US man claims advising British suicide victim was not a crime

William Melchert-Dinkel used alter egos to stalk victims and get them to commit suicide for the “thrill of the chase,” prosecutors said in written arguments filed in advance of a court hearing in Minneapolis yesterday.

A judge will decide whether the former nurse’s actions were criminal.

Melchert-Dinkel has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aiding suicide in the 2005 hanging of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, and the 2008 drowning of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Ontario.

“Advising and encouraging others in suicide is not an online game for Mr Melchert-Dinkel’s amusement; it is a crime,” wrote one attorney.

Melchert-Dinkel’s fate is now in the hands of Judge Thomas Neuville after the 48-year-old southern Minnesota man waived his right to a jury trial and said he would not dispute the evidence against him, only whether what he did was a crime.

Neuville will hear arguments from both sides, then has up to 20 days to decide whether Melchert-Dinkel is guilty.

Defence lawyer Terry Watkins has previously argued his client’s online activities were protected speech and did not constitute a crime, that the victims were predisposed to suicide and that Melchert-Dinkel’s comments were not a factor.

Prosecutors say Melchert-Dinkel, of Fairbault, was obsessed with suicide and hanging and sought out potential victims on the internet. When he found them, prosecutors say, he posed as a woman, using such names as “Li dao” or “Cami,” played the role of a compassionate friend, and offered step-by-step instructions on how they could take their lives.

They say he acknowledged participating in online chats about suicide with up to 20 people and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10 people.

According to court documents, Drybrough posted a message in a chat room, asking if anyone had instructions on how to hang oneself without access to something high. He began receiving emails from “Li dao” containing detailed instructions. Beaumaster wrote that Drybrough died by the hanging methods described by “Li dao.”

In the Canada case, evidence shows Kajouji chatted online with “Cami” – who prosecutors say was actually Melchert-Dinkel, claiming to be a 31-year-old emergency room nurse.