Former nurse charged with aiding suicide

A FORMER nurse accused of encouraging dozens of people to kill themselves has been charged with aiding a British man's suicide.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, allegedly posed as a female nurse in internet chatrooms and preyed on depressed people.

He was charged by US authorities with encouraging Mark Drybrough, 32, from Coventry to end his life.

Drybrough hanged himself in 2005. An e-mail from Melchert-Dinkel was found on his computer which contained detailed advice on how to hang himself.

He is also accused of urging Canadian Nadia Kajouji, 18, who drowned in a river in Ottawa, to kill herself. Canadian investigators said that the teenager had entered into a suicide pact with another chatroom user called Cami, one of the names that Melchert-Dinkel used.

It is claimed he pretended to feel compassion for the people in chatrooms while giving them instructions on how to harm themselves.

Melchert-Dinkel, who lives in Minnesota, will appear in court on 25 May.