The international cyanide poisoning trial of Sidney Kilmartin of Windham is expected to span more than two weeks in federal court in Bangor next May.
Kilmartin, 53, was found competent this month to face charges that he mailed the poisonous chemical to a suicidal Englishman who used it to kill himself in 2012.
Kilmartin’s attorney and a prosecutor requested that U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock Jr. set the trial for May 3-17 to allow them time to coordinate the complicated case with at least 35 witnesses from the United States and England.
Kilmartin has been held in federal custody since his arrest on Nov. 5, 2014, on charges that he sent potassium cyanide to a man identified in court records as Andrew Denton of Kingston-upon-Hull, England, who died in December 2012.
Kilmartin is charged with two U.S. federal charges of mailing injurious articles for allegedly sending two batches of cyanide to Denton in 2012. The first, sent on Nov. 16, failed to kill Denton. The second batch, which investigators say Kilmartin sent by U.S. mail on Dec. 11, was used by Denton to kill himself.
But Kilmartin’s defense attorney, Wayne Foote, and the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Halsey Frank, jointly acknowledged to the judge that the government may seek a new indictment against Kilmartin that could include other charges.
“The parties represent that this is a large, complicated case that involves serious charges and penalties. The government may seek a superceding indictment. The government anticipates calling at least 35 witnesses in its case in chief. Many of the witnesses reside outside Maine and in England. Their presence at trial will require advance planning and arrangements, and significant expense,” Foote and Frank wrote in the joint motion.
Woodcock on Monday scheduled jury selection for May 3 with the trial to begin immediately afterward.
Denton and Kilmartin connected after Kilmartin posted on a suicide blog offering potassium cyanide as “a painless and quick way to commit suicide” to anyone who could pay $250 a gram, according to court records.
Although Kilmartin has a history of mental illness, he 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, U.S. Postal Inspector Michael Desrosiers wrote in an affidavit in support of a search warrant.
Desrosiers’ affidavit outlines how authorities on both sides of the Atlantic found 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.
Denton was found dead with 17 milligrams of cyanide per liter in his blood – more than three times the lethal dose of 5 milligrams per liter, according to Humberside police in England.
Denton had spent years struggling with depression and had tried to kill himself several times before taking the fatal dose of cyanide, according to an article last year in the Hull Daily Mail.
Potassium cyanide is a highly toxic, colorless salt that looks like sugar, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Used commercially for fumigation, electroplating and extracting gold and silver from ores, cyanide is usually shipped as capsules, tablets or pellets.
It releases highly toxic hydrogen cyanide gas, which interferes with the body’s ability to use oxygen. Swallowing the chemical causes nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and irritation and corrosion of the lining of the esophagus and stomach. Ingestion can quickly result in death.
If convicted, Kilmartin will face up to life in prison.
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