British family reacts to the appeal of the assisted suicide conviction by a Minnesota suicide predator.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Mark Drybrough

The Birmingham Mail UK reported about the concern of the victim's family related to the appeal by a former Minnesota nurse, in his conviction, in the assisted suicide death of Mark Drybrough. The article states:

A brave Midland family who have TWICE seen an American nurse convicted of assisting the suicide of their son fear the sick predator could still escape justice.

Twisted William Melchert Dinkel – exposed by the Sunday Mercury as a predator using online chatrooms to encourage vulnerable victims to kill themselves – has been convicted of intentionally assisting the suicide of Mark Drybrough. 

Amazingly, it is the second time that the evil nurse has been convicted of the offence.

Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide.

Evidence showed he was obsessed with suicide. He sought out depressed people online and then posed as a female nurse, feigning compassion and offering step-by-step advice on how they could kill themselves. 

Melchert Dinkel later admitted to police that he had entered into fake suicide pacts with 10 people – five of whom he believed had killed themselves, including Mark.

The family is concerned that Melchert-Dinkel may go free, Elaine Drybrough, Mark's mother stated:

“But I’ve had a letter from the courts, telling me that he is going to appeal again. 

“That is just how it is. The case just keeps going on and on, and we have to live with that. We will be glad when it draws to a close. 

“It was only thanks to the Sunday Mercury that I was able to identify him as the man who had been talking to Mark online, telling him how to take his life before he died.

Nadia Kajouji

The article then explains how Elaine Drybrough, and another person named Kat, collected the data that led to the arrest of Melchert-Dinkel. The article explains:

Elaine began seeking justice for Mark in America after reading the Sunday Mercury exposé about how Melchert Dinkel tried to lure Wolverhampton mum Kat Lowe into a suicide pact in May 2008.

We told how Kat had begun using suicide chatrooms a year earlier after she became hooked on heroin and lost her home.

She made friends with someone using the name Falcon Girl online, who claimed to have helped a Birmingham man kill himself.

But, after receiving warnings from retired Berkshire teacher and local historian Celia Blay, Kat soon realised that Falcon Girl was not at all who ‘she’ seemed to be.

To gain her trust, Falcon Girl had told Kat that ‘she’ had previously helped a 32-year-old man from Birmingham to kill himself in 2005.

She said that she watched the man die on his webcam, and asked Kat to buy one, too, so she could help her to die with him.

But Kat’s suspicions about Falcon Girl were confirmed when she discovered that the imposter was also using a web address containing the name Li Dao – a chatroom user with a reputation of being extremely dangerous.

With Celia’s help, Kat launched a ‘sting’ operation, recording everything Falcon Girl said to her and getting her to speak on her webcam, snatching the user’s photo on her phone.

It was then that they discovered the shocking truth – she was a he. Churchgoing William Melchert Dinkel.

Undeterred, the evil predator shamelessly sent her a photograph of himself and his family.

Kat and Celia reported their findings to West Midlands Police and then Justice Minister Maria Eagle – but they were unable to take up the case.

But it was only after Elaine came forward as a result of the Sunday Mercury story that they took their findings to America, contacting Sergeant William Haider of the St Paul Police in Fairbault, Minnesota.

Melchert Dinkel was soon linked to Nadia’s death. Online conversations he had with the teenager were discovered on her computer.

Sgt Haider and Detective Tony Tochinka visited his home and Melchert Dinkel admitted to them that he had emailed Mark details of how to hang himself and said that he himself had seen the Mercury probe into his twisted online activities.

The heroes in this story are the Sunday Mercury for doing an exposé on the online suicide predator, Elaine Drybrough, for uncovering information about her son's death, Kat Lowe for connecting with Melchert-Dinkel and exposing him and Celia Blay for working with Lowe.

The article ends with Celia Blay expressing her belief that this case will end up at the United States Supreme Court. I agree with Blay, and I am concerned that protections in law for vulnerable and depressed people will be put aside to protect "free speech."

Links to articles on this topic:

• Mark Kajouji becomes a suicide prevention advocate after his sister dies by assisted suicide.
• Former nurse convicted of attempting to assist the suicide of Canadian teen.
• Minnesota Supreme Court upholds ban on assisted suicide.