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A former Minnesota nurse pleaded not
guilty Friday to encouraging an English man and a Canadian woman to
kill themselves, and his attorney brought another motion to dismiss
the case.


      William Melchert-Dinkel, 48, of Faribault, requested a jury
trial during his court appearance Friday.


      Melchert-Dinkel is charged with two counts of aiding suicide.
Prosecutors say he sought out depressed people in Internet chat
rooms and encouraged two of them to kill themselves.


      Defense attorney Terry Watkins is asking the judge to dismiss
the case for lack of jurisdiction by Minnesota courts, since "no
part of this crime occurred here."


      "Tapping on a keyboard has no instrumental or elemental value
in this crime. All effects occurred in Canada and England,"
Watkins said.


      But Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster disagreed, saying that
"this is something that's fired back-and-forth, this is advice and
encouragement happening instantaneously."


      "The encouragement originated from here in Rice County,
Minnesota, in Faribault," Beaumaster added.


      Earlier this month, District Judge Thomas Neuville refused a
defense request to dismiss the case on free speech grounds.


      His attorney had argued that Melchert-Dinkel's e-mail and
Internet conversations involved protected speech. Neuville
disagreed in a Nov. 9 ruling, saying that speech that aids the
suicide of another is not protected by the First Amendment.


      The prosecutor contends that Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with
suicide and hanging, and cruised the Internet for potential
victims. When he found them, he posed as a female nurse, feigned
compassion and offered step-by-step instructions on how they could
kill themselves.


      Melchert-Dinkel was charged in April with two counts of aiding
suicide in the 2005 hanging death of Mark Drybrough, 32, of
Coventry, England, and the 2008 drowning of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of
Brampton, Ontario.


      Although Melchert-Dinkel allegedly used aliases, law enforcement
officials say they traced online correspondence advising and
encouraging Kajouji and Drybrough to commit suicide to a computer
in Melchert-Dinkel's Faribault home, the Faribault Daily News
reports.


      Both sides have until Dec. 10 to submit briefs to Neuville. The
judge will take the issue under advisement on Dec. 13 and will have
60 days to make a decision. 


If the judge rules the Rice County
court has jurisdiction, the case will go to a jury trial. If the
judge finds there is no jurisdiction, the case will be dismissed.


      The defense also wants the judge to certify the proceedings as
First Amendment proceedings to the Minnesota Court of Appeals,
basically a pretrial appeal on the free-speech issue. That issue
also will be argued in the briefs.

Gallery

Minn. nurse charged with aiding suicides appears in court

Man charged in aiding suicides told to stay off Internet

Minn. man charged with aiding 2 suicides via the Web

Crime, Law and Justice

Minnesota News

Greater Minnesota

A former Minnesota nurse pleaded not
guilty Friday to encouraging an English man and a Canadian woman to
kill themselves, and his attorney brought another motion to dismiss
the case.


Ex-Minn. nurse pleads not guilty to aiding suicides

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