Melchert-Dinkel Convicted

http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html

Minnesota judge convicts ex-nurse of assisting suicide of English man he encouraged online

• Article by: STEVE KARNOWSKI , Associated Press
• Updated: September 9, 2014 - 4:25 PM 

MINNEAPOLIS - An ex-nurse who admitted going online and encouraging people to kill themselves was convicted Tuesday of assisting the suicide of an English man and attempting to assist in the suicide of a Canadian woman, following a legal battle that has spanned more than four years and led to the reversal of part of a Minnesota law that outlaws the practice.

Minnesota prosecutors try to prove man's online chats assisted in suicides of depressed people

http://www.startribune.com/local/270494691.htm

By Associated Press, Updated: August 8, 2014 - 2:20 PM

Nadia Kajouji,

FARIBAULT, Minn. — Prosecutors in Minnesota argued Friday that a former nurse should be convicted of assisting suicide for sending emails and other online communications in which he urged two people to kill themselves and gave them information on how to do it.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 52, of Faribault, was back in court more than three years after he was convicted of encouraging suicides. The Minnesota Supreme Court earlier this year reversed those convictions, saying the state's law against encouraging or advising suicides was too broad.

State Supreme Court To Hear Assisted Suicide Case

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/10/19/state-supreme-court-to-hear-assisted-suicide-case/

October 19, 2012,

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The state’s highest court has agreed to hear the appeal of a former nurse whw was convicted of searching out suicidal people in online chat rooms and encouraging them to kill themselves.

William Melchert-Dinkel of Faribault was convicted in 2011. He argues he was merely practicing “free speech.” The Minnesota Supreme Court will review his appeal, but it hasn’t set a date.

Melchert-Dinkel was convicted in the deaths of a 32-year-old man from England and an 18-year-old student from Ontario. He faces about a year in jail unless his conviction is overturned.

Melchert-Dinkel Decision

The syllabus from the decision affirming Melchert-Dinkel's conviction is set forth below.  To view the entire decision, click here.  

"1. Minnesota Statutes section 609.215, subdivision 1, which criminalizes advising, encouraging, or assisting another to commit suicide, is not unconstitutionally overbroad under the First Amendment.

2. The First Amendment does not bar the state from prosecuting a person for advising, encouraging, or assisting another to commit suicide by sending coercive messages to suicide-contemplating Internet users instructing them how to kill themselves and coaxing them to do so." 

Melchert-Dinkel Conviction Upheld!

Appeals Court upholds nurse's aiding suicide conviction

by Amy Forliti, Associated Press 

July 17, 2012

[To for more information, charging document click here]

[To link to Nadia's Light, click here]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed the convictions of a former nurse who scanned online chat rooms for suicidal people then, feigning compassion, gave a British man and a young woman in Canada instructions on how to kill themselves. 


William Melchert-Dinkel, 49, of Faribault, acknowledged that what he did was morally wrong but argued he had merely exercised his right to free speech and that the Minnesota law used to convict him in 2011 of aiding suicide was unconstitutional. 

The appeals court disagreed, saying the First Amendment does not bar the state from prosecuting someone for "instructing (suicidal people on) how to kill themselves and coaxing them to do so." 

Melchert-Dinkel's attorney, Terry Watkins, was not immediately available for comment. 

Court documents show Melchert-Dinkel searched online for depressed people then, posing as a female nurse, offered step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves. 

Melchert-Dinkel was convicted last year of two counts of aiding suicide in the deaths of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough, of Coventry, England, who hanged himself in 2005; and 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, of Brampton, Ontario, who jumped into a frozen river in 2008. 

He was sentenced to more than six years in prison but the terms of his parole meant he would only be imprisoned for about a year. His sentence was postponed pending his appeal, but at the time of sentencing, he was told that if his convictions were upheld, he'd have seven days to report to jail. 

In arguing to overturn the conviction, Watkins said his client didn't talk anyone into suicide but instead offered emotional support to two people who had already decided to take their lives. 

Assistant Rice County Attorney Benjamin Bejar had argued that Melchert-Dinkel wasn't advocating suicide in general, but had a targeted plan to lure people to kill themselves. Prosecutors have said he convinced his victims to do something they might not have done without him. 

Bejar said Tuesday that prosecutors were pleased with the decision. 

In a statement read at his sentencing last year, Melchert-Dinkel said he was sorry for his role in the suicides and that he realized he had rejected a unique opportunity to talk his victims out of killing themselves. 

Melchert-Dinkel's nursing license was revoked in 2009

Melchert-Dinkel Case on Appeal

By Margaret Dore, June 23, 2011

William Melchert-Dinkel, a middle-aged man, posed as a young woman and trolled Internet chat rooms looking for suicidal people.  His goal was to induce victims to hang themselves in front of his webcam.  He told police that "he most likely encouraged dozens of persons to commit suicide and characterized it as the thrill of the chase."[1]

On March 15, 2011, the Rice County District Court convicted Melchert-Dinkel of intentionally encouraging and advising Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drybrough to commit suicide.[2] The case is now on appeal.[3]

* * *

Canada's "The Fifth Estate" ran two episodes on Nadia's death: "Death Online" and "Justice for Nadia."  Nadia's mother, Deborah Chevalier, has since launched a suicide prevention site, Nadia's Light.  The message is:  "There is hope.  There is help."

* * *

[1]  Complaint, page 4, lines 1-2. 
[2]  Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, Order for Judgment and Memorandum, March 15, 2011, pp. 41-42.
[3]  See Notice of Appeal, filed May 31, 2011.