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A lawyer for an ex-nurse charged with
encouraging two people to kill themselves via online conversations
is trying to get his confession thrown out on mental illness
grounds.


      Defense
attorney Terry Watkins argued at a hearing Friday that William
Melchert-Dinkel was so stressed by police that he was rendered
insane, so his confession should not be admissible.


      Melchert-Dinkel told the court he felt intimidated by the
officers who came to his southern Minnesota home in January of
2009, particularly when one asked if he knew he'd broken the law.
He said he didn't understand that encouraging suicide was unlawful.


      Rice County District Judge Thomas Neuville says he'll rule on
the confession and other pretrial motions sometime late this fall.


      Melchert-Dinkel is accused of encouraging the suicides of a man
in England in 2005 and a woman in Canada in 2008.

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Minnesota man faces aiding suicide charges

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Greater Minnesota

A lawyer for an ex-nurse charged with
encouraging two people to kill themselves via online conversations
is trying to get his confession thrown out on mental illness
grounds.


Minn. nurse charged with aiding suicides appears in court

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