Judge: Faribault Man Guilty Of Aiding Online Suicides
FARIBAULT, Minn. (WCCO/AP) -- A Minnesota man accused of seeking depressed people online and encouraging two to kill themselves has been found guilty of aiding the suicides of an English man and Canadian woman.
Forty-eight-year-old William Melchert-Dinkel faced two counts of aiding suicide in the 2005 hanging death of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England, and the 2008 death of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ontario, who jumped into a river.
Melchert-Dinkel declined a jury trial and left his fate to a judge, who issued his verdict Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Melchert-Dinkel cruised chat rooms for depressed people, posed as a female, feigned compassion, and entered fake suicide pacts or gave instructions on how they could die.
Investigators said Melchert-Dinkel had conversations with Kajouji and Drybrough, on the Internet, in the days leading up to their deaths.
His attorney says the two already planned to die and that his actions were protected speech.
During the final arguments, County Attorney Paul Beaumaster said that Melchert-Dinkel suggested suicide methods, such as hanging, to Kajuji and Drybrough. According to Beaumaster, the suggestions came days, even hours, before their deaths.
Beaumaster also argued Melchert-Binkel was not honest about his own identity. He said Melchert-Dinkel posed as a female emergency nurse who also contemplated suicide, to gain trust.
The county attorney said the defendant was targeting the vulnerable and depressed and liked the thrill of the chase.
While Melchert-Dinkel's attorney, Terry Watkins, acknowledged most would find the conversations sickening, he argued, Melchert-Dinkel's suggestions did not influence the decision to take their lives.
"There is the shock value, disgust value. How could someone do this? How could someone talk like this," said Terry Watkins, Melchert-Dinkel's defense attorney. "They executed their decision in the manner they intended, without changes."
Watkins pointed out that Kajouji jumped from a bridge, even though the complaint said Melchert-Dinkel suggested hanging. He also argued that Drybrough had already made the decision to commit suicide before the Internet conversation.
Drybrough and Melchert-Dinkel discussed hanging methods, but Watkins argued Drybrough did not follow Melchert-Dinkel's suggestions other than using a noose.
"To my knowledge, no one has gone far enough to say that speech can be basis for conviction on the assisted suicide statue," said Watkins.
Watkins lost several pretrial arguments in the case, including the argument that his client's communications were protected speech. Rice County District Judge Thomas Neuville scheduled his sentencing for May 4.
Minnesota authorities began investigating in March 2008 when an anti-suicide activist in Britain alerted them that someone in the state was using the Internet to manipulate people into killing themselves. Authorities found e-mails in which Melchert-Dinkel gave Drybrough technical advice on how to hang himself; and they found online chats in which Melchert-Dinkel tried to talk Kajouji out of her plans to jump into the river and instead hang herself with him.
Melchert-Dinkel posed as a woman in both cases.
Minnesota's aiding suicide law carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. But the law has been rarely used in the state. Data from the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission showed that since 1994, there have been only six people sentenced on that charge: one person was sent to prison for four years, while the rest received either local jail time, probation or both.
Melchert-Dinkel has been allowed to remain free under certain conditions. Among them, he is not allowed to use the Internet without approval.
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