PORTLAND (AP) — A man with a history of mental illness who is accused of mailing an Englishman the cyanide he used to kill himself plans to use an insanity defense, according to court documents.
Sidney P. Kilmartin, 52, has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the death of Andrew Denton, a depressed 49-year-old man in Hull, England, who was found dead on Dec. 31, 2012.
The attorney for Kilmartin filed the notice of the intent to use the insanity defense on Friday in U.S. District Court in Bangor.
Kilmartin was previously committed to a psychiatric facility in 2008 after he was found not criminally responsible by reason of insanity for entering a man’s apartment and attacking him while he slept. He was released in 2011.
The Windham man obtained the cyanide by posing as a jeweler to persuade a California distributor to ship him 100 grams of the industrial-grade chemical for $127.56, according to an affidavit by U.S. Postal Inspector Michael Desrosiers.
Authorities in the United States and United Kingdom traced the connection between the two men through email exchanges, including one in which Kilmartin advised Denton to take the cyanide on an empty stomach to ensure its lethal effect, The Portland Press Herald reported.
Jury selection in the case is scheduled to begin May 5. If convicted, Kilmartin could be sentenced to life in prison.
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