After year and a half, more details emerge on tragedy in Campbellton

The owner of an exotic pet store in Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada, was arrested on February 5, 2015, and then promptly released to face charges to be made public at a hearing to be held on April 27.

A statement released by the New Brunswick Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) disclosed the pending charges are in connection with the death of two young boys in the pet store owner’s apartment, which was above the store.

The RCMP statement also stated "[a]utopsies determined the boys died as a result of being asphyxiated by an African rock python that was being housed in the same apartment where the boys were attending a sleepover."

This new information suggests the store owner will be charged with negligent homicide, i.e., the store owner's negligence caused the death of the children. A key fact in any such prosecution is likely to be the first-hand report that a ventilation fan removed from the ceiling of the snake's enclosure left an opening for the snake to escape and crawl onto the drop-ceiling in the adjacent room where the children were sleeping.

Questions have remained in the reptile community and elsewhere about exactly what happened on that tragic night one and a half years ago, because it is extraordinarily rare for one of these large snakes to kill a human. Efforts are underway to obtain additional details from the autopsy report or any other documentation when such items become available.