William Francis Melchert-Dinkel

William Francis Melchert-Dinkel
Born (1962-07-20) July 20, 1962 (age 62)
NationalityAmerican
Other names
  • "Li Dao"
  • "Cami D"
  • "Falcongirl"
Occupation(s)Former nurse; currently a truck driver[3]
Criminal statusReleased
MotiveSexual fetishism
Conviction(s)Assisting suicide, attempted assisting suicide
Criminal chargeAssisting suicide (2 counts)
Penalty178 days imprisonment, 10 years probation[1]
Details
VictimsConfirmed:
Nadia Kajouji, aged 18
Mark Drybrough, aged 32
DateJuly 27, 2005 (Drybrough)
March 9, 2008 (Kajouji)
Span of crimes
2005–2010
Location(s)Worldwide
Target(s)People suffering with depression
Killed≥5 (self-claimed)[2]
2 (convicted)
Date apprehended
April 23, 2010

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 commit suicide.[2][4][5][6][7] 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.[5][8] He is a married father of two. His wife, Joyce Melchert-Dinkel, stood by him accepting his suicide sexual fetish through court. [citation needed][9][10]

Melchert-Dinkel was originally convicted of two counts of assisting suicide for encouraging the July 27, 2005, suicide of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough,[11] a British IT technician, and the March 9, 2008, suicide of 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, a Canadian college student, via Internet chat rooms.[5] 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 178 days in jail and was on probation for ten years.[12]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference attorney to continue arguing was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Doolittle, Robyn (May 9, 2009). "Nurse urged 5 to commit suicide, U.S. police say". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  3. ^ Doolittle, Robyn (May 26, 2010). "Man accused in Brampton teen's suicide banned from Internet". Thestar.com. Toronto. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  4. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). www.cbc.ca. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ a b c Davey, Monica (May 13, 2010). "Online Talk, Suicides and a Thorny Court Case". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  6. ^ Anderssen, Erin (April 10, 2009). "Nurse may be linked to multiple suicides, tracker says". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on May 5, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  7. ^ "William Melchert-Dinkel charged with encouraging suicides Archived 2023-08-16 at the Wayback Machine, The Sunday Times, April 24, 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  8. ^ Doolittle, Robyn (February 28, 2009). "Teen urged to commit suicide on webcam". The Toronto Star. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  9. ^ "Cops: Nurse encouraged suicides". NBC News. October 16, 2009. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  10. ^ "Nurse Is Accused of Using Internet to Encourage Suicides" Archived 2015-06-18 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, October 18, 2009
  11. ^ "Mark Scott Drybrough 1973 - 2005 BillionGraves Record". BillionGraves.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  12. ^ "William Melchert-Dinkel, ex-nurse who encouraged suicides, out of jail - World - CBC News". www.cbc.ca. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2022.