Nurse Who Encouraged Suicides in Online Chats Now Faces Criminal Charges
A Minnesota nurse accused of encouraging depressed people in online chats to commit suicide is facing criminal charges.
The suspect, William Melchert-Dinkel, is accused of posing as a female who sometimes called herself Cami or Li Dao while befriending people online and encouraging them to let go, the New York Times reports. In some cases, police suspect he entered into suicide pacts in which he said he would commit suicide if the other person went first.
Melchert-Dinkel, whose nursing license has been revoked, has been charged with two counts of aiding suicide, the story says. The Times cites court documents in which Melchert-Dinkel told investigators he had probably encouraged dozens of people to commit suicide, and his interest in death and suicide could be considered an obsession.
According to the Times, the case raises questions about the limits of speech on the Internet. “How does one assign levels of culpability to someone who shares thoughts with people who say they are already considering suicide?” the story asks.
Melchert-Dinkel is charged under a Minnesota law that makes it a felony to intentionally advise, encourage or assist another person in taking his or her own life. Some legal experts have suggested the law may be so broad as to be an unconstitutional infringement on free speech, the newspaper says. Another legal problem is that the deaths he is accused of aiding took place in other jurisdictions, the story says.
Melchert-Dinkel was charged after a concerned British woman, Celia Blay, tracked him down in an online sting in which one of her friends posed as someone considering suicide, the story says. Blay acted after she became friends with a young woman who had entered into a suicide pact with someone named Li Dao.
