Melchert-Dinkel found guilty in the deaths of Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drybrough

Nadia Kajouji

Mark Drybrough

William Melchert-Dinkel, the former Minnesota nurse who admitted to being involved with the suicide deaths of Canadian Nadia Kajouji (18), who died in March 2008 and Mark Drybrough (32) from the UK, has been found guilty of aiding their suicides.

Kajouji was a first-year student at Carlton University in Ottawa, who was going through depression. She was vulnerable and steered to suicide by Melchert-Dinkel

After hearing that he was found guilty Melchert-Dinkel promised to appeal his conviction.

Melchert-Dinkel needs to be sentenced with the intention of deterring other people from similar acts. The family of Nadia and Mark senselessly lost a loved one to a suicide predator and they deserve a reasonable degree of justice.

William Melchert-Dinkel

The article from the Associated Press that was published in the Globe and Mail today stated:

A former nurse accused of seeking out depressed people online and encouraging two to kill themselves was found guilty Tuesday of aiding the suicides of a British man and Canadian woman.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, was charged in April with two counts of aiding suicide for allegedly advising and encouraging two people to take their own lives. Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England, hanged himself in 2005, and 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji of Brampton, Ontario, jumped into a frozen river in 2008.

Mr. Melchert-Dinkel declined a jury trial and left his fate to a judge, who issued his verdict Tuesday.

Rice County District Judge Thomas Neuville once again rejected Mr. Melchert-Dinkel's argument that his actions amounted to free speech. Mr. Melchert-Dinkel was not merely advocating ideas about suicide, Neuville said, but engaging in “lethal advocacy.” Judge Neuville scheduled his sentencing for May 4.

Defence attorney Terry Watkins said he and his client were disappointed with the verdict and planned to appeal. He said they didn't dispute the facts as the judge laid them out in his 42-page ruling, but respectfully disagreed on whether they added up to proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

After sentencing, Mr. Watkins said, their next stop will be the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and they're prepared to appeal to higher courts if necessary. He said the appellate courts will have to answer whether Mr. Melchert-Dinkel's actions rose to the level of a crime or were protected speech in the context in which they occurred.

“We will carry this as far as judicially allowed,” Mr. Watkins said.

Prosecutors said Mr. Melchert-Dinkel, of Minnesota, was obsessed with suicide and hanging and sought out potential victims on the Internet. When he found them, prosecutors said, he posed as a female nurse, feigned compassion and offered step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves.

Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster said Mr. Melchert-Dinkel told police he did it for the “thrill of the chase.” Prosecutors said he acknowledged participating in online chats about suicide with up to 20 people and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10 people, five of whom he believed killed themselves.

“I think justice was served,” Mr. Beaumaster said after learning of the verdict. “I think it was a just verdict based on the facts of the case, and convictions were earned on both counts.”

Mr. Drybrough's mother, Elaine Drybrough, said if Mr. Melchert-Dinkel had been cleared it would have sent a signal to other people contemplating similar actions that encouraging suicides is permissible.

“He's been told it's not all right,” she said.

Deborah Chevalier

Ms. Kajouji's mother, Deborah Chevalier, also welcomed the ruling.

“I was always confident of a guilty verdict, but it is a great relief to have this finalized and have any nagging doubts quieted,” she said in an email. “I've said all along that a crime is just as vile and offensive whether it be committed in our own homes or over the Internet. This verdict today substantiates my belief that the Internet cannot be allowed to become a safe haven for criminals.”

In his ruling Tuesday, Judge Neuville affirmed his earlier rulings against Mr. Melchert-Dinkel, saying any predisposition of the victims to commit suicide was not a valid defence.

“The court finds that defendant's speech imminently incited the victims to commit suicide, and can be described as ‘lethal advocacy,' which is analogous to the category of unprotected speech known as ‘fighting words' and ‘imminent incitement of lawlessness,“’ the judge wrote.

During oral arguments in February, Mr. Watkins called his client's behaviour “sick” and “abhorrent” but said it wasn't a crime because Mr. Melchert-Dinkel didn't directly incite the victims to kill themselves.

He said Mr. Drybrough had been ill for years and went online seeking drugs to overdose, while Ms. Kajouji was going through a rough time in her life, had a miscarriage after drinking heavily and was depressed. Mr. Watkins said they were both intelligent people who wouldn't be swayed by his client's online “babbling.”

Mr. Beaumaster said during his oral arguments that Mr. Melchert-Dinkel's intent was to see them die, and the law is designed to protect vulnerable people.

“That's the point. That's who he looked for,” he said. “He targeted individuals he knew he could have an influence on. Were they predisposed? Absolutely!”

Mr. Melchert-Dinkel agreed in February to accept the facts against him, but maintained his not guilty plea. He waived his right to a jury trial and agreed that the judge would issue a verdict based on the evidence. That allowed Mr. Melchert-Dinkel to keep his right to appeal.

Minnesota authorities began investigating in March 2008 when an anti-suicide activist in Britain claimed someone in the state was using the Internet to manipulate people into killing themselves. Authorities found emails in which Mr. Melchert-Dinkel gave Mr. Drybrough technical advice on how to hang himself; and they found online chats in which Mr. Melchert-Dinkel tried to talk Ms. Kajouji out of her plans to jump into the river and instead hang herself with him.

Mr. 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. Data from the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission showed that since 1994, there have been only six people sentenced on the charge: one person was sent to prison for four years, while the rest received either local jail time, probation or both.

Ms. Chevalier said she fears the penalty won't be in line with the crime and that Mr. Melchert-Dinkel will appeal, causing more delays for any final resolution.

Mr. Melchert-Dinkel has been allowed to remain free under certain conditions. Among them, he is not allowed to use the Internet without approval.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition continues to wonder why the Ottawa police did not prosecute Melchert-Dinkel and seek to bring him to justice in Canada. EPC supported Harold Albrecht MP who sponsored Motion 388 in parliament to clarify whether Nadia Kajouji and others like her, are actually protected under Canadian law. The Canadian Criminal Code may still require a clarification on this question.

Previous article concerning the role of William Melchert Dinkel.