MarketNeutral
24th April 2010, 10:49 AM
In a case that will test the reach of suicide laws into Internet chat rooms, a former Minnesota nurse has been charged with aiding the 2008 suicide of Ottawa university student Nadia Kajouji.
William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, a married father of two, was charged by Minnesota state prosecutors Friday with aiding the suicides of Ms. Kajouji and Briton Mark Drybrough, two of “dozens†of suicide attempts he's alleged to have encouraged in online chat rooms where he posed as a woman.
He claims to have done it for the “thrill of the chase,†and made a suicide pact with Ms. Kajouji, urging her to kill herself by jumping into a river, which she later did, court documents allege.
“It's been a long time coming, but we're happy to see that they were able to follow through and lay charges,†said Candita Mills, Ms. Kajouji's aunt.
The charges, however, may prove unfruitful in a case plagued by legal headaches. The case is complicated by jurisdiction, its online nature, and the fact that the Minnesota law against aiding in a suicide (which applies to anyone who “advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other's own lifeâ€) is also viewed as untested, and vulnerable to a challenge under U.S. First Amendment free-speech laws.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/man-charged-with-aiding-suicides-over-the-internet/article1544704/
William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, a married father of two, was charged by Minnesota state prosecutors Friday with aiding the suicides of Ms. Kajouji and Briton Mark Drybrough, two of “dozens†of suicide attempts he's alleged to have encouraged in online chat rooms where he posed as a woman.
He claims to have done it for the “thrill of the chase,†and made a suicide pact with Ms. Kajouji, urging her to kill herself by jumping into a river, which she later did, court documents allege.
“It's been a long time coming, but we're happy to see that they were able to follow through and lay charges,†said Candita Mills, Ms. Kajouji's aunt.
The charges, however, may prove unfruitful in a case plagued by legal headaches. The case is complicated by jurisdiction, its online nature, and the fact that the Minnesota law against aiding in a suicide (which applies to anyone who “advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other's own lifeâ€) is also viewed as untested, and vulnerable to a challenge under U.S. First Amendment free-speech laws.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/man-charged-with-aiding-suicides-over-the-internet/article1544704/