Case of suicides encouraged on Net goes to judge
Published 8:42 am Thursday, February 17, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS — The case of a former Minnesota nurse accused of going online to encourage two people to commit suicide is headed to a judge.
Forty-eight-year-old William Melchert-Dinkel of Faribault isn’t changing his plea of not guilty. But he’s filed papers waiving his right to a jury trial.
The case returns to court Thursday, when Melchert-Dinkel is expected to enter a plea in which he accepts the evidence against him and asks a judge to decide his guilt or innocence based on the facts.
Judge Thomas Neuville has seven days to make a ruling. If convicted, the defendant could get up to 15 years in prison.
