BANGOR, Maine — A South Windham man accused of selling Epsom salts to people seeking poison to commit suicide denied on Tuesday in U.S. District Court that he mailed potassium chloride to an Englishman to prevent him from speaking with American authorities.
Sidney P. Kilmartin, 53, allegedly sold Epsom salts that he advertised as cyanide to individuals he met on a website devoted to people who want to end their lives. Kilmartin is alleged to have sent Epsom salts to Andrew Denton of Hull, England, before sending cyanide to Denton so he could kill himself.
Denton, who had a history of suicide attempts, took his own life in December 2012. His death was ruled a suicide by cyanide poisoning, according to court documents. His body was found on Dec. 31, 2012, at his home by a relative.
Kilmartin has been held without bail since his arrest on Nov. 5, 2014, when he pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges. U.S. District Judge John Woodcock ordered Tuesday that Kilmartin continue to be held without bail.
In connection with Denton’s death, Kilmartin was indicted a second time last month by a federal grand jury on one count each of mailing injurious articles resulting in death, witness tampering and witness retaliation.
The indictment alleges that Kilmartin, who previously had sent Epsom salts to Denton, sent him cyanide in order to prevent him from talking to U.S. law enforcement officers about Kilmartin’s scheme to sell Epsom salts as cyanide.
The new indictment accused Kilmartin of swindling Denton and four others by selling them Epsom salts he advertised online as cyanide between April 2012 and May 2013. The indictment does not include information about the fate of those individuals, or if they complained that the product Kilmartin allegedly sold them was ineffective as Denton reportedly did.
Because of that alleged activity, the grand jury charged Kilmartin with seven counts of wire fraud and five counts of mail fraud. Kilmartin received nearly $1,050 for the fake cyanide, the indictment alleged.
Kilmartin was living in the community but legally was in the custody of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services when he allegedly mailed cyanide to Benton, according to court documents. He was found not criminally responsible in 2009 for crimes he was accused of committing two years earlier, including an aggravated assault on an elderly man.
In October, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock found Kilmartin competent to stand trial.
If convicted, Kilmartin faces life in prison on the counts related to Denton’s death. Although the statute allows federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, they are not, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
On the other counts, Kilmartin faces up to 20 years in prison.