KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – An Oregon man accused of using the Internet to try to organize a mass suicide for Valentine's Day (search) was indicted Monday while deputies kept watch over his house to make sure no one arrived to kill themselves.
Gerald D. Krein Jr. (search), 26, was indicted on one count of solicitation to commit murder and four counts of solicitation to commit manslaughter.
Investigators discovered last week that he had encouraged women to commit suicide as far back as 2000, inviting them to die in a group at his home or while participants were logged onto the Internet at the same time, said Klamath County (search) Sheriff Tim Evinger.
Krein, who was arrested Wednesday, told investigators he had been in touch with 31 women.
One of them was college senior Jaime Shockman, who was doing schoolwork when Krein sent an instant message to her computer.
"Do you think of suicide?" he asked. "Do you want to die with others?" he went on, according to a transcript.
"I was convinced it was a joke," Shockman said, who believes the man picked her out because her screen name was KillToriSpelling. She decided it was something more sinister when Krein told her that a mother from Portland, Ore., planned to commit suicide along with her five children.
Investigators have tracked down five women Krein was in contact with about the Valentine's Day plan. They were from Canada, Georgia, Oregon, Missouri and Virginia.
Meanwhile, sheriff's deputies parked in a convenience store across the street from Krein's house Monday, trying to make sure no one showed up to harm themselves.
"We're obviously watching out for anybody coming into town," Evinger said.
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