US man accused of planning suicide party
A 26-year-old US man is accused of attempting to lure women to his home for what police are calling a Valentine’s Day sex and suicide party.
Student Jaime Shockman was at home working on her computer when a message popped up at the bottom of her screen. It was an invitation to die.
“Do you think of suicide?” the stranger asked. “Do you want to die with others?” he went on, according to the instant message transcript.
Bored and convinced the message was a joke, the young woman replied. For two hours in December, she answered questions posed by 26-year-old Gerald Krein, who is now accused of attempting to lure emotionally fragile women to his Oregon home for what police are calling a Valentine’s Day sex and suicide party.
It’s not clear whether any of the women he allegedly contacted were sincere about killing themselves. For her part, Shockman says she engaged Krein in the conversation as a prank.
The university student decided it was something more sinister when he told her that a mother from Portland was coming to his home in southern Oregon to commit suicide along with her five children.
Now, Shockman is one of five women – from Canada, Georgia, Oregon, Missouri and Virginia – out of more than two dozen allegedly contacted by Krein who have identified themselves to police.
According to authorities, the women were invited to the “suicide get-together” at his house, where they were to hang themselves naked from a beam.
Krein, who was arrested last week, told investigators he had been in touch with 31 women. He was indicted yesterday while police kept watch over his house to make sure no one arrived to kill themselves.
