Well, this would have been worthless if the guy said he never received the message nor seen the video. Just seem like a bad way of doing this...
Another thing I'm curious is how the police couldn't find the guy, I mean, he has a name and an internet connection, so he must get bills from an ISP and an electricity company, not mentioning having some way of getting money (either a job or own a small business). Shouldn't be that difficult to find the guy. Sounds more like the policemen were lazy and thought this would be easier.