Assisted Suicide group (Final Exit Network) challenges Minnesota assisted suicide law.

Lawrence Egbert
Final Exit Network Medical Director

An article in the Huffington Post that was written by Amy Forliti and published on December 18 under the title: Right to Die group wants Minnesota charges dismissed, concerns The Final Exit Network (FEN) who challenging the constitutionality of the assisted suicide law in Minnesota in an attempt to overturn criminal charges against their members.

A previous article entitled: Who are the Final Exit Network provides information in relation to this article.

The Final Exit Network and its leaders were indicted for assisting the suicide of Doreen Dunn in May 2007. Link to an article.

Melchert-Dinkel

Nadia Kajouji

The Minnesota Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the appeal of the conviction of William Melchert Dinkel in the assisted suicide deaths of Nadia Kajouji, an 18 year old Canadian and Mark Drybrough (32) from Coventry England.

Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse, was convicted of counselling suicide. He admitted to counselling people to commit suicide by internet.

Prosecutors in Minnesota charged four FEN leaders after investigating the death of Doreen Dunn.

Prosecutors say the defendants not only supported Doreen Dunn's decision to kill herself in 2007, but provided her with information and support to follow through.

The Huffington Post article explains how the FEN intends to challenge the Minnesota assisted suicide law. The article states:

Final Exit members claim they do not encourage suicide, but that the act of giving information and emotional support could be interpreted as "encouraging" under a Minnesota law that makes it a felony for someone to intentionally assist, advise or encourage suicide. 

Defense attorneys who appeared at a hearing Tuesday in Dakota County District Court argued that the statute is unconstitutional. 

In documents filed ahead of the hearing, Final Exit Network general counsel Robert Rivas wrote that while the state may bar someone from "assisting" a suicide, it is unconstitutional for the state to ban "advising" or "encouraging" a suicide – pure speech.

It is interesting to note that Melchert-Dinkel also claimed that his communication by internet did not represent an assisted suicide but rather free speech. Link to a previous article.

The Huffington Post article states:

Prosecutors contend the statute is narrowly worded so advocates of suicide may freely speak their minds but that those who "intentionally" assist, encourage or advise suicide are breaking the law.

Stephen Drake

The Minnesota Supreme Court is already hearing the appeal of the conviction of William Melchert-Dinkel.

Clearly the law needs to protect vulnerable people from groups like FEN who take advantage  of vulnerable and depressed people by aiding, encouraging and counseling people to commit suicide.

Stephen Drake, from the disability rights group, Not Dead Yet has written extensively about the Final Exist Network. 

Link to one of his articles. 

Link to his most recent article.

Minnesota Supreme Court to hear Assisted Suicide case.

Nadia Kajouji

Mark Drybrough

The Associated Press has reported that the Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of the conviction of William Melchert-Dinkel. Melchert-Dinkel was convicted in the assisted suicide deaths of Nadia Kajouji, a 18-year-old Carlton University student (Ottawa) who was living with depression, and Mark Drybrough, a 32 year old from Coventry England who was living with depression.

The Associated Press article stated:

The Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a former nurse convicted of searching out suicidal people in online chat rooms and encouraging them to commit suicide. 

William Melchert-Dinkel (MEHL'-kurt DINK'-uhl) of Faribault (FAYR'-boh) was convicted in 2011 on two counts of aiding suicide. The Minnesota Court of Appeals in July rejected his argument that he was merely practicing free speech. 

In an order Tuesday, the state Supreme Court agreed to review the case. A date for oral arguments has not been set. 

Melchert-Dinkel was convicted in the deaths of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough, of Coventry, England, and 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, of Brampton, Ontario, in 2008. 

Melchert-Dinkel faces about a year in jail unless his conviction is overturned. He remains free pending appeal.

Melchert-Dinkel admitted to being involved with many suicide deaths. Online suicide predators, like Melchert-Dinkel, convince people on a world-wide basis to commit suicide.

Some assisted suicide lobby groups are also involved on a world-wide basis with counselling people via the internet to commit suicide.

Links to previous articles concerning William Melchert-Dinkel and Nadia Kajouji.

Melchert-Dinkel assisted suicide conviction upheld.

Suicide predator, Melchert-Dinkel is appealing his conviction.

Melchert-Dinkel sentenced in his double conviction for internet suicide predator crimes.

Suicide Predator found guilty on two counts of assisted suicide

Judge refuses to dismiss case against Melchert-Dinkel.

Prosecutor says it was not "free speech."

Philip Nitschke and Melchert-Dinkel.

Is Philip Nitschke different than Melchert-Dinkel?

Melchert-Dinkel Assisted Suicide Conviction upheld in Minnesota

Nadia Kajouji

The Associated Press has reported that the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the conviction for assisted suicide of William Melchert-Dinkel, the former Minnesota nurse and internet suicide predator, who scanned suicide prevention chat rooms with the intention of establishing an online relationship that would enable him, in the end, to watch the person commit suicide.

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

Link to the article concerning the conviction of William Melchert-Dinkel.

Mark Drybrough

The lawyers for Melchert-Dinkel appealed the conviction and prison term of six years for assisting the suicides of Canadian university student - Nadia Kajouji and 32 year-old Mark Drybrough of Coventry England by claiming Melchert-Dinkel was only exercising his right to free speech.

The Minnesota appeals court disagreed stating that 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."

The argument by the appeals court was similar to the previous argument that was made by the prosecutor.

Link to the article concerning William Melchert-Dinkel and free speech.

Terry Watkins, the lawyer for Melchert-Dinkel, also argued that his client didn't talk anyone into suicide instead he offered emotional support to two people who had already decided to commit suicide.

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

The prosecutors stated that they were pleased with the decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals upholding the conviction of Melchert-Dinkel.

Marc Kajouji, Nadia's brother told Michelle Zilio of the Ottawa Citizen that the court’s decision to uphold the conviction of Melchert-Dinkel, was: 

“nice to hear. The point is that it remained consistent with the original decision. But it’s not going to bring my sister back. ... It’s not a very stern penalty to say the least.”

William Melchert-Dinkel

The lawyer for Melchert-Dinkel indicated to the Ottawa Citizen that they were planning to appeal the decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
  
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is pleased by the decision to uphold Melchert-Dinkel's conviction. We know that Melchert-Dinkel is one of many online-suicide predators.

Link to an article about other suicide predators that are active on the internet.

Assisted suicide laws need to be upheld and they needs to ensure that people who establish an online relationship with others for the purpose of suicide, whether it be for voyeurism, or "false compassion" can be prosecuted for counseling suicide.

In the case of Nadia Kajouji, she was an 18 year-old first year university student who was depressed. Nadia's circumstance was not uncommon. It was Nadia's relationship with Melchert-Dinkel that turned a deep depression into a tragic suicide. The law needs to protect people like Nadia Kajouji.

The findings of fact, conclusions of law, order for judgement and Memorandum (March 15, 2011).

Link to the Fifth Estate news program - Justice for Nadia.

Melchert-Dinkel appealing his conviction in death of Nadia Kajouji

Nadia Kajouji

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

An article that is written by Samantha Bushey and published yesterday in the Faribault Daily News explains that William Melchert-Dinkel, who was convicted for his part in the death of Canadian teenager Nadia Kajouji, has appealed his conviction.

The article states:

Oral arguments could be heard within the next 75 days in the appeal of a former nurse from Faribault who was convicted of encouraging and advising at least two people to commit suicide.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 49, was sentenced in Rice County District Court last May for aiding the suicide deaths of Mark Drybrough, of Coventry, England; and Nadia Kajouji, of Ottawa, Ontario. He filed a notice of appeal days before he was due to report to the Rice County Jail last June, and remains free while it is pending. 

Prosecutors say Melchert-Dinkel posed as a young, kind, sympathetic woman who worked as an emergency room nurse, and encouraged people to commit suicide. 

According to a criminal complaint filed in Rice County District Court April 23, 2010, during one visit with police Melchert-Dinkel said he visited websites which people used to find suicide methods. He said he acted as an advocate and accessory to someone ending their life, and estimated he had assisted up to five individuals in committing suicide, saying it was "the thrill of the chase." 

Drybrough’s sister found him hanging by a rope in his residence on July 27, 2005. Hanging was the method Melchert-Dinkel encouraged, and, according to the complaint, he had advised Drybrough on what rope to buy, how to tie the knot, and how to position the rope. 

Melchert-Dinkel found Kajouji on a suicide message board where she was looking for a suicide method with the "highest chance of success" because she was "terrified of failing" and wanted her suicide to "look like an accident." 

Melchert-Dinkel repeatedly advised and encouraged Kajouji to commit suicide by hanging, and even entered into a phony suicide pact with her. On March 9-10, 2008, Kajouji jumped into an icy river wearing ice skates; her body was found one month later.

The article explains that Melchert-Dinkel has based his appeal on the contention that counselling suicide is protected by a right to free speech.

The fact is that he took advantage of vulnerable people who were depressed and suicidal. Instead of discouraging them from suicide, he encouraged them. It is similar to pushing someone off an edge.

Suicide predator, William Melchert-Dinkel, is appealing his sentence

Lee Greenberg wrote an extensive article that was published in the Ottawa Citizen on December 5 on the appeal by William Melchert-Dinkel, the Minnesota nurse who was convicted of counselling suicide, in the deaths of Brampton Ontario teen Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drybrough from the UK.

Kajouji was a first-year student at Carlton University in Ottawa. She became deeply depressed and established a suicide pact with Melchert-Dinkel after he contacted her on a suicide chat site under an assumed name.

What is particularly devastating is how Melchert-Dinkel used his relationship to gain some type of personal gratification in the suicide death of Kajouji and Drybrough. You may wish to read the earlier articles about this case that can be found by linking to Nadia Kajouji or Internet Suicide. Please read the following article:

-------------------------------------

Melchert-Dinkel is appealing his conviction in the death of Canadian teen.

William Melchert-Dinkel who was sentenced in early May for his part in the deaths of Nadia Kajouji (18) who was a first year student at Carlton University in Ottawa and Mark Drybrough (32) who died in 2005 in the UK has launched an appeal of his convictions.

Melchert-Dinkel acted as a internet suicide predator by searching through chatrooms and help sites for people who were depressed and willing to discuss, online, suicide. He established relationships with the vulnerable persons and then tried to convince the person to commit suicide on front of their webcam. As disgusting as it is, it appears that Melchert-Dinkel is a Suicide voyeur.

The Toronto Sun is reporting:

Minnesota defence attorney Terry Watkins plans to argue that former nurse William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech when he assumed a false identity as a depressed teenager contemplating suicide and urged the victims to kill themselves online.

Kajouji jumped into the Rideau River in April 2008.

There is also evidence that Melchert-Dinkel contacted at least 20 people in online chat rooms devoted to suicide.

He was sentenced last month to 360 days in jail.

He has remained free since the conviction and will remain so until the appeal is heard. It's not yet known how quickly that will happen.

Kajouji's family decried the short sentence as an injustice.

Link to the article in the Vancouver Sun.

The lawyer for Melchert-Dinkel had already unsuccessfully argued, in the pre-trial hearings, that the case was an issue of free speech.
Link to a previous article on the free speech defense.
Link to a previous article on why the judge previously rejected the free speech defense.

Link to the article, Melchert-Dinkel found guilty in the deaths of Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drybrough

It is important that William Melchert-Dinkel's convictions be upheld. This is not an issue of free speech but rather a man who was taking advantage of vulnerable people, by encouraging and counseling them to commit suicide, for his own selfish gain.

Melchert-Dinkel sentenced in his double conviction for internet suicide predator crimes.

Nadia Kajouji

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Three years after the death of Nadia Kajouji, William Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse from Minnesota, was sentenced for his actions as a internet suicide predator. There are many questions concerning the length of the jail sentence, but at least the Minnesota court carried out the prosecution, a prosecution that could have been carried out by Canadian authorities as well.

The Minnesota Star Tribune quoted Judge Neuville as stating to Melchert-Dinkel:

"The court finds that you were stalking and soliciting people to die. ... You knew it was wrong."

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) is pleased that Melchert-Dinkel was prosecuted and sentenced and we urge Melchert-Dinkel not to appeal the conviction so as to allow closure for the families. EPC recognizes that Melchert-Dinkel will serve time in prison, he has lost any opportunity of returning to his nursing profession, and the law did convict him for his heinous crimes.

The Melchert-Dinkel case proves that internet suicide predators are not that different from other cases of assisted suicide. The victim is vulnerable and the assisted suicide is counseled by a person who alleges concern for the victim, but who acts based on their own concerns. Link to article.

Information about the Melchert-Dinkel case and his victims.

Melchert-Dinkel was given a sentence of 360 days in jail and fines and restitution payments equaling $47,450. His actual sentence was for two - 15 year sentences, with 15 years probation. If he breaks his probation by committing similar crimes, he would supposedly have to serve the full-sentence.

Drybrough

Melchert-Dinkel was also told that he must do 8 hours of community service each year in the months of March and July for 10 years, that he must serve 2 days in jail on the anniversary of the deaths of Kajouji (18) and Drybrough (32) for 10 years, he cannot have any internet access, other than for work, he cannot be employed within the health care profession, and he must continue therapy.

The Star Tribune quoted Crown attorney Paul Beaumaster in this way:

the sentence was "well reasoned and supported by the facts."
With so few assisted suicide convictions in state history, there's no recommended sentencing level in state guidelines.

The Toronto Star quoted Beaumaster as stating:

"I hope this case stands as a warning to other predators on the Internet who advises, aides or encourages suicide that they will be held accountable."

Deborah Chevalier

The Star Tribune quoted Deborah Chevalier, Nadia's mother, who stated:

"For months afterward, nightmares haunted me, I would give everything I have to be able to spend just one more minute with my child again."

Outside of the courthouse Chevalier stated:

"I'm her mother. Obviously I was disappointed. ... Justice can never be served."

The Toronto Star quoted Mohammed Kajouji, Nadia's father as stating:

"When the judge called, I couldn't stop crying. It brought everything back. And I was so scared. I was reading online and everyone said he might not even go to jail. But he will go to jail and he will pay the fines so there is some closure. It won't bring Nadia back, but I'm glad it's over."

The editorial in the Brampton Guardian , the city where Nadia grew up, stated: No Justice for Nadia. The editorial stated:

Kajouji needed help, but sadly the only help she got was from a deranged man who helped her kill herself.

There is no telling what would have happened if Melchert-Dinkel had not entered Kajouji’s life. She could have got help and moved on to be a successful and happy young woman, or she may have ultimately killed herself without any help. But we will never know.

This sentence is not a deterrent, and in the dark, shadowy world of the Internet, strong deterrents are the only thing that will stop those who look for the vulnerable.

Melchert-Dinkel likely would have received more jail time if he threw fire on a burning house. But stoking the flames of mental illness in the U.S. justice system seems to mean little.

To give the Minnesota justice system credit, at least they prosecuted Melchert-Dinkel. That is more than can be said for the Canadian justice system.

In the previous parliamentary session, Harold Albrecht, Member of Parliament from Kitchener-Conestoga, introduced Motion 388 to ensure that Canada's assisted suicide act also applies to Internet Suicide Predators, such as Melchert-Dinkel. Motion 388 passed in the House of Commons unanimously.

EPC will urge the government to bring forth a bill that clarifies that Internet Suicide Predators, and those who counsel suicide via communications devices, will be prosecuted under Canada's assisted suicide act.

For more information about the Melchert Dinkel case go to: Link

Suicide Predator found guilty on two counts of assisted suicide

William Francis Melchert-Dinkel has been found guilty of advising two people to commit suicide. The evidence shows that Melchert-Dinkel worked from his home in Minnesota, and used the internet to actively encourage Mark Drybrough to hang himself in Coventry, UK, in 2005. In 2008, he encouraged Nadia Kajouji to end her life in Ottawa, Canada. Both victims committed suicide within days or hours of Melchert-Dinkel’s last contact.

About The Victims

As a young man, Mark Drybrough displayed symptoms of depression. The disease became worse at about 30 years of age, when he had a nervous breakdown that made him unable to work. During that time, he began to meet other suicidal people on an internet chat site. For over seven weeks, Melchert-Dinkel consistently encouraged Mark to commit suicide. Mark hung himself at home on July 27 2005.

Nadia Kajouji had was in her first year at Carlton University in Ottawa. Shortly after a miscarriage, she was assailed by a deepening depression. Melchert-Dinkel pursued her on a different chat site, and for ten days intensely urged her to follow through on her suicidal feelings. Melchert-Dinkel encouraged Nadia to hang herself, in such a way that he could watch her death on the web-cam. She drowned after jumping into the freezing Rideau River March 9 or 10.

Both Mark and Nadia were in contact with loving parents. Both of them were suffering from depression. Both were receiving medication and professional counseling to deal with their suicidal thoughts. After hearing Melchert-Dinkel’s deceptive words, both Mark and Nadia died alone and in despair.

About Melchert-Dinkel

William Melchert-Dinkel is currently a 49-year-old husband and father of two. In statements to police, he revealed that he:
- had been frequenting suicide chat rooms for at least three years.
- was in contact with 11 suicidal people, of whom 5 committed suicide.
- hid his identity from the victims, most often representing himself as a female nurse
- used three different web identities to camouflage his activity
- kept his activities secret from his wife
- attempted to blame his daughter for the incriminating web correspondence
- offered specific advice on hanging, his preferred method
- attempted to persuade his victims to let him watch their strangulation on web cams
- pretended to enter suicide pacts with the victims, to encourage them to kill themselves
- freely described all of this to police officers, changing his story to avoid consequences

To neither his victims nor to their grieving families did he ever display more than the briefest display of sympathy. William Melchert-Dinkel is clearly a very sick man, but a criminally competent suicide predator.

Judge Thomas Neuville’s Decision

1. Minnesota’s law is valid. Suicide is not a fundamental liberty; the state has a compelling interest in preserving human life; and the law does not unduly restrict free speech.
2. Melchert-Dinkel’s speech is “categorically unprotected” by the U.S. constitution. To be protected as free speech, the specific speech must be publicly uttered, and must address an issue in the public interest. Melchert-Dinkel’s communication to the victims was private, and it did not address suicide as an issue for public discussion. Instead, the speech was uttered specifically to encourage the destruction of two human beings.
3. The suicidal tendency of his victims is no defense.
4. Under Minnesota law, Melchert-Dinkel can be held responsible for intending to utter speech that would encourage the suicide of the two victims. It is not necessary for the state to prove that Melchert-Dinkel intended their deaths, or that his speech was solely responsible for their deaths.
5. Melchert-Dinkel will be sentenced on May 4, 2011.

What This Means For Us

Minnesota appears to have a well-framed law that may serve as a model for similar laws in other jurisdictions. There is certainly a need for such a law: Melchert-Dinkel is not the only person with a voyeuristic compulsion to watch people die. Jack Kevorkian’s self-portrait is sketched with the same pencil.

Because cause-and-effect can easily straddle national boundaries, every jurisdiction has a responsibility to establish laws against the act of encouraging suicide via the internet. Nadia Kajouji was a Canadian citizen who died in Canada, yet Melchert-Dinkel was not extradited to face charges in Canada. It appears that the Ottawa police believed that Melchert-Dinkel was less likely to face justice in Canada than he was in Minnesota. The law must be amended to assure that Canada can protect people like Nadia and Mark from suicide predators from any nation with decisive strength.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition supported Harold Albrecht MP (Kitchener-Conestoga) who sponsored Motion 388 to urge the government to ensure that Section 241 of the Criminal Code effectively protects people like Nadia Kajouji from internet suicide predators like Melchert-Dinkel. We will be encouraging that a bill be introduced in the next parliament to amend the criminal code to ensure that internet suicide predators can be effectively prosecuted in Canada.

Link to a previous article concerning the Melchert-Dinkel case.

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.

Alleged internet suicide predator pleads not guilty in the death of Nadia Kajouji, but waves his right to a trial.

Mark Drybrough

William Melchert-Dinkel (48), the former Minnesota nurse, has waved his right to a trail, but also pled not guilty to assisting the suicides of Canadian teen Nadia Kajouji (18), and Mark Drybrough (32) of Coventry England.

Nadia Kajouji

Melchert-Dinkel failed to get the charge of assisted suicide dropped when a Minnesota judge refused to accept the arguement that this was a case of freedom of speech.

Melchert-Dinkel has admitted to being involved in the deaths of Carlton University student Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drybrough from the UK, but he has pled not guilty to assisting their suicide deaths.

Instead of facing a three week trial, Melchert-Dinkel has decided to opt for a rarely used Minnesota provision that gives the judge seven days to review the case and then the judge decides whether or not he is guilty of the crime.

The following is the article in the Ottawa Citizen by Lee Greenberg:

Melchert-Dinkel

Nurse waives right to trial in suicide case

The trial of a Minnesota nurse accused of assisted suicide in the death of a Carleton University student took another unexpected turn Tuesday, when William Melchert-Dinkel announced he will waive his right to a trial.

Melchert-Dinkel, who has admitted to prowling online suicide chat rooms and coercing depressed people into killing themselves, was scheduled to appear at a three-week trial in April.

Instead, he is employing a rarely used Minnesota legal provision. A judge will Thursday review the prosecution’s case against Melchert-Dinkel and decide within seven days whether the 48 year old Minnesotan is guilty of two counts of assisted suicide.

By entering the unusual motion, known as a Lothenbach plea, Melchert-Dinkel waives his right to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, to compel his own witnesses to testify and his right to testify on his own behalf.

He is still nevertheless pleading not guilty.

“We neither think witnesses are necessary nor do we think a trial in any way benefits my client,” said Terry Watkins, Melchert-Dinkel’s lawyer.

“There’s not a disagreement basically with the facts in this case so a trial based on stipulated facts would be much more efficient and much more effective and would be in the best interests of both my client and the government.”

Melchert-Dinkel, a father of two teenage daughters, lives in the picturesque town of Faribault, Minnesota, about an hour south of Minneapolis. State authorities began investigating the troubled former nurse after a British grandmother complained in 2008 he was encouraging depressed online chatroom participants into suicide.

Celia Blay pointed Minnesota police to the case of Mark Drybrough, a 32-year old Briton, who hanged himself in 2005 after corresponding with Melchert-Dinkel.

Police later learned of the 2008 suicide of Nadia Kajouji, a Brampton teen and first-year Carleton University student who was befriended by Melchert-Dinkel and coaxed into a false suicide pact. The aging, overweight man was posing as a 20-something woman when he asked Kajouji to kill herself in front of a webcam while he watched.

“If you go ... any kind of home improvement store — get yellow nylon rope about eight feet or about 3.5 meters and about one-inch thick or about three centimetres that is all you need and look around apartment for somewhere to hang from,” he told Nadia during one chat session. “I can help you with the cam when you need to.”

When he learned of a police investigation into the issue, Melchert-Dinkel checked into a state hospital and claimed to be suffering from an “addiction” to suicide chat rooms.

He told police he formed “10 or 11” false suicide pacts with people over the world and compared his preoccupation with hunting human game, telling detectives he enjoyed “the thrill of the chase.”

Ottawa police told Kajouji’s mother they decided against charging Melchert-Dinkel because there was no evidence he directly caused her suicide.

That decision perplexed legal scholars, who said Canada’s suicide provision does not require such causality.

Minnesota police says the charges are the first in recent memory. State law punishes anyone who “intentionally advises, encourages, or assists” suicide with up to 15 years imprisonment and up to a $30,000 fine.

Links to information about the Melchert-Dinkel case.

Melchert-Dinkel pleads not guilty to encouraging suicide

An article in the AOL news article by Hugh Collins, a few days ago, reported that William Melchert-Dinkel has pled not guilty of encouraging suicide in the deaths of Nadia Kajouji, the Carlton University student in Ottawa Canada, who died by suicide in March 2008 and Mark Drybrough, of Coventry England, who died in 2005.

The article stated:

Prosecutors in Rice County, Minn., say that Merchert-Dinkel posed as a female nurse on Internet chat rooms and gave Kajouji and Drybrough advice on how they could best kill themselves. He entered his not guilty plea Friday.

If found guilty, Melchert-Dinkel, who is now a truck driver, could face 15 years in prison, QMI Agency said.

Using online names such as "Cami" and "Li Dao," Melchert-Dinkel allegedly discussed techniques for suicide and even offered to enter into a suicide pact with Kajouji to strengthen her resolve.

Melchert-Dinkel admitted to entering into suicide pacts with about 10 people. He believes that five of these people went on to kill themselves.

Melchert-Dinkel's lawyer failed to have the case dismissed based on communication via the internet being protected as free speech. Judge Thomas Neuville disagreed.

Melchert-Dinkel's lawyer is now attempting to have the case dismissed because the deaths did not take place in the United States.

The article states that:

District Judge Thomas Neuville will take the matter under advisement on Dec. 13. He will then have 60 days to make a decision.

The article stated that:

In one Internet chat, "Li Dao" (Melchert-Dinkel) offered Drybrough advice on how to hang himself without attaching the rope to the ceiling.

Police in Britain and the United States examined Drybrough's computer and determined that he had sought advice online on how to kill himself, Prosecutors say this advice came from Melchert-Dinkel's computer.

Marc kajouji, Nadia's brother stated in the article:

Surprisingly, I don't spend much time worrying what happens to Melchert-Dinkel. I spend my time thinking about how I can help others prevent suicide from hitting their family.

William Melchert-Dinkel needs to be prosecuted for steering vulnerable depressed people toward suicide.

Judge refuses to dismiss case against Melchert-Dinkel

An Associated Press article written by Amy Forliti, is reporting that Judge Thomas Neuville has refused to dismiss the case against William Melchert-Dinkel, the Minnesota nurse who admitted to encouraging Carlton University student, Nadia Kajouji (18) and Mark Drybrough (32) of Coventry England, to commit suicide. He is also allegedly involved with encouraging and or counseling at least three other people to suicide.

Melchert-Dinkel's lawyer has claimed that freedom of speech protects the acts of encouraging or counseling suicide via the internet. It appears that sanity is prevailing.

The article from the Associated Press:
Minn. judge refuses to dismiss aided suicide case

A Minnesota judge ruled Tuesday that the case against a former nurse who allegedly sought out depressed people in Internet chat rooms and encouraged them to kill themselves won't be dismissed on free speech grounds.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, of Faribault, is charged with two counts of aiding suicide in the deaths of an English man and a Canadian woman.

His attorney had asked that the case be dismissed, saying Melchert-Dinkel's conversations involved protected speech. Rice County District Judge Thomas Neuville disagreed in a 21-page ruling, saying speech that aids the suicide of another is not protected by the First Amendment.

The judge also said Minnesota law makes it a crime to participate in speech that intentionally advises, encourages, or aids another in taking his or her own life. And, the judge wrote, the courts have ruled that speech that constitutes aiding and abetting criminal conduct is not protected.

"Thus, speech that directly encourages and imminently incites the act of suicide ... falls outside the protection of the First Amendment," Neuville wrote.

Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster argued Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and hanging and cruised the Internet for potential victims. When he found them, he posed as a female nurse, feigned compassion and offered step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves. Melchert-Dinkel also entered phony suicide pacts, Beaumaster said.

Melchert-Dinkel was charged in April with two counts of aiding suicide in the 2005 hanging death of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Conventry, England, and the 2008 drowning of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ontario.

Beaumaster said in earlier court documents that Melchert-Dinkel admitted participating in online chats with at least 15 to 20 people about suicide and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10 people, five of whom Melchert-Dinkel believed killed themselves.

The prosecutor said Tuesday that he is pleased with the judge's ruling and is preparing for trial. The next court hearing is set for Nov. 19. A plea is expected to be formally entered then.

Melchert-Dinkel's attorney, Terry Watkins, said he hadn't read the judge's ruling and had no immediate comment. He said nothing has changed, and he is anticipating his client will plead not guilty.

Watkins also had asked that the case be dismissed because of a lack of probable cause and because the state's aiding suicide law is too vague. Neuville denied those requests as well.

Prosecutor says: it was not "free-speech" when Melchert-Dinkel encouraged Nadia Kajouji to commit suicide

An article that was carried by the Associated Press and written by Amy Forliti states that the Minnesota prosecutor stated: Encouraging suicide is not free speech.

William Melchert-Dinkel is facing assisted suicide charges based on the suicide deaths of Nadia Kajouji, a 18 year old first year university student, who committed suicide in March 2008 after allegedly being encouraged online by Melchert-Dinkel, a confessed suicide predator.

Melchert-Dinkel's lawyer is suggesting that the charges should be dropped based on previous decisions that guarantee free speech on the internet.

The article stated:

A former Minnesota nurse charged with aiding the suicides of two people, including an Ontario woman, was not covered by free-speech protections when he sought out depressed people online and encouraged them to kill themselves, a prosecutor argued in court documents Wednesday.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, of Faribault, is charged with two counts of aiding suicide in the deaths of an English man and a Canadian woman, Nadia Kajouji. His attorney has asked that the case be dismissed on free-speech grounds, and argued the state’s aiding suicide law is too vague.

In his response Wednesday, Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster wrote there is no case law that says speech is protected if its goal is to obtain someone’s death. He also said Melchert-Dinkel knew what he was doing was wrong.

He said Melchert-Dinkel’s actions are the equivalent of shouting “fire” in a crowded theatre and “words meant as an incitement to illegal action or action for the destruction of life do not constitute free speech.”

Beaumaster said Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and hanging, and cruised the Internet for potential victims. When he found them, he posed as a female nurse, feigned compassion, and offered step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves, Beaumaster said. He also entered phoney suicide pacts.

“This was not public speech or discourse or honest individual discussion as to the concept of suicide, this was Mr. Melchert-Dinkel attempting by deception to gratify his own depraved desires to push individuals over the ledge,” Beaumaster wrote.

Melchert-Dinkel’s attorney, Terry Watkins, did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Wednesday.

Watkins filed documents last month arguing that courts have protected speech on the Internet. He cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision that noted regulating content on the Internet “is more likely to interfere with the free exchange of ideas than to encourage it.”

Melchert-Dinkel was charged in April with two counts of aiding suicide in the 2005 hanging death of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Conventry, England, and the 2008 drowning of Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ont.

Beaumaster wrote that Melchert-Dinkel admitted to participating in online chats with at least 15 to 20 people about suicide and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10 people, five of whom he believed killed themselves.

In Drybrough’s case, Beaumaster wrote, Melchert-Dinkel used the handle “Li Dao” and gave Drybrough detailed instructions on how to hang himself. Li Dao also told Drybrough he would soon commit suicide himself by hanging. In emails to Li Dao, Drybrough wrote he was ill but afraid to commit suicide and that he wished he had Li Dao’s courage, Beaumaster said.

Beaumaster said Kajouji told Melchert-Dinkel — who was posing as a nurse named “Cami” — that she would jump into a frozen river, wearing ice skates to make it look like an accident. Beaumaster wrote that Cami stated hanging would be better and promised she would hang herself with Kajouji the next day if her jump was unsuccessful.

Minnesota’s statute says whomever “intentionally advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other’s own life” is committing a crime.

Watkins, Melchert-Dinkel’s attorney, has argued the Legislature hasn’t specified what type of behaviour is prohibited under the aiding suicide law and that it’s not clear if speech is prohibited. He said his client had no direct participation in any suicides.

But Beaumaster wrote that the law is clear and that Melchert-Dinkel knew he was committing a crime.

“The statute leaves no room for wild speculation as to meaning or application,” Beaumaster wrote. He added that during the investigation, Melchert-Dinkel admitted to posing as a female nurse online and offering suicide advice, but said he stopped after about five years because he knew it was wrong. He said Melchert-Dinkel also called his own actions “disgusting.”

It’s not clear when Rice County District Court Judge Thomas Neuville will make a decision on the defence request to dismiss the case. Watkins has also asked Neuville to throw out Melchert-Dinkel’s confession, and that decision is pending.

Kajouji’s mother, Deborah Chevalier, said Ottawa police told her Wednesday that they would not be bringing charges against Melchert-Dinkel in connection with her daughter’s death because he is already facing trial in the U.S. She said she hopes the Minnesota case goes to trial so a precedent can be set.

“No matter what happens with this, he’s not going to be punished as he should,” Chevalier said. “In reality, he’s a serial killer.”

Link to the article

Melchert-Dinkel needs to go to court to defend his disgusting and terrible actions

Nitschke appears to be trolling the internet for death clients.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition


I was googling stories on assisted suicide when I noticed an interesting phenomenon. The first link in the search engine was the link to Philip Nitschke's suicide instruction manual. 

To make it worse, when I clicked the second group of articles the link for the suicide instruction manual was first again.

I understand how google works. Organizations and individuals can pay a fee for advertising on google or to have their product or website - come up first - in the search engine when certain words are google searched. It appears that Exit International, Nitschke's organization, must be investing serious money to have the link to Nitschke's products appear as the #1 and the #11 link on the google search engine.

I should not be surprised. Assisted suicide and euthanasia represent Nitschke's livelihood. Every online sale of his suicide manual gives Nitschke approximately $75 in his jeans. He appears to be selling thousands of his online maunuals.

Recently Barbara Coombs Lee, the leader of Compassion & Choices, wrote an article that suggested that she hoped that, internet suicide predator, William Melchert-Dinkel, will be convicted of assisted suicide in Minnesota for counseling and abetting, via the internet, at least five people to commit suicide.

One of Melchert-Dinkel's victims was Canadian Nadia Kajouji who was a first year student in Ottawa at Carlton University. Kajouji was very depressed and seeking advice for her depression when she bumped into Melchert-Dinkel who was trolling the internet looking for someone like Kajouji who was thinking of commiting suicide.

Is Philip Nitschke different than Melchert-Dinkel?

Last February I wrote about a report of 51 people in Australia who died from Nembutal use that was in the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.

The report stated that of the 51 people who were known to have died from Nembutal, 6 people were in their 20's, 8 people were in their 30's, 5 people were in their 40's, 14 people were in their 50's, 3 people in their 60's, 10 in their 70's, and 5 people were over the age of 80.

Further to that, the report found that of the 38 known deaths that were investigated by a coroner, only 11 had a significant physical illness or chronic pain with the remaining 27 cases showing no signs of physical problems.

The report suggested that the 27 otherwise healthy people who died from Nembutal use were most likely depressed or mentally ill.

Even though the report only referred to 51 Nembutal deaths, Nitschke stated that he knew of between 250 - 300 Nembutal deaths.

The further problem is that Nitschke craves the media attention. Everytime the media publishes a report on his antics, he gains attention that creates greater awareness of his products, and in turn he sells more suicide manuals.

Melchert-Dinkel

Melchert-Dinkel, who was a nurse, admitted to counseling and abeting the suicide deaths of at least 5 people who were depressed, whereas Nitschke has been involved, even if indirectly, with the deaths of many people who were depressed or mentally ill.

The only real difference is that Melchert-Dinkel was motivated by wanting to watch the suicide deaths, like a voyeur, via his webcam. Nitschke appears to be motivated by the fame he has gained and the financial windfall he is making from his online sales of his suicide manuals.

Link an Australian news article on the issue: http://www.news.com.au/national/hundreds-hoarding-death-drugs-claims-philip-nitschke/story-e6frfkvr-1225831706648

Links to previous blog articles: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2010/06/nitschke-continues-to-promote-nembutal.html

http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2008/10/nitschke-launches-online-euthanasia.html

Defence wants suicide predator to go free in Kajouji case

Nadia Kajouji

Lee Greenberg published an article in the Ottawa Citizen today explaining that the lawyers for William Melchert-Dinkel are trying to have the charges dropped against their client who was charged with assisting the suicide of Nadia Kajouji, an 18 year old first year Carlton student who died by suicide in March 2008

Terry Watkins, the lawyer for Melchert-Dinkel, the former nurse, who admitted to counseling via the internet several people to commit suicide. Yesterday's hearing was postponed as Watkins plans to challenge some of the evidence that was gathered against Melchert-Dinkel. Watkins also indicated his intention to petition to have the charges dropped.

The article described the case this way:

William Melchert-Dinkel

In April, Melchert-Dinkel was charged with assisted suicide for his involvement in the deaths of Nadia Kajouji, an 18-year-old Brampton girl who killed herself in March 2008, and Briton Mark Dryborough, who hanged himself in 2005 when he was 32.

Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse with a disturbing disciplinary history, has admitted to trolling online suicide chat rooms in search of severely depressed people to talk into suicide.

In conversations with police, he likened the activity to hunting, admitting he was motivated by "the thrill of the chase."

He told police his interest in death and suicide had become "an obsession," something he'd had to confront when certain of his morbid online chats had been discovered by his teenage daughters. He admitted to forming false suicide pacts with at least 10 depressed people contemplating suicide.

According to his statements to police contained in a criminal complaint, Melchert-Dinkel offered his victims psychological encouragement, "telling them it was OK to let go, that they would be better in heaven."

He is charged with two counts of assisted suicide. Each charge of the Minnesota statute, which targets anyone who "intentionally advises, encourages, or assists" in suicide, comes with a punishment of up to 15 years imprisonment and as much as a $30,000 fine.

The article also quoted Michelle Goodwin, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who stated:

"These cases when it comes to a jury and what a jury is going to buy, it's a much easier conviction when you have physical evidence rather than virtual evidence,"

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition advocates an amendment to the criminal code of Canada in a similar manner to Australia. The Australian government made a minor revision to the criminal code to ensure that the assisted suicide statute included cases that were counseled via the internet or other communications devices.

Harold Albrect, MP - (Kitchener-Conestoga) sponsored Motion 388 that passed unanimously through Canada's parliament. Motion 388 called on the Federal Government to ensure that the law protects people, such as Nadia Kajouji, from internet predators, whether the suicide predator was a Canadian or not.

In the meantime, Melchert-Dinkel is trolling the highways as a long-haul trucker. The judge is expected to rule on whether the trial will go forward on August 27.

Nitschke announces his North American tour dates.

Philip Nitschke

This is not an advertisement for Philip Nitschke's second tour of North America but rather a concern for everyone who knows about the work of Nitschke, Australia's Dr. Death, and understands how his suicide promotion has led to the death of many people who are depressed or mentally ill.

It is bad enough that Nitschke promotes suicide by selling his books, devices and information online to anyone and everyone.

Further to that, are not Nitschke's tactics even worse than those of William Melchert-Dinkel, the nurse in Minnesota who has being prosecuted for being an online suicide predator, for directly and intentionally counseling and abeting Nadia Kajouji to commit suicide in March 2008.

Did not the parliament of Canada debate Motion 388, that was introduced by Harold Albrecht MP, Kitchener - Connestoga, that asked the question whether Canada's assisted suicide act was broad enough to prosecute Melchert-Dinkel in Canada? Motion 388 unanimously passed in the House of Commons

Authorities in Canada and the United States need to challenge Nitschke. Why should he be allowed to come into Canada and the United States and hold meetings that encourage the participants to break the law? Further to that, if it is only medical advise, the last I noticed Nitschke is not a licensed physician in any jurisdiction in North America.

Oh by the way, Nitschke does have safeguards to assure that only people who need his advice can attend. The rule is that you must be 50 years old. Either this is age discrimination or he thinks that 50 is a good age to end it all.

The dates are as follows:
Vancouver Canada - Thursday, October 7, 2010 from 11 am - 4 pm.
(Public meeting 11 am - noon; Workshop 12:30 pm - 4 pm)
Unitarian Church, West Vancouver

Toronto Canada - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 from 11 am - 4 pm.
(Public meeting 11 am - noon; Workshop 12:30 pm - 4 pm)
Location to be announced.

New York City - Wednesday, October 20, 2010 from 11 am - 4pm.
(Public meeting 11 am - noon; Workshop 12:30 pm - 4 pm)
Community Church of New York

Orlando Florida - Saturday, October 23, 2010 from 11 am to 4 pm.
(Public meeting 11 am - noon; Workshop 12:30 pm - 4 pm)
Orlando Unitarian Church

San Francisco California - Saturday, November 6, from 11 am to 4 pm.
(Public meeting 11 am - noon; Workshop 12:30 pm - 4 pm)
Location to be announced.