William Melchert-Dinkel

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William Francis Melchert-Dinkel (born July 20, 1962) is an American former licensed practical nurse who was convicted in 2011 of convincing people online to die by suicide. He told those contemplating suicide what methods worked best, that it was an acceptable choice to take their own life, that they would be better off in heaven, and/or falsely entered into suicide pacts with them. Melchert-Dinkel is a married father of two. Melchert-Dinkel was originally convicted of two counts of assisting suicide for encouraging the July 27, 2005, suicide of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough, a British IT technician, and the March 9, 2008, suicide of 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, a Canadian college student, via Internet chat rooms. Those convictions were later overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court when it found that part of the state law used to convict him was unconstitutional. On remand, Melchert-Dinkel was convicted on one count of assisting suicide, and one count of attempted assisting suicide. He served...

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