A 47-year-old man who Minnesota police say is responsible for convincing a former Carleton student to kill herself may be charged, due to a recent decision made by the police to hand the case over to prosecutors.
William Francis Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse who lives in Faribault, Minn., has been identified by Minnesota police as the person who talked in a chat room to 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, a first-year Carleton student, in 2008.
Sgt. Paul Schnell, a spokesman for the St. Paul police department, told the Ottawa Citizenthat the case was given to their county prosecutor for them to make a decision on pressing charges against Melchert-Dinkel under Minnesota law.
Minnesota’s assisted suicide law threatens 15 years in jail or up to $30,000 in fines for anyone that “intentionally advises, encourages, or assists another in taking the other’s own life.” It is rarely used, and it will be the decision of Rice County attorney Paul Beaumaster whether or not to press charges against Melchert-Dinkel.
Police allege Melchert-Dinkel tried to persuade Kajouji to hang herself while he watched over webcam.
According to bulletins on Carleton’s website, Kajouji was reported missing on March 9. She went out for a walk late one night during a snowstorm and never came back. Her body was found in the river on April 20, 2008 six weeks later, where she had died of hypothermia.