My cousin claimed that the fight was over a disagreement about how much he owed the victim, who'd loaned him money. He claims the victim got angry, attacked him first, and that he didn't realize how hard he'd hit the victim back until it was too late. Evidence at the scene strongly proved otherwise, so we figure that my cousin was lying in hopes of getting a manslaughter charge instead of second-degree murder. My cousin's stuck to his story as far as I know, but we believe my cousin attacked the victim because he wouldn't loan him more money.
My cousin was convicted of second-degree murder because, as far as anyone can prove, it was not premeditated. But the victim was someone my cousin had conflict with before, so I think there's a possibility it was premeditated. (Mostly one-sided conflict; I want to point out that the victim did not do anything to deserve what happened to him).
I do see him differently in some ways, but in some ways not. I already saw him as a criminal because this wasn't the first crime he'd committed. It's just the direst one. However, the murder happened to coincide with my second year of college, which was my first time living away from my family, so I finally gained a frame of reference for what is/isn't normal.
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