I was once told that the most dangerous words a pilot can say are "hey, watch this" - That would seem to be relevent in this situation.
The lack of licence would seem to be very relevent - as said above it starts to add to the picture of a cavalier attitude to the rules.
Sad and tragic accident - but very avoidable and not an accident at all. The liability claims could wipe out a considerable proportion of his estate I expect.