Village sleuth unmasks U.S. internet predator behind suicide ‘pacts’

[Al-khiyal]

Village sleuth unmasks U.S. internet predator behind suicide ‘pacts’

March 20, 2010 -- Mark Drybrough received his final e-mail at 10.32am. It asked: “Are you all right?” Seconds later he switched off his computer, walked upstairs to his bedroom and hanged himself from a decorator’s ladder. When Mr Drybrough’s sister later read through the months of e-mails and chat-room posts stored on the computer, it appeared that the message was the culmination of a suicide pact with a young female nurse. His mother, Elaine Drybrough, 61, of Coventry, cannot bring herself to read the exchanges in which her 32-year-old son, an IT technician, was persuaded to take his own life. She said: “My daughter told me that a nurse called Li encouraged Mark to kill himself and said that some people had allowed her to watch before.” Her son had suffered from depression since a bout of glandular fever about eight years earlier. Later he had mental illness diagnosed but his family was not aware that he was suicidal. In the months before his death he became increasingly withdrawn from his friends and family, spending hours every day using the internet on his home-built computer. “When Mark was ill I noticed he was using the computer a lot and I was worried what he was doing,” Mrs Dryborough said.

She was right to be concerned. Police believe that the “young woman” who befriended him was a notorious “suicide voyeur” who has been unmasked by two British women. William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, an American nurse with a loving family, allegedly spent years posing as a twenty-something woman while trawling the internet for people he could persuade to kill themselves while he watched. Investigators believe that he may have contacted more than 100 people across the world and that he was involved with at least five who killed themselves. He has allegedly admitted to American police that he was involved in at least four deaths, in addition to that of Mr Drybrough. He is expected to be charged within weeks. Mrs Drybrough said: “This man appointed himself Mark’s executioner. He whispered in his ear each time he logged on to the computer. Because of his medical experience he knew exactly who he was looking for, what he was doing, the buttons he needed to push.”

Mr Melchert-Dinkel has been exposed by Celia Blay, 64, who tracked him down after police refused to intervene. It was a remarkable achievement for a grandmother who confesses to having little knowledge of the internet and who relies on her son for technical support. Her internet use on the family computer in the Wiltshire village of Maiden Bradley had been confined largely to researching her interest in medieval history. Four years ago a teenage friend confided that she had entered a death pact with a young nurse. “I was absolutely furious that such a sweet and innocent girl was being persuaded to kill herself,” Mrs Blay said. She was particularly concerned that the girl had not received any counselling or medical treatment usually recommended for those who feel suicidal. Four hours before the planned suicide, Mrs Blay discovered that the pact was with an internet user known as Li Dao who had previously agreed similar pacts. She convinced the teenager to delay her plans and the girl is alive today.

Mrs Blay contacted members of internet groups used by Li Dao and discovered that she used the pseudonyms Falcon Girl and Cami D to persuade people to enter pacts in which they would hang themselves in front of internet webcams and watch each other die. At the crucial moment there was always a problem with Li Dao’s webcam so that it was just her watching. “It took months and months to collect the evidence but when I went to the police [close to her home, which was then at Maidenhead, Berkshire] they just said if it bothers you, look the other way,” she said.

A friend of Mrs Blay, Kat Lowe, a mother of two from Wolverhampton, contacted Li Dao to discover the predator’s identity. It was a risky decision as Ms Lowe, who has a troubled personal background, was feeling suicidal. But her condition gave the insight needed to gain Mr Melchert-Dinkel’s trust. Ms Lowe, 37, said that even though she was aware what Li Dao’s methods were, she was persuaded to buy a rope and alcohol. “I was really scared he might talk me into hanging myself,” she said.

She obtained information that allowed Mr Melchert-Dinkel’s home address to be traced. He told her that his work in the emergency room of an American hospital had given him expert knowledge of the most effective ways to kill oneself. He described watching an unidentified man hang himself in Birmingham in about 2006. “He asked me to watch as he was all alone,” Mr Melchert-Dinkel wrote. “I didn’t want to, thinking it was some perverted ploy of his, but after many hours of talking I agreed to watch him die so he would not die alone.” He later admitted that he had made previous suicide pacts but promised Ms Lowe that he was finally ready to carry out his part of the agreement. “I can also die on Friday the 20th too! that would be very good day for me as the next day my parents will be here of course and it wont happen,” he wrote. “I hope we can talk that day and go somewhere close to the same time if possible. It’s good to have support at this time of need ... hugs and love.”

Mrs Blay accepts that it is impossible to know how many of Mr Melchert-Dinkel’s contacts would have killed themselves without his encouragement. “But he made sure it happened,” she said. “He made it seem so logical, that it was the only way out. I think his targets were in the triple figures and I would not be surprised if the number of deaths was in the double figures.” She believes he may not have wanted everyone to die, as he was drawn to the “cusp between life and death” and the methods of suicide he recommended were neither foolproof nor quick.

Mrs Blay’s file of evidence was rejected by British police and the FBI said that it did not have the power to investigate. Police in Mr Melchert-Dinkel’s home city of St Paul, Minnesota, agreed to take the case. Mrs Blay says that she is aware of several deaths that occurred between the time she identified Mr Melchert-Dinkel and police seizing his computer. He is suspected of entering a pact with Nadia Kajouji, an 18-year-old Canadian student who killed herself in 2008. During the online conversation with Nadia he allegedly advised her on the best length and diameter of rope for hanging and said that he wanted to watch. In one message he wrote: “If you wanted to [go] for hanging we could have done it together online so it would not have been so scary for you.” She later drowned herself.

On the day that Mr Melchert-Dinkel was first arrested he was admitted to hospital. His medical notes record that he told nurses that he was addicted to suicide chat rooms and had “posed as a 28 yo female formed suicide pacts with some that he had no attention [sic] of following thru . . . 4 yrs suicide fetish offered medical advice for assisted suicide x2”. Back in Coventry, Mrs Drybrough is angry that her son’s “executioner” was able to operate for so many years. “If it were not for Celia, he would still be at it. How many people have died?”

Deadly advice

Edited exchange between Kat Lowe (KL) and William Melchert-Dinkel, using the name Falcoln Girl (FG)

KL: The four people you think hanged themselves . . . did they do it while you were online?

FG: No, just one. He asked me to watch as he was all alone. I didn’t want to, thinking it was some perverted ploy of his, but after many hours of talking I agreed and watch he die so he would not die alone . . . he lived in Birmingham England.

KL: When the guy in Birmingham went, why did you not go too?

FG: I was put on a new drug . . . see if I could get better.

KL: I am scared.

FG: I know . . . I agreed to help you cause we both know each of us is sincere about needing to die. That is why I agreed to watch/help you if needed it.

KL: I have tried cutting my wrists.

FG: That is why I really suggested the rope cause it’s so much more dependable.

[Al-khiyal]

Former U.S. nurse charged with aiding suicides via web

April 24, 2010 -- A former U.S. nurse has been charged with two counts of aiding suicides on the internet, US officials say. William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, is accused of encouraging the suicides of Briton Mark Drybrough, from Coventry, in 2005 and Canada's Nadia Kajouji in 2008. Mr Melchert-Dinkel from Minnesota allegedly posed as a female nurse, instructing people in suicide chatrooms how to take their lives. He reportedly admitted helping five or fewer people kill themselves. The criminal complaint filed in the case in Rice County, Minnesota, said Mr Melchert-Dinkel had told investigators that he encouraged "dozens" of people to commit suicide for the "thrill of the chase". Prosecutors argue that he posed as a female nurse - using nicknames "Cami", "Falcon Girl" and "Li Dao" - and pretended to feel compassion for people contemplating suicide in chatrooms. He is believed to have entered suicide pacts with some prospective victims. The complaint mentions two people: Mark Drybrough, 32, who hanged himself in Coventry in 2005, and Nadia Kajouji, 18, who drowned in 2008 in a river in Ottawa. Mr Melchert-Dinkel reportedly offered some victims detailed instructions how to commit suicide. The complaint said he had told police he stopped using internet chatrooms shortly after Christmas 2008, because he "felt terrible" about his role as an advocate for suicide. Mr Melchert-Dinkel has not publicly commented on the charges. He is due to appear in court on 25 May. Some legal experts say it could be difficult to prosecute Mr Melchert-Dinkel under a rarely used law because he allegedly only encouraged the victims to kill themselves, without physically helping them to take their lives.

[Al-khiyal]

Ex-nurse 'entered into false suicide pact with Briton'

April 25, 2010 -- An American former nurse charged with encouraging a British man to commit suicide by entering into a false internet suicide pact with him was in contact with at least 50 other vulnerable people and also targeted children, the British woman responsible for tracking him down said last night. William Melchert-Dinkel, from Minnesota, was charged by U.S. authorities with encouraging Mark Drybrough, 32, from Coventry, to end his life. Mr Drybrough hanged himself in 2005. Mr Melchert-Dinkel was also charged with encouraging a Canadian teenager, Nadia Kajouji, 18, to kill herself. She drowned in a river in Ottawa in 2008. Mohamed Kajouji, Nadia's father, said: "He's an evil man, to do all that. He should have given her a way out, not put her in a corner and tell her, 'there's no hope for you, there's nothing you can do to get better'."

Mr Melchert-Dinkel, 47, himself a father, is said to have befriended vulnerable people by posing as a young woman on suicide chat rooms. He would then try to persuade them to commit suicide while he watched. Often he would offer advice as to how people should end their lives, prosecutors say. He might still be operating were it not for the tenacity of a 64-year-old grandmother from Wiltshire. Celia Blay yesterday described the events that helped her unearth Mr Melchert-Dinkel's alleged crimes. She said she became determined to bring him to justice when she discovered that he was in contact with an internet user who claimed to be just 13.

Mrs Blay, speaking to the Independent on Sunday, said she first came across suicide chat rooms by accident four years ago. She was logged on to an academic medieval site when a new user appeared with an unusual user name. "On academic sites people use their own names," she said. "I was curious, so I clicked on the person's profile and it brought up the other sites they used, one of which was a suicide site." Mrs Blay befriended the user, who was a girl aged 17, but two months later the girl entered into a suicide pact. "I was very shocked," she said, "because I'd only just managed to convince her that she was actually depressed, and could be treated. She was a very naive 17-year-old.... The problem at that age is that you can get depressed very easily. She said she didn't want to let this other person down, so I tried to trace them to talk to them about it." Unfortunately, the trail went cold.

By chance, however, the users of the site decided to swap notes and discovered that many of them had entered into a pact with a user called Li Dao. Mrs Blay and a friend who had contemplated suicide, and therefore knew the emotions involved, set up a sting operation to discover Li Dao's identity. Her friend entered into an email correspondence with Li Dao – and fell under his spell so far as to buy a rope and alcohol. Fortunately for the would-be suicide, "Li Dao" walked past a web cam during an exchange, revealing himself as a middle-aged man. He had previously sent a photograph of his wife – and children – claiming to be her. But he sent an email using his genuine email address by mistake and Mrs Blay managed to trace his address and telephone number.

She contacted West Midlands police because he claimed to have convinced two people in Birmingham to commit suicide. "They asked for evidence on floppy disc, then said they couldn't read the disc. I've no evidence that they ever investigated [the matter]." The FBI also failed to respond. But one of her customers – she sells riding whips for carriages – lived near Mr Melchert-Dinkel in Minnesota and knew the deputy sheriff. The police there launched a year-long investigation. "It was very fortunate," Mrs Blay said. "The problem now is whether they can successfully prosecute. The law is very unclear. I know there are at least two 19-year-olds he was in touch with who committed suicide. There are victims in America but their families don't want to be named. I think he was in contact with more than 50 people; not all of them have committed suicide. It was at the point where I realised he was targeting children that I became determined to track him down."

Mr Melchert-Dinkel, who lives in Faribault, Minnesota, will appear in court on 25 May, charged with two counts under a rarely used offence of aiding suicide. If convicted, he could spend up to 15 years in prison. U.S. prosecutors allege that Mr Melchert-Dinkel told police he had encouraged "dozens" of people to kill themselves, and "characterised it as the thrill of the chase". He also told police he stopped the internet chats after Christmas 2008 for moral and legal reasons. He said he "felt terrible" about advising others to commit suicide.

[Al-khiyal]

U.S. 'web suicide aider' ordered to stay off internet

May 25, 2010 -- A judge in the U.S. state of Minnesota has ordered a former nurse accused of encouraging suicide on the internet to stay offline. William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, is charged in connection with the deaths of Briton Mark Drybrough in 2005, and Canadian Nadia Kajouji in 2008. He allegedly posed as a female nurse, advising people in chatrooms on how to take their own lives. He reportedly admitted helping up to five people kill themselves. During Mr Melchert-Dinkel's first court appearance in Rice County, Minnesota, the judge ordered him to stay offline while the case was pending. The former nurse did not speak in court except to say he understood the charges, the Associated Press reports. The judge set the next court date for 29 June. If convicted, Mr Melchert-Dinkel faces up to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Mr Melchert-Dinkel admitted he had encouraged "dozens" of people to commit suicide for the "thrill of the chase". Prosecutors argue that he posed as a female nurse - using the nicknames "Cami", "Falcon Girl" and "Li Dao" - and pretended to feel compassion for people contemplating suicide in chatrooms. He is believed to have entered suicide pacts with some prospective victims. The criminal complaint mentions two people: Mark Drybrough, 32, who hanged himself in Coventry in 2005, and Nadia Kajouji, 18, who drowned in 2008 in a river in Ottawa. Mr Melchert-Dinkel reportedly offered some victims detailed instructions on how to commit suicide. The complaint says he told police he stopped using internet chatrooms shortly after Christmas 2008, because he "felt terrible" about his role as an advocate for suicide. Some legal experts say it could be difficult to prosecute Mr Melchert-Dinkel because he allegedly only encouraged the victims to kill themselves without physically helping them.