William Melchert-Dinkel

Englishman Mark Drybrough, 32, was struggling with depression, and he turned to suicide prevention chat rooms. There, he met Li Dao. A nurse in her twenties, Li wasn’t interested in saving Mark’s life. Instead, she encouraged him to hang himself.

Mark was one of five people who killed themselves thanks to Li. Many of her victims made suicide pacts with her, planning to share their final moments with the nurse via webcam, but Li never followed through. In fact, she wasn’t even a woman. Li was a middle-aged white man named William Melchert-Dinkel. He lived in Minnesota, and while he was a real-life nurse, the man had a disturbing history.

William had been accused of abusing nursing home patients, and when he wasn’t hurting the elderly, he was hunting for depressed people online. Some of his victims were impressionable teenagers who’d been sexually abused, but instead of offering help, “Li Dao” explained how to tie a proper knot and told victims things would be much better in heaven. And while he denied it to authorities, it seems William watched some of his victims die from the comfort of his computer room.

The nurse was arrested thanks to Celia Bay and Kat Lowe, two amateur detectives who discovered Li Dao’s real sex, name, and whereabouts. The father of two was arrested and sentenced to three years for “advising and encouraging” the deaths of Mark Drybrough and an 18-year-old Canadian woman. However, after the Minnesota Supreme Court determined it was unconstitutional to convict someone for giving advice, William received a new sentence of 178 days in jail for assisting their suicides.

Today's Reflection:

Q: Why don't blind people skydive?

A: Because it scares the hell out of the dog.

Live Long and Prosper...