Man allegedly mailed cyanide to Englishman for suicide

BANGOR, Maine — A Maine man has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he mailed a poisonous chemical to an Englishman who used it to kill himself.

The Portland Press Herald reports that Sidney Kilmartin, of Windham, entered his plea Wednesday. Authorities say Kilmartin mailed potassium cyanide to Andrew Denton of Hull, England, who died in 2012.

A Hull newspaper report from 2013 says Denton ordered cyanide on the Internet to kill himself.

British authorities investigated with American agents after learning Denton, 49, had ordered the potassium cyanide over the Internet to commit suicide after struggling with depression, according to a newspaper report in Denton’s hometown last year. Potassium cyanide is a highly toxic, colorless salt often used in gold mining and electroplating, and exposure to it can be rapidly fatal.

The court papers say Kilmartin, of South Windham, mailed the poison “with the intent to kill or injure another.”

Kilmartin is charged with mailing injurious articles and with mailing injurious articles resulting in death, the latter carrying a maximum penalty of life in prison upon conviction.

Authorities arrested Kilmartin on Wednesday morning, and he was in custody in Bangor, U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank said. Kilmartin, who was unavailable for comment while in custody, was due to make an initial court appearance, including an arraignment, later on Wednesday, Frank said.

It is unclear how Kilmartin allegedly obtained the potassium cyanide or whether he knew what Denton planned to do with it.

An attorney for Kilmartin said in court that he would like to return to court to amend the plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.