William Francis Melchert-Dinkel

William Francis Melchert-Dinkel, born July 20, 1962, from Faribault, Minnesota, a licensed nurse from 1991 until February 2009, stands accused of encouraging people to commit suicide while he watched voyeuristically on a webcam. He allegedly told those contemplating suicide what methods worked best, that it was OK to commit suicide, that they would be better in heaven, and/or entered into suicide pacts with them. He is a married father of two.

Melchert-Dinkel is charged with two counts of assisting suicide, for allegedly encouraging the suicides of a person in Britain in 2005, and another person in Canada in 2008.

Alleged victims
He allegedly met his victims in internet suicide chat rooms, where he posed as a depressed woman in her 20s. Investigators say he told them he encouraged dozens of people to kill themselves, contacting more than 100 people.

According to the police, Melchert-Dinkel, admitted to using a number of e-mail addresses to persuade five people to kill themselves. He allegedly admitted using two e-mail addresses, falcongirl507@yahoo.com and li_dao05@yahoo.com, and the alias Cami D, to advise, encourage and create suicide pacts, typically by hanging, with persons on the internet for four to five years.

Nadia Kajouji; Canada
He was charged in relation to the suicide of 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji who became depressed after a miscarriage. A student at Ottawa's Carleton University, she jumped from a bridge and was found drowned in Rideau River near the Ottawa school in April 2008.CTV    She had allegedly conversed online with someone posing as a young woman–now alleged to be Melchert-Dinkel–who allegedly suggested that she hang herself (allegedly advising what type of rope to buy, what length and diameter, how to tie the knots, and where to place the noose on her neck), and that she capture her final moments with a webcam so he and others could watch, as part of a joint suicide pact. St. Paul, Minnesota police said they confirmed that she "had been conversing with Melchert-Dinkel online just prior to her disappearance", including on the day of her disappearance.

Ottawa police decided not to charge Melchert-Dinkel under the Canadian assisted suicide law.

Mark Drybrough; England
He was also charged in relation to the suicide of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough, a 32-year-old IT technician who in the wake of suffering a nervous breakdown and being depressed hanged himself in his Coventry, England home in July 2005, after allegedly chatting for two months with someone allegedly using the aliases Falcongirl and Li Dao. He is charged with counseling Drybrough how to kill himself.

Charges
Melchert-Dinkel was charged on April 23, 2010, in a criminal complaint filed in Rice County, Minnesota. He was charged under a rarely used state law with advising, encouraging, or assisting Kajouji and Drybrough in taking their own lives using internet correspondence. He was ordered to stay off the internet while his criminal case is pending.

While counseling to commit suicide is illegal, laws in North America and Britain have not been successfully used to prosecute anyone for promoting suicide over the internet. If he is found guilty of aiding a suicide under Minnesota law, which provides penalties for anyone who “intentionally advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other’s own life", punishment can be up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000.