed his wife and he wanted revenge. Maybe he snapped because he couldn't handle his life anymore. Or maybe he's just a ****.

Obviously these different scenarios would provoke different reactions, you can't just go and say "Oh the specifics aren't necessary, just answer this question". They do fucking matter.
Sorry for rustling your jimmies. 'Necessary' wasn't the best word to use. It was early and my brain was only working at half-capacity. I have since rectified the offending word, since you pointed out the problem in such a kind way.
 

felbot

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May 11, 2011
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help him hide it up, I ain't about to lose a friend.

besides the person he killed was probably had it coming.
 

Peithelo

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Mar 28, 2011
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A murder definitely ruins the life of at least one individual, namely the one's that was murdered, so I would be extremely cautious about causing any further harm to any person involved when seeking to resolve the situtation. Seeking justice in a wrong way or for the wrong reasons may very well be harmful, and while giving anyone in may not be ideal for their futures sake it is what I would be obligated to do. Both for them and for the society at large. Still, I should like to keep the number of ruined lifes at one at this point and see my allegedly best friend live a good life, but this would depend on their mental state.

Because this person in this scenario supposedly is my very best friend I should think that they'd already know my stance on the subject. The only reason they would approach and confide in me on this matter is that they would already know that what they did was wrong and want to turn themselves in but need my support to do so. I likely would be willing to support them in this, but would not be as supportive in the future if the murder was done out of hate or a desire to have revenge. They would be my friends no longer.

Whether I knew or even liked this murdered person or not should have no impact in my ability to practise empathy and ethics. I would much rather have an individual live than be friends with a conniving murderer, because another persons life is utterly more precious than my personal relationships.

EDIT. It's interesting to note how people seem to try and justify the actual murder and their decision to cover the crime by straightout assuming that the murdered person somehow deserved to get killed. Or that killing others is somehow natural and an indisputable fact of life that we will never rid ourselves of, only because for some reason there can't be change from what already has been.
 

JimB

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SanAndreasSmoke said:
You get to your friend, and they tell you they just murdered someone. The specifics are not necessary divulged - but you know that they killed someone in cold blood (wasn't involuntary) because they absolutely hated this person, and now they're looking to you for consul.
My advice to him is to cough up the details right quick. I will not knowingly help a murderer in most cases, but there's an exception to every rule; for instance, if he killed Fred Phelps or that woman-monster-thing who microwaved her baby to death, I think the murder he committed is socially unacceptable but is a moral good I can support or at least not actively impede by going to the police.
 

Ragsnstitches

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Dec 2, 2009
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My Counsel? Turn yourself in. As the last act of a now broken friendship, I will go with them for added courage and see them through their conviction, but after that they need to atone for their actions. Perhaps a friendship can start from scratch afterwards, though the climb will be far harder then it was first time round.

The OP specifically states cold blooded. It wasn't a crime of passion, or man slaughter, or even self-defence; it was planned and executed with murderous intent. Such a person is not fit to hold down a relationship of any form and is a danger to themselves and those around them. It's particularly detestable that they drag you into it after the fact. Where was their interest in my opinion during the planning phase?

There is no moral dilemma here. Your responsibilities towards a friend does not extent to assisting murder. If it was accidental, or he lost it in a heated moment, I would be there with them from beginning to end (they should still confess), even as a character witness if need be... but to plan out and actively kill someone. Sorry that is grounds to terminate a relationship.

AS I said already, out of respect of our past, I would see him through confession. After that it depends entirely on how he or she accepts the consequences of their actions, which will dictate if a relationship can start again, or not.

Regardless. It's murder, and it needs to be punished as a heinous crime. That's life.
 

Something Amyss

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Dec 3, 2008
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I'd grab my shovel. A Friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body!

But seriously....

SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Actually, they are.

What I would do would depend completely on why they hated this person. Maybe it was the evil baby of Satan, Hitler and Stalin, raised from the depths of hell to enslave the world under a banner of nazi satanist communism. Maybe someone killed his wife and he wanted revenge. Maybe he snapped because he couldn't handle his life anymore. Or maybe he's just a ****.

Obviously these different scenarios would provoke different reactions, you can't just go and say "Oh the specifics aren't necessary, just answer this question". They do fucking matter.
Yeah, these details kind of mean something.
 

klown

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Jun 6, 2012
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mirasiel said:
klown said:
Seeing how my best friend is my brother, the answer would be easy. "Let me get my kit, and I'll be right there. Which shoe are you wearing, and where is your second one?" (He is an amputee, easy way to make a crime scene not look like it was him, both shoe prints).
Actually I think the different imprints from the pressure would actually point the finger at him...just thinking out loud :p
Not really, as long as I put the bloody shoe prints in the right spot, I can get the pressure right for the most part.
 

BodomBeachChild

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Nov 12, 2009
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Depends. If I thought the guy deserved good. If not... why am I not killing the killer? Sure, he's my pal but he just killed a guy and I don't feel like seeing him in prison forever. So I'd just kill him too and try and tel the cops it was self defense or some shit.
 

Broady Brio

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Me: Did you at least leave no trace of yourself doing this?
Him: Did what?
Me: Exactly. Let's go to the pub.
 

Dfskelleton

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Apr 6, 2010
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Even if he did kill someone, chances are I wouldn't take him seriously. I guess the bane of our horribly dark senses of humor is that if either of us actually did something, we wouldn't believe it.
 

Clive Howlitzer

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Jan 27, 2011
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Seeing as how I work for a police department, it'd be pretty stupid of him to come to me. I would see that he was arrested immediately. I'd recommend they turn themselves in also but if they didn't, I wouldn't let them leave my apartment without notifying police.
 

RhombusHatesYou

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Between There and There.
Country
The Wide, Brown One.
SanAndreasSmoke said:
Yes, a moral dilemma thread.

So, one day your best friend calls you up and tells you he/she needs to talk to you in private - they sound worried.

You get to your friend, and they tell you they just murdered someone. The specifics are not necessary divulged - but you know that they killed someone in cold blood (wasn't involuntary) because they absolutely hated this person, and now they're looking to you for consul.

Assuming you believe them, and they are telling the truth, how would you react, and what would you do?

Help them get rid of the body and then go out for a night on the piss with them. Oh, and they'd better pony up to buy me a new shovel.

Where's the moral dilema part?
 

90sgamer

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Jan 12, 2012
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I would tell said friend not to tell me anything further. Then I would seek counsel from a criminal attorney and see what my obligations are according to law.