Australia's Dr Death is watching his clients die by suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
 

Nadia Kajouji

In September 2014, a former Minnesota nurse, William Melchert-Dinkel, was convicted of assisted suicide in the death of Mark Drybrough from England and attempting to assist the suicide of Canadian teenager Nadia Kajouji. Melchert-Dinkel was a suicide voyeur who preyed upon suicidal members of a chat-room and counselled them to die by suicide on front of a web-cam.

William Melchert-Dinkel

Now, an Australian euthanasia leader, Philip Nitschke, known as Dr Death, has created a private live streaming service to enable him to watch his suicidal clients die by lethal drugs.

According to Tom Place, writing for the Australian Associated Press and Daily Mail Australia, Nitschke used the private live streaming to watch two clients die in May by his new suicide method. He claims that other clients have also agreed to let him watch their suicide deaths.

Nitscke says that his motivation is to ensure that his new suicide method will provide a "good and timely" death.

Protest of Philip Nitschke.

Nitschke, who has been involved with many controversial suicide deaths, lost his medical license in 2015 for his involvement in several controversial suicide deaths. At that time he was being investigated for his role in 20 deaths.
 
Recently Nitschke was challenged by a woman whose father died after receiving suicide advice from him.

In 2010, I wrote an article asking the question: Is Philip Nitschke different than Melchert-Dinkel? It seems more clear than ever that Nitschke has a suicide fetish that he is feeding with his new live stream death service.

Assisted Suicide conviction upheld of former Minnesota nurse.

Mark Dryborough

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

William Melchert-Dinkel, the former Minnesota nurse had his conviction for assisting the suicide of Mark Dryborough (32) of Coventry England, upheld by the Minnesota Court of Appeal.

Melchert-Dinkel, who encouraged and counselled people to commit suicide on internet chat sites, was sentenced in September 2014 to 178 days in jail in the deaths of Dryborough and Nadia Kajouji (18) of Brampton Ontario Canada. The Minnesota Court of Appeal upheld his conviction for assisting the suicide of Dryborough but overturned his conviction in the death of Kajouji. The Associated Press reported:

The Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that there was sufficient evidence to convict William Melchert-Dinkel, 53, of Faribault, of assisting the 2005 suicide of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England. 

It said there wasn't enough evidence to convict the ex-nurse of the lesser offense of attempting to assist the 2008 suicide of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ontario. 

Authorities have said that Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and hanging, and that he sought out potential victims online, posing as a female nurse and feigning compassion.  

The appeals court said Melchert-Dinkel gave Drybrough detailed instructions on how to hang himself. But it said he didn't give specific instructions to Kajouji when he recommended that she hang herself. She jumped from a bridge into a frozen river in Ottawa, where she was going to college. 

Melchert-Dinkel served nearly six months in jail after his 2014 conviction and remains on 10 years of probation. While he told police he did it "for the thrill of the chase," he apologized at his sentencing and said he had repented.

The Associated Press reported that Terry Watkins, Melchert-Dinkel's lawyer, plans to appeal the conviction to the Minnesota State Supreme Court.

Links to previous articles concerning this case:

• British family reacts to the appeal of the assisted suicide conviction.
• Former Minnesota nurse convicted of assisting suicide.
• Is Philip Nitschke different than Melchert-Dinkel?
• Internet suicide predator loses nursing license.
• US police investigate possible assisted suicide.

Final Exit Network found guilty in Minnesota assisted suicide case.

By Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg

International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Members of the Final Exit Network (FEN) were found guilty of assisting the suicide death and interfering with the death scene in the death Doreen Dunn (57) in 2007. Dunn was living with chronic depression but she was not not terminally ill.

The jury returned with a guilty verdict after a 90 minute deliberation.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 24. FEN has stated that it will appeal the convictions.

According to an article in the LaCrosse Tribune:

Dakota County prosecutor Elizabeth Swank told jurors that the evidence showed that two members of Final Exit Network went to Dunn's home in Apple Valley to assist her suicide. They then removed the equipment that she used for suicide so that it appeared she had died of natural causes. 

Dunn's husband of 29 years arrived home on May 30, 2007, to find her dead on the couch. Swank said Dunn had a blanket pulled up to her neck with her hands folded on her chest.

Swank said that despite Dunn's pain and depression, she had no life-threatening illness and her family was puzzled by her death. There were good things happening in her life: Her daughter who had been in Africa for about a year was coming home the next day and her son's fiancee was scheduled to give birth that week. However, her husband was also planning to move out, the prosecutor said.

Robert Rivas, the lawyer for the assisted suicide group, did not dispute that Jerry Dincin and Larry Egbert were present at Dunn's death, but he disputes that they assisted her suicide.

The Final Exit Network has been prosecuted in several assisted suicide cases. In Georgia, John Celmer, who was depressed after recovering from cancer, died by suicide with the assistance of the Final Exit Network. Celmer's widow Susan Celmer, testified against the Final Exit Network. The Final Exit Network assists the suicide of people at the most vulnerable time of their life. Last year Larry Egbert, the medical director for the Final Exit Network, lost his medical license in Maryland.

In October 2014, William Melchert-Dinkel, of Minnesota, was convicted in the assisted suicide deaths of Canadian teenager, Nadia Kajouji, and and Mark Drybrough, from England.

• Assisted suicide group on trial for assisting depressed Minnesota woman's suicide.
• Former Minnesota nurse is going to jail in the assisted suicide death of Canadian teen.
• Who are the Final Exit Network.
• America's Dr Death loses his medical license.
• The Final Exit Network and its leaders are indicted in Minnesota.

Former Minnesota nurse who admitted to counselling suicide of Canadian teen is going to jail.

By Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Nadia Kajouji

The Canadian Press reported that William Melchert-Dinkel, a former Minnesota nurse, has been sentenced to 178 days in jail for his part in the death of Canadian teen, Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drybrough, from Coventry England.

CP Press report stated:

William Melchert-Dinkel was ordered Wednesday to serve 178 days in jail. 

He was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, but he won't have to serve the prison term if he complies with conditions of probation that include the jail time. 

The 52-year-old was convicted in September of one count of assisting a suicide and one count of attempting to assist a suicide in the deaths of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England and Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, ON. 

The convictions came after the Minnesota Supreme Court narrowed the state's assisted-suicide law and reversed earlier convictions.

Marc Kajouji becomes a suicide prevention advocate after his sister, Nadia, dies by assisted suicide.

By Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Yesterday, an former from Minnesota, was found guilty of attempting to assist the suicide of Canadian teen, Nadia Kajouji in 2008. Today is world suicide prevention day.

Marc Kajouji, who has become a suicide prevention advocate with the suicide prevention group Your Life Counts responded to the Ottawa Citizen concerning the conviction of William Melchert-Dinkel that:

“It doesn’t change anything, I still have lost my sister, but at least there’s some sort of followup and a way to highlight the issue because there isn’t a voice for the 4,000 other families in Canada that go through this, (suicide)”

Marc Kajouji

Marc Kajouji told the Ottawa Citizen that he isn't seeking justice for Nadia's death but rather a change to the system:

“It’s tough, because I wish there were better checks and balances in the system such as the medicine she was on, the different things the school could have done, or the privacy act, or Internet regulations, so I don’t direct it at any one person or outlet,” he said. “I do feel that it’s an overall umbrella of an issue that needs to be addressed.”

Kajouji is waiting for Nadia's case to effect Canadian law. The Ottawa Citizen reported:

“(Motion 388) was ‘Nadia’s Law’ that was passed unanimously in the House of Commons and it’s just sitting on a shelf collecting dust,”

Albrecht with Kajouji

Motion 388 passed unanimously in the House of Commons on November 18, 2009. It was introduced in Parliament by Harold Albrecht MP. The Ottawa Citizen article stated:

The motion was to frame the euthanasia and assisted suicide debate by making sure the federal government clarified Section 241 of the Criminal Code, which outlaws counselling or aiding suicide, to apply to online predators looking to encourage or assist suicide.

Section 241 of the Criminal Code, Canada's assisted suicide act, is being challenged in the courts by the euthanasia lobby. In June 2012, Justice Lynn Smith, of the BC court, struck down Section 241 as unconstitutional. In October 2013, the BC Court of Appeal overturned Justice Smith's flawed decision and on October 15, 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the challenge to Section 241 and the Criminal Code provisions that protect Canadians from euthanasia.

If the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down Canada's assisted suicide laws, then any protection in law for teenagers like Nadia Kajouji will also be removed. Canada's assisted suicide laws equally protect all Canadians from others who would aid, counsel or encourage a vulnerable person to suicide.

An Associated Press article, stated that:

Evidence in the case showed Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and sought out depressed people online. He posed as a suicidal female nurse, feigning compassion and offering step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves. He acknowledged participating in online chats about suicide with up to 20 people and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10, five of whom he believed killed themselves.

Nadia Kajouji

Melchert-Dinkel wanted to watch Nadia Kajouji commit suicide on front of her webcam.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is intervening at the Supreme Court of Canada on October 15 in the assisted suicide/euthanasia case (Carter case). EPC is urging the Supreme Court to uphold the laws protecting people from euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Former Minnesota nurse convicted of attempting to assist the suicide of Canadian teen.

Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Nadia Kajouji

William Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse from Minnesota, was convicted of assisted suicide in the death of Mark Drybrough from England and convicted of attempting to assist the suicide of Canadian teenager Nadia Kajouji. Melchert-Dinkel preyed upon suicidal members of a chat-room and urged Drybrough and Kajouji to allow him to watch them die by suicide.

An Associated Press article reported that:

In his ruling, Judge Neuville said Melchert-Dinkel provided both Drybrough and Kajouji with detailed information about how to hang themselves, and that Drybrough followed his instructions. However, he noted that while the defendant gave Kajouji detailed and specific instructions about hanging, she did not follow them and chose another method. So the judge said Melchert-Dinkel was guilty only of attempting to assist her suicide.

Drybrough

Melchert-Dinkel was found guilty in 2011 of encouraging the suicide deaths of Drybrough and Kajouji. He appealed his convictions and in October 2012, the Minnesota Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal.

March 19, 2014 the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned the convictions by deciding that encouraging a suicide is protected as free-speech. At the same time the Supreme Court upheld Minnesota's state law prohibiting assisting a suicide of a person.

The Associated Press article, today, stated that:

Evidence in the case showed Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and sought out depressed people online. He posed as a suicidal female nurse, feigning compassion and offering step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves. He acknowledged participating in online chats about suicide with up to 20 people and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10, five of whom he believed killed themselves.

Melchert-Dinkel's lawyer, Terry Watkins, told the media that they planned to appeal the decision.

Rice County prosecutor, Paul Beaumaster, said that the judge meticulously followed a Minnesota Supreme Court decision from last March that narrowed the state's assisted suicide law.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition holds that it is a crime to counsel or assist a suicide. Most people contemplating suicide need support. Suicide voyeurs, like Melchert-Dinkel, take advantage of people at a vulnerable time in their life.

People need to be protected from assisted suicide in all of its forms.

Links to more information on this story:

• Minnesota Supreme court upholds ban on assisted suicide.
• Minnesota Supreme court to hear assisted suicide case.
• Suicide predator, Melchert-Dinkel is appealing his conviction.
• Melchert-Dinkel sentenced in his double conviction for assisted suicide.
• Suicide predator found guilty on two counts of assisted suicide.
• Philip Nitschke and Melchert-Dinkel.

US Prosecutors seek new conviction for nurse in assisted suicide death of Canadian teen.

By Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Nadia Kajouji

The National Post reported on Friday August 8 that Minnesota prosecutors are seeking to once again convict William Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse with an obsession with suicide voyeurism, with assisted suicide in the death of Canadian teenager, Nadia Kajouji. The article stated:

Prosecutors 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 in Canada and Britain to kill themselves and gave them information on how to do it.

Melchert-Dinkel, 52, was back in court more than three years after he was convicted of encouraging suicides in the deaths of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, ON., in 2008 and Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England, in 2005.

Mark Drybrough

Melchert-Dinkel's previous conviction was overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court, earlier this year, after they ruled that the definition of encouraging or advising suicide was too broad and restricted his "freedom of speech." The Supreme Court ruling upheld the assisted suicide law and Minnesota prosecutors argued that Melchert-Dinkel contravened the law. The article stated that:

Evidence at that trial showed Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and sought out depressed people online, posing as a suicidal female nurse, faking compassion and offering detailed instructions on how they could kill themselves. Police said he told them he did it for “the thrill of the chase,” and allegedly wanted to watch his targets die via a computer webcam. 

In a hearing Friday, Assistant Rice County Attorney Terence Swihart said the state Supreme Court had defined “assist” as providing a person with what they need to die by suicide. 

According to court documents, he acknowledged participating in online chats about suicide with up to 20 people and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10, five of whom he believed killed themselves. 

His online pseudonyms included “Falcon Girl” and “Cami D.” 

William Melchert-Dinkel

The defense acknowledged the charges but claim that his acts are protected by "freedom of speech." The article stated:

“We are not condoning his actions and there is no attempt to suggest that anything he did is anything but salacious, immoral or depraved. But we believe this it was protected by the first amendment of the constitution.”

Melchert-Dinkel encouraged people at their most vulnerable time to commit suicide. He acted like a friend using a false name and he gave them instructions for suicide while encouraging them to do the act on front of a webcam. Melchert-Dinkel should be prosecuted.

Links to articles related to this story.

• Minnesota Supreme Court assisted suicide decision.
• Melchert-Dinkel appealed his conviction in death of Nadia Kajouji.
• Melchert-Dinkel convicted in internet suicide predator crimes.

Minnesota Supreme Court upholds ban on assisted suicide but declares ban on encouraging suicide unconstitutional.

By David Chanen, The Star Tribune - March 19, 2014 (link to original article)

Minnesota Supreme Court

Reversing the conviction of an ex-nurse for urging two people to kill themselves, the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the state’s ban on “encouraging” suicide but upheld the prohibition on “assisting” suicide.

The court said that the state law’s language prohibiting someone from assisting a suicide doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution’s free-speech protections.

In 2011, William Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse from Faribault, was convicted of “advising and encouraging” the suicides of a man in England and a teenager in Canada whom he had met online. In finding the “advising and encouraging” language unconstitutional, the state high court sent the case back to Rice County District Court.

That court must determine if Melchert-Dinkel can be prosecuted for “assisting” the two suicides, a question it did not rule on previously.

Justice Alan Page offered the sole dissent in Wednesday’s ruling.

Nadia Kajouji

Melchert-Dinkel’s one-year prison sentence had been on hold until the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Melchert-Dinkel, 51, was convicted on two counts of aiding suicide in the deaths of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England, who hanged himself in 2005, and Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ontario, who jumped into a frozen river in 2008.

His case has drawn intense legal scrutiny, along with one focused on a group called the Final Exit Network and two of its members in connection with the suicide of an Apple Valley woman.

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:

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

Oregon Governor signs into law bill outlawing sale of “suicide kits”

The Register-Guard paper in Oregon reported yesterday that Governor John Kitzhaber on signed the bill into law that outlaws the sale of "suicide kits" in Oregon.

The paper stated:

Oregon is the first state to pass legislation outlawing the sale of “suicide kits” aimed at assisting or encouraging people to take their own lives. The new law went into effect immediately after Gov. John Kitzhaber signed the bill on Wednesday.

Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, introduced Senate Bill 376 in April after learning of a young Eugene man who used such a kit, mail-ordered from California, to commit suicide in December.

The new law makes it a Class B felony to “knowingly sell, or otherwise transfer for consideration, any substance or object to another person for the purpose of assisting the other person to commit suicide.” Violation of the law carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Nick Klonoski

The bill focused on the death of Oregon resident, Nick Klonoski (29) who lived with chronic depression and died of suicide after ordering a suicide kit from a group called GLADD in California.

Link to a previous article

This case is similar to the death of Nadia Kajouji in Canada, who died by suicide after William Melchert-Dinkel, a suicide predator, established an online relationship with her in order to convince her to commit suicide.

The law needs to protect vulnerable people from suicide websites and online suicide businesses in every state and country.

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.