A man who tried to organize a Valentine’s Day mass suicide has been sentenced to up to 20 years in a state mental hospital.
Gerald Krein Jr., 27, had been charged with solicitation to commit murder after allegedly forming a Yahoo chat room to organize “Suicide Party 2005,” asking women to hang themselves naked on Valentine’s Day.
Krein was arrested Feb. 9, 2005, and was taken to a state hospital in October after a psychiatrist determined he suffered from “a myriad of mental health disorders.”
Prosecutor Ed Caleb said Krein could be released early.
“He will stay there until they are convinced he is no longer a threat to the community,” Caleb said Tuesday.
A woman concerned that children might be harmed alerted authorities to the suicide plot. Detectives found six women who expressed interest, including a few who were mothers, but they denied planning to murder their children.