Creepy Minnesota Nurse Calls Abetting Suicide "Free Speech"

William Melchert-Dinkel was a noose who trolled the internet looking for people he could encourage to kill themselves. Two did. He went to jail (a mere slap on the wrist of less than a year in jail). Now he wants out early because what he did was "free speech." Creepy, very creepy.

Nurse appeals assisted suicide conviction in student's death

The disgraced former Minnesota nurse convicted of assisted suicide in the death of Canadian university student Nadia Kajouji was like a good, nurturing friend, someone who wanted to watch her die via webcam “in an act of togetherness and mutual support, to avoid (her) being alone.”

That is the message contained in an appeal filed in U.S. court on behalf of William Melchert-Dinkel, the 49-year-old man who admitted to trolling online chat rooms with the aim of trying to push vulnerable participants into suicide. more

Minnesota Assisted Suicide Verdict Makes Assisting Killing Palatable

I've long been on the case of the deranged male nurse from Minnesota William Melchert-Dinkel who encouraged at lest two people to commit suicide over the internet. Minnesota law says that aiding in a suicide is punishable by up to 30 years in prison. What did Melchert-Dinkel get? A year in jail. I wish I was making this up. Now, the Time story looks more at the legal intricacies of this case, but let's just say it like it is: There's something seriously wrong with a society that slaps a man on the wrist for egging people on to kill themselves. It's verdicts like this that will have more people thinking it's OK to help others kill themselves, unfortunately.

Assisted Suicide Goes Digital: When Is a Chat-Room Post a Crime?

On Nov. 27, 2005, a man in Faribault, Minn., received an e-mail with a subject line that read, "Melissa goodbye to Li Dao." It was a suicide note, scribbled digitally, sent by a woman to her online pen pal who had actively encouraged her to embrace death. The only catch: Li Dao was not a real person, and, according to authorities, the virtual advice was not an act of empathy but an attempt to manipulate Melissa into taking her own life — all for what the man told the police was the "the thrill of the chase." more

Good News: Minnesota Nurse Convicted For Encouraging Net Suicide

Good, good, good. If you're a creepy sicko that gets their jollies goading people on the web to kill themselves, and then have them do it, you deserve to go to jail. Period.

Former Minn. nurse guilty of using chats to encourage 2 suicides

A former nurse in Minnesota has been found guilty of using Internet chats to encourage and advise two people to commit suicide. more

Creepy Minnesota Nurse With Suicide Fetish Going To trial

William Melchert-Dinkle is one creepy dude. He's in legal trouble for his nasty little pastime of urging people via the web to commit suicide. Two did. And he's a nurse, no less. It's a sad commentary on our times where we might have to second guess every move nurses make around their patients.

Bench trial may not be the end of Minn. assisted suicide case

A judge in Rice County will hear oral arguments today in the case of a former nurse charged with aiding two suicides through Internet communications.

William Melchert-Dinkel's trial will be fast -- he's agreed to accept evidence brought against him and has waived his right to a jury trial, meaning the judge alone will decide if he's guilty.

The verdict, due within 20 days, will bring a degree of closure to a case that began more than five years ago with the suicide death of a man in England. But legal observers are more interested in what happens after the trial.

If Melchert-Dinkel is convicted, he could appeal based on issues his defense attorney has raised during pre-trial proceedings, including an argument that the 48-year-old Faribault man's actions were protected by his free-speech rights and therefore weren't crimes. more

Why Don't Medicos Ever Sue To Keep People Alive??

Well, there are many issues here, but let me make one point that I think is vital: We now live in a world where HOSPITALS and DOCTORS sue next of kin, saying they know better than the next of kin what should happen with the patient. Do they ever sue to keep people alive?? Uh-huh, I have some ocean-front property in Arizona. . . .

Wife's surprise shakes Barnes case

Lana Barnes entered Hennepin County Probate Court Wednesday morning determined to win aggressive care for her frail husband and remain his medical decision-maker. more

Minnesota Hospital Tries To Usurp Patient's Medical Proxy

You don’t think pro-deathers lurk among our medical types? Read this – a Minnesota hospital, on doctors’ advice, suing a wife who is demanding care for her husband that the doctors don’t want to give and think is useless. See? Even if you’re the designated, legal proxy for someone else, the medicos are so hell-bent on death that they may sue to rid you of your obligations. We’re s lucky, aren’t we?

Wrenching court case: Doctors vs. patient's wife

Al Barnes has been in eight hospitals in the past 10 months. His diagnoses include end-stage respiratory distress, renal failure, dementia and other maladies.

Now the 85-year-old from Scandia, Minn., is at the center of a wrenching and unusual court struggle over who will control his medical care.

A doctor at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park will go to court Wednesday, seeking to replace Barnes' wife with a substitute decision-maker and arguing that she is making futile and reckless decisions to prolong her husband's life. more

Ruling: Convincing People To Kill Themselves Isn't Free Speech

Good, very good. This Minnesota creep won’t be allowed to argue that convincing people to kill themselves live on the web is free speech. Put him in jail and throw away the key.

Judge refuses to dismiss charges for encouraging suicide

MINNEAPOLIS—A former Minnesota nurse who prosecutors say sought out depressed people in Internet chat rooms and encouraged two of them to kill themselves won't get his case dismissed on free speech grounds, a judge ruled Tuesday.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, of Faribault, is charged with two counts of aiding suicide, for allegedly advising and encouraging an English man and a Canadian woman to take their own lives. more

Minnesota Legal Win Against Pro-Death Weirdo

An occasional win for our side. Weirdo Melchert-Dinkel would troll the web to find people he could convince to commit suicide on webcam while he watched. In at least one case, he succeeded. A judge has just ruled that his “free speech” defense is crap. Good, that’s exactly what it is.

Prosecutor: Encouraging suicide is not free speech

MINNEAPOLIS—A former Minnesota nurse charged with aiding the suicides of two people, including an Ontario woman, was not covered by free-speech protections when he sought out depressed people online and encouraged them to kill themselves, a prosecutor argued in court documents Wednesday.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, of Faribault, is charged with two counts of aiding suicide in the deaths of an English man and a Canadian woman, Nadia Kajouji. His attorney has asked that the case be dismissed on free-speech grounds, and argued the state’s aiding suicide law is too vague. more

Pro-Deathers: He's A Murderer, We're Compassionate

Good. One William Melchert-Dinkel is in deep doo-doo for talking two people into committing suicide over the internet. The pro-deathers, of course, quickly try to distance themselves from this murderer, saying “aid in dying” is different that convincing someone to kill themselves. Uh-huh. The only difference, as far as I can tell, is that Melchert-Dinkel did it at a distance, while the pro-deathers will actually have someone sitting right next to you telling you it’s OK to kill yourself as they help you do it.

Online Talk, Suicides and a Thorny Court Case

The seemingly empathetic nurse struck up conversations over the Internet with people who were pondering suicide. She told them what methods worked best. She told some that it was all right to let go, that they would be better in heaven, and entered into suicide pacts with others.

But the police say the nurse, who sometimes called herself Cami and described herself as a young woman, was actually William F. Melchert-Dinkel, a 47-year-old husband and father from Faribault, Minn., who now stands charged with two counts of aiding suicide.

Mr. Melchert-Dinkel, whose lawyer declined an interview request on his behalf, told investigators that his interest in “death and suicide could be considered an obsession,” court documents say, and that he sought the “thrill of the chase.” While the charges stem from two deaths — one in Britain in 2005 and one in Canada in 2008 — Mr. Melchert-Dinkel, who was indeed a licensed practical nurse, told investigators that he had most likely encouraged dozens of people to kill themselves, court documents said. He said he could not be sure how many had succeeded. more