Judge to decide fate of man tied to suicides

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Judge to decide fate of man tied to suicides

Case linked to death of Carleton student will be decided on arguments alone

By Randy Furst and Lee Greenberg, With Files From Kristy Nease, Ottawa Citizen

And Minneapolis Star-tribune

February 18, 2011

A judge will decide whether former nurse Melchert-Dinkel is guilty of

coaxing two people over the Internet to kill themselves, according to an

agreement reached Thursday in a Minnesota courtroom.

Melchert-Dinkel, 48, of Faribault, which is south of Minneapolis, appeared in

court and waived his right to a jury trial.

He, his lawyer, the prosecution and Judge Neuville instead agreed that

Neuville would decide the case based on oral arguments at an abbreviated trial

and stipulated evidence contained in 958 pages of documents and three compact

computer discs.

The judge scheduled oral arguments next Thursday. The judge will then have 20

days to issue a verdict.

Melchert-Dinkel, wearing a striped grey and white rugby shirt, sat with hands

folded next to his lawyer, Terry Watkins.

Asked by Neuville whether he understood the agreement, Melchert-Dinkel answered,

" Yes, extensively. "

He is charged with two counts of aiding suicide. Mark Drybrough, 32, of

Coventry, England, hanged himself in 2005, and 18-year-old Carleton University

student Nadia Kajouji of Brampton, Ont., jumped into the icy Rideau River and

drowned in 2008.

Reached by phone Thursday night, Kajouji's brother, Marc, said prosecutors

" wouldn't have pursued the case if they didn't have some pretty solid evidence.

" I don't think my testimony or any testimony (would help); the actual facts are

clear-cut and I know the judge was pretty level-headed and stern when it came to

dismissing (pre-trial) motions.

" For me, the most important thing is working with Your Life Counts (a suicide

program), advocating for positive change and ensuring that we can have a

national suicide prevention strategy. A guilty plea, at the end of the day,

doesn't save lives; the work that I can do in suicide prevention would. So that

consumes more of my emotion and focus. "

Prosecutors say Melchert-Dinkel posed as a young female nurse and in some cases

gave instructions to victims. He testified at a pretrial hearing last August

that he was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

Under the agreement, Neuville will read the submitted materials and preside at a

90-minute trial in which the lawyers each will each have about 45 minutes to

make what are, in essence, closing arguments. The lawyers are also expected to

submit written briefs, in which they may cite the submitted evidence.

Watkins told reporters the evidence given to Neuville included a police

interview with his client, other statements to police, coroners' reports and

some e-mails. Watkins said a " very small percentage " of the e-mails dealt with

the allegations against his client.

He said he did not believe the materials were sufficient to conclude he was

guilty.

" I don't believe he caused their deaths, " Watkins said after the hearing.

District attorney Beaumaster said afterwards that Melchert-Dinkel broke

Minnesota state laws.

" My contention is he violated statutes that specifically bar anyone from

advising or assisting another to take someone's life. "

The charges against Melchert-Dinkel are an " unranked offence " under Minnesota

state sentencing guidelines. That's because the charges are so rare that the

Sentencing Guidelines Commission could not determine the appropriate severity

level. That means the determination is left to the judge, said Ann Wall, a

research analyst with the commission.

She said six people had been convicted in Minnesota on similar charges since

1991. None had prior criminal records.

Despite the unusual motion, known as a Lothenbach plea, Melchert-Dinkel is

nevertheless pleading not guilty.

" We neither think witnesses are necessary nor do we think a trial in any way

benefits my client, " Watkins had said on Tuesday. " There's not a disagreement

basically with the facts in this case so a trial based on stipulated facts would

be much more efficient and much more effective and would be in the best

interests of both my client and the government. "

State authorities began investigating the former nurse after a British

grandmother complained in 2008 he was encouraging depressed online chatroom

participants into suicide.

Celia Blay pointed Minnesota police to the case of Drybrough. Police later

learned of the 2008 suicide of Kajouji, who was befriended by Melchert-Dinkel

and coaxed into a false suicide pact. The aging, overweight man was posing as a

20-something woman when he asked Kajouji to kill herself in front of a webcam.

" If you go ... any kind of home improvement store -get yellow nylon rope about

eight feet or about 3.5 metres and about one-inch thick or about three

centimetres that is all you need and look around apartment for somewhere to hang

from, " he told Nadia during one chat session. " I can help you with the cam when

you need to. "

When he learned of a police investigation into the issue, Melchert-Dinkel

checked into a state hospital and claimed to be suffering from an " addiction " to

suicide chat rooms.

He told police he formed " 10 or 11 " false suicide pacts with people over the

world and compared his preoccupation with hunting human game, telling detectives

he enjoyed " the thrill of the chase. "

Ottawa police told Kajouji's mother, Deborah Chevalier, they decided against

charging Melchert-Dinkel because there was no evidence he directly caused her

suicide. That decision perplexed legal scholars, who said Canada's suicide

provision did not require such causality.

Melchert-Dinkel was stripped of his nursing license and now works as a long-haul

trucker.

Watkins said his client had suffered as a result of the charges.

" This has been a long and traumatic process for him and his family, " Watkins

said. " But they've got support groups and they're doing the best they can. "

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