U.S. man convinced people to commit suicide: prosecutor

William Melchert-Dinkel, 47, of Faribault, Minn., could have watched at least one of his alleged victims die via a webcam, and told police he had an “obsession” with suicide, According to a criminal charge.

Melchert-Dinkel, a former hospital nurse, was charged in state court in Rice County, Minnesota, on two charges of collaborating with suicides, and could take up to 30 years in a U.S. prison.

Prosecutors said two victims: Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, Great Britain, who hanged himself at home in 2005 and Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Ottawa, whose body was found in a river more than a month after he disappeared in March 2008.

Authorities said Melchert-Dinkel suggested potential victims how to buy and how to tie rope or a knot, or how to drown. The man told police when questioned that he spoke to people about what they could experience the hanging, according to the indictment.

He also acknowledged having made suicide pacts with 10 or 11 individuals, characterizing his actions as “the thrill of the chase,” according to the legal text.

A British woman who frequented the chat page alerted the authorities in March 2008 that it had a subject search share suicidal thoughts and feelings of depression.

The woman told authorities that the suspect Minnesota, using aliases such as “Dao Li” and “Falcon Girl,” posing as a young woman and friendly who worked in an emergency room nurses, and (was) encouraging people to commit suicide, “the indictment said.

Melchert-Dinkel, who must appear in court on next month, could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Andrew Stern, editing by Marion Giraldo Spanish)