Man charged for encouraging suicides online

[aduidarnenye]

I thought this story was interesting, given our connection to the Internet. I don't see how it's really possible personally. I think that if someone is going to off themselves, they'll off themselves, regardless of encouragement or deterrents.

It kinda reminds of when someone wants to jump off a building and the crowd below yells at them to do it. Would the crowd be charged?

Source: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1179052.html

MINNEAPOLIS — A former nurse who told police he went on the Internet and encouraged dozens of depressed people to kill themselves for the "thrill of the chase" was charged Friday with helping a Canadian woman and a British man commit suicide, authorities said.

After nearly two years of investigation, William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, was charged with two felony counts of aiding suicide under a rarely used decades-old state law that legal experts say could be difficult to prosecute on freedom-of-speech grounds.

Melchert-Dinkel is accused of encouraging the suicides of Mark Drybrough, 32, who hanged himself at his home in Coventry, England, in 2005; and Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ont., who drowned in 2008 in a river in Ottawa, where she was studying at Carleton University.

Prosecutors claim Melchert-Dinkel posed as a female nurse — using the online names "Cami," ""falcongirl,"" ""li dao"" and others — then feigned compassion for those he met in suicide chat rooms, while offering step-by-step instructions on how to take their lives.

The criminal complaint filed in the case said he told investigators he encouraged "dozens" of people to commit suicide and "characterized it as the thrill of the chase." He also estimated that he had actually assisted five or fewer people to kill themselves.

Kajouji’s mother, Deborah Chevalier, said she was overwhelmed when she heard the news.

"My insides were shaking, I was crying and laughing at the same time," she wrote in an email, adding that the charges were long overdue.

Reached at his home in Faribault, Minn., on Friday, Melchert-Dinkel told an Associated Press reporter he had no comment and ordered her off his property. His attorney, Terry Watkins, also declined to discuss the case in detail, saying he hadn’t received all the evidence yet.

Melchert-Dinkel, whose first court appearance is scheduled for May 25, told police in January 2009 that he stopped the Internet chats shortly after Christmas 2008 for moral and legal reasons. He said he "felt terrible" about the advice to commit suicide he provided to others.

An email found on Drybrough’s computer from Melchert-Dinkel showed him giving technical advice on how to hang yourself from a door, the complaint says.

The investigation tied Melchert-Dinkel to Kajouji through searches of their computers. Canadian authorities determined she had online discussions with someone named Cami and entered into a suicide pact with her. A search of Melchert-Dinkel’s computer revealed a photograph of Kajouji and correspondence between him and other suicidal people.

A message left for Drybrough’s mother in Coventry was not immediately returned.

Melchert-Dinkel worked at various hospitals and nursing homes over the years and was cited several times for neglect and being rough with patients, according to the Minnesota Board of Nursing, which revoked his licence last June.

[Conrad]

Author of this article should kill himself.

[Draylo]

Not always, some people will stop if they receive encouragement. I think the people who cheer someone on to kill themselves are animals and should be charged, imo.

[Pirian]

This is pretty old, but it's good to hear that the case is being continued

[Wakabo]

http://cdn3.knowyourmeme.com/i/5309/...al/doitus4.jpg

Sorry I had to

[antihero]

better arrest all of 4chan

[Seanr]

I'll never stop.

[Churchill]

better arrest all of 4chan

brb partyvan just showed up outside

[Kerberoz]

Any competent lawyer could get the case thrown out.

[Draylo]

Why would someone even want to encourage someone to kill themselves? Someone you don't even know, to me that is someone who is mentally ill.

[Max™]

I always liked to encourage the emo-dipshits doing it for attention in chat-rooms.

"Go find a brick, and about three feet of string. Tie the string to the brick, and place the brick on a table with the string hanging over the side. Now lay on your back with the string touching your nose, and slowly pull on it til something happens."

[Xno Kappa]

Any lawyer worth a piss would get this shit thrown out in a heartbeat.

[Cadsuane]

Encouragement of suicide is a criminal offense in Canada. Under Canadian law at least, he'd be propah fucked.

[Kuya]

I honestly feel there should be some form of punishment for encouraging suicide and the person then in fact kills himself.

[arus2001]

I honestly feel there should be some form of punishment for encouraging suicide and the person then in fact kills himself.

Make them kill themselves the same way?


In general, I'm for curbing the behavior. Probably not much different than e-bullying in terms of effort and psychological damage, but obviously those contemplating suicide are at a farther point of despair.

[Max™]

To be fair, I do point out the absurdity of such an absolute action regarding anything as complex as life.

"It'd be about as useful as always giving the answer 'three brown ones' for any question, hoping that some day you'd get asked how many cows that weren't white you saw in a field.

I don't think there's a case where suicide is the best option, unless you're trapped in a burning building, surrounded by hungry velociraptors that have been genetically modified to have huge thorny cocks, and a tendency to rape their prey to death. I'd go ahead and pick a quick death in that case... oh shit, wait, you aren't in that situation right now are you?

How the hell are you even reading this?"

[Ksandra]

Make them kill themselves the same way?


In general, I'm for curbing the behavior. Probably not much different than e-bullying in terms of effort and psychological damage, but obviously those contemplating suicide are at a farther point of despair.

Ya after that whole situation where a mom got a girl to commit suicide because the mom's daughter didn't like her, I've always felt there has to be something for these types of situations. I can understand the difficulties in finding where to draw the legal line on the internet though.

[Ohemgee]

Where is Justin Bieber when you need him

[Vandalhart]

Where is Justin Bieber when you need him

There is no way you can ever change your sig.. ever.