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He was charged in April 2010 in a criminal complaint filed in ].<ref name="timesonline1"/> He was charged in April 2010 in a criminal complaint filed in ].<ref name="timesonline1"/>


While counseling to commit suicide is illegal, laws in North America and Britain have not been successfully used to prosecute anyone for ] over the internet.<ref name="theglobeandmail1"/> If he is found guilty of aiding a suicide under Minnesota law, his punishment can be up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000.<ref name="thestar2"/><ref name="thestar1"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2009/02/28/8566841-sun.html |title=More online suicide chat cases sought |publisher=Cnews.canoe.ca |date= |accessdate=June 26, 2010}}</ref> While counseling to commit suicide is illegal, laws in North America and Britain have not been successfully used to prosecute anyone for ] over the internet.<ref name="theglobeandmail1"/> If he is found guilty of aiding a suicide under Minnesota law, which provides penalties for anyone who “intentionally advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other’s own life", punishment can be up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000.<ref name="thestar2"/><ref name="thestar1"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2009/02/28/8566841-sun.html |title=More online suicide chat cases sought |publisher=Cnews.canoe.ca |date= |accessdate=June 26, 2010}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==

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William Francis Melchert-Dinkel
CitizenshipAmerican
OccupationFormer nurse
Criminal chargeAssisting suicide
Spouseyes

William Francis Melchert-Dinkel, 47 years old in May 20101, from Faribault, Minnesota, a licensed nurse from 1991 until February 2009, stands accused of encouraging people to commit suicide while he watched voyeuristically on a webcam. He allegedly told these contemplating suicide what methods worked best, that it was OK to commit suicide, that they would be better in heaven, and/or entered into suicide pacts with them.

Melchert-Dinkel is charged with two counts of assisting suicide, for allegedly encouraging the suicides of a person in Britain in 2005 and another person in Canada in 2008.

Alleged victims

He allegedly met his victims in internet chat rooms, where he posed as a depressed woman in her 20s. Investigators say he told them he encouraged dozens of people to kill themselves, contacting more than 100 people.

Nadia Kajouj; Canada

He was charged in relation to the suicide of clinically depressed 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, a student at Ottawa's Carleton University, who jumped from a bridge and was found drowned in Rideau River near the Ottawa school in April 2008. She had allegedly conversed online with someone posing as a young woman–now alleged to be Melchert-Dinkel–who allegedly suggested that she hang herself (allegedly advising what type of rope to buy, what length and diameter, how to tie the knots, and where to place the noose on her neck), and that she capture her final moments with a webcam so he and others could watch, as part of a joint suicide pact. St. Paul, Minnesota police said they confirmed that she "had been conversing with Melchert-Dinkel online just prior to her disappearance", including on the day of her disappearance.

Ottawa police decided not to charge Melchert-Dinkel under the Canadian assisted suicide law.

According to the police, Melchert-Dinkel, admitted to using a number of e-mail addresses to persuade five people to kill themselves. He allegedly admitted using two e-mail addresses, falcongirl507@yahoo.com and li_dao05@yahoo.com, and the alias Cami D, to advise, encourage and create suicide pacts, typically by hanging, with persons on the internet for four to five years.

Mark Drybrough; England

He was also charged in relation to the suicide of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough, a 32-year-old IT technician who in the wake of suffering a nervous breakdown and being depressed hung himself in his Coventry, England home in July 2005, after allegedly chatting for two months with someone allegedly using the aliases Falcongirl and Li Dao. He is charged with counseling Drybrough how to kill himself.

Charges

He was charged in April 2010 in a criminal complaint filed in Rice County, Minnesota.

While counseling to commit suicide is illegal, laws in North America and Britain have not been successfully used to prosecute anyone for promoting suicide over the internet. If he is found guilty of aiding a suicide under Minnesota law, which provides penalties for anyone who “intentionally advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other’s own life", punishment can be up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000.

See also

References

  1. ^ Davey, Monica (May 13, 2010). "Online Talk, Suicides and a Thorny Court Case". The New York Times. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  2. ^ "Nurse may be linked to multiple suicides, tracker says". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  3. ^ "Nurse urged 5 to commit suicide, U.S. police say". The Toronto Star. May 9, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  4. ^ "William Melchert-Dinkel charged with encouraging suicides, The Sunday Times
  5. ^ "Teen urged to commit suicide on webcam". The Toronto Star. February 28, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  6. "Internet predator linked to deaths". Sunday Mercury. March 8, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  7. ^ March 22, 2010 9:14AM (March 22, 2010). "'Suicide voyeur' nurse William Melchert-Dinkel allegedly talked people into death online". News.com.au. Retrieved June 26, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. "William Melchert-Dinkel". New York Daily News. October 17, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  9. ^ "Depressed? Maybe you'd better stay off the Web". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  10. ^ "Nurse probed in teen's suicide has long disciplinary record". The Toronto Star. February 27, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  11. ^ "More light shed on suspect in Kajouji death". National Post. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  12. "U.S. nurse tied to Canadian student death". UPI. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  13. ^ Emma Stone (March 10, 2009). "Internet ghoul linked to city man's suicide". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  14. "Police affidavit: Nurse who coaxed suicides online may have had more victims". Tmcnet. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  15. "Teen urged to commit suicide on webcam –". The Toronto Star. February 28, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  16. "More online suicide chat cases sought". Cnews.canoe.ca. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  17. ^ Canada. "Man tells police he coached 5 people to kill themselves". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  18. "More online suicide chat cases sought". Cnews.canoe.ca. Retrieved June 26, 2010.

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